30 April 2021
KW noiswd cee lo ed mgeGFraaitche SSeerrvvici
ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL A school of the Anglican Schools Commission Inc.
Edition Five
Newsletter Fortnightly news and events for St George’s Parents
From the Principal Tina Campbell
Another interesting start to the term here in Western Australia and not the ANZAC Day long weekend that potentially we had all planned to commemorate this special day. I hope that as a family you were able to celebrate all that ANZAC Day means to Australians in some small way over the three-day lockdown. The resilience shown by students has been truly commendable. They left school on Friday, donning their masks with a smile, and returned to classes on Tuesday ready to begin four more days of mask wearing. They have adapted to the necessary changes with ease, and I thank both them and you for your ongoing support of the school at this time. I have today sent the relevant details of our updated practices which will come into effect from Monday 3 May. Resilience has quickly become a much-used word in modern day society. Whether you can be said to have it or not largely depends on how your life unfolds. It is only really when you face obstacles, stress, and other threats that your resilience, or lack of it, begins to emerge. Do you succumb or surmount? ‘Psychology Today’ describes resilience this way:
“Resilience is that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Rather than letting failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise from the ashes.” Resilience is therefore not about avoiding frustrations; rather, it is about experiencing them by staying on track and remaining optimistic. Building resilience helps us to not only manage our current difficulties but also to develop the skills and habits that will help us to overcome the challenges that will inevitably face us within the ups and downs of our daily lives. It is about having the capacity to be calm and adaptable when the going gets tough; the ability to overcome difficult experiences and to be shaped positively by them. It is about developing new ways to cope with such adversity. To be honest, school life can sometimes be a A school of the Anglican Schools Commission Inc.
challenge for some students both academically and socially. In essence learning can be challenging. It would not be learning if we already knew the answers. To reach their potential we need to support all students to constantly challenge themselves academically. To help them build their resilience in their learning we need to offer them our support and words of wisdom when they find new concepts and assessment tasks challenging. Friendships can also go through difficult times, especially within what is often referred to as “the bumpy road of adolescents”. People do not always agree, so it is indeed an important skill to learn when developing friendships to hold on to the values and beliefs that make us who we are but also to learn to compromise, reflect and understand that a diverse array of opinions and views should equally be celebrated. This type of resilience helps students to more easily manage the differences that might arise within their friendships both inside and outside of school. The good news is that resilience can be learnt and whilst some people may naturally be more resilient than others, resilience can be developed and improved upon. It has been shown that having a range of strong social connections helps to build one’s resilience. This may be with a parent, a care giver, a teacher, a best friend, a sibling, or a mentor. My hope is that all members of the St George’s School Community have that person to whom they can turn for support when they need to grow their resilience. Whilst resilience will not stop the many frustrations, stress, and challenges within our lives, it will help us to cope better with them and to reflect positively on our lives. I would like to challenge everyone to focus on the many opportunities to demonstrate our resilience within the next few weeks. Next week’s St George’s Day celebrations, the Inter-House Cross County Carnival at Kings Park, and the continued wearing
of masks within the school, will provide plenty of scope for this essential value to be highlighted by us all.
Helen Keller helps us to reflect on resilience. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but the glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail” – Helen Keller I ask that as we enter our next steps towards a return to our more normal routines that we take time to pray for the many countries globally who are experienceing the unimaginable due to Covid-19. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Tina Campbell
COVID-19 UPDATE Next week’s scheduled school events will proceed as normal. St George’s Day Cathedral Service - Monday 3 May at 9.30am With places of worship able to resume to 100% capacity we will be permitted to hold our celebratory St George’s Day Cathedral Service and announce the Spirit of St George’s Awards for 2021 on Monday 3 May as normal. Students and Staff will be expected to wear masks during the service and parents wishing to attend the service will be seated in the side transept of the cathedral. All are welcome. Cross Country Carnival – Tuesday 4 May With indoor and outdoor community sport able to resume with spectators, we will proceed as planned with the interhouse cross country. The event is being run in year groups at Hale Oval, Kulunga Grove, Kings Park. It is a compulsory event for all Year 7 – 10 students with Year 11 and 12 students being encouraged to participate for house points. The Year 7 race will start at 9.15am, Year 8’s at 10.15am, Year 9’s at 11.15am, Year 10’s at Midday and Year 11 and 12’s at 12.30pm. Parents are warmly welcome to attend. St George’s Anglican Grammar School
2
Chaplain’s Corner Struggle and the Psalms
despair, move through feelings of abandonment and fear, but then the words change and speak of acceptance and recovery, of better times to come. There is a change in the mood as the psalm progresses. The words turn from lament and despair to words of thanksgiving and hope. The Psalms of Lament do not shy away from complaint, strong words or expressions of anger. This is why I like them. I like them because they speak of the realities of human life. The promise of God is not that we will have a struggle free life, but that God is with us in the struggle. The Psalms of Lament take us on a journey that meets us where we are in our struggles and darkness and then leads us from the darkness to the light. I wish you all the best this term and encourage you to embrace whatever part of the journey you are on. You are all in my prayers.
