Seeing and helping young people grow and flourish is one of the great joys and privileges of the teaching profession. This flourishing is manifest in a great spectrum of ways from academic success, to growth in character to the unfolding of giftings. Of great joy this week was the return of Tokyo 2020 Olympian Mollie O’Callaghan to St Peters Springfield. She was enthusiastically received by staff and students from Prep to Year 12 with a Guard of Honour and the Australian green and gold. The Australian published a great shot of Mollie on Instragram as she walked through the guard with the student-lined verandahs of Curnow House in the background.
If you know Mollie or read the media articles this week, you would know that she maintains a humble and quiet disposition. She is not one for a fuss or a crowd, yet she allowed us the privilege and joy to celebrate her achievements as a school community. After the Guard of Honour, Mollie was received at a Secondary School assembly in the Junior High Precinct where St Peters Western swim coach, Maxine Sears, shared Mollie’s story of the past few years leading up to and then at the Olympics which our Head of Sport, Mr Lohe, explored a little more in a Q&A session.
As we have heard from Mollie, she has a deep appreciation of the support she has received in order to achieve all that she has to date and she made special mention of Maxine, Mr Lohe and Mrs Johnson.
Mollie came home from the Olympics as a member of the most successful Australian Olympic Swim Team ever, as winner of two Gold medals and a Bronze medal, the 3rd fastest Australian female freestyle swimmer over 200m ever and the Junior World Record holder in the 200m freestyle. A remarkable set of achievements.
Mollie is an inspiration to all in our school community not just for her achievements but for the qualities and character that have gotten her there – her humility, dedication, hard work, perseverance, gratitude and focus. While we may not all be bound for the Olympics, we can nonetheless aspire to have the strength of character and quality that will serve us well as we make the most of the opportunities before us and pursue the goals and dreams we have and hold.
It would be easy to be caught up in or overwhelmed by the struggle and strife we see in the world around us at the moment but it is important to notice, to dwell upon and to celebrate that which is bright, that which lifts up and that which inspires. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” Philippians 4:8.
Craig Schmidt Principal
What's On
Thursday 26 August to Friday 3 September, 2021
Thursday 26 August Book Week Parades Visit from St Peters Lutheran College Indooroopilly Junior High Leaders
Monday 30 August ICAS Maths P&F Father’s Day Stall
Thursday 2 September P&F Father’s Day Stall Year 11 Semi-Formal
Friday 3 September Student Free Day 2022 Prep Orientation and Parent Information Sessions
Ministry
Give us our daily bread
It feels like a strange time we live in. We often don’t know what the requirements or restrictions will be for the next day, sometimes the next week. It feels uncertain, tiresome as well, not knowing, not being able to make plans in advance. We need to get comfortable in the ‘in between time’. It struck me when I prayed the Lord’s prayer the other day, that we ask for the DAILY bread to be given to us; not for the butter on the toast tomorrow, no, for the DAILY bread.
As Luther taught us, we pray not only for food to sustain our bodies, but also for food to nourish our souls, for the ‘daily bread’ that we may live this day well. And that includes great friends, people who support and love us, money and shelter, health, - everything that allows us to live well. This can also be the good mentor who explains the work we are struggling with in an understandable way, or the people who encourage us to not give up, but to work, learn, rehearse well; the music or arts that feed our soul, the sport that keeps us active, the many opportunities that allow us to thrive, to make a difference in other people’s lives; to live life well as God intended.
Praying for the DAILY bread…. is the invitation to trust God to provide.
It is the invitation to worry less and just face what today will bring – a quite biblical, ancient old wisdom, captured in the gospel of Matthew (6:34):
‘Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today!”
Praying for the DAILY bread may even lead us at the end of each day to become amazed and grateful for what has been granted and what you have received!
Being reminded to pray just for the ‘daily bread’ has been a God-moment. It has allowed me to welcome each day again with positive expectation, knowing that I can manage and live another day well, settling into the ‘in between time’. And I pray that God may grant you the same, that God provides the ‘daily bread’ for you each day! – and encourages you to pray for what you need to live another day well!
Chaplain Silke St Peters Indooroopilly
Arise Worship Service
Arise is a Christian Community where people gather each Sunday morning at 9am in the St Peter’s Hub, to meet Jesus the Light of the World. "Arise, shine, your light has come!" Isaiah 60:1
All are welcome.
The video on Facebook is of the complete worship service.
All families who are enrolled to start Prep in 2022 have been invited to our Prep Orientation and Parent Information Session on Friday 3 September. This is a great opportunity for parents and students to meet their teachers and fellow students for next year, familiarise themselves with the Prep environment and have fun! Please join us and register attendance by following the links provided in the personal invitation emailed to these families.
Registrations close Friday 27th August 2021.
International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS)
The Mathematics ICAS competition is being conducted at school on Monday 30 August 2021
Each of the sessions will be conducted as follows:
Years 6-10 | 8:30am-9:40am
Years 3-5 | 11:00am – 12:15pm
Mathematics
Students are assessed across five key skill areas:
Algebra and patterns: Patterns of numbers, relationships between numbers and the use of symbols to stand for unknown or variable numbers
Chance and data: Mathematical treatment of data and statistics
Measures and units: Properties of the physical world that can be measured, the units used to measure them and the process of measurement
Number and arithmetic: Types of numbers, their properties and number operations
Space and geometry: Properties of two-dimensional and three-dimensional space
ICAS competitions will be undertaken online. Students in Years 4 – 10 will access the web-based platform using their devices, while Year 3 will be provided with access to a device. Please note, the iPad mini is not supported by the ICAS testing platform. Prior to testing, compliance tests will be conducted on devices. Students may find it helpful to familiarise themselves with the testing platform using the Practice Interaction Test:
Students who have elected to participate will be supervised by Ms Susan Levitt. They are to bring the following to each of the competition sessions:
A compatible device
Pen/pencil for working out
Please note, students are not to bring a calculator or other electronic devices, such as translators or dictionaries. If a calculator is permitted, students must use the online calculator provided within the testing platform.
Further information, including past papers available to download, can be found on the ICAS website: https://www.icasassessments.com/icas-past-papers/ Please note: there is a cost to purchase past papers.
Susan Levitt Prep-Year 6 Curriculum Leader: Assessment and Reporting
Community
St Peters P&F Fathers Day Stall
Around the College
School Holiday's Code Camp
Code Camp will be running an Animation Camp during the next school holidays from Tuesday 28 – Wednesday 29 September. Register between 26 August and 29 August and use the code SPRINGFIELD25 to receive a $25 discount.
The Arts
Ensembles Recommencing
It has been wonderful to hear our ensembles back rehearsing, with the easing of the latest COVID restrictions. Congratulations to students who have eagerly returned, instruments at the ready, to make music.
The Value of “Keeping the Beat”
The Auditory Neuroscience Lab (known as “Brainvolts”) at Northwestern University has a simple question to explore – how do we understand the world through our ears?
Beat synchronisation requires participants to find the beat when listening to music, copy a beat given by the researcher and continue a beat after the researcher has stopped playing. These tasks are very tricky in terms of neural development for children between 3-5 years of age.
Beat synchronisation requires precise integration of auditory perception and motor circuitry. Children have to process the sound of the beat, and (importantly) the period of time or silence between the beats, and then have to use their bodies to create a beat on a drum, which requires predicting how far and fast their hands need to move to hit the drum at exactly the right time, and then repeat this process.
Beat synchronisation is an external representation of a level of internal cognitive connectivity. Put another way, we can now assess the level of cognitive connectivity in a young child through their ability to complete beat synchronisation tasks.
Dr Kali Carr, lead researcher at Brainvolts, has found evidence that a beat synchronisation test could identify the level of cognitive connectivity in a child’s brain. This specific type of cognitive connectivity is related directly to reading readiness or pre-literacy skills.
We can predict a young child’s language processing and potential reading skills through the level of beat synchronisation they can demonstrate.
A study by Dr Silvia Bonancini has found that rhythm, pre-literacy and auditory processing are interconnected during early childhood. Reading to young children and allowing them to play with letters, books and words is important. However, pre-literacy is strengthened by including music activities that focus on auditory processing and accurate beat keeping.
Beat keeping tasks can assist with the identification of literacy difficulties (eg dyslexia), but more importantly, beat keeping intervention can adjust the neural synchronisation that has been delaying the development of reading. This in turn can lead to greater levels of engagement and a higher self-concept with regards to learning and more engagement in society.
The domino effects of a literate and engaged society are enormous, and it all starts with one little beat.
Sport
QGSSSA Girls Sport
Girls Sport Coordinator – Anne-Marie Champion
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” Dolly Parton
This week training for all Sports is well underway as we prepare for fixtures/meets/regattas to recommence this weekend. With no Girls Sport to report from last week, I thought it was a great opportunity to introduce our 2021 Girls Sport Captains. I have had the pleasure of working with Claudia L & Ashleigh S this year and I could not be prouder of the leaders they have developed into today. In these challenging times the girls have gone above and beyond to improve the culture not only within the Girls Sport Program but across all Sport at St Peters. Both girls have represented St Peters in many sports over their time here and they have shared with us some of their favourite St Peters Sport memories.
Ashleigh S
Tell us about your Sporting journey at St Peters
My Sporting journey at St Peters started in 2018 when I moved to St Peters from Brigidine. Playing Sport allowed me to make lots of new friends and develop new relationships as I progressed through high school. Over my five years at St Peters I have played Softball, Touch, Rugby, Netball and Track & Field. I love each of my sports dearly and they all have a special place in my hearts as they make up some of my best memories from school.
Your favourite St Peters Sport memory
One of my favourite St Peters Sport memories is from Year 10 when we won the Open Softball premiership. Softball is the sport that I had the best connection with my team and the culture was amazing. The season was highly focussed on having fun and connecting as a team and as friends, always having lots of laughs. Luckily, we had Steph B as our pitcher and Nat W as our catcher, they were awesome and made our task as fielders so much easier, as Steph striked out so many batters!
What does it mean to you to be one of our 2021 St Peters Girls Sport Captains?
Being a St Peters 2021 Girls Sport Captain means that I am able to spread my love for School Sport throughout the year levels and encourage everyone to have fun. Claudia and I have been fortunate enough to work with Mrs Champion and with her help we were able to introduce ‘Focus Rounds’, which enabled the girls to have a base of supporters, which we hope will continue to grow. I love having a crowd to support me and my team and it means a lot to me that Claudia and I were able to begin this tradition in 2021.
Claudia L
Tell us about your Sporting journey at St Peters
In 2015 I started my journey with St Peters Sport by playing in the Under 13 Water Polo team. As the Water Polo program is club based I was able to start playing for St Peters in my last term of Primary Years, I found this one of the best thing as it allowed me to make friends and get to know people before I officially started at St Peters. From Years 7 to 12 I have participated in QGSSSA Volleyball, Football, Swimming, Cross Country, Badminton & Water Polo. I have been fortunate enough to play in the Open Football team for the past two years and the Open Water Polo and Volleyball for the past three years. I have enjoyed every moment of those seasons as they have not only taught me how to become a better athlete, these teams have allowed me to have fun and enjoy my sports.
My favourite St Peters Sport memory
I have many amazing memories throughout my sporting journey at St Peters however my favourite memory was having the opportunity to play Volleyball with the team in the year above in Year 7 at AVSC and Junior Schools Cup. Being in Year 7 it was very scary playing with the older girls however these girls made it very easy for me to be comfortable. I was fortunate enough to play with them in the QGSSSA Volleyball Opens Team for the past three years and they still remain some of my closest friends today.
What does it mean to you to be one of our 2021 St Peters Girls Sport Captains?
I have wanted to be the Girls Sports Captain for a while now. My sister who graduated in 2014 was also Sport Captain in her Senior year and watching her lead the girls and enjoy St Peters Sport inspired me to follow in her footsteps. I am so lucky to be one of the Girl Sport Captains this year and I can’t wait to watch and encourage all the girls to have as much fun as I have.
DATE CLAIMERS:
Winter Fixtures – Netball, Volleyball, Hockey & Tennis
Round 7: Saturday 28 August v Moreton Bay College (Away)
Round 8: Saturday 4 September v St Hilda’s (Away)
Round 9: Saturday 11 September v Ipswich Girls Grammar School (Home)
BSRA Rowing Regattas
Saturday 28 August
Head of the River – Sunday 5 September
QGSSSA Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
Wednesday 1 September
QGSSSA Track & Field Championships
Thursday 16 September
Our GIRLS SPORT Term 3 Sport Coordinators for 2021 are
Rowing is back on this Saturday with the penultimate regatta before Head of the River on Sunday 5 September. We wish the girls all the best. In exciting news, the following girls have been selected to represent Metropolitan West at the upcoming Queensland Schools State Titles being held in Rockhampton on the first weekend of the September school holidays.
A huge congratulations to all the girls for all their hard work and commitment throughout the Rhythmic Gymnastics season. It certainly was an amazing full-dress rehearsal yesterday.
Thank you also to our special guests; Mr Kotzur (HOC), Claudia L (Sports Captain), Mrs Champion (Girls Sport Coordinator) and of course you, the parents!
Your encouraging words and cheering from the sidelines were exactly what the girls needed😊
Next Wednesday 1 September, we will see the girls perform their final routine for QGSSSA at Moreton Bay College. Details of this event will be sent to parents/caregivers and students via email by the end of the week.
Again, well done girls! – we are all very proud of you and look forward to your performances at next week’s competition. 🤸♀️😊👍
It was great to see so many girls attend the meet last night at QSAC! With only 3 weeks to go until the QG Track and Field Championships we need to see all girls at training and the meets.
REMEMBER – CONSISTENCY IN ATTENDING TRAINING AND CONSISTENCY WHILE TRAINING IS THE KEY!
Please remind your daughters to sign up for the meet on Friday 27 August at UQ – competing is the fun part where you get to put into practice all you have done at training.
Please ensure you know when and where training is – check the St Peters app. Remember girls – WE WANT EXCEPTIONAL!
If you have any questions, please see Mr Donatini, Mr Nodwell or Mr Lohe.
The QGSSSA is introducing AFL Skill Development Sessions and Gala Days in preparation for the introduction of AFL as a competition in 2022.
This Term 4 opportunity is open to all girls in Years 7 – 11
It is important to note, AFL will be offered for Years 10-12 girls in Term 1 next year, The GIRLS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY SOFTBALL & AFL, they will have to choose one.
Years 7-9 AFL will be played in Term 4 next year.
Further details will be provided once sign on is complete, but you are committing to the following Skill Development Sessions and Gala Days.
The 2021 – 2022 BWPI Water Polo Season trials will be held during training times in Weeks 9 & 10, further details will be advised (no Sunday trials this year).
It is important for selection that all girls attend all training sessions/trials.
A few key points to consider before signing on to Water Polo
The season runs for Term 4 2021 & Term 1 2022 – THE COMMITMENT IS FOR BOTH TERMS.
Training sessions are held in the 50m pool in the evenings.
There is a fee associated to playing Water Polo for St Peters – further details to follow.
Training details and times to follow once you have signed on
Further details will be sent to families of girls that have signed on very soon.
AIC Boys Sport
It was great to have Boys AIC Sport back up and going last Saturday. Both Basketball and Tennis competed against St Laurence’s College. The overall feeling of the day was one of positive enthusiasm. It was evident that all involved were extremely happy to be representing their College and participating on the sporting field.
AIC Basketball & Tennis
This coming Saturday, St Peters will verse St Patrick’s College in Round 5 of AIC Term 3 Sport. Our Senior teams will play ‘away’ in both Basketball and Tennis whilst our Junior teams will play at ‘home’ to St Patrick’s College.
St Peters AIC Track & Field Lead Up Meet number one is set to go ahead next Thursday 2 September at QSAC, Nathan. All boys in Junior High (Years 7 to 9) and Senior School (Years 10 to 12) have been sent an informational email about the meet. We do ask all boys to please check their emails and to ‘Sign On’ if they intend on participating for St Peters in Track & Field at this AIC Lead Up Meet.
Also, we encourage all our St Peters Track & Field athletes to look at joining a local Athletics Club and register with Queensland Athletics (QA). Competing regularly at organised Track & Field meets and competition is one of the best ways to improve and serve as a great training experience as well.
With Toowong Harriers Athletics Club located within five minutes of St Peters Lutheran College, I encourage all our St Peters athletes to strongly consider joining and regularly competing at QA competitions. This is also a great way for our younger athletes (11-14 years) to improve their coordination, skills, speed and overall fitness level. More information here.
For more information pertaining to St Peters Boys Sport, especially details about this Saturday’s Round 5 fixtures, please check the St Peters App.
Our AIC Term 3 Boys Sport Coordinators for 2021 are:
With regards to wet weather and any unforeseen or potential cancellations of AIC sports, please ensure that you keep an eye out for notifications and alerts via the St Peters App.
Communication of Sport Information
Information regarding the St Peters Lutheran College Springfield Sport program will be communicated through a range of modes including email, St Peters App and Cornerstone. Students and parents will primarily receive information from the Head of Sport at Springfield but at times may also receive information from the Girls and Boys Sport Coordinators or individual Sport Coordinators. Parents and students are encouraged to download and use the St Peters App for information regarding the Sport program.
St Peters APP
Please download the St Peters ‘app’ today!!
All information regarding the St Peters Lutheran College Sport program including sport training times and venues, draws, coordinator details and wet weather arrangements can be found on the St Peters App.
*Please ensure that you update your preferences in the Settings> Subscriptions section of the app so that you only receive information from your appointed Campus or area of interest that are relevant to your family e.g. Springfield or Sports.
The app can be downloaded free through iTunes or Google Play, please search for St Peters:
