THE DRAGON

AND EVENTS FOR ST GEORGE’S PARENTS

From the Principal

Tina Campbell

The ACC Swimming Championships this week were a wonderful example of team spirit at its absolute best. A strong and united whole team effort saw St George’s take out victory at the ACC Division E Swimming Carnival held at HBF Stadium. St George’s were able to work together to secure the win 104 points ahead of their nearest rival. Team St George’s was elevated from F Division in the last carnival series of 2021, so to win the E Division so convincingly was a fantastic result for the team. Congrats Team St George’s!

Being part of a team is a vital and integral part of life as a student within a school-based setting. Collegiality, collaboration, developing the capacity to listen and learn from others by interacting with a broad cross section of society, enhancing one’s own happiness and sense of self, and consistently trying one’s best all emerge naturally from being part of a well-oiled team.

The American Psychologist released ‘The Science of Teamwork’ in 2020, a study of a body of evidence that found that working in a team actually makes you smarter, more creative and overall, much more successful. This has been evidenced this week across a multitude of different areas where the sense of being part of a St George’s Team has shone particularly brightly.

As a small school community, we create several wide-ranging opportunities for our students to be part of a broad cross-section of teams. Whether this be on the sporting field, through a variety of our co-curricular endeavours, in the classroom, or as members of our wonderful vertical PCG groups, there are many opportunities for all St George’s students to be part of a team across multiple year groups and with a wide variety of different students – they just need to sign up and seek to be part of the team.

We have a culture of students getting involved, underpinned obviously by a genuine sense of curiosity to try something new and to develop and master their current skill set – from joining our Debating or Mock Trial teams, to being involved in the ACC Swim Squad with its early morning training sessions, to being selected as a member of our SRC, an Anglicare Ambassador or a PCG Mentor or even being committed to the St George’s Worlds’ Greatest Shave

Team – there have been numerous opportunities to belong to a St George’s Team this term. St George’s students are encouraged to not just be on the sidelines but to be involved, to actively and enthusiastically participate, to give new experiences a go and to develop that special sense of belonging that comes from contributing to the success of a team. Inclusivity is a strong thread in our approach as a school to being part of a team – everyone plays their part, everyone’s contribution matters, and everyone wins just by being involved.

We embody a culture of students supporting each other to build these valuable skills for success. Older students are seen as role models for our younger students, experienced team members offer guidance, support and advice to those who are newcomers to the team, and the concept of mentoring is widely celebrated across the school so that we grow and develop all students regardless of their capabilities into competent and skilful members of a team.

Through their participation in a broad range of teams, St George’s students stretch themselves physically, intellectually, and

Term 2 | Staff Update

Miss Chelsea Wulff will be joining us in the Inclusive Education Centre next term as Mrs Sasha McArthur leaves us to take up a leadership role within the boarding house at Perth College. Miss Wulff will commence her role as an Education Support Assistant on Monday, 3 April to allow for a full handover to occur with our students and staff. Miss Wulff comes to us from Wesley College where she is currently coaching rowing and rugby. She is studying her Certificate IV in Education Support and is excited to join our fabulous Education Assistant Team.

Mr Peter Quan has been appointed to the Acting Head of Year 11 and 12 role as Mrs Ingrid May departs St George’s at the end of term. Mr Quan is well known to students and their families and is looking forward to working with them as the Head of Year 11 and 12 for the remainder of the 2023 school year.

Mr Alex Hanssen will take over as the Acting Head of Gandhi House from the start of Term Two. He is keen to maintain and improve upon the competitive spirit that is well known and already fully developed within Gandhi House.

emotionally. They emerge with closer connections from outside of their immediate friendship groups, they begin to value the support of their peers and they get to know, understand and appreciate both themselves and each other at a much deeper level.

Whilst all who have been members of a St George’s team this week have been able to express their individual personalities whilst equally contributing to the success of the team as a whole, most importantly I hope that they have also had fun within a team-based environment and stretched themselves to embrace the new opportunities presented to them whether they have won or lost as part of the team.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU from me to all who have contributed to the success of one of our many teams this week. Team St George’s is indeed a brilliant one.

Mrs Tina Campbell Principal

Mr Ken Maddess will join our HASS Department from the start of Term Two. He is currently teaching ATAR P&L and Humanities at Living Waters Lutheran College. He is a member of PLEWA (Political and Legal Educators Association of Western Australia). He has a Master of Teaching from UWA and a Bachelor of Arts (History) and Bachelor of Laws (1st Hon) from ANU. He has been teaching ATAR P&L for several years, has managed a successful Mock Trials Team at Living Waters and was a State Prosecutor for the DPP prior to becoming a teacher. He will join us to teach Humanities and P&L next term and this week undertook a shadow day to meet some of his classes. Ken is looking forward to working in the city again and bringing his HASS classes to life with the many city-based experiences that he has planned for them.

Mr Conrad Sloan will take leadership of the St George’s Outdoor Education Program from the start of next term as Mrs Jackie Sullivan commences a new more position closer to home.