The Dragon | Edition Sixteen | 25 November 2022

THE DRAGON

FORTNIGHTLY NEWS AND EVENTS FOR ST GEORGE’S PARENTS

Tina Campbell

Christmas is edging ever closer, and the festive lights are now twinkling in the city, making it an exciting time of the school year to be in and around the City of Perth – the City of Lights!

Last week we put our Christmas Tree up both at the front of the school and on Level 4. There is tinsel in the air here at St George’s!

Christmas is also an important time of giving and once again we are encouraging students to be involved in the Anglicare Schools Christmas Appeal to support families who are struggling at this time of the year. My hope is that as a school we endeavour to dig deep this year as more and more families are doing it tough. The gift of giving is certainly something that we are known for at St George’s Anglican Grammar School and it links closely with our many service-based initiatives which run throughout the School.

On Monday we will have our Christmas Carol Chapel Service led by Father Gift. I ask that all students please remember their school blazers for this special event to celebrate the festive season. It would be lovely to have a sea of red at St George’s Cathedral as we

come together as a whole school post the Year 10 and 11 examination period to celebrate the Christmas message of hope. Even the staff have been asked to dress in red – how sensational will this celebratory service be all together in such a beautiful and sacred venue as St George’s Cathedral!

The Christmas spirit comes in many forms, but the source of our Christmas remains the same as we celebrate and give thanks for the life of Jesus Christ. In celebrating Christmas, we pray for peace on Earth and fresh possibilities for meaningful and joyful living as we conclude the 2022 school year and begin to think with excitement of the many adventures that await us in 2023.

I sincerely hope that as the wider St George’s School Community that you all experience the real meaning of Christmas this year as we enter the last ten days of the school year. If you and your family are departing early for holidays please do request this leave through me directly on principal@stgeorges.wa.edu.au.

We still have lots to look forward to here at School. There is the

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

From the Principal

newly created ‘Transition to Year 12 Week’ with a Year 12 Day Camp for our Year 12 Class of 2023, Electrocity Writing Workshops, PCG Secret Santa Gatherings, Painting Masterclasses, the Academic Awards Assembly on Monday 05 December and Presentation Night on Wednesday 07 December.

As a reminder, the last day of school for all students is Friday 09 December where we have the much-anticipated Sportzfest in the morning followed by FreedomFest in the afternoon and we conclude the day back here at 50 William Street with the issuing of the 2022 Yearbook – Ascalon to all families. Final dismissal of all students on Friday 09 December will be at our usual time of 2.40 pm.

I wish you all a wonderful festive season.

Tina Campbell Principal

School Operations

Shannon Allen

As the Christmas decorations are going up around the city, the festive mood is definitely taking a hold at St George’s and thoughts are turning to the last few weeks of term. Before the academic year wraps up, it is still possible to tick the following off your list!

• 3P Photographers are still taking orders of School Photographs. These can be ordered through their website using the Shoot Key FN3T95K

• Avoid the January rush and order new uniforms for 2023 online here

The schedule for the last week of Term 4, including the special activities for Friday 9 December, is summarised below. All students are required to be at school all week; there are significant events throughout the week celebrating and showcasing the 2022 achievements of our amazing students.

Please note the uniform requirements for both the Academic Awards Assembly and Presentation Evening.

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Time to Rejoice!

There are many reasons I am rejoicing today. I rejoice because I witnessed the baptism of Alex and Levi Humberstone, who were then confirmed together with Ruben Bushell on Sunday 20 November by our Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy. These three students from St George’s Anglican Grammar School were confirmed together with 11 other candidates from St George’s Anglican Cathedral.

It is my hope that as I interact with our students, I build their confidence to come forward for baptism and confirmation classes. These will again be offered again in Terms 3 and 4 next year. The luncheon after the service at the Cathedral was out of this world— so indeed I rejoice!

I also rejoice because this Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent, marking the beginning of the Christian Calendar. The word Advent, comes from the Latin term adventus, which means to “arrive” or “come.” It is the ‘arrival’ or ‘coming’ of someone or something ‘special’ that people were anxiously waiting for.

In this sense, for us Christians, it is the arrival of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. We anticipate his coming in two ways. First, his coming as a baby, which is his birth at Christmas—hence all the decorations in our churches, cities, streets, shops, and even our homes. Our School has a beautiful Christmas tree right in the administration office as well as on Level 4.

Then throughout Advent we will be reminded of Jesus’ second coming (Parousia) as judge of the world. This period of waiting is

often marked by the Advent Wreath, a garland of evergreens with four candles. Although the main symbolism of the Advent Wreath is simply marking the progression of time, many churches attach themes to each candle, most often “faith,” “hope,” “joy,” and “love.” So, we rejoice because of this hope that we have and I look forward to sharing this advent story with the School as part of our Christmas Carol Chapel Service on Monday 28 November.