It will come as no surprise to you that I am a fan of the Bible. It has some ripping yarns, especially in the Old Testament, and taken as a whole, the story of God’s people trying to orient themselves in relationship with God and each other is one from which we can all learn. I have some favourites though – for instance the story of Judith, a widow who delivers her people to victory by single-handedly taking on the enemy that are laying siege to her town (absolutely worth a read but not for the faint of heart!). Then there are the psalms. The psalms are the prayers of the people, written to be performed by musicians and choirs in the temple. There are many different types of psalm. There are songs of praise and thanksgiving, songs for the king, and many more, but my favourite are the songs of Lament. The majority of the Psalms of Lament follow the Chaplain Sarah same pattern. They begin in sadness, anger or
Pastoral Focus
Hilton Hardman
It was a feeling of relief and excitement when the news came out that students were returning to school after the brief three-day lockdown. I can only imagine the feelings of stress and anxiety for students and parents during this period. There are scome helpful resources on the next page for any parents who feel they need some support on how best to support their child as we travel these times together. During the Term One holidays, some upgrades were carried out, which saw the creation of a dedicated student support area on Level One. Level One now has a “Pastoral Lounge”, an enclosed room that leads into the School Chaplain and the Head of Pastoral office. This space provides privacy while students wait to see a support figure or space for students to gather their thoughts without the concern of being seen by other students or staff. It will help us to support these students during their time at school. We are excited to announce the appointment of Miss Jessica Kelly as our new Educational Assistant from the start of Term Two, Week 3. Jessica is an exciting addition to the Learning Support team, and we look forward to seeing the value she is going to add in this area of the School. Miss Kelly has a 3
Certificate III in Educational Support and five years experience working as an EA. A Mercedes Graduate she is excited to be returning to work in the city. Finally, a reminder of this term’s parent guest speaker session taking place Wednesday, Week Six. We will have Cath Ashton, the Managing Director of Well-Sense Mental Health Training & Consultancy. Cath will be speaking on ‘The Development of the Adolescent Brain and Mental Health’, a topic that is exceptionally relevant in schools around Australia due to the growing concern around mental health. More information will follow in the weeks to come on this guest speaker. St George’s Anglican Grammar School
SUPPORT RESOURCES
School Operations Susan Lazenby
This term, an updated Mobile Phone and Computer Use Policy has been implemented. It is good to know that this is being supported by Parents and Guardians as the intention is to make sure that our students spend less time distracted by screens. You can view the whole Policy here. In essence the Policy stipulates that: Year 7 to 9 students must keep their mobile phones in their lockers for the whole school day unless they have express permission from a supervising teacher, or if there is a special need such as in an Individual Education Plan for this to occur. Year 10 students may have their phones with them, but they may not use them except for an emergency when moving between buildings. We are conscious of their safety as they are in the CBD. Likewise, the Year 11 and 12 students with senior privileges may have their phones with them as they move between 50 William Street and CQU, and when they are out of the building for recess and lunch with Senior Status. No students in Years 7-9 may be on their phones or their laptops during recess or lunch when they are in the school buildings. We are conscious that senior students have academic commitments, so
we have made provision for those who would like to do school-based work or study at lunch time and before school. They may use their laptops in 50 William Street in Rooms 1.1 (Year 11 and 12) and 1.2 (Year 10). In CQU the Year 12s have access to Room 5.2. during lunchtime. If you need to contact your child during school hours, please call Reception (93120800), and the receptionists will convey your message. Should a student need to contact a parent or guardian, the receptionists will let them use the School phone. I hope this will help clarify our parameter in this regard. Importanat dates for the upcoming fortnight: 3 May
