The Dragon | Edition Six | 20 May 2022 by St George's Anglican Grammar School

Edition Six 20 MAY 2022

THE DRAGON

Know le d g

e Faith S e r v

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FORTNIGHTLY NEWS AND EVENTS FOR ST GEORGE’S PARENTS

From the Principal Tina Campbell

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.” Franz Kafka With the launch of The Laurence Library this year on Level 2, Dr Annette Pedersen and I want our students to be avid readers. We want them to enjoy the pleasure and rigour of a great text. We want St George’s students to be excited to read and to love the silence and solitude of reading a brilliant novel. It is by reading that we begin to open our minds to a world of possibilities and hopefully become more critical, creative, and curious.

When we share our reading journey with others, such as through a class reading the same text or through a book club, as humans we collectively have a sense of connection, we enjoy a shared language with a mutual understanding, and we enjoy the camaraderie of our shared reading experience. Reading a novel together is such a cathartic experience. As our own Laurence Library begins to have more and more books on its shelves available to be borrowed by our students, and as our English classes launch full steam ahead into their wider reading program across Years 7 – 10, I implore all students to begin to challenge themselves to read daily for pleasure, to read to escape and to read texts that make them think. The importance of reading is most definitely coming alive at St George’s.

Reading fuels our imagination and calls upon the reader to create in their own ‘mind’s eye’ the images that are being described by the author within the pages of the text. When we read, each of us will paint a different picture, everyone will see things slightly differently even when we might be reading the same novel. Each character within a novel’s page will look, think, and speak differently depending on our own unique interpretation and vision of the text as its reader.

So, as we head into cooler evenings, I encourage you to get excited about reading too and perhaps even consider reading the same book as your child so that you can immerse yourself in the joy of reading together.

Reading ignites our imagination; it stimulates our memory, and it helps us more easily recall information. It is also a wonderfully accessible tool to calm us down, to reduce our anxieties and to stabilise our emotions. What better way could there be to relax and unwind?

We continue to look forward to a term that is full of events and activities across the School. We have survived NAPLAN Online with 1

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catch up tests now continuing until Friday 27 May. Our inaugural Maths Week has challenged our thinking with a wonderful array of activities for the students thanks to the hard work and efforts of the Maths Department. We have completed our hybrid series of Parent Teacher Interviews with our final interactions being held online. We have had our first round of NWAS for the year against Aranmore Catholic College in netball, soccer, touch rugby and badminton. Students have been shown through our new examination centre at 441 Murray Street where the Year 11 and 12 examinations will take place and the very first St George’s ‘World of Work Week’ has been carefully planned by Mrs Sharan Tagore for our APEx students. Year 7s have a silent disco to look forward to, ‘Battle of the Bands’ will take place on Thursday 9 June and Mr Quan is busily organising the much anticipated Year 8 camp which will be a residential experience in Term Two, Week 8.

remember to keep your child home if they are unwell, encourage them to wear a mask at school whenever they cannot physically distance themselves from others and use the Rapid Antigen Tests provided for you at home as required. Should your child become COVID positive we need to be advised of this through our COVID absence email on covidabsence@ stgeorges.wa.edu.au. Academic work will be provided for all students during any COVID absence through SEQTA and students may contact their teachers directly through Direqt Messaging. The COVID quarantine period is for a minimum of 7 days with a return to school, if asymptomatic, on Day 8. Any student who still exhibits symptoms after completing Day 7 of quarantine would need a medical certificate to return to school. There is no need to return a COVID negative result to exit quarantine. Each student’s allocated box of RAT can be collected through main reception at the end of each day.

Whilst we indeed have much to celebrate and look forward to, we hope that everyone can continue to participate and engage in their learning and all that this entails here at St George’s. We are ever mindful of the need to keep everyone safe and well. Please do

With every good wish, Mrs Tina Campbell

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Chaplain’s Corner exciting news when it was announced that we could resume gathering in the Cathedral as the ‘whole school’, starting with St. George’s Day which nearly three quarters of the School attended. After that came the School Guild and Year 12 Cohort Induction Service. Last week was our first School Assembly in which the Duke of Edinburgh Awards were presented to two students, Alex and Levi Humberstone. Our 2022 Art and Design Captain, Music Captain and Drama Captain were also announced and received their badges from the Head of Performing Arts, Mr Michael Newton, and the Head of Visual Art, Ms Carol Wohlnick. Several other students received awards for outstanding performance in the recent School Inter-House Cross Country Carnival. The mood is indeed buoyant despite the several COVID-19 cases around. At least we can ascend to the House of the LORD to pray and worship together as a school.