Father Gift

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Curriculum Update

Anthony Bochrinis

Murdoch FlexiTrack High

Please note the deadline for current Year 11 students to apply for Murdoch FlexiTrack High 2023 is Wednesday 30 November. These are the university timelines, so it is important to be aware that no late applications will be accepted.

To apply to participate in this exciting program, you will need to complete the application form here

A Murdoch University representative will be in school to assist with these applications.

Year 9 and 10 Electives 2023

Our current Year 8 and 9 students have been sent further details regarding 2023 elective nomination forms through SEQTA. If students have not quite yet nominated their preferences, please access the online form via the following links:

Year 9 2023 Elective Nominations

Year 10 2023 Elective Nominations

Curriculum Update: The What, The When, The Why

With many intriguing curriculum changes happening at St George’s for Year 7-12 students in 2023, I am most excited to be delivering the next Parent Speaker Series on Wednesday 30 November in the Laurence Library from 5:30pm - 6:30pm.

Join me as we share our new subjects and pathway offerings to assist your child in maximising their options for post-school qualifications and careers.

To register for this event, please complete the RSVP form. Places are limited. This event is also open to families joining us in 2023.

Year 12 2022 ATAR Results

Congratulations to all our Year 12 ATAR students who recently completed their final set of secondary WACE exams.

With the exam period beginning with ATAR Chemistry and concluding with the ATAR Japanese as a Second Language, we are most proud of our students’ diligent efforts in showcasing their knowledge gained throughout the year.

The final ATAR results will be released to students via their TISC portal login on Sunday 18 December.

We will be here at school on Monday 19 December to assist any students needing extra support following their results, to change university preferences or just to congratulate them. Please do feel free to drop in to see us and share with us your final statement of results.

We wish our Year 12 ATAR students the very best of luck as they await these results!

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Pastoral Focus

Hilton Hardman

Transition into Year 12 Week 2022

This year will see the introduction of an exciting new initiative at St George’s Anglican Grammar School for our graduating class of 2023 – the current Year 11 students.

All Year 11 students will be involved in a ‘Transition to Year 12 Week’ from Tuesday, 6 December to Thursday, 8 December 2022.

The Year 11 students will follow a unique program that will address several critical aspects needed by all students as they move into the increased demands and expectations of Year 12. The three days will focus on sharing knowledge and expertise to assist them to thrive in Year 12 and bring the year group closer together through

these shared experiences. It will also be an excellent conclusion to Year 11 and will include lots of ‘rites of passage’ for them as they become our Year 12 leaders of the Class of 2023.

Students will have guest speaker sessions from a range of experts, key staff will speak with them about the many events that they have to look forward to in Year 12, there will be a one-day Camp (their last school camp), a variety of university visits, and they will together complete the 15km Great Walk in and around the City of Perth, which will give them both reflection time and a sense of achievement and camaraderie as the Year 12 Class of 2023. It is a wonderful new initiative, and as a Pastoral Team we cannot wait to share this time with the students.

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Last week I spent time at both the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University discussing the future of education and work with other practitioners. The emerging themes from these discussions were that the educational landscape is changing, success comes in all forms and work experience of any kind should never be overlooked.

This year St George’s Anglican Grammar School partnered with Murdoch University to deliver FlexiTrack High, a university enabling course studied in Year 12 as an alternative to ATAR. I am delighted to share that all our students passed, with most receiving a credit or distinction. Excitingly, from next year, St George’s students who achieve a distinction in FlexiTrack High will also be accepted into University of Western Australia undergraduate degree courses.

Murdoch University data suggests that FlexiTrack students enjoy the same success as their ATAR peers. We also know that, in 2021, less than half of WA students achieved the West Australian Certificate of Education through ATAR. While there will always be a need to demonstrate knowledge through examination for particular courses, employers also want students to display socalled soft skills such as empathy, motivation, time management and decision-making. By supporting students to hone these skills through community service, VET courses that have a workplace learning component and encouraging all students to become leaders within the school community, St George’s students can graduate confident in their abilities and on a pathway that suits their needs.

The question then, is why do ATAR? At St George’s, we embrace the diversity of learning needs and learning styles. Demonstrating subject knowledge in a three-hour examination simply does not work for some students, whilst for others who excel in exams the ATAR pathway is most definitely the best pathway for them. Whatever a student’s area of strength is, there is a pathway to suit them and what we do know is that the educational landscape, including the pathway to university is changing rapidly.

