daVinci Decathlon Competition

Our Year 7 and Year 9 teams competed in the da Vinci Decathlon at St Peter’s Girls School. The ten disciplines involved in the competition include: engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy. Miss Alison Short and Ms Emily Lewis were very proud of the teams and how they worked together and represented the School.

The Year 7 team earned the Silver medal after placing first in mathematics, art and poetry and creative producers, and second in engineering. The Year 9s placed second in code breaking. Congratulations to all the girls who were involved.

Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge

Bebras is an international initiative aiming to promote computer science among school students. The Bebras challenge engages students' computational thinking and problem solving skills in a fun, interactive environment. Congratulations to all girls who were involved and especially to the following students who achieved awards in the competition.

Merits:

• Meng-meng Deng (Year 7)
• Nidhi Sinhal (Year 7)
• Addison Raeside (Year 8)
• Poppy Ritchie (Year 8)

Credits:

• Asha Dan (Year 7)
• Evangeline Lee (Year 7)
• Sirui Tang (Year 7)
• Miaomiao Zhu (Year 7)
• Sharon Zhai (Year 7)
• Ava Cabot (Year 8)
• Mihika Kanhere (Year 8)

Distinctions:

• Seraphina Sun (Year 8)
• Isabella Nguyen (Year 8)
• Nora Tariq (Year 8)

Visual Arts – Year 9 Imagine Excursion

Please enjoy this reflection on a recent excursion, written by Zoha Raza:

As the Year 9 Imagine class walked through the doors of the Art Gallery of South Australia, viewing some of the Indigenous artworks, we realised we were surrounded by years of special preserved history and symbolic cultural stories. Whether that was through the Hermannsburg terracotta pots or through the diverse media used on canvas, we were surrounded by many emotions of wonder, curiosity and bewilderment.

We were extremely grateful for the experience we were provided, to be able to view and take inspiration from those pieces of artwork and use that to create our own version of the Hermannsburg terracotta pots. However, the story that will revolve around our pots will be regarding a place that relates to us, which allows us to feel serene, in peace, and a place which makes time disappear and allows our passion and imagination to grow.

Attending the yLead Altitude Day

On Wednesday 31 May, the Middle School SRC attended the yLead Altitude Day at the Adelaide Convention Centre, a positive education leadership conference.

yLead is a unique learning experience that empowers students to be the best they can be by motivating confident and skilled young leaders.

Through a blend of energising group activities, interactive discussions, team-building exercises and inspirational guest speeches from Claire Harris, Krushnadevsinh Ravalji and Dr Trudy Lin, we learned how to elevate our leadership skills to be more active and inspiring school leaders.

The day reinforced the importance of teamwork, communication and trust in achieving shared goals. At times we were pushed out of our comfort zone; by embracing these challenges, we became comfortable taking risks and receiving feedback.

A big thank you to Miss Elyse Purkis and Ms Marnie Eddington for accompanying us on the day. This experience was both exciting and insightful, leaving all girls feeling motivated and inspired.

Lily Harper
Middle School SRC President

House Activities

To celebrate the Term 2 Cedar birthdays, the House had a Pamper Party! It looks like the girls had a great deal of fun.

National Reconciliation Week 2023 – Be a Voice for Generations

Reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians. Over the last two weeks, the sporting team captains for Wilderness have given an Acknowledgement of Country before the beginning of their home matches as part of the IGSSA Reconciliation Round.

This afternoon, Elder Karrl Smith will welcome players from the Wilderness and Walford Senior A football teams with a traditional smoking ceremony. It will also be a special moment for this team as they will wear the Indigenous Guernsey designed by Myarn Alden (Year 12). We look forward to sharing photos and the results of the game.

Working With Children Check

From 1 July 2019, all persons aged 14 years and above are required to have a Working With Children Check (WWCC) in order to engage with children in sports coaching, community service work, work experience and a range of activities with our partner organisations (e.g. Sony Camp, Duke of Edinburgh Award program). The check has a currency of five years from the date of issue and will be free of charge in the capacity of a volunteer.

The online WWCC application takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and will require your daughter to undertake an identification check. A letter from the School will suffice for the total 100 points. Once processed, the DHS Screening Unit will send an outcome notification to the email address nominated in the application. A copy of this notification should be provided to our registrar via email once received, which will be uploaded to your daughter’s student file.

In the term of her 14th birthday, your daughter will receive an email with instructions and will be provided with the identification letter. All students are encouraged to apply for their WWCC in the Middle School and reminders will be sent regularly.

Please be in contact with the Middle School Office if you have any questions about this process.

REALISE – Core Group 2

Please enjoy this reflection from Year 9 students Amaia Thomas and Amelia Adam.

Twenty-one days away from the comforts of home, our families and friends—it was almost surreal thinking that our turn for the REALISE experience had finally arrived. Packing our bags onto the bus and saying goodbye, reality started sinking in. What an adventure we were about to have, with lifetime memories to be made. Yes, we had to cook, clean, do our laundry, shop for our food, plan our meals and face some of our fears… but it was all worth it in the end.

REALISE taught us skills that will undoubtedly help us later in life. Although it is hard to not have much space from people, REALISE showed us how to put our personal emotions aside and try to find the middle ground with other people. This skill is important because there will be many times in the future when you will have to do things like this, whether that be having a roommate at university or simply working with other people in a close environment.

Another highlight for us was the opportunity to stay away from our phones. It gave us the option to not feel obliged to answer messages and it made us find other ways to entertain ourselves. REALISE allowed us to deeply get to know ourselves and others around us in a way other experiences cannot. Bonding in the REALISE environment taught us growth through collaboration.

Thank you to Miss Rosie Smith, Miss Holli Rawson, Miss Jo Chibnall and the other instructors for taking care of us, preparing us for each day and ensuring that we were safe, happy and healthy. Thank you to Aunty Lindy for supporting us and helping us with our cooking and cleaning, sharing some tips and tricks with us and always being up for a good conversation. Thank you to the teachers who visited us during this experience, Miss Kara Bigg, Mrs Brooke Porter, Mrs Lauren Walker, Miss Sarah Wheeler, Mrs Maria Criaris and Dr Sally Nobbs. Last but not least, thank you to our parents for helping to prepare us for this amazing adventure.

Year 8 Class Representative Notice

Friday 16 June
Year 8 Parent Catchup
7.00pm
Walkers Arms Hotel

Please register via the Eventbrite page.

This event has been organised by the Year 8 Class Representatives. If there are any queries, please get in touch with any of them via the details on the Eventbrite page, WhatsApp or the Parent Portal.

Andrew Perry
Year 8 Class Representative