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Last Monday on the way to the School Assembly, I walked with two of our students who are members of the Chapel Choir. They expressed how excited they were to be going to the Cathedral to worship and learn about religion. Other students have also expressed interest in getting baptised. That being the case, a letter will be sent to parents announcing that next term there will be baptism classes here at School and I anticipate the baptisms to be done by Archbishop Kay in Term 4.

Psalm 122.1-2 When I arrived at St George’s we could not gather to worship in the Cathedral as a whole school, only a single class was allowed at a time, and the rest had to watch pre-recorded videos in the classroom. While chaplains at other schools reported that videos hardly worked for them and others totally abandoned them, they still worked for us. It was not ideal, but it was the best possible option. Thus, it was such

Father Gift

School Operations Susan Lazenby

Two very special places contribute to our School. One is new and one is a familiar and beloved space. The new Laurence Library is where we hold Coffee Mornings with the Principal, so it is a perfect opportunity to see the space and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, something to eat and a chat with the Executive team and the Library Coordinator, Dr Annette Pedersen. These visits can be booked here; the next one is Friday 3 June. The other space is, of course, St George’s Cathedral where we are all back again for our Monday Chapel or Assemblies. You are always welcome to attend one of the services should you be in the city at that time. The students leave School at about 1:35 pm so the worship service starts at about 1:45 pm. We are on our way back to School by 2:25 pm. Come and join in the worship led by our Chaplain, Fr Gift.

Events coming up in the next fortnight: 23-24 May 24 May

There is another School space about which we are delighted, 441 Murray Street, the site of our future location and our new, expanded exam venue which you would have read about in the Head of Curriculum’s article. It is easily accessible with the Milligan Street Red CAT bus stop nearby, a short walk from the Perth Underground, or there are convenient drop off and pick up bays directly outside the front doors. Look out for the School flag banners at the entrance of the building.

25 May

Year 12 study leave VET Workplace Learning NWAS Year 7/8 Netball v JSR NWAS Boys Soccer v Mercy College NWAS Year 9/10 Netball, JSR

25 May - 3 June Year 11 and 12 examinations (1-2 June exam catch up days) 27 May

Year 7 Science Excursion, Perth Zoo

30 May - 1 June APEx Welcome to the World Of Work 1 June Parent Guest Speaker 2 June 3 June 3

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

ACC Cross-Country Carnival, Alderbury Reserve, Perth Coffee Morning

Pastoral Focus Hilton Hardman

pastoral system has had a large benefit in positive communication between students and providing that second layer of support for students in their younger years.

St George’s Wellbeing App - PULSE

Click here for a video telling you more information about Pulse.

At St George’s we continue to explore ways to provide support for our students. The Pastoral team spent a considerable amount of time last year researching different online support options.

Parent Guest Speaker – 1 June 2022

Helping Our Children Manage Stress and Anxiety

Students are experiencing stress at younger ages than ever before, and it is the kind of stress that does not die down or go away. This stress can, and is, changing our children as they go through school. As parents, our role is to teach our children to manage these problems well – as well as model this to them.

At the start of this year, our Year 7 – 9 students were introduced to PULSE. PULSE is an online well-being platform that supports students in expressing how their week is going, options for support within the School if needed, and the ability to send fellow students or staff affirmations for positive interactions during that week.

This session is a combination of how to manage our own stress so that our children can learn from our example of how to reduce and manage the stress that they feel. Adam Przytula has been involved with running sessions in schools for over 22 years. Adam graduated at the end of 2010 with a Secondary Teaching degree from Murdoch University while working as a chaplain in a school and in 2011 created Armed For Life, running sessions in schools to focus on helping students build resilience and deal with mental health issues.

Such systems are important as they provided alternative platforms for students to communicate their needs. It also allows students to track their own well-being throughout the year through their personal login. To date, we have had the following number of messages of gratitude sent to staff and students through the App by students: Kindess - 533 messages Fairness – 115 messages Humour – 574 messages

In 2014, Armed For Life won the Telstra Australian Business Award in the Micro Business Category. Armed For Life has worked with over 450 schools and spoken to over 950,000 students.

Determination – 202 messages Just saying thanks – 351 messages

Adam has been working with youth for 22 years in various capacities, and always has and always will have a passion for helping adolescents dealing with the same issues that he struggled with himself. It is this passion coupled with his sense of humour, complete honesty about his own experiences, and a strong element of vulnerability that causes students and teachers to engage so well with the sessions he runs.

The numbers listed above are extremely important to us as a School. Students taking the time to acknowledge the kindness, fairness and humour of their fellow students and teachers embodies the sense of family within our School community. Both students and staff have expressed the joy and excitement they get from receiving such an email to start their day.

Wednesday, 1 June 2022 | 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Book Now: RSVP to email events@stgeorges.wa.edu.au by 30 May. A space for your children to study in or relax will be made available at School during the guest speaker session or your children may also join you in listening to the guest speaker.

The App has also allowed us to check in with students who are indicating they are feeling negative, promoting open communication around concerns and struggles. Overall, this new addition to the

4 St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Curriculum Update

Year 10 Exams and Subject Selection Package

Anthony Bochrinis

In Week 5, all Year 10 students will receive their Semester One Exam timetable for Thursday 16 June and Friday 17 June. I am pleased to announce that Year 10 exams will be held at 441 Murray Street, the same location as our Year 11 and 12 exams.

Year 11 and 12 ATAR Exams Year 11 and 12 ATAR exams start next Wednesday 25 May at 441 Murray Street, the location of the future site of our School. There was a buzz of excitement during our tour of the new facility earlier this week when our students were able to experience the journey from 50 William Street to the exam venue.

It is important to note that all Year 10 students should be entering their exam period with a goal in mind, as predicated by the prerequisite of their desired Year 11 subjects found in the 2023 Subject Selection Package. Our students are well underway in exploring this resource in Careers classes; however, it is equally important to explore this at home! The Subject Selection Package can be found as a SEQTA Direqt Message that was sent to families earlier this term.

Students are not required to be at School at times outside of an exam, however, are encouraged to book a consultation with teachers for further preparation. The morning exam period starts promptly at 8:00 am to be prepared for the start of the exam at 8:30 am. Likewise, the afternoon exam period begins at 12:30pm for the start of the exam at 1:00 pm. Please find a copy of the examination timetable below: Year 11 Exam Timetable Semester One 2022

Week 5

Week

Week 6

Week

• •

Session

Monday May 23

Tuesday May 24

Wednesday May 25

Thursday May 26

Friday May 27

Morning Exam • Arrive at 8:00am • Exam Starts at 8:30am

Year 11 Normal School Day

No Year 11 Exams Scheduled

BME (20) Comp Sci (10) Drama Written (11) Specialist (7)

Afternoon Exam • Arrive at 12:30pm • Exam Starts at 1:00pm

Year 11 Normal School Day

Biology (12) Design (11) Politics & Law (10) Physics (16)

Economics (9) Human Bio (19) Mod Hist (17) Japanese (5) Visual Art (3)

No Year 11 Exams Scheduled

Session

Monday May 30

Tuesday May 31

Wednesday Jun 1

Thursday Jun 2

Friday Jun 3

EALD @ ASCI (5)

Applied Info Tech (12) Chemistry (15) Geography (17) Psychology (11)

No Year 11 Exams Scheduled

Applications (34) Methods (23)

Morning Exam • Arrive at 8:00am • Exam Starts at 8:30am Afternoon Exam • Arrive at 12:30pm • Exam Starts at 1:00pm

See teacher for details

English (51) Literature (8) EALD @ ASCI (5)

SIX TIPS FOR EXAM PREPARATION

All Year 11 exams (except EALD) will be held at 441 Murray Street, the site of the new location of St George’s. Students will be given a tour of the new exam site during Extended PCG in Week 4 (18th of May).

Catch Up Exam Day Drama Practical (11)

USE STUDY INTERVALS Effective studying doesn’t mean to sit at a desk for hours on end. Students can use the Pomodoro technique for studying. Click here for the YouTube video.

Catch Up Exam Day

See teacher for details

Catch Up Exam Day

See teacher for details

Assessment free period from Week 4 Wednesday 18 May – Week 5 Tuesday 24 May School resumes on Tuesday 7 June and English exam is returned on Monday 13 June with all other Exams returned Wednesday 8 June

Year 12 Exam Timetable Semester One 2022

Week 5

Week

Week 6

Week

Session

Monday May 23

Tuesday May 24

Year 12 Study Leave (No Classes)

Afternoon Exam • Arrive at 12:30pm • Exam Starts at 1:00pm

Year 12 Study Leave (No Classes)

Session

Monday May 30

Tuesday May 31

Afternoon Exam • Arrive at 12:30pm • Exam Starts at 1:00pm

Biology (7) Comp Sci (3) Politics & Law (8) Visual Art (4)

No Year 12 Exams Scheduled

Wednesday May 25

Thursday May 26

Friday May 27

English (30) Literature (7)

Accounting (14) Design (9) Human Bio (12) Specialist (5)

No Year 12 Exams Scheduled

Japanese (2)

BME (15) Chemistry (15) Mod History (6)

Wednesday Jun 1

Thursday Jun 2

Friday Jun 3

ELACS @ ASCI (6) See teacher for details

Applications (28) Methods (9)

Catch Up Exam Day

EALD @ ASCI (2)

AVOID ROTE LEARNING Although some information needs to be learnt by rote, it is inadvisable to rote learn an answer to a predicted question. Instead, students should learn the topic well enough to be confident in discussing it no matter what the question is.

Catch Up Exam Day Drama Practical (5) See teacher for details

See teacher for details

Writing and memorising notes is not enough to do well in exams. A sizeable contribution to success in ATAR exams can be attributed to students completing past papers under timed conditions, and then marking them critically.

All Year 12 exams (except EALD and ELACS) will be held at 441 Murray Street, the site of the new location of St George’s. Students will be given a tour of the new exam site during Extended PCG in Week 4 (18th of May).

Morning Exam • Arrive at 8:00am • Exam Starts at 8:30am

COMPLETE PAST EXAMS

Applied Info Tech (8) Drama Written (5) Physics (7) Psychology (13)

No Year 12 Exams Scheduled

Catch Up Exam Day

• Assessment free period from Week 4 Wednesday 18 May – Week 5 Tuesday 24 May • School resumes on Week 7 Tuesday 7 June and Exams are returned to students on Wednesday 8 June

SLEEP IS EVERYTHING

Year 12 APEx Externally Set Tasks

Make sure students get eight hours of sleep every night and never resort to an all-nighter. No coffee after 2pm and no phones/computers right before sleep.

Well done to our Year 12 APEx students over the past two weeks as they have worked hard to complete their Externally Set Tasks (ESTs). The ESTs are a series of 50-minute unseen tests in each subject based on a variety of syllabus criteria. Students will receive their EST results over the course of Week 5 in their classes.

KNOW YOUR SCHEDULE Know the schedule of exams and allow plenty of time to get there.

NAPLAN A huge accomplishment by our Year 7 and 9 students as they completed their online NAPLAN tests for the first time in several years! It was encouraging to see students try their absolute best in NAPLAN this year, with many positive discussions had between students after each test.

BE POSITIVE A positive mindset will not create talent, but it will release it. 5

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Our Year 10 -12 students need to sign up to Study Work Grow. This is their one stop shop for all things careers! I will be using this platform to send out important messages and highlight opportunities relevant to year groups. Year 10 – 12 students will have received a Direqt Message from me with instructions on how to get on board.

Last week our Year 10 students attended the Perth Careers Expo at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. There were exhibitors from all the major universities and colleges as well as the Australian Defence Force, to name a few. Our Year 10 students certainly made the most of it, grabbing some fantastic freebies and those essential prospectuses to learn more about their potential future pathway – just in time for those all-important subject selection conversations at home!

Contact me if you need assistance. Don’t forget to also check out the May issue of the Career Compass and the latest Career Spotlight. Mrs Sharan Tagore

The Library has been very busy over the past weeks with students anxious to borrow for their reading classes. It has been wonderful to see everyone participating in this new program. Staff have also availed themselves of our enticing “Uber Reads”. The menu is available in the staffroom. We have also had a number of new books delivered and these will be on the shelves very soon.

students are seeking help with their schoolwork, or a quiet place to catch up on their study. Chess Club also attracts keen participants. Some students also choosing to play chess in the Library at recess and lunchtime.

Our very professional eboards are proving very popular. Seen in every classroom, these are displaying new books and books curated around specific themes. Students were thrilled by our “Friday the 13th” slides. We have also started our “Grammar” slides. These focus on common errors of grammar and form an important aspect of a focus on literacy. As we know, knowledge is power. Literacy opens the door to unlimited knowledge.

Our clubs are doing well. Lego Club is still working on the gigantic Titanic model, while Philosophy Club has raised some interesting and confounding questions. The Library hosted its first Coffee Morning. While a winter morning kept numbers down, it was still good to meet and chat in our calm library before the business and busyness of the school day. Dr Annette Pedersen

In relation to this, Homework Club continues to be busy. A lot of 6

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Around the School

thrilling chase, we finally got Mr Quan. All I am saying is, “if you wear a white shirt to a Colour Run, what can you expect?”.

Hygiene Donations for St George’s Day

On that note, on behalf of Gandhi House and the School, I would like to say a massive thank you to Mr Quan for making the day possible. I would also like to say well done to Gandhi House this term! We finished the term in the lead thanks to our amazing Inter-House Swimming Carnival victory and to all the tokens everyone has earned throughout the term. Keep up the good work in Term 2, the House Cup is in our sights! Brianna Goss Gandhi House Captain

New School Captains for 2022 At St George’s Anglican Grammar School, we celebrate our namesake, St George, to build a kinder, safer, and more accepting community of learners who will carry these core values into the world around them. Through our thoughts, words and actions, our School Community is called to make the world a better place one ‘toothbrush’ at a time.

Our new Performing Arts and Creative Art Captains for 2022 were announced at the School Assembly held on Monday 15 May. Congratulation to:

On St George’s Day, the School Community focused its attention on Service. Service is part of the motto on our School crest. Our service to those in greater need than ourselves manifested itself in the collection of hundreds of hygiene items. The items ranged from bars of soap to hairbrushes and everything in between. The Student Guild and the 2022 Anglicare Ambassadors packed the hygiene items and all donations were sent to Anglicare to be distributed to those experiencing homelessness and/or poverty. Ryan McBride

Katelynn Barr

Sydnee Gould

Bethany Watt

Art & Design Captain

Drama Captain

Music Captain

NWAS Weekly Wrap Up

Service Learning Coordinator

Gandhi Charity Day

The famed Colour Run returned for Gandhi Charity Day, celebrating the end of Term One. The proceeds this year went to The Leukaemia Foundation. Thank you to everyone who donated. We raised over $1000.

We had a great start to the North Western Associated Schools (NWAS) Winter Fixtures against Aranmore this week. On Tuesday, we had two Year 7/8 Netball teams and a Badminton Team play at Aranmore and a Boys Soccer Team play at Britannia Reserve. The Boys Soccer led 1-0 until late in the second half but ended up losing 3-1.

This year we had a change of scenery and held the Colour Run at Langley Park. A special thank you to the Student Guild and the Year 12 helpers who came down early to set up and, most importantly, throw colour and squirt water guns!

On Wednesday, the Year 7-10 Girls Soccer Team beat Mercy College 1-0 in an incredible performance, playing with only eight girls against a team of eleven. The Year 9/10 Girls Netball team played at Aranmore along with our mixed Touch Rugby team who had an awfully close game, just missing out on a win. Congratulations to all competitors.

The day was memorable to say the least, despite the COVID restrictions at the time, there was still much fun had by all. After a whole afternoon of avoiding the “colour points”, and after a 7

St. George's Anglican Grammar School – THE DRAGON

Next week we have Year 7/8 Netball and Boys Soccer playing John Septimus Roe and Mercy College respectively and then on Wednesday the Year 9/10 Netball will go up against John Septimus Roe. Unfortunately, there are byes for some teams next week as Kingsway Christian College has withdrawn from the competition. The final three weeks of the competition will see everyone involved.

Muso Profile Bethany Watt

Ms Jodie Scheele Head of HPE

On a Musical Note Music is back! All bands, ensembles and music groups have resumed their normal rehearsal schedules. In class, the Year 9 Advanced Music Program students are working on sampling and creating an original piece based on their samples. This includes editing and re-sampling their recordings to create a virtual drum-kit to provide the groove for their pieces.

Instrument Bass and guitar.

What first got you interested in Music? I think I have been interested in music my whole life! I have so many pictures of me playing ukuleles and messing around with pianos from as young as two years old. I started learning piano when I was around seven. I became interested in bass when I found out my primary school did not offer piano lessons, which ended up being a huge blessing in disguise.

What’s the best thing about Music at St George’s? I would say the number of opportunities this School gives us. It is still remarkable for me to reflect on how this School has provided us with tours of Germany and opportunities to perform at Fringe World shows, among so many other experiences. There is no other school music department like it!

Battle of the Bands is coming up quickly on 9 June. This year it will be held at local live-music venue, Convenients. Band entries for the prize money close on 21 May. Students should check their Direqt Messages and Daily Notices for the entry link. Congratulations to Beth Watt (Year 12, Bass Guitar – Electrocity Ensemble, Swing Band, Year 12 Rock Band and Chapel Band member) on her appointment as the 2022 Music Captain.

Why should other people do music? Music has always been, and will forever be, the world’s collective tool for creating change and sparking joy. Why wouldn’t you want to be involved?

Coming Up & Opportunities: 21 May – Battle of the Bands entries close 9 June – Battle of the Bands Concert at Convenients, Lake Street, Northbridge 23 June – ASC Rock Concert 31 August – ASC Piano Competition

What’s your advice for anyone learning Music?

Listen to as many types and genres of music as you possibly can. It is so important to know how unlimited your creative possibilities are. Whether it is the most simplistic or obscure music, find anything that sparks a passion and motivation to play.

Mr Michael Newton Head of Performing Arts 8

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Lia Watters Year 7 ST GEORGE’S

Jenna Everett Year 12 We have just received confirmation that Jenna has been selected for the Australian Team and will compete at the Sailing World Championships!

Lia competed at the 2022 Secondary Champion Schools Cross Country event held today, 20 May at UWA Sports Park. We are very pleased to announce that in the 3km race, Girls Under 12 Divison, Lia placed second in a field of 223 competitors, and has subsequently been selected for the Western Australian State Team to compete in Adelaide in August.

The Championships will take place in Barcelona, Spain from 25 July - 6 August. An amazing achievement, Jenna. We are so very proud of you and the whole St George’s Community wishes you all the very best.

Alex and Levi Humberstone Year 12 Congratulations to Alex and Levi who were each presented with their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh International Award at the recent School Assembly. The Bronze Award Program has four sections: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. Students must do a minimum of 3 months activity for each of the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections, and plan, train for, and complete a 2-day outdoor adventure. Amongst many activities, these two community minded and dedicated students prepared and delivered food for people in need and completed the arduous, 123km Cape to Cape walk trail.

ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL A school of the Anglican Schools Commission Inc. KW noiswd cee lo ed mgeGFraaitche SSeerrvviic

Mrs Susan Lazenby Head of Operations (Acting) Congratulations to Mrs Lazenby for being awarded Life Membership of the English Teachers Association of Western Australia. Mrs Lazenby was bestowed this honour for her outstanding contribution to the English teaching community, as well as her ceaseless enthusiasm for the betterment of subject English and Literature.