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Last week, we had a special assembly at school to launch Gidhal, a book which publishes the stories of our indigenous students and their communities. It is an acknowledgment of our commitment to our wonderful partnership with Yalari which I believe enriches our school community and all our students’ experiences.

In 2019, Mrs Shave and Mr Peinke, two teachers in our English faculty, came to see me with an application for an award we offer to our staff. Our Leading in Innovation Award invites current members of staff to apply for funds to assist them with a project.

It is expected that the proposed innovation aligns with the School’s mission and values and is consistent with our School’s Strategic Plan – ‘A Local School with a Global Outlook’. To be eligible for the award, applications need to address three criteria:

1. Criterion 1 – The innovation addresses an identified learning need/opportunity that will benefit students at St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School.
2. Criterion 2 – Student-focussed activities are associated with the learning innovation.
3. Criterion 3 – A plan has been established to ensure effective implementation and resourcing of the learning innovation.

Mrs Shave and Mr Peinke were successful in their application and they have produced a resource for all our teachers which is an opportunity to ‘hear’ the voice of our students and their families and to celebrate elements of our students’ culture. We were so excited about this initiative, that we entered Gidhal into The Educator's Innovative Schools' Award. Yesterday, we learned that our nomination was successful!

I congratulate Margot Shave and Noel Peinke for their dedication to this project and for bringing it to fruition; I also thank all other our contributors to the project.

Professional Women’s Network

The Development Office is currently seeking corporate sponsors to join the Professional Women’s Network in 2021. If this is something of interest, please do not hesitate to contact Lindsay Khushal to discuss this further. However, please note that if sponsorship is not right for your business at this time, we do have Corporate Table packages which are a great way to experience our high calibre guest speakers and extend invitations to your own network.

If you would like any more information regarding sponsorship or purchasing Corporate Table packages, please contact Lindsay Khushal (Director of Philanthropy and Stakeholder Engagement – Acting) on lkhushal@stmargarets.qld.edu.au or 07 3862 0884.

Ros Curtis

Student care and wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do at St Margaret’s and as the world has grappled with a global pandemic that resulted in border closures and stringent COVID-19 safety measures, St Margaret’s has had to cancel the program for 2020/2021 with the view to resume the program once borders re-open and our students are able to once again travel safely. We understand that this may take time, and our wonderful exchange partners in other parts of the world are keen to resume exchanges when it is safe to do so.

We have been looking for ways to adapt the Exchange Program to suit the ‘new normal’ and the challenging times. This program will allow us to align with the fundamental principles of the Global Exchange Program such as cultural immersion, student ambassadorship and reciprocal hosting. One of the exciting opportunities that we have been pursuing is the possibility of inter-state exchanges for 2021/2022 that will afford our students the chance to study in another Australian state such as in South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. We are currently liaising with a number of schools and will have some more information about some opportunities in the new year. We hope to have our first domestic exchanges beginning later in 2021. Year 10 students will be invited to apply for and participate in these exchanges, as they would have for the Global Exchange Program.

Another opportunity we will be offering to our 2021 Years 10 and 11 cohorts is to take part in an experience with World Challenge. World Challenge provide transformative travel experiences around the world and are working with us to offer a domestic opportunity for travel next year. We are currently looking at options for two-week journeys to the Northern Territory or Western Australia, still designed to foster global citizenship through cultural immersion.

We are currently in discussions with some prospective schools and with World Challenge and we will update the St Margaret’s community once we have more details in place. In the meantime, we are maintaining our connections with our schools internationally and hope to set up some classroom virtual meetups and opportunities to allow our students to learn more about our international community.

Karen Gorrie

In assembly this week, we also lit the third candle in the Advent Wreath, the candle of Joy. The flame of the candle reminded us of the joy that Jesus brings into this world and his presence with us. Jesus said “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete”.

The students were asked to reflect on moments of Joy. They were asked, when have you noticed joy in your life? When have you known times when you felt your happiest, either big things or the small?

We pray, God of all joy, we thank you that you want to bring joy into every life. We thank you for the joy you have brought to us. We bring to you now prayers of joy for the people and places in our hearts today. Trusting in your powerful name. Amen.

Susan Crothers-Robertson

New Boarders are allocated a big sister and a buddy. The Big Sister Program at St Margaret’s is a very powerful way to enhance the lives of all new Boarders. The characteristics of a big sister is that they will be honest, dependable, caring and empathetic.

The role of the big sister is to encourage their buddies in a positive way, establish positive self-worth, self-efficacy and identity and to help them establish positive bonds with others, the Boarding House, peers, family and community.

Sandra Johnson

Key findings of this review:

1. All students will leave with essential skills
2. All students will leave with a Learner Profile
3. All pathways will be equally respected
4. All students will benefit from informed decision-making
5. All schools will have strong partnerships with industry
6. All students will start to prepare their Education Passport
7. All students will be provided with equal opportunities for success
8. Government policies will be informed by evidence

This report highlights that achievement and the development of whole child are sometimes seen as two separate entities; however, the reality is they are inherently tied together. The foundations of schools are built upon the balance between both academic outcomes and developing students as contributing members of the global community. The foundations can be seen in the mission statements and mottos of schools. These statements encapsulate what a school ultimately wants as its ‘final products’, they are more about character and integrity that lead to success, not just academic success itself.

The St Margaret’s Plus (STM+) program is endeavouring to work to find the balance for the eternal see-saw of education, between the importance of academic achievement and the development of skills to enable a student to thrive in society.

Broadly, the purpose of STM+ is to identify and document the essential skills students develop inside and outside of the classroom through participating in school life.

It aims to:

• Develop a whole picture of students
• Promote engagement and well roundedness
• Enhance the success of all students as they graduate
• Highlight skills that enhance employability outcomes of students
• Develop for the students an e-portfolio of evidence and a summary to supplement the QCE/ATAR information

STM+ provides a summary of activities that maps the skills they have learnt outside/alongside the academic program. This platform draws together the activities and the associated skills to create the overview. StM+ aims to develop a whole picture of students by promoting engagement and well roundedness to highlight skills the employability outcomes of students and enhance the success of all students as they graduate.

Currently, thirty Year 10 students are assisting in trialling the St Margaret’s Plus platform to provide feedback and ideas for improvements. The trial of this program will be broadened to all Years 10 to 12 students next year.

Nicole Devlin

2019 saw this partnership strengthened further with St Margaret’s offering a final year student from QUT the “Born to Fly Scholarship”. This is an opportunity for St Margaret’s as an educational institution to give back to our profession. The partnership with the Queensland University of Technology enables us to provide a student with the opportunity to immerse themselves into a school community and experience the myriad of roles a teacher plays in the school setting.

This year, the scholarship continued. The recipients were Jessica Galpin, who has been working in the Science and Technology Faculty and Jessica Karrasch who has been working in the English Faculty.

This scholarship provided both recipients with many opportunities from writing assessments and units of work, reporting and learning the new QCE system. They have also had the opportunity to attend excursions and be a part of the Extra-Curricular life of the school, while completing the final year of their education degree.

I would like to acknowledge the work both scholarship recipients have done in 2020. We have enjoyed having them be part of the school community and have appreciated their enthusiasm to learn and develop new skills as educators.

In 2021, we will welcome another “Born to Fly Scholarship: recipient as we continue this productive relationship with QUT.

Tom McCormick

Girls’ dissatisfaction manifests around body image, particularly weight, at an alarmingly young age. Over 80 percent of 10-year-old girls are afraid of being fat and by the middle years of schooling, around half of girls are dissatisfied with two or more parts of their body, and body satisfaction hits rock bottom between the ages of 12 and 15.

Notably, girls’ self-esteem plummets at age 12 and doesn’t improve until age 20, an unhappiness attributed to changes in body shape and size with the onset of puberty. A fair amount of this unhappiness and pressure results from media – which presents images that tend to portray a narrow standard of beauty.

In short, girls see images that despite recognising as unrealistic, unattainable and often not even real, they aspire to meet and then suffer when they can’t help but fail to do so. At St Margaret’s, we strive to educate the girls to be happy in their own skin and to find their many gifts they have been given. For more information regarding body image, please go to the POD, Parent Resources, School TV.

Nikki Townsend

Gratitude is defined as “affirming that there are good things in the world – gifts and benefits that we’ve received – and reorganising that these sources of goodness come from outside ourselves” (Zakrzewski, 2013). Expressing gratitude is a skill that can be taught both at home and at school. For egocentric 6 and 7-year-old children, gratitude can be fostered but it doesn’t fully materialise until ages 10-14 when students develop the ability to empathise.

