St Margaret's Anglican Girls School is an Australian

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Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for girls. The school is located in

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

, an inner-northern suburb of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The school was founded in 1895 by the

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...

s of the

Society of the Sacred Advent The Society of the Sacred Advent is an Anglican religious order founded at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, in 1892 by Caroline Amy Balguy (1833-1915), and still active in that city. History Known as Sister Caroline Amy and, later, Mother Carolin ...

. It has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently enrolls approximately 1175 students from Pre-Preparatory to Year 12, including 185 boarders from Years 5 to 12. St Margaret's has eight houses: Chaucer, Bede, Herrick, Kendall, Tennyson, Milton, Spenser and Lawson. St Margaret's is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the

Junior School Heads Association of Australia The Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) formerly Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), is an incorporated body representing the heads of independent primary schools in Australia. Officially established in Septem ...

(JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), and is a founding member of the

Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association The Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association Inc (QGSSSA) is a sporting Professional association, association for girls from eight Private school, private girls' schools, one co-educational private school, and one co-educational Pu ...

(QGSSSA).

History

In 1895, the religious sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent opened a boarding school for girls at Eton High School, a former boys' school in

Nundah Nundah (previously called German Station) is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It contains the neighbourhood of Toombul. In the , Nundah had a population of 13,098 people. Prior to European settlement, Nundah was ...

. The school was on land bounded by Bishop Street, Buckland Road, Wand Street and Olive Street. Sister Emma was the sister-in-charge and Isabelle Caine was the

headmistress A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

. In 1907, the school moved to Toorak House in Hamilton, Juliet Lyon (1907–1917) replaced Caine, and the school roll grew to 35 pupils. As well as the usual lessons, students participated in tennis, rowing, basketball and swimming. Three years later the school moved again to Albion Heights. It was housed in Donatello, a home built in the 1880s for Patrick Durack. The building was renamed St Margaret's House and the school's name changed to the Church of England High School. Two years later the school became known as St Margaret's Church of England Girls’ School and has remained on this site ever since. Donatello is still in use today as the community house for the sisters. By 1910 there were 47 boarders and when the University of Queensland opened in 1911, two St Margaret's girls were among its first students. Lyon resigned in 1917 and was the last lay Headmistress until 1978. It was during Lyon's time that the School motto, Per Volar Sunata (Born to Fly Upwards), came into being and the middy uniform was introduced. Under the leadership of Sister Teresa (1918–25) the school grew and the adjoining property, Avoca, was acquired in 1918 to provide extra accommodation. It was originally named Mooloomburram when it was built in 1886 by

Andrew Petrie Andrew Petrie (June 1798 – 20 February 1872) was a Scottish-Australian pioneer, architect and builder in Brisbane, Queensland. Early life Andrew Petrie was born in June 1798 in Fife, Scotland, to parents Walter Petrie and Margaret (''née'' ...

. Sister Teresa introduced the house system, a student representative school council and the

Dalton Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), a.k.a. unified atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist * 12292 Dalton, an asteroid Ent ...

method of education. Sister Elisabeth (1925–1936) embarked on a building program, including the West Wing with classrooms, dormitories and dining room; the Darnell Art and Music buildings and the swimming pool. After Sister Bernadine (1937–1939), Sister Mary (1940–1964) led the school through the years of World War II and the resulting changes to School life – closures, reduced enrolments, rationing and shortages. After the war, a new assembly hall (Eton Hall), extra classrooms and dormitories in East Wing; a gymnasium; the school chapel; Dalhousie classrooms and a boarders’ recreation block and library were erected. The school continued to grow under the leadership of both Sister Jean-Marie (1965–1970) and Sister Helen (1971–1977). The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1970 with the opening of Toorak and its

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, staff room and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

laboratories. In 1977 the sisters took the decision to appoint a lay Headmistress, while still retaining ownership and guidance of the school. Margaret Kugleman (1978–1982) was followed by Evelyn Heath (1982–1993), Mary Hutchings (1993–1995) and Judith Hill (1995–1996). The Avoca and Jackson Wings were built at this time to provide additional classrooms. A separate primary school building, Chaseley Wing, opened in 1992 to accommodate growing primary enrolments. It is named after Sister Chaseley Anne who was in charge of the boarding house from 1979 to 1990. In 1995, the school's

centenary A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

year, the Philip Harris Sports Centre was built. It is supplemented by outdoor facilities at Windsor Park and a rowing centre at Breakfast Creek. An art room and music block were built in the 1930s, and in 2003 a new arts centre was built. This has three art studios,

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

area and a display

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. The Eunice Science and Resource Centre was opened in 2012, named after Mother Eunice. In 2020, the school built a new sports precinct. This has a water-polo sized heated swimming pool with two 50m lanes, tennis courts with lights, gymnasium with an oak sprung floor, a strength and conditioning gym, an indoor climbing wall featuring seven belay stations and 76m2 of climbing, a dedicated ergometer room to support rowing and modern health and physical education classrooms. The rebuilt gymnasium within the sports precinct took Philip Harris' name again and is called the Philip Harris Gym.

Academics

Curriculum

In the secondary school, girls in Years 7 and 8 study English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities, Health and Physical Education, Religious and Values Education, Drama, Visual Art, Music, French or Mandarin, Science of Learning (Year 7) and Digital Technologies (Year 8). Students in Years 9 and 10 choose from a large number of electives. Compulsory subjects are English, Mathematics, Science, Health and Physical Education and Religious and Values Education and History. In Years 11 and 12 students choose one of the following QCE pathways: Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) pathway or Portfolio Pathway.

