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It is that time of year again when members of the school community can submit nominations for the National Excellence in Teaching Awards (NEiTA) for Inspirational Educators. This is an opportunity for our school community to publicly recognise and encourage our great teachers.

ASG’s National Excellence in Teaching Awards program was established in 1994 to honour exemplary teaching throughout Australia and New Zealand.

We know that parents value the efforts of our teachers and there are very few opportunities for a public expression of this appreciation and support.  One way of doing this is by nominating a teacher for this award. Nominated teachers receive a congratulatory NEiTA Certificate of Nomination and become eligible for NEiTA State and National Awards.

Nominations are quite straightforward and can be completed by accessing this link.

Thank you for considering nominating a member of the St Margaret’s teaching staff.

Nominations close on the 18^th August. 

Ros Curtis

There was an impressive number of girls that received awards on this day, and I know there are many more students that may not have received an award but who have shown gains in many areas of their academic life.

Students should now be looking at their feedback from their continuous reporting comments from Semester 2 to look at ways they can improve their skills within their subject areas. Our Academic Advising sessions in Years 9 - 12 over the next term will be focussed on our students setting goals in response to this feedback.

Often this feedback indicates a change that needs to be made. For example, perhaps time management is an issue and so a change must be made in this area. Maybe feedback from the drafting process was not considered when submitting the final assessment piece, and so this must be addressed.

Congratulations to all students who have seen their hard work pay off. I also offer my encouragement to all students for this semester and wish them well with their learning goals.

I’d like to thank girls in Years 8 - 10 for finalising their subject selections at the end of last term. All students in these year levels will receive a memo from me detailing their confirmed subjects for 2022 in the next few weeks. In order to finalise this process, I might need to meet with some students to talk through their selections.

Students in Year 7 will shortly receive a notification asking them to select two Arts subjects for their Year 8 program. Your Head of Year will confirm this process with you within the next two weeks.

Karen Gorrie

Ephesians 4:29 “When you talk, don’t say anything bad. But say the good things that people need—whatever will help them grow stronger. Then what you say will be a blessing to those who hear you.”

Gracious God, help us to choose our words wisely. Help us to speak life into those around us, and to be a source of encouragement, rather than discouragement, and of love rather than pain. Amen.

Susan Crothers-Robertson

Our biggest highlight was ending the night in a festival on Circular Drive. This included festoon lights, picnic tables, several stalls of different foods from around the world, flags of the countries where the girls are from raised in the air, a DJ, a photobooth and a mechanical bull ride!

The students and staff appreciate this weekend as we all embrace cultural diversity and it was a day to celebrate just that.

Gracemere Mataia

Here are some thoughts from these resources and from my experience to assist students learn and prepare for assessment.

Get organised - Organising a study space will make it easier to finish your tasks on time and not feel overwhelmed.

• Create a study space that is free of distractions and has everything within reach.
• Keep a calendar on your wall and list the dates of your assessments.
• Get into a routine and set aside blocks of study time each day.
• Build 'free' time into each day for something you enjoy.
• Take regular breaks and move around to keep your mind and body active.
• Limit distractions such as social media.
• Allocate time each week to catch up with friends and family.

Organise your work

• Forward planning — understand the components of each task and how long they might take.
• Time management — make a plan and allow for unexpected events such as technology issues (they will always happen!) or changes in personal circumstances.
• Manage multiple deadlines — divide each assessment task into smaller 30-minute tasks (essay plan, essay introduction, essay body, etc.) and slot these into your calendar.

Get academic - Creating and maintaining good academic habits will make it easier for you to do your work and acknowledge others' work.

In assessment tasks, you will often use other people's information and make conclusions about what you have read or experienced. It's important you acknowledge other people's work using you’re a referencing system.

Work with others – Collaboration and teamwork are key that you'll develop throughout senior schooling and your life. Find friends who are in your subjects that you can set up a ‘Study Group’ with and organise a regular time to meet to study and work together to consolidate learning.

Nicole Devlin

St Margaret’s is once again offering students the opportunity to participate in the ICAS competition. ICAS is designed to target students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science and Writing.

Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.

St Margaret’s has signed up for the ICAS Assessments parent payment system (PPS) for (Mathematics, English, Science and Writing). Through this system, parents can pay for ICAS directly online while tests will still be held at our school. Please use the following details to register your child no later than Friday July 23.

