Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ

A new year always brings change and there are several changes within staff – departures, retirements, arrivals and changes of areas and responsibility. I thought it would be useful to list some of the changes to the middle and senior management team in the secondary school. Our Heads of Year, who move from one year group to the next each year, for 2023 will be:

Year 7 – Ysabella Dawson

Year 8 – Kate Montgomery

Year 9 – Tom Smithers

Year 10 – Rhea Barber

Year 11– Amanda Jansen

Year 12 – Nicole Walker

A number of our teachers will be leaving us at the end of the year to pursue other goals. Some have promoted positions; others are retiring or going on maternity leave and others are taking the opportunity to pursue further study.

We say farewell to Adrian Walker (Head of Faculty – Arts), Cindy Tian (primary and secondary Chinese), Kelly Knox (Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Support), and David Gravino (Visual Arts) who have been with us this year or part of this year. We thank them for their service to the school and wish them all the best for their future endeavours.

Sadly, Erin Buckingham, after four years in the secondary English and History faculty and most recently, as Year 12 Head of Year, is leaving us to undertake further study. After 10 years of service to the community, Jenny Matheson (primary and secondary French) and Sharon Stone, our school counsellor, after seven years of service, will be taking up other positions in schools closer to home. Erin, Jenny, and Sharon will be remembered for their consistent focus on the students and their wellbeing. They will be missed. I thank them for their commitment and their hard work.

Kate Porter (primary) and Tamryn Cronje (primary) will be going on maternity leave next year and we wish them well for this very special time for them and their families.

Leaving us at the end of the year due to retirement are Kathy Thorne (Science) who has been with us for 23 years and Noel Peinke (Assistant Head of English) who has been with us for 20 years. We thank them and recognise them for their support of St Margaret’s. They have impacted many students over their time teaching and participating in the extra-curricular program at the school and have demonstrated wonderful commitment to St Margaret’s. We wish them well.

Our recruitment for next year is not yet complete, and I will announce new members of staff in the first newsletter article for 2023.

Ros Curtis

All students can also take part in the instrumental music program including taking private lessons at the school and join one of the many ensembles and music groups under the co-ordination of our Head of Performance Mr Brad King.

I was interested in listening to Dr Camille Syntageros, talk about the many benefits she saw in the students that undertook the bands program in Year 5 this year. Many of the students came to Year 5 this year having never played a musical instrument before, so it was lovely to hear the performances they made after an eventful year of learning an instrument. One of the benefits Dr Syntageros spoke about was that learning an instrument taught a student discipline. Self-discipline is such an important skill for us all to learn. In the case of learning an instrument it means having discipline to practise, to persevere with the difficult notes, to play your part to ensure when the band comes together the music sounds like a beautiful tune. Band members are part of a team, and all rely on each other to play their part to ensure the music happens. I’m sure there are many instances that girls need to demonstrate discipline in their daily lives and so it is wonderful to make such a connection to the music program they are part of.

There have been many performances our students have been involved in over the year, from Speech Night to the Soaring Upwards Festival and everything in between. Congratulations to our students on a year full of beautiful music!

Karen Gorrie

The Year 4 commitment to giving time inspires us all to give of our time. This is a challenging and countercultural move in our fast-paced, scheduled, busy society. Yet, when we do so, we are gifted with so much more than someone’s time. We are gifted with commitment, friendship, family, care, and love. As the summer break fast approaches, and we turn our minds to the Christmas gift lists, I am reminded that the greatest gift is the presence and attention we give to another.

In next week’s eNews, I will provide the Christmas service times for some of the local parishes to St Margaret’s. If you need assistance finding service times for your local area, please don’t hesitate to make contact: jdow@stmargarets.qld.edu.au

Our friends at St Mark’s Anglican Church, Clayfield are holding their first Christmas Tree Festival from 1 to 3 December. Download this flyer (PDF 48.1KB) for more details.

Rev’d Jazz Dow

The dinner is also an important opportunity to thank and acknowledge the staff who do so much for our boarders. The Senior Leadership Team, the Heads of Year, the teaching staff, the teachers who help our boarders during prep, the kitchen staff, the facilities team, the cleaners, the support staff and all boarding staff who have supported our boarders and have made the boarding house and school, their ‘home away from home’.

The Boarding Staff presented special awards to the following students:

The Community Award 

For her positive contribution to the St Margaret’s Boarding House

Lucy Edwards, Claudia Coggan, Victoria Goh, Emi McLaughlin, Evie Jenner, Olivia Perrett, Phoebe Moffatt

The Spirit Award

For displaying the values of the Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Way through her service to the Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ boarding house

Alicia Goh, Emma Kerr, Lucy Leonard, Maggie Slack, Sophie Pearce, Georgia Price, Demi Van Itallie, Hayley Olive

The Boarders Boarder Award

For her positive contribution to the Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Boarding House

Elle Gordon, Tresphine Ho, Emma Blanch, Elke Lord, Monique Bindoraho

Head of House Award

For her outstanding contribution to the boarding community and consistently displaying the values of the

Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Way

Manon Brown & Nellie Slack

Head of Boarding Award

For her outstanding contribution to the boarding community and consistently displaying the values of the

Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Way

Cleo Hardcastle

Gracemere Mataia

Release of 2022 Subject results and Senior Education Profiles to students from QCAA

Year 12 final subject results and Senior Education Profiles (SEPs) will be released to Year 12 students online from 9 am on Friday 16 December. All Year 12 students can access final subject results as well as their SEP in their learning account. Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ accounts are found in the Student Portal, accessed via the myQCE website at , all Year 12 students have access to their own student portal. I encourage all Year 12’s to check they can access their QCAA Student Portal.

On 16 December each student will be able to view their SEP that will contain the following documents:

 • Senior Statement

• Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE)

SEPs are issued as electronic documents stored in students’ learning accounts. These documents are official and can be downloaded as secure PDFs. Students can save their SEP on a computer or mobile device and provide it to third parties electronically or they can print it. Please note, QCAA no longer prints and posts SEPs to all Year 12 students. Students may print their own SEP or they may request a printed copy of their SEP from the QCAA in the Student Portal. The request application will close on 31 January 2023 and SEPs will be posted during March 2023. Printed copies are free. Please note, SEPs printed by the QCAA are no different to those that students can print for themselves.

The SEP documents contain an embedded digital signature to confirm they are authentic, and they cannot be altered. If students print SEPs, scanning the unique QR code on the printed documents will direct users to the QCAA’s website to validate the information on the document. For more information see https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/assessment/results/authenticating-a-certificate.

ATAR Release from QTAC

ATAR eligible students will be able to access their ATAR Score on Friday 16 December at 9am. ATARs will be available via the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) at www.qtac.edu.au/atar. All students have signed up to QTAC’s ATAR Portal to access their ATAR and again I encourage all Year 12’s to conform they can access their QTAC Portal.

To assist Year 12 students past 16 December, please find a link below to an information booklet that has been put together to assist students with managing their QTAC Application post ATAR release. The document contains information about the accepting, deferring or changing offers from QTAC, information about bridging courses and contact information for people who can assist at Universities post accepting offers.

Download the So you finished Year 12 information booklet. (PDF 3.1MB)

Caitlin McCluskey

To the students, I really encourage you to take some time out these holidays and enjoy a well-earned break. Holidays are there to ‘fill our cups’ and help our minds and bodies rest. It is so critical to ensuring you come back to school in 2023 with the right mental and physical health.

Supervised Study

There will be no Supervised Study Sessions offered in Week 8. Sessions will resume again in Week 2 of 2023 on every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following Supervised Study Supervisors who have worked hard to support students with their homework and revision activities this year: Lili Tarabay, Zoe Bidgood, Madeleine Krebs, Lizzie Fowler, Eliza Quayle, Samantha Cooper, Kat Williams, Annabel Reddacliff, and Katelyn Nicholls.

Chris Dunn

New Students for 2022 – 17 November

We also look forward, as a community, to welcoming our new students from Years 8 to 12 for 2023 to St Margaret’s this Thursday 17 November. All new students to our school are assigned a student mentor. The student mentor program is an integral part of our student wellbeing framework, when a student feels connected and has a sense of belonging and know they are valued, they flourish. This program provides our current students with a great opportunity to lead and to be an ambassador for our wonderful school.

End of Term – 24 November

Finally, the term finishes on Thursday 24 November at 3:00pm with lots of celebrations happening on this day. We strongly urge parents to resist requests from their daughters to depart early. If an early departure is unavoidable due to extenuating circumstances, please advise the school, in writing, via studentleave@stmargarets.qld.edu.au as early as possible.

Nikki Townsend

Students in Years 3 and 4 received a certificate identifying a learner disposition or ‘key to success’ that the class teacher believes each girl has mostly demonstrated throughout the year. Some girls also received a Conscientious Effort award which is awarded to girls who receive the highest possible score for their attitude to learning on their report card. At the Year 5 Celebration of Journey to Leadership, the girls received a certificate as acknowledgement of their efforts and readiness to take on a leadership role in Year 6. Thank you to the many parents who attended these celebrations - the students, the teachers and myself appreciated your attendance and support.

2023 Planning

The end of the year also brings planning for the new year. The teachers have almost finalised classes for 2023 and the teachers have been allocated to year levels. Next year we will welcome two new staff members who will replace Tamryn Cronje and Kate Porter as they take maternity leave.