St George’s Day
4 May
Inter-House Cross Country Carnival
10 May
ANZAC Day Commemoration
13 & 14 May School Photo Days 17 May
Commissioning of Mrs Tina Campbell as Principal of St George’s Anglican Grammar School
20-22 May
School Production, School of Rock
For the full calendar of events click here
Send us your feedback We are continually looking at ways in which to communicate with our School community. After taking into account your valuable and constructive feedback, we have reduced the fortnightly news we send to you. This reduced format will deliver interesting articles, promote our School activities and achievements and give you a snapshot of what’s coming up in the weeks ahead. We are continually reviewing the way in which we communicate and welcome your feedback. Please send any comments to Michelle Hort at mhort@stgeorges.wa.edu.au
St George’s Anglican Grammar School
4
Curriculum Update Victoria Kelleher
Assessment Schedules
NAPLAN
Term Two Assessment Schedules outlining upcoming assessments for every subject, have been sent via SEQTA Messages. As a guide, these schedules may help you to support your child’s progress during this term.
NAPLAN tests are held during May each year. The purpose of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for our students to progress through school and life.
While every effort will be made to proceed with these assessments on the scheduled dates, situations may sometimes arise which may involve the movement of an assessment task. In this instance, your child’s teacher will negotiate a suitable replacement date and will notify you of the change.
St George’s students in Year 7 and Year 9 will participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy through an online format.
The NAPLAN assessment dates for our students are as follows: Year Group Year 7 Writing
Date Tuesday 11 May
Time 8.30am-9.35am
Year 9 Writing Year 7 and 9 Writing (catch up)* Year 7 Reading Year 9 Reading Year 7 and 9 Reading (catch up)* Year 7 Conventions of Language Year 9 Conventions of Language Year 7 and 9 Conventions of Language (catch up)* Year 7 Numeracy Year 9 Numeracy Year 7 and 9 Numeracy (catch up)
Tuesday 11 May Wednesday 12 May Thursday 13 May Thursday 13 May Friday 14 May Tuesday 18 May Tuesday 18 May Wednesday 19 May Thursday 20 May Thursday 20 May Friday 21 May
11.00am-12.05pm 8.30am-9.35am 8.30am-9.35am 11.00am-11.55pm 8.30am-9.35am 8.30am-9.35am 11.00am-11.55pm 8.30am-9.35am 8.30am-9.35am 11.00am-11.55pm 8.30am-9.35am
*Catch-up sessions will be provided for each testing category for those students who are identified as absent on the day they were scheduled to do the test. Should you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me directly. Victoria Kelleher
5
St George’s Anglican Grammar School
We know this School Rocks! The School Production is now in full swing. Since auditions and casting were completed in November, the cast have been working their way through learning their dialogue, lyrics and choreography for the show. The preliminary parts of the rehearsal process are now complete and we have reached the exciting part of costume fittings, dress rehearsals and will soon be bumping in to the Heath Ledger Theatre. It is indeed such a priviledge for the students to perform here - one of the many benefits of our City Campus. Based on the hit film, this hilarious musical follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn a few extra bucks by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious
prep school. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school’s beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within. This year’s school musical season consists of three evening shows on 20-22 May and a matinee performance on Saturday 22 May. We are pleased to announce that tickets are now on sale and can’t wait to see you all there. Tickets are selling fast so be sure to book early to avoid disppointment Book now!
St George’s Anglican Grammar School
6
Around the School
BIOLOGY CAMP
help with the ATAR content we were doing in class. The two main activities we did was trapping in the afternoon of the first day and the early morning of the second as well as a bushwalk and transect mapping. The morning bush walk was packed full of information about both native plant species as well as introduced species. We had lengthy discussions on the different adaptations of these plants and the reasons behind them.”