Parent page link:

School access code: XBZ706

Caitlin McCluskey

It is not always easy for children and teenagers to always know how to manage friendships. Learning how to make new friends and keep them, involves a number of skills every young person needs to understand and develop. For some, these skills will come very naturally, allowing them to easily move between different friendship groups, sharing their experiences and opening up to new people. For others, this can be much harder to navigate. Belonging to a group that is like-minded with similar interests is highly beneficial to a child’s wellbeing. Encourage your daughter to participate in the co-curricular activities at school. Friendships are full of ups and downs and it is better for kids to learn how to manage and build their own friendships, even though as an adult carer you may be tempted to interfere. It is very natural for students to change friendship groups throughout their time at school. However, if you have any concerns regarding your daughter establishing positive relationships please contact your daughter’s Head of Year. For more information regarding this please go to the Parent Resources on the POD and then click on School TV.

Nikki Townsend

Today, kindness is reflected in our St Margaret’s Way statement, particularly “How do I want to feel every day when I come to school? What am I doing to ensure others can feel this way?” Research has found that people who are kind and compassionate are more satisfied with their lives, have better physical and mental health and have stronger relationships. Therefore, deciding to be a little kinder and participating in regular small acts of kindness will bring you more pleasure and direction than ever before.

Research has found that people who witness or benefit from someone’s kindness and compassion are more likely to be kind themselves. For a child to perform acts of kindness, they need to see the adults or others in their lives model them. As a parent, when you model acts of kindness, you are encouraging your child to do the same. Together, by promoting and practising kindness, you will value others more and strengthen your relationships.

In primary school, this term, the Year 6 students will run a random acts of kindness campaign. The Year 6 girls will not only be encouraged to be the role models but also find ways to ‘catch’ other students in the primary school being kind. Watch out for this campaign and take the time to discuss it with your child.

Small acts of kindness can have enormous power for both the person who is being kind and the recipient. As Eddie Jaku advocates in the above quote, kindness costs nothing but is the richest commodity that can last a lifetime.

Angela Drysdale

St Mark’s Village Fair

This Saturday 24 July, St Mark’s Anglican Church (103 Bonney Ave, Clayfield) will be hosting a Village Fair from 9:30am-2:30pm. A variety of stalls will sell products ranging from cakes and other food goods to plants and crafts. Musical performances will also be presented throughout the day. The St Margaret’s Saxophone, Clarinet and Flute Ensembles will be performing between 11:30am–12:30pm. All are welcome to attend!

Staff News

We are very pleased to announce that Ms Sofia Troncoso will be joining the St Margaret’s music team to teach singing. Ms Troncoso has recently moved to Brisbane from the UK where she was performing with numerous opera companies. Currently she is playing the lead role of Susanna in the Opera Qld production of The Marriage of Figaro (you may have seen her picture on the walls of QPAC advertising the production!) Feel free to click on this link to find out more: We warmly welcome Ms Troncoso to the St Margaret’s music community!

Music Tour – 2^nd Payment Due

A reminder that the second payment of $620 for the upcoming Music Tour to New Zealand is due next week on Wednesday 28 July. Payment may be made via . Thank you to those parents who have already paid. A letter with further details is attached (PDF 140.3KB).

Music Support Group

The next Music Support Group meeting will be on Tuesday 24 August at 5:00pm in the Primary Music Room (second floor of Chaseley). Parents from both the Primary and Secondary Schools are welcome to attend.

Brad King

The annual St Margaret’s run was a real highlight of the St Margaret’s Day celebrations on Friday 16 July.  Amazing spirit and wonderful running occurred from all 148 runners from Year 3 to Year 12.  Congratulations to all runners, winners of the divisional races and the overall St Margaret’s Run Champion who is the runner with the fastest time of the day.

Jnr Primary Division                  Olivia Robson

Snr Primary Division                 Stella McMullen

Jnr Secondary Division              Priya Madders

Inter Secondary Division           Isabella Harte

Snr Secondary Division             Rory Owen

St Margaret’s Run Champion     Isabella Harte

Sports Nutrition Workshop – Tuesday 27 July

St Margaret's Sport invites all interested parents and students to attend a Sports Nutrition workshop on Tuesday 27 July at 6:00pm – 7:00pm in the Arts Centre Foyer.  This is an ideal opportunity to learn how to best support your daughter’s sporting performance goals through nutrition.  Register your attendance on the following link: 

The Netball Support Group Raffle, returns once again this year and you do not want to miss out!

To support Netball’s fundraising efforts at the Trivia evening, an annual raffle is being held with first prize being a weekend package from Audi Centre Brisbane - luxury car hire, accommodation and dinner.  Don’t miss out - buy your raffle tickets now at 

The raffle will be drawn at 9:30pm on Saturday 31 July 2021 and you do not have to be in attendance to win.

Congratulations…

Bless Daly (Year 7) who has been selected in the U13 Queensland Hockey team and the U14 Queensland Water Polo team.  She will contest both national championships across the September school holidays. 

