Head of Campus Update – 23 February 2017

Welcome back! It has been a pleasure watching the students happily settling into their new year levels this year. The Year 8, 9 and 10 students have learned more about themselves and each other during their City Cite and Outdoor Education camps and are now settling into the rhythm of everyday school life. This year we welcomed some new staff into the school, each with their own unique backgrounds and teaching experiences. We welcome;

Mrs Merrin Keir – Maths and Science
Ms Danijela Draskovic – Maths and Science
Ms Whitney Stiles – Humanities
Ms Brielle Shiels– AFL trainee

We also welcomed home our Year 10 students who spent their summer holidays and first weeks of term on exchange at Queen Margaret School in York. We look forward to hearing about boarding house life in England from Rebecca Dack, Darcy Hetherington and Carmen Ubermanowicz.

We were thrilled with the happy news that Senior School teacher Mrs Bronwyn Huisintveld had her baby on Friday 20 January. Welcome Lucas Anthony Huisintveld.

It was with great pleasure we received the Year 12 student results at the end of 2016. 15% of the students received an ATAR of over 95 placing them in the top 5% of the nation, 25% obtained an ATAR over 90 (top 10% of the nation) and 52% received an ATAR of over 80 (top 20% of the nation).

Congratulations to Luyao (Queenie) Liu who was dux of the Class of 2016 with an ATAR of 99.05, and to the students who achieved perfect study scores; Lani Li (Biology), Ebony Hughes (Computing Informatics) and Isabella Imperatore (Art.)

We are embarking on a busy couple of weeks in Senior School and I would like to remind you of a few very important events. The annual Parent’s Cocktail Party is on Friday 24 February commencing at 6.30pm. Year 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 parents are invited to a year level Information Session on the same evening. Please join us at 6.00pm to find out about the year ahead for your daughter then enjoy a cocktail with the Principal and staff from 6.30pm.

A reminder that Friday 10 March is a student free day where the staff will be engaged in their professional learning program.

Other regular Term 1 student activities include Running Club which trains before school every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, HPV spin training before school every Tuesday and Friday and Yoga on Wednesday mornings.

We are looking forward to our Easter Assembly which will be held on Friday 31 March at 2.30pm in the Rosanove Auditorium. As a School community, we always enjoy the Easter Assembly and the reflections of guest speaker Dr Donaldson. This year I am pleased to be able to invite parents to attend the assembly. We hope you can join us for this special conclusion to Term 1.

A reminder that the best way to keep track of your daughter’s academic progress throughout the year is through our Continuous On-Line reporting system which you access through the Parent Lounge portal. I encourage you to have a look at the work which has been completed and assessed, and what lies ahead for your daughter in her various classes, at least once a fortnight.  If you have lost your username or password, please contact the SMS IT dept. For those parents who want to brush up on how to navigate Parent Lounge, there will be a short workshop conducted by Mr Chris Wyatt in the Lecture Theatre at 5.45pm also on Friday 24 February.

Mrs Fiona Williams
Head of St Margaret’s Senior School