Evergreen Autumn 2017 online

Middle School
The best years of my life!
I always encourage people not to Google ‘Middle School’,
as more often than not the results that come back are negative.
In fact in 2016 a movie entitled 'Middle School - the Worst
Years of my Life' was released. As Head of the Middle School
at St Margaret’s - I believe we have turned this on its head,
'St Margaret’s College Middle School - the Best Years
of my life!'
Our Middle School spans across Years 7-10. It is a vibrant,
exciting place to be. We offer a broad curriculum that covers
the Arts, Sciences, Languages, Creative Technologies, Social
Sciences, English, Health and Physical Education and
Mathematics. Alongside that we offer over 20 Performing
Arts groups and over 30 sports. New to the opportunities
over the last few years have been clubs such as Coding, The
Internet of Things and Makerspace.
To walk into a classroom now is very different as the girls discuss
'thinglinks', 'saving to the cloud', creating QR codes, pic
collages or going to the Google Classroom. It really is amazing
to see the innovation in classroom teaching and learning.
Things are always changing and we want to create the best
possible opportunities for our girls. This year we trialled
a new camp programme where some girls were involved
in day trips and some were
away over night. Year 7 did
a range of day visits, Year 8 camped
at Glenroy for two nights and Year 9 learned
in and around the city. One of the highlights for me was the
Year 9 Amazing Race Day - the girls headed off in teams
around town to complete a range of challenges. One of their
challenges being to purchase a coffee for someone, another
to pick up rubbish and another to busk to raise money for
charity - one of the groups raised $11 - not bad for 10 minutes
busking! The girls completed as many tasks as they could
during the day to get 200 points. I think they will remember
this day for a long time.
As a Middle School it is exciting to see our youngest students
come in and develop and grow through their time with us.
What emerges is an independent, unique young woman ready
to take on the Senior School.
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit
the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty”
(Maya Angelou). In our Middle School we are lucky to
be able to be a part of their journey and witness these changes.
Kathryn Gray – Head of Middle School
20. EVERGREEN