Priya Madders (Year 8), Charli Spies (Year 8), Millie Campbell (Year 8), Matilda Lee (Year 9), Isabella Harte (Year 10) and Chloe Fenwicke (Year 12) for representing Metropolitan North at the State Cross Country Championships in Ipswich on the weekend.  Special mention to Isabella Harte who placed 1^st overall and Chloe Fenwicke who came 3^rd.

Helen Lobegeiger

The biannual Friends of MAYO lunch tickets are on sale via Flexischool.  Not only is the event organised by Ms Martens, a highlight on our school calendar, money raised is used to purchase outstanding Queensland artwork for the school and for the girls to enjoy. 

Lisa Smith

Charlotte joined other Year 11 and 12 students from Brisbane and surrounds to speak on the topic: I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better. (Plutarch)

Charlotte devoted considerable time and energy to crafting a persuasive speech which she rehearsed with steady enthusiasm and delivered with confidence and poise. She received very positive, detailed feedback from the highly esteemed adjudicators, Lesley Irvine and Caroline Hatcher, which will help guide her with future public speaking opportunities. Well done Charlotte!

Maria Chamberlain

P&F General Meeting

The P&F invites the school community to attend our second General Meeting of 2021. This is an opportunity to share your views and ideas, so please join us.

Date: Monday 26 July 2021

Time: 6.30pm start

Venue: Arts Centre Foyer, St Margaret’s AGS

For those who are unable to attend in person, the meeting will be accessible on Microsoft Teams via .

Friends of Mayo Long Lunch

You are warmly invited to join us for the 2021 Friends of Mayo Long Lunch, 'The Artist's Lunch'

Date : Sunday 8 August.

Time :11:30am – 3:30pm

Venue : Arts Centre Foyer, Arts Centre Gallery, St Margaret’s AGS

Tickets: $85 per person

Tickets are available for purchase via .

The event invitation with further details and how to register can be accessed here Mayo Long Lunch (PDF 357KB) 

Please note, tickets for this event are limited.

Guests purchasing a ticket to the Long Lunch are also invited to attend a ceramics workshop run by artist, Anna Markey prior to the Long Lunch, held on the same day.

Professional Women’s Network

We are pleased to announce that our third Professional Women's Network Breakfast is coming up on Tuesday 17 August with special guest speaker, Ruth Drinkwater.

Ruth has had a diverse career with more than 20 years’ experience in management, business development, marketing and commercialisation, investment in emerging technology companies and capital raising. 

She has been at the forefront of change in Angel investment and start-up activity. As an experienced non-executive Director, Ruth has sat on several Boards and Advisory Panels. She is currently Chair of Alkira Software Pty Ltd and Mrs Clucks Pty Ltd and a past CEO of Alkira Software, as well a past Director of several other quasi-Government, university and private company Boards. She is a co-founder of Mrs Clucks, continues as a member of the Queensland Government’s Advance Queensland grant assessment committee and is a long-term member of Brisbane Angels.

Date: Tuesday 17 August 2021

Time: 7.00am - 8.45am

Venue: Arts Centre Foyer, St Margaret's Anglican Girls School

Tickets: $45 Adult, $35 Student (tertiary, Year 10 -12)

Tickets are available for purchase via

Lara Pickering

ANU Hybrid Open Day

In light of the ever-changing COVID19 situation, we are hosting a hybrid ANU Open Day on Saturday 14 August 2021, from 9am to 4pm.

Open Days 2021 Planner

A comprehensive list of tertiary Open Days is available from this link:

Year 12 Early Entry for 2022 has opened for several universities

QUT

Southern Cross University

University of New England

Griffith University

Australian Catholic University

Bond University

What choices do you have after finishing school?

Careers Event Management has put together an article outlining some of the more common pathways after school. :

• Further education
• Apprenticeships
• Employment
• Internships/work experience/volunteering
• Serve in the military
• Gap year
• Start a business

NIDA Term three classes in Brisbane

The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) will be offering   in Brisbane during Term 3. Check out the workshops to see dates and locations in Brisbane.

QTAC admissions open

QTAC applications will open on Tuesday 3 August for admission to courses for 2022.  To create an account, you will need to nominate an email address - DO NOT USE YOUR SCHOOL EMAIL as it will be invalid once you leave school. for more information.

Register to get your ATAR result

If you are a Year 12 student and you want to find out what your ATAR is, you must . You can register from Tuesday 3 August.

• Queensland Conservatorium auditions opening soon

Auditions for students wishing to study the Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Acting, or Bachelor of Musical Theatre

Liz Johnston