Teachers and parents, however, should encourage children from an early age, to say why they are grateful. Adults need to model this again and again for children to think more deeply in terms of why they are grateful for someone or something. When children express gratitude, teachers and parents should encourage them to notice intentions (the thought behind the gift that they have received), appreciate costs (someone went out of their way or made sacrifices to help them) and recognise the benefits (someone provided them with a gift or a kind act that has personal value).

A few weeks ago, students had the opportunity to visit the Prayer Space in the Chapel, where they could record their ‘wow’ moment for the year. These are our Christmas tree decorations. Most students recorded what they were most grateful for. The most common theme was how grateful they were for their friends and the kindness they shared. It was also affirming to read that they were also grateful for their family, school, educational experiences and personal achievements. Some also acknowledged the year of COVID and how they were luckier than others, as one student wrote:

 “The year has gone fast, with COVID everything was different, but it was still amazing.”

Many girls were grateful to go on camp. This week, the Years 5 and 6 students headed to camp in different directions and I know the girls will look forward to sharing their experiences on return to school, especially the one-off trip to Cairns for the Year 6 students.

It has been a couple of weeks since the girls returned to the playground, but I think the squeals of joy and playful behaviour are measures of how grateful the students are to play in an environment that offers so many experiences; sensory, play, physical activity including climbing, social opportunities and ways to be kind to each other.

Angela Drysdale

Saxophone Ensemble – Barley Sugar Garden Performance

Thank you to the Saxophone Ensemble and Dr Syntageros for their entertaining performances provided during morning tea last week in the Barley Sugar Garden. They were very much enjoyed by all in attendance!

2021 Private Music Tuition

If your daughter is currently undertaking private music tuition, she will automatically be placed on her current teachers’ roll for 2021. Parents do not need to fill in a new application form. However, if your daughter is wanting to discontinue lessons in 2021, we ask that you please email directly to the Music Department at music@stmargarets.qld.edu.au prior to the end of the school year.

Return of Hired Instruments

All hired instruments are to be returned to the Sister Helen Orchestra Room Music Department no later than 3pm on Friday 20 November for cleaning and repairs.

Music Support Group

The St Margaret’s Music Department would like to extend special thanks to our 2020 Music Support Group office holders, President - Kerrith Matyear, Vice President - Nicki Colledge, Treasurer - Brendon Alford and Secretary - Charlotte Davis for their leadership shown throughout the year. Thank you also to all parents who attended meetings and offered support in a variety of capacities throughout 2020. The Music Department is very appreciative of the continued support this group provides to all involved in the St Margaret’s Music Program.

The Annual General Meeting was held last Tuesday evening and we are pleased to announce the 2021 office holders:

President: Kerrith Matyear

Vice President: Antoinette Aquilina

Secretary: Charlotte Davis

Treasurer: Brendon Alford

The next Music Support Group meeting will be held on Tuesday 2 February 2021 at 5:00pm in the Primary Music Room. We encourage parents from both the Primary and Secondary schools to become involved.

Brad King

The Juniors played consistently well over the five weeks and showed great improvement with every match. They drew with the number one positioned St Rita’s team and fought hard with wins in the singles matches, but St Rita’s tournament players edged ahead on the day.

Our Open B team entered the semi-finals in the number one position and progressed to the finals after a strong performance against The Glennie School. In the finals, St Margaret’s Open B was matched up against All Hallows’, the toughest competition during the rounds. The team played exceedingly well and ended the day as Runners Up by a 5-game difference.

With such a great effort by all teams on the day and the Intermediate team during the rounds, St Margaret’s was placed 4th in the Champion School table, ending the Knowles Cup Competition as the most successful for St Margaret’s to date.

We would like to thank all the girls for their enthusiasm, willingness to attend training and exemplary display of team play. Many thanks also to our Coach, Beck Meares and Coordinator, Mrs Delia Eastland for their expertise, encouragement and direction of St Margaret’s Tennis. Also, a thank you to our Tennis parents for the support and encouragement from afar this year and we look forward to a return to a new usual next year.

Boarders Cup

Last week at Northshore Tennis Centre, the final of the Boarders Tennis Cup was played out. Gabriella Henzell won a hard-hitting match, played with good game play tactics to just edge out Camille Maunder. Congratulations to Gabriella as our Boarders Cup winner for 2020.

Invitational Swim Meet

On Friday 13 November, St Margaret’s will host St Aidan’s for a friendly interschool swim meet for both Primary and Secondary swimmers. The afternoon will commence at 4:15pm for racing and will conclude with a barbecue for all girls at approximately 5:30pm. For the full event schedule, please see the Secondary Swimming POD page.

Swim Camp 2021

St Margaret’s has a terrific record at the QGSSSA Championships having placed 3rd in both the Aggregate and Percentage Cups in 2020. The annual swim camp is an integral part of this success, therefore all students are encouraged to attend Swim Camp on Wednesday 20 January – Friday 22 January. Swim Camp will be held onsite, with the girls staying in the St Margaret’s Boarding House and all pool sessions occurring at the pool. For further details regarding the camp, please access the Secondary Swimming POD page and register via .

Cricket

Pre-season training and Open Cricket trials have commenced for all our budding cricketers and we look forward to capitalising on our good performance in both the Open and Junior Division 1 teams in 2021. Training will continue until the end of term with the competition commencing on Wednesday 3 February 2021. Any girls who are currently in Years 7-11 who may have missed the sign-on, please contact Cricket Coordinator, Mr Peinke via email to register: npeinke@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Metropolitan North School Sport Region

St Margaret’s is situated within the Metropolitan North School Sport region. Metropolitan North School Sport offers representative pathway opportunities for students aged 10-19 years to compete in many popular sports such as, and not limited, to Hockey, Softball, Football, AFL, Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball and Netball.

If your daughter is interested in the representative pathway, please  to subscribe to the Met North monthly newsletter to keep up to date with the latest sporting information, trial dates and event calendars.

Helen Lobegeiger

St Margaret’s Outside School Hours Care will be operating for the upcoming December/January Vacation Care. The Service is open from 7am until 6pm daily on Friday 27 November to Monday 25 January 2021; school resumes 27 January 2021, with 26 January being the Australia Day Public Holiday. Please note, OSHC will be closed from Monday 21 December 2020 to 10 January 2021, reopening on Monday 11 January 2021.

Please refer to the attached Information Guide (PDF 668.3KB) for full booking terms and conditions. We are unable to accept bookings via email or text message. The OSHC registration and Debitsuccess form must be completed, signed and sent back to us to finalise your booking. Please read the information guide carefully as some information has changed. OSHC Registration and Debitsuccess can be completed via the My Family Lounge.

Please complete your Vacation Care Booking Form via the My Family Lounge APP.

We are very excited to inform you that St Margaret’s OSHC has subscribed to a fantastic online Booking and Waitlist management program called QK Enrol. This program will give you access to manage your own account information, where you will have the ability to make bookings requests and allows you to complete and submit an online enrolment form for your child. You can do this and much more all within a parent portal called ’My Family Lounge’.

How do I log in?

Please and either sign in with your existing My Family Lounge account or Register for an account if you do not already have one. Please note, all families who have previously submitted an enrolment form will have an account already set up; all you will need to do is click ‘forgotten password’ and use the email address you used to receive this form.

When making a Vacation Care booking, please select Casual bookings, not Permanent.

What is the cost?*

Early Bird Fees: $60 per day

Early Bird Bookings close: 13 November 2020

Fees: $65 per day*

Bookings close: 20 November 2020

*Incursions and excursions incur additional costs. These are compulsory for all students and therefore you are able to claim CCS.

What are the hours of operation?

The service is open from 7:00am until 6:00pm.

How can I obtain more information?

If you would like further information regarding our OSHC Program or if you would like to make a booking, feel free to contact me on 0423 547 653 or email: oshc@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

Palu Ingram

Secondary second-hand books

Second-hand books may be purchased or sold through Sustainable School Shop at: . There is no registration fee for St Margaret’s families to use this trading system.

Uniform Fitting Appointments – Online booking system

Bookings for November and December 2020 and January 2021 are available online. We encourage families to book a fitting appointment as soon as possible, as appointments are filling fast. Book your appointment online via the school website: .

Appointment times are either 30 minutes or 60 minutes, depending on your fitting type. Fitting types include: New Student, Existing Student, Boarder Only, Pre-Prep and School Blazer Fitting.

• 1 appointment = 1 student fitting. If you are booking for two or more students, please book separate fitting appointments for each child. These can be at the same time if times are available.
• All fittings will take place in the Supplies Shop, which is located onsite just off Circular Drive through Gate 1, Petrie Street, Ascot.

Second-hand Uniforms

The Supplies Shop offers a selection of second-hand uniforms when stock is available.

If you would like to sell your uniforms or bags to the School Supplies Shop, please note:

• Clothing must be in good condition, freshly laundered and ironed ready for sale.
• Middy uniforms with stains or damaged stitching e.g: hems, pleats and underarms will not be accepted.
• Other uniforms, including extra-curricular sports with stains will not be accepted.
• Please clean bags and check all pockets. Old branding will not be accepted.
• Payment for items, excluding consignment stock, may take up to 2 weeks to process.
• Consignment stock (payment when item sold) includes blazers, leotards, art smocks and some extra-curricular sports uniforms.
• The Supplies Shop reserves the right to assess each item and all decisions made regarding uniform submissions are final.
• Items unable to be purchased by the Supplies Shop can be donated to the Global Exchange Program.

Extended Trading Hours

2020

Thursday 26 November 8am-2pm

Friday 27 November 10am-2pm

Monday 30 November 8am-12pm

Tuesday 1 December 8am-12pm

Wednesday 2 December 8am-12pm

2021

Wednesday 13 January 8am-12pm

Thursday 14 January 1pm-5pm

Friday 15 January 8am-12pm

Monday 18 January 8am-3pm

Tuesday 19 January 8am-3pm

Wednesday 20 January 8am-3pm

Thursday 21 January 1pm-8pm

Friday 22 January 8am-3pm

Saturday 23 January 9am-2pm

Sunday 24 January CLOSED

Monday 25 January 9am-12pm

Tuesday 26 January regular trading hours resume

Trading Hours (Term Time)

Monday: 8am-2pm

Tuesday: 8am-2pm

Wednesday: 10am-5pm

Thursday: 8am-2pm

Friday: 8am-2pm

Public Holidays Closed

For all enquiries, please call 07 3862 0776 or Email: suppliesshop@stmargarets.qld.edu.au

Kielee Alcantara

OGA Annual General Meeting

The Old Girls’ Association Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 24 November from 7:00pm-9:00pm in the Arts Centre Foyer. Past students of St Margaret’s are warmly invited to attend to share their views and ideas.

Professional Women’s Network

The Development Office is currently seeking corporate sponsors to join the Professional Women’s Network in 2021. The series has been running since 2012 and has developed a strong identity among Brisbane professional women as a place where they come to be inspired by guest speakers, meet new connections and build and develop positive relationships and broader networks. There are four events per year, which at normal capacity, attract 160 guests per event. Our current sponsors include Pitcher partners (Major Sponsor), Programmed Property Services (Associate Sponsor) and NAB, Clear Insurance and Downer Group (Supporting Partners).

If sponsorship is not something of consideration for your business currently, you may be interested in purchasing Corporate Tables at the events. A fantastic way to experience our outstanding guest speakers, invite your own guests who may appreciate this networking opportunity, and decide whether sponsorship may be something of interest in the future.

If you would like any more information about sponsorship of PWN, or purchasing Corporate Table packages, please do not hesitate to email me on lkhushal@stmargarets.qld.edu.au or 07 3862 0884.

Lindsay Khushal

The University of Melbourne

Our change of preference program of events will run from Monday 7 December to Friday 18 December 2020. We are in the process of finalising the details for each session, more information and registrations will be available on our website soon.

NIE UCAT Preparation

• Intensive UCAT Training Workshop - Summer Holidays - 23 January 2021 - 

• UCAT Advanced Verbal Reasoning Training -

• For Teachers, Students and Parents - FREE Webinar "UCAT / Interviews / Pathways into Medicine" -

School Leavers Information Service

Know your opportunities in 2021. Find the information you need to help with your education, training and work options @ .

QUT

QUT will be hosting live webinars to provide students with advice about admission pathways, ordering their preferences and getting in to QUT on Saturday 19 December.

QUT scholarships are now open. Closing dates vary, please check each scholarship for the application close date.

Griffith University GUESTS applications for Trimester 3 are closing soon

Year 11 students who wish to study in Trimester 1 next year (March 2021), are encouraged to apply by 13 November. For further information on admission criteria and available courses, visit .

Free TAFE for Year 12 graduates

The Queensland Government offers free TAFE in high priority areas. Eligible Year 12 graduates must enrol and start training within 12 months of finishing school.

UQ College is offering an intensive short course over 4 weeks for students to obtain a prerequisite in Mathematical Methods, Biology or Chemistry. Documentation will be available for the 14 January 2021 offer round.

Elizabeth Johnston