The staff allocation is as follows:

Pre Prep          Mrs Belinda Knowles

Prep                 Ms Mary Komselis, Ms Katie Lewis

Year 1              Ms Georgi Eadie, Ms Nikita Uscinski

Year 2              Mrs Sarah Singleton, Ms Thea Cowdroy-Ling

Year 3              Mrs Nicole Jonathan, Ms Camille Pourpardin

Year 4              Ms Melissa Garbutt, Mrs Danielle Patterson, Ms Kimberley Bachmann

Year 5              Mrs Kylie Briggs, Mr Scott Barnsdale, Mrs Laurie Wilson, Mr Clayton Howard

Year 6              Mrs Georgina Stevenson, Mr Evan Chia, Ms Brooke Calcutt, Mrs Katie Court (3 days) / Mrs Sophie Cameron (2 days)

You will notice that we have managed to move one staff member onto the next year level as a way of looping staff who will be able to share their knowledge of students with the staff in the new year level. 

Angela Drysdale

This week also sees the last of the finals for the annual ‘Maggies Got Talent’ competition, a lunch time talent show open to students from Prep to Year 6 to demonstrate their skills in the disciplines of music, drama, dance, magic, comedy and more. This competition is of significance as it not only requires the girls to draw on our core values of courage, passion, and spirit, it is also an excellent opportunity for a group of our Year 6 students, the Student Representative Council (SRC) to demonstrate and exercise their leadership skills before they embark on their journey into secondary school.

This year, Ashleigh Carrick, Penelope Cronin, Freja Festa, Emma Kardooni, Eilish Loughrey, Alice McMaster, Danielle Mhlanga, Chloe Nheu, Dallas Smith, and Scarlett Young along with our Primary Captains Allegra People and Isobel Stobie have been our SRC. The SRC meet regularly throughout the year and help to drive a number of important projects, initiatives and events throughout the year. From ‘Bullying No Way!’ day and ‘Day for Daniel’ to emceeing St Margaret’s Way assemblies and the Anzac Day ceremony, the contributions of the SRC have been vast, varied and at times, they have been called on to fulfill duties with very little notice. Executing the organisation and fundraising that is required for Maggies Got Talent is one of the final tasks they will fulfill as SRC members and it has provided them with a keen insight into what goes into leadership, such as detailed organisation, forward planning, protocol fulfilment, teamwork, vision, and passion. We thank the SRC for their passionate leadership of the students in the primary school in 2022 and look forward to the emergent leaders. The 2023 Primary School Captains will be announced at the Acknowledgement Assembly on Tuesday 22 November, with the additional leadership roles to be announced early in 2023. We wish all the candidates good luck and look forward to finishing 2022 with joy.

Annette Box

Photos from our 2022 Music Dinner have now been uploaded to the St Margaret’s . Feel free to check out the amazing costumes worn by students, staff and parents at this wonderful celebration of musical achievements!

Return of hired instruments

Please note that all hired instruments are to be returned to the Sister Helen Orchestra Room Music Department no later than 3pm on Friday 18 November for cleaning and repairs. Students who are wanting to hire instruments over the Christmas holidays will be able to collect their instrument on the last day of term.

2023 Private Music Tuition

If your daughter is currently undertaking private music tuition, she will automatically be placed on her current teachers’ roll for 2023. Parents do not need to fill in a new application form. However, if your daughter is wanting to discontinue lessons in 2023, 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.

Music Support Group

The next Music Support Group meeting will be held on Tuesday 31 January 2023 at 5:00pm in M’s Café. We encourage parents from both the primary and secondary schools to become involved.

Brad King

2023 Sport Preference

2023 Sport registration (Terms 1 and 2) is now open for secondary school sport. Registration is open for those existing students in Years 7 to 11. New students will receive information regarding selections at their upcoming student inductions sessions.

Sport registration is important for it ensures students receive the most up to date information regarding the trials and training for the commencement of the new year. It also provides automatic access to the respective sport POD pages.

Sport registrations should be completed by students. However, we would greatly appreciate the support of parents/guardians to please assist in encouraging their daughters to complete this task. Sport registrations will close Thursday 24 November at 3pm.

Further sport information and registration links can be found on the

If you have any questions, please see myself or Ms Eastland in the Activities Office.

Swimming Report

On the weekend, the Queensland Medal Shots Preparation Meet was held over two days at the Chandler Aquatic Centre.

The meet is designed as a last “hit out” qualifier for the many swimmers in Queensland and around the country, getting ready for the upcoming Queensland State championships to be held in mid-December.

Many St Margaret’s students attended and swam exceptionally well.

The results are as follows:

• Sophie Martin 4 Gold 17 year age group
• Isabella Martin 2 Gold 18 year age group
• Ruby Gowns 1 Gold 1 Silver 13 year age group
• Gloria Finselbach 1 Gold 1 Bronze 12 year age group
• Sophie Hebron 1 Gold 13 year age group
• Sienna Timms 2 Silver 17 year age group

Special mention:

• Sophie Hebron
• Charlotte Rhode
• Adel Kusztor

It was a great weekend with some tough racing by our Maggies swimmers. Well done!

Matt Brown

Head of Swimming

Sporting Achievement

It’s with great pleasure that we recognise the outstanding sport performances and representation of St Margaret’s students at a national and international level. I would like to highlight and congratulate the following students on their recent achievements:

• Lucy Bourke (Year 11) who has been selected in the Queensland U19 Cricket team to compete at the Cricket Australia Championships in December. This is an extra special achievement for Lucy considering she has had to overcome significant injury this season to put her in a position to gain selection. Congratulations Lucy, we wish you all the best.

• Arabella Wilson (Year 11) who recently competed at the Australian Jumping Championship at Boneo Park, Victoria. Bella performed extremely well in an elite field, finishing 8^th and qualifying for the final. Congratulations Bella on your achievement.
• Ava Twomey (Year 7) who has been selected in the Queensland Beach Volleyball training squad. Here Ava will prepare for the Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships tournament season. We look forward to hearing of Ava’s progress.

We would like to continue to recognise the outstanding achievements and representation of students’ participating a national level, outside of the school sport pathway. I look forward to continuing to hear from our community regarding such outstanding achievement. Please contact me via email lknight@stmargarets.qld.edu.au.

GO MAGGIES!

Lloyd Knight

Boarders ONLY are able to have their book pack delivered to St Margaret’s for pickup on their return to school in January 2023 by confirming in the delivery address: Boarder – Deliver to St Margaret’s AGS.

UNIFORM OUTFITTING APPOINTMENTS – online booking system

Bookings for October, November & December 2022 and January 2023 are available online now!

Book your appointment .

We encourage families to book a fitting appointment as soon as possible to avoid missing your preferred day and time. Appointment times are either 30 minutes or 60 minutes depending on your fitting type. Fitting types include: New Student, Existing Student, Boarder Only and Pre-Prep/Prep.

We have fun-filled and exciting activities planned for our December/ January School Holiday Program. Further details of the program can be found here (PDF 276.2KB). Boys and girls, siblings, friends and family welcome!

Please refer to the attached Information Guide 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, much more all within a parent portal called ’My Family Lounge’.

How do I log in?

Please navigate to the link below 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: $63 per day

Early Bird Bookings close: 14 November 2022

Fees: $68 per day*

Bookings close: 21 November 2022

*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

There are two award categories:

1. Distinguished Past Student Award - for alumnae who have celebrated their 20th reunion. Recognises significant contribution or achievements in the profession, community or volunteer work; and
2. Young Past Student of Distinction Award - for alumnae in their 20th reunion year or younger. Recognises significant contribution or achievements in the profession, community or volunteer work.

Nominations can be submitted by completing our Online Nomination Form. Please note, when competing the Form, if there are any details (i.e. alumni year, degree information or addresses) that you need assistance in completing, please leave these blank, and we here in the Development and Community Office are happy to fill in those gaps. 

Advertise your business in the St Margaret’s 2023 Online Business Directory
The Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ Parents' and Friends' Association is delighted to once again be offering the opportunity for those in our community to advertise their business on the Online Business Directory, located on the Ó£ÌÒ¸£ÀûÊÓƵ website and linked directly from the POD.

It is a fantastic opportunity to ensure you reach our entire St Margaret’s community which includes current parents, students, staff, prospective parents and students, as well as all Old Girls (alumni).

The 2022 Business Directory can be viewed via this link:

Pricing for an advertisement in the 2023 Online Business Directory will be $500 per listing and this will include:

• Listing for the 2023 school year 
• Company Logo
• Summary of your business – max 100 words
• Hyperlink to your website
• Contact details
• Opportunity to offer special discount to St Margaret’s community
• The ability to update the advertisement at any time
• Links to the directory from the POD, as well as promotional posts for the Online Business Directory via St Margaret’s social media channels once per quarter
• An advertisement promoting the Online Business Directory will appear in the St Margaret’s Flyer Magazine – The Flyer magazine is St Margaret’s flagship biannual publication for past students, current and future parents, distributed to over 8,000 contacts.

To list your business in the 2023 Business Directory, please register by Friday 18 November 2022.

Several opportunities for sponsorship are also available for P&F events on an annual basis. The P&F welcome your enquiry regarding the via P&F@stmargarets.qld.edu.au. 

Lara Pickering