Mrs Sharan Tagore APEx and Careers Coordinator

As the year grows to a close, things are still frenetic in the Library. Although our Year 12 students are deep in ATAR exams, we still have students seeking a quiet place to study. Year 11 students have been making good use of the Library between their exams and finding it a good place to meet their teachers. Year 10 students are also working towards their exams and our younger students are finding the space quiet before school to work or read.

With the advent of our Library Prefect, Katherine Mullaney, we are featuring a new eboard celebrating a “Prefect’s Reader of the Month”. Our first slide features Year 8 student Abbie Mutter who is an avid reader. Abbie is a reader after my own heart. She reads across genres and is happy to try new books so long as they are well written. So far this year Abbie has borrowed 23 books from our Library. I have no doubt she also reads from her own collection. Keep an eye out to meet our wonderful readers. Our new Prefect will be busy finding and celebrating all our keen readers.

Our Lego Club is working on the final section of the Titanic. This has been a read labour of love for a small group of dedicated Year 7 students. It will be so exciting to see the finished model go on display in the Library. I expect to see more Lego in 2023.

Despite a mountain of marking as I come to the end of the teaching year, I have managed to read. I was surprisingly entertained by the new young adult version of ‘The Martian’, by Andy Weir. I am actually not a sci-fi fan anymore, but I really enjoyed this novel. It has an interesting amount of information about space exploration. For something totally different, I read ‘The Agathas’, by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson. A young adult whodunnit this novel has all the usual elements of teen fiction and no surprises – not even the murderer. I also read ‘The Peacock Spring’ by Rumer Godden. Set in colonial India this novel was interesting for the way in which it represented inter racial relationships and the British in India. Once again, all three of these novels are nestled on our Library shelves.

Together, let us read.

Dr Annette Pedersen Library Services Coordinator

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Around the School

Pulse Perspectives 2023

Formerly known as The Art Gallery of WA’s Pulse Perspectives, The West Australian newspaper has now become a major sponsor re-naming the Pulse Perspectives Exhibition The West Australian Pulse.

This prestigious exhibition celebrates WA’s talented young artists in an annual showcase, ‘gauging the pulse of young people who will influence, empower and shape the world we live in. The selected works provide a window into young people’s private, social and artistic concerns. It is an inspiring, rewarding and insightful look at the world through the minds of our most talented young artists’. (AGWA Website).

From a small cohort of this year’s St George’s Visual Art students three submissions have been selected to form part of The West Australian Pulse for 2023.

Our student selections include Ela Findlater’s Unit 3 artwork ‘Dissevered’ and her Unit 4 artwork ‘Drained’ these will be displayed as a diptych.

Dissevered’ and ‘Drained’ are mixed-media artworks that combine digital print and sculpture. Ela aimed to create a ‘traditional portrait style painting’ with a contemporary combination of techniques and materials. The first work ‘Dissevered’ explores the universal concept of isolation, particularly de-personalisation and the disconnect between the body and mind.

ways. The sculpture is a female form made entirely from ceramics yet it mimics plastic similar to a black garbage bag. The glaze was media tested to achieve a high gloss surface and to slightly conceal the female form to create a sense of discovery and surprise. The ceramic sculpture is hand-built in stoneware clay using traditional methods. A high gloss black glaze was used to complete the work together with a plastic tie.

‘Drained’ depicts a bronzed statuesque woman anchored in a body of water, drained of energy and life through an open drainage chamber in her chest. Although she appears to have nothing left to give, mosquitoes pierce her body in search of life.

Whilst communicating aspects of the human condition, Ela’s work was inspired by the popular surrealist works of artists Mark Ryden and Ray Caesar.

The other selection is Jana Bezuidenhout’s ceramic sculpture ’Body Bag’ a thought-provoking piece that is open to interpretation dependent on the viewer’s standpoint.

Jana’s artwork conveys clear ideas of misogyny, partly inspired by recent and prominent media reports of the unfair treatment of women in society. From wage disparity to work-place harassment and sexism the news focuses on a disparity for women in many

These works will be displayed with approximately 45 others from Year 12 students across the state of Western Australia. The exhibition runs from 20 April – 20 August 2023 and is held at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Ms Carol Wohlnick Head of Creative Arts

Oracy Program

This week, the Year 8 English students took part in Oracy, which is a speaking program with an emphasis on practical oral communication and appreciation of language and literature. Students had the opportunity to complete a spoken presentation on a topic of personal interest, a prepared reading from their favourite book, and a discussion with their listening group.

The Year 8’s thorough preparation was evident in their polished

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St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

“Communication is one of the most impor tant skills you require for a successful life”.

– Catherine Pulsifer

presentations and detailed knowledge. Some of their topics of interest included:

• If life were a video game, what would some cheat codes be?

• Shapes and tessellation

• The origin of surfing

• Everyday sexism

• The Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling competition

• The unhealthy side of dance

• An analysis of Taylor Swift

• The Lituya Bay tsunami

• School in Japan

Teachers and Oracy assessors were impressed by the effort, energy, engagement, and courtesy of all Year 8 students. My thanks to all involved to what was a wonderful day for the Languages Department.

Miss Sophie Meagher English Teacher

Anglicare Christmas Appeal

It is Christmas time and, as an Anglican School, we are called to give gifts and think of the needs of others. Whilst the three Maji in Matthew’s Gospel brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus, St George’s Anglican Grammar School is participating in two different gift-giving activities again this year.

The first is the Anglicare WA Christmas Appeal. St George’s is delighted to partner with Anglicare WA every year for their Christmas Appeal to provide back-to-school supplies for the 10 000 children across the State . Education essentials are simply out of reach for many struggling families and your donations will help these children not only with their education, but with their dignity and confidence. Every parent knows that a new backpack and school supplies can go a long way toward putting a smile on a child’s face on that first day back to school.

Anglicare WA has let us know that they are also in desperate need of backpacks this year. They often receive lots of smaller supplies but not enough backpacks to pack them in. Backpacks are available from K-Mart for between $5 and $12 so there are a wide variety of affordable options. Students are asked to bring their donations to the Level 4 Café Christmas tree by the end of Week 8, Friday 2 December.

A list of other much needed supplies can be found on Level 4 Café and in the Dragon.

The second initiative is the annual Advent Giving Tree. Christmas is usually a time of excitement and joy for children and young people, but every year hundreds of local families face a Christmas about as far from what you would want for your own family as you can possibly imagine. You can help change this and put a smile on a child’s face or warm the heart of an elderly person in need this Christmas by purchasing a gift for our Advent Giving Tree. It is fun, quick, and easy and will help spread the joy of Christmas.

All St George’s families are encouraged to take a gift tag from the St George’s Advent Giving Tree located on Level 4 Café, purchase the gift (or something similar), wrap and place it underneath the tree. Gifts need to be dropped off by the end of Week 8, Friday 2 December.

Mr Ryan McBride Service-Learning Coordinator

Sync Swim Rehearsals have Begun!

It is that time of year, we have begun our planning and practice for the annual Sync Swim competition that will be running at the Inter House Swimming Carnival in 2023. Having not been able to hold this important event in 2022 it is so exciting to be preparing for its reintroduction in 2023 and there is much excitement in the air.

With regular meetings at recess and lunch times, the students have been busy putting together their song choices, choreography, and theatrics that will engage the judges and win the coveted prize.

In Lincoln I would like to say thank you to our Student House Captains for their guidance and leadership of the younger students, the Year 7’s and 8’s for their enthusiasm, and especially the Year 9 students for putting a lot of the choreography together.

With the absence of our Year 11 leaders in Mandela due to exams, the wonderful Year 9 girls, Amelie, Zuri, Phoebe and Alison have been leading Mandela through the complex choreography on land, trying to imagine what it will be like in the water. It has been fun

With only one practice left for the year the competition is heating up, and I cannot wait to see what each House is able to bring to the water next year. May the best house win!

Mr Vincent Lim Head of Lincoln House

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Having our school in the City opens exciting opportunities and our Year 9 students were fortunate to be invited next door to visit the South 32 building, where they took the lifts to the 20th floor to a company called Shaw and Partners.

Shaw and Partners is the major sponsor of the biggest Ocean

Paddling race week taking place from the 19 -26 November. The racing action culminates on Saturday 26 November with the running of “The Doctor”, the holy grail of ocean ski racing – a 27 km downwind race from Rottnest Island to Perth’s Sorrento Beach.

The Year 9 students listened to two inspirational keynote speakers. Bonnie Hancock, a world record holder, who was the fastest paddler to circumnavigate Australia. The ultra-endurance athlete completed the 12,700km journey in 254 days. Bonnie spoke about her experiences and her determination on this journey. They also heard from adventurer, Sarah Davis, who paddled the River Nile.

Students enjoyed a morning tea provided by the company after the event.

Thank you to Mr Michael Heath, Ms Courtney Crisp, Ms Jackie Sullivan and Ms Fabrianne Brown for your flexibility and support with supervision.

Ms Jodie Scheele

Head of HPE

Benjamin Humphreys Year 9

Congratulations to Ben Humphreys on his team selection for the Hockey WA Gryphon Cup 2022.

The Hockey WA Gyphon Cup 2022 sees junior hockey sides from around the world compete against one another in an elite-level competition. The Hockey WA Gryphon Cup is on now at Perth Hockey Stadium and goes until 27 November.

You can keep up to date with the fixtures and results of the Gryphon Cup 2022 here

Wishing you all the best for the weekend Ben!