In Term One, the Year 11 and 12 Biology students attended Daniel Greenaway, Year 12 ATAR Biology a Biology camp at Mundaring Weir as part of their course of study in Biology. Students had the opportunity to interact with some of the amazing wildlife around the area. Here are a few testimonials from the students who had attended the overnight camp. “The Biology camp was very enjoyable. It gave us a handson experience of possible future careers in the environmental industry. It was especially fun to set the traps and record the data of the possum we caught.”
“In the evening, we set out the traps and the next morning we had to get up really early to see if we caught anything. We only Kate Van Olden, Year 12 ATAR Biology caught one thing, which was a possum. Later that day we “Biology camp was a great went for a walk to look at the experience and a good way to native plants in the area. We take what we learnt in class out also used quadrants to draw the into the bush. With some fun plants that were in a small area. challenges along the way (like The last thing that we did was setting up the tents), we got patting and holding an echidna to experience what it is like to and a joey.” work in the field. We were lucky Isabella Daniels, Year 11 ATAR Biology enough to trap a possum, giving us some valuable experience and knowledge about native Australian wildlife conservation. OUTDOOR EDUCATION I think a highlight for everyone Hello St George’s parents, my was the close animal encounter name is Jackie Sullivan and I with some native Australian am coordinating and teaching animals!” Outdoor Education. This is the Alexandra Griffin, Year 11 ATAR Biology second year Outdoor Education has been running at the School “The 2021, Year 11/12 and I feel very happy to be able Biology camp at the Perth hill to deliver a wonderful program discovery centre was extremely to Year 9 and Year 10 students. educational and was a great There is so much scope to run 7
this program and I look forward to welcoming more students to an outdoor education experience soon. Some important dates for this term. Year 9 Outdoor Education State Championships – Orienteering – Fred Jacoby Park –Week 9, Wednesday 16 June. Orienteering – Kalamunda Week 11, Thursday 1 July. Year 10 Outdoor Education State Championships – Orienteering – Fred Jacoby Park –Week 9, Wednesday 16 June. Mountain Bike Riding – Dwellingup – Week 10, Thursday 24 June. I have included some photos of some of the wonderful activities we completed during lesson in Term 1. Year 9 – Stand Up Paddleboarding at Matilda Bay, Year 10 – Indoor Rockclimbing at ‘The Hangout’ in Bayswater.
If you do have any questions about Outdoor Education feel free to contact me on jsullivan@stgeorges.wa.edu.au
St George’s Anglican Grammar School
ST GEORGE’S STARS Aelwen Johnstone
Owen Lane & Joss Walker Congratulations to both Owen Lane (Year 10) and Joss Walker (Year 8) who were both selected in the honorary ACC 2021 All Stars Swimming Team.
Aelwen Johnstone (Year 8) gives up her free time to work with Millennium Kids Inc, a youth led environment organisation championing youth voice. Millennium Kids Inc was recently awarded the world’s most prestigious sustainability award, The All Stars team is the top performer in each event across all schools and divisions within the 32nd Banksia Award. the Association. With the number of schools in The Banksia Award, the world’s longest running ACC the swimming carnivals are divided into A-J sustainability award recognising contributions Division and once all the results are in the All Star to the United Nations Sustainable Development Team is selected. An incredible achievement to Goals, continues to celebrate the efforts and both Joss and Owen. passion of Australian leaders’ moving our society towards a more sustainable future. Millennium Kids Inc., a youth led environmental organisation has been championing youth voice for over 25 years. Aelwen Johnstone, from St. George’s Anglican Grammar and member of the Millennium Kids youth board says, “it’s really exciting to win the Community and Charity Banksia award and to have kids’ projects taken seriously”.
Alexandra Griffin
Millennium Kids “have a fabulous mentoring program giving youth a voice and providing a platform for youth to influence governments” say the Banksia award judges. The Banksia judges also commended Millennium Kids on their extensive global reach and engagement of all sections of the community and applauded their strong partnerships and how they are continually looking Alexandra Griffin (Year 11) competed in the at where they can have impact. Australian Junior Athletics Championships at Well done to Aelwen and the young people of Sydney’s Olympic Park on the 17 April. Incredibly, Millennium Kids Inc. Keep up the good work and Ali won Silver for the U/17 5km Walking Race. This is a testament to Ali’s commitment to training and fighting for our planet. abilities on the track.
St George’s Anglican Grammar School
8