Global Exchange Program

The school is part of an exchange program with 11 schools in six countries: * Shawnigan Lake School, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Crofton House School, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada * Saint-Nom-de-Marie, Montreal, Canada * St Anne's Diocesan College, Hilton, South Africa * Ursulinenschule, Bornheim, Germany * Konan Girls High, Kobe, Japan * Nga Tawa, Wellington Diocesan School for Girls, Marton, New Zealand *Chatham Hall, Chatham, Virginia, USA *Augusta Preparatory Day School, Martinez, Georgia, USA * St Margaret's College, Christchurch, New Zealand – Rowing Exchange In 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the school implemented a Domestic Exchange program.

Recent results

In 2020, the St Margaret's Year 12 cohort 15.9% (14) of students achieve an ATAR of 99 or above, placing them in the top 1% of the state. 43.2% of St Margaret's students achieved an ATAR of 95 or above, placing them in the top 5% of the state. 62.5% (55) of the Year 12 cohort achieved an ATAR of 90 or above, placing them in the top 10% of the state. Across four subjects, eight students received perfect scores of 100 out of 100. 100% of students received a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE).

Recent sporting achievements

*2020: Aggregate Cup Winners at the Brisbane Schoolgirls Rowing Association Head of the River Rowing Regatta *2019: Aggregate Cup Winners at the Brisbane Schoolgirls Rowing Association Head of the River Rowing Regatta *2019: First VIII Head of the River Champions *2018: Aggregate Cup Winners at the Brisbane Schoolgirls Rowing Association Head of the River Rowing Regatta

Awards

Notable alumnae

Lily Alton-Triggs Lily Alton-Triggs (born 29 September 1998) is an Australian representative rower. She has represented at underage and senior World Championships and was selected in the 2023 Australian senior squad winning a bronze medal in the Australian women ...

– Australian representative rower *

Bronte Barratt Bronte Amelia Arnold Barratt, (born 8 February 1989) is an Australian retired competitive swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. Career Born in Brisbane on 8 February 1989, Barratt was coached by John Rodgers at the Albany Creek Swim Club. At th ...

– Commonwealth and World Record Holder in Swimming *

Mel Buttle Melinda Claire Buttle is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter and writer. She co-hosted '' The Great Australian Bake Off'' alongside Claire Hooper. In April 2013, she was awarded the Directors Choice Award at the Melbourne In ...

– comedian, television and radio presenter and writer *

Jennifer Byrne Jennifer Victoria Byrne (born 5 March 1955) is an Australian journalist, television presenter and former book publisher. She hosted the monthly ABC television program ''The Book Club'', originally titled ''First Tuesday Book Club''. Early lif ...

– Director of Biobanking, NSW Health Pathology and Professor of Molecular Oncology, The University of Sydney * Margaret Cameron AM – academic librarian and ornithologist * Keri Craig-Lee OAM – Fashion Designer and Retailer for the Keri Craig Label *

Desley Deacon Desley Deacon (born 1941) is an Australian sociologist, historian and biographer. She has been professor emeritus at the Australian National University since 2009. Early life and education Deacon was born in Pomona, Queensland in 1941. She ...

– historian, biographer and academic * Madeleine Edmunds – Olympic rower *

Brittany Elmslie Brittany Joyce Elmslie, (born 19 June 1994) is a former Australian competitive swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in swimming, and won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at both Games. Personal ...

– Olympic gold medallist in swimming * CJ Hendry – artist * Emma Jackson – triathlete * Marjorie Johnstone (née Mant) – co-founder of the Johnstone Art Gallery *

Sally Kehoe Sally Kehoe (born 25 September 1986) is an Australian former representative rower who was a national champion, three-time Olympian and a representative at multiple world championships. Since 2014 she has held the world-record time in the women' ...

– Olympic finalist in rowing * Dame Patricia Mackinnon, DBE – appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for service to the

Royal Children's Hospital The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), colloquially referred to as the Royal Children's, is a major children's hospital in Parkville, Victoria, Parkville, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Regarded as one of the great C ...

. *

Daphne Mayo Lilian Daphne Mayo (1 October 1895 – 31 July 1982) was an Australian artist, most prominently known for her work in sculpture, particularly the tympanum (architecture), tympanum of Brisbane City Hall and the Women's War Memorial in ANZAC Squa ...

– Sculptor * Una Prentice – first woman to graduate from the Faculty of Law at the University of Queensland *

Isobel Roe Isobel Marion Roe (24 June 1916 – 5 October 1987) was an alpine skier, athletic administrator, teacher, and croquet player. As a skier, she was Great Britain Women's Ski Champion and represented Britain in the World Championships in 1937 and th ...

–

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

journalist *

Emily Seebohm Emily Jane Seebohm, Order of Australia, OAM (born 5 June 1992) is a retired Australian Swimming (sport), swimmer and television personality. She has appeared at four Olympic Games between Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 and Swimming ...

– Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder in swimming * Rosemond Siemon – author of '' The Mayne Inheritance'' *

Geraldine Turner Geraldine Gail Turner (born 23 June 1950 in Brisbane, Australia) is an Australian actress and singer. She has been a leading performer in Australian musical theatre since the 1970s, and has also been active in plays, recordings, film and telev ...

OAM – actress

References

External links

*
Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Margaret's Anglican Girls School Girls' schools in Queensland Private secondary schools in Brisbane Boarding schools in Queensland Educational institutions established in 1895 Anglican schools in Brisbane Junior School Heads Association of Australia Member Schools 1895 establishments in Australia Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia