Milo Monkey turned 6 yesterday.

Once again, I was welcomed into the Kindy class for a seat at their table.

This is why I became a teacher.

Kindergarten was my own light bulb moment, and I often ask students who love school when theirs was.

For some, it’s the love of learning.
For others, it’s the independence — leaving Mum to catch the bus on their own.
No longer hiding behind her (being a ‘house devil’ and a ‘street angel’).
Making friends.
Rich learning.
Playtime.

I chose the best profession for me.

Thank you for always saving a seat for me at your table, Kindy.

Enjoy this edition of our newsletter and take pride in the opportunities your young people have to learn, grow, and thrive. This is why you chose NEGS.

Ms Liz van Genderen

Principal

As we move through the 2026 academic year, it is important to reflect on how education is changing and how we can continue preparing our students for life beyond our school. Educational research points to a clear trend: the future of learning depends on balancing digital tools with deeply human skills.

Simply put, the most effective education combines human qualities with technology. We must nurture the skills technology cannot replace such as creativity, empathy, communication, resilience, critical thinking, curiosity, and ethical decision-making, while utilising digital tools, online learning platforms, and educational apps that help students learn more efficiently.

This balance is at the forefront of our conversations. While we use technology to streamline routine tasks and support learning, our teachers remain focused on what matters most: strong pedagogical teaching practices for student learning. At the same time, our curriculum, wellbeing programs, excursions and outdoor education experiences are intentionally designed to help students grow in confidence, character, and capability.

Research also continues to show that student wellbeing, connection and engagement are the essential foundations for academic success.

In the Junior School, our Year 3–6 excursion to the Coffs Coast Adventure Centre helped students develop courage, teamwork, and resilience through shared challenges. For our Year 6 students, the GRIP Leadership Conference encouraged them to step forward as positive leaders who contribute meaningfully to their school community.

As our students move through adolescence, strong relationships and social confidence become increasingly important. Through The Friendship Project in Years 7–10, students discussed practical skills to navigate friendships, manage conflict respectfully, and build healthy connections with others. While we acknowledge that they won't always get it right, continuing to have these conversations is vital to making meaningful growth.

To create space for focus, schools across the world are responding to the growing challenge of digital distraction. Our mobile phone policy aims to create a calm, focused learning environment where students can fully engage in their classes and relationships without constant interruptions from notifications and social media.

To achieve this, students are reminded that they must hand in their phone or place it in its pouch during the school day. We also ask for our parents' vital support in this space. Please refrain from messaging your children or responding to their emails during school hours. Additionally, we ask that you monitor their devices to ensure they are not accessing Messenger or other platforms as a workaround to phone restrictions.

We also know that digital citizenship extends beyond the classroom. Through our partnership with Safe on Social, students learnt practical strategies for online safety, privacy and the responsible use of technology.

Looking Ahead

What does this mean for your children? We remain committed to high academic standards, strong relationships, and meaningful opportunities that prepare our students not only to navigate the future, but to lead it.

Mrs Heidi Dent

Deputy Principal

Education Beyond the Classroom

As you will be aware, Term 2 has been a busy and rewarding time, with students representing NEGS across a wide range of pursuits. With the commencement of winter sport, it has been wonderful to see the NEGS value of teamwork demonstrated so strongly, with participation, encouragement and inclusiveness at the forefront both on and off the field.

The Armidale Eisteddfod has also commenced, with all students K–6 participating in some way. Opportunities to perform and engage in music, whether through choir, instrumental performances, groups or individual items, help students develop confidence, creativity, resilience and communication skills. Performing also encourages students to step beyond their comfort zone, work collaboratively and take pride in their growth. Congratulations to all of our students for representing NEGS with enthusiasm and pride, and for always striving to do your best.

Our Year 6 students recently attended the GRIP Leadership Conference, enjoying a highly engaging and inspiring day focused on student leadership. Throughout the conference, students explored important topics including What Should Leaders Do at Our School?, Integrity – The Way I Can Lead Every Day, and The Challenges Leaders Face with a New Idea. Students left with practical leadership strategies and renewed confidence to make a positive impact within our school and wider community, strengthening the values of Responsibility, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellence in everyday life.

Timely Arrival at School

Timely arrival at school makes a meaningful difference for children. Students do not always move instantly from “home mode” to “learning mode”; they benefit from time to unpack, greet friends, play briefly, and settle into the rhythm of the school day.

Research into play, physical activity and self-regulation shows that children benefit from predictable routines, social connection, movement and time to emotionally prepare before formal learning begins. A calm transition into the day supports emotional regulation, focus, organisation and readiness to learn.

Our staff are on duty in the playground from 8:20am, and we encourage students to arrive with enough time to transition calmly before the school day begins. Arriving just before, or after, the bell can make the morning feel rushed and unsettled. Even a few extra minutes can help children feel organised, connected and ready to engage in learning.

Our school day begins at 8:45am with fitness, allowing students to develop fundamental movement skills and build healthy habits. The World Health Organization recommends that children and adolescents participate in regular moderate to vigorous physical activity, and evidence suggests physical activity can support cognitive outcomes, executive function and academic performance.

The Junior School supports the Live Life Well @ School approach, encouraging healthy eating and physical activity throughout the day. Alongside morning fitness, students are encouraged to bring Crunch&Sip® - a crunchy fruit or vegetable snack that can be enjoyed during class time. We also encourage students to be involved in packing a healthy lunchbox, helping to build independence and positive lifelong habits around nutrition and wellbeing.

Thank you for supporting students to begin each day calm, connected and ready to learn.

Mrs Deanna Ford

Junior School Coordinator/Year 6 Teacher

One of the greatest gifts of a boarding education is the deep, lifelong connections it fosters. Within our boarding houses, our girls do not just go to school together - they live, study, laugh and socialise within the same ecosystem. This shared life creates a powerful, beautiful sense of belonging and sisterhood. However, because this environment is so closely knit, it can also naturally intensify adolescent emotions.

When your home, social circle, and study space are all under one roof, ordinary teenage friction can feel amplified! The complex social dynamics of growing up, such as times of exclusion, gossip or social manipulation can occasionally surface.

At NEGS, our boarding staff are trained to help our girls navigate these difficult times. We deliberately position conflict not as a crisis or an identity defining event, but as a manageable, normal developmental process. Learning how to navigate disagreement is a vital life skill and our boarding houses are a safe training ground for it.

When your daughter calls home upset about a social rift, it is completely natural to want to fix it immediately. However, adolescent girls develop true social capability most effectively when the adults in their lives provide a thoughtful combination of emotional safety, clear boundaries and gradual independence.

Here are three simple strategies you can use to help support your daughter from home:

• Avoid the "Rescue Response": Jumping in to solve the problem for her can inadvertently signal that she isn't capable of handling it. Try to resist the urge to immediately intervene or fix the situation.
• Listen Without Escalating: Provide a loving, calm space for her to vent. Validate her feelings but remain an anchor of calm. If we mirror their high emotional state it can amplify their anxiety.
• Support Resilience Alongside Safety: Remind her of her strengths. Encourage her to view the situation as a temporary hurdle rather than a permanent reflection of who she is or where she fits in.

It is important to remember that the strongest boarding cultures are not conflict free. Rather, they are environments where students are encouraged and empowered to disengage from unhealthy peer dynamics quietly, safely and with the support of emotionally regulated adults.

Our ultimate goal at NEGS is not to remove every social difficulty from your daughter’s path. Instead, it is to help her become socially flexible, emotionally regulated and resilient within complex peer dynamics.

By working together, with our staff guiding them on the ground and you providing a steady, supportive anchor from home, we can ensure our girls develop as capable, independent young women who can confidently navigate the wider world.

Mrs Kassy Cassidy

Head of Boarding

On Wednesday 29 April 2026, our Round Square committee hosted NEGS’ first-ever postcard!!!!

A postcard is an international online discussion where students have the opportunity to connect with other students across the world. The NEGS Round Square committee hosted one of these postcards on the topic of culture. 

We had schools from as far away as India, New Zealand and the UK, and a total of 44 students joined us online. As groups, we discussed how each of our school cultures is different and how each of us as a student impacts it. 

One of my favourite moments was actually at the beginning during our ice breaker where I got to ask about different countries' vegetables. I got to know a little bit about everyone and about everyone's culture.

It was such an amazing opportunity, and we can’t wait to be able to do it again.

Mackenzie Ellem and Sasha Scott - Hamilton

This term has certainly been a busy one! From our ANZAC Day and Mother’s Day Chapel Services to the Beyond These Walls program in the Secondary School and senior students helping younger students, there has been much for which to be thankful.

We began the term with an ANZAC Day Chapel Service to commemorate and remember those who have served, and continue to serve, our country in conflicts, wars and peacekeeping operations. It was a time to pause and reflect on the Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation. During the service, we also looked to Jesus, in whom we find true and everlasting hope through the sacrifice He made for all humanity.

This term we also celebrated mothers and mother figures, giving thanks for the important role they play in our lives. With numbers too large for the Chapel, we gathered together in the Assembly Hall where the Bell Choir performed beautifully, students shared why they are thankful for the women in their lives, and we sang together as a whole school community. These occasions are always special, and I thank everyone who contributed to making it such a joyful and successful afternoon.

Another highlight this term in the Chaplaincy space has been watching Year 5 students step up to assist the Pre-K class with a Christian Studies craft activity. Although nervous at first, each Year 5 student focused on helping a younger student colour and create a “Jesus is King” crown. These interactions often continue into the playground, where the older students play alongside and care for the younger students. It is truly wonderful to see.

Finally, a team from Anglicare visited the school to run a two-hour session for each Secondary School year group called Beyond These Walls. Inspired by Anglicare’s gospel-focused vision to care in Jesus’ name, the sessions explored why we should reach out to our neighbours in love, particularly those who are vulnerable or experiencing hardship. These sessions will connect well with the Year 12 Community and Family Studies course, as well as Service Week later in the year, when students serve the community in a variety of ways. Students were encouraged to think beyond their own walls and consider how they can serve others, reflecting the love that Jesus has shown to us.

Chaplaincy is certainly about more than Christian Studies lessons and Chapel services. My prayer is that it continues to find its place in every area of school life, pointing our NEGS community to Jesus and the eternal hope found in Him.

Mother's Day Photos

Beyond These Walls Photos

Rev Lou Davies

NEGS Chaplain

Year 7 Visual Arts

In Year 7 Visual Arts this term, students explored the theme of dreams, considering both waking dreams and those experienced during sleep. Through drawing, painting, writing, and discussion, students reflected on imagination, memory, emotion, and symbolism, investigating how dreams can communicate personal experiences and ideas.

Students experimented with colour, composition, and visual metaphor to create artworks that represented the strange, imaginative, and often emotional qualities of dreams. Alongside their practical work, students developed short written reflections and narratives to support and extend the meaning within their artworks. The unit encouraged students to think creatively, take imaginative risks, and explore how artists can visually and verbally communicate inner worlds and experiences.

Year 7 Food Tech

In Year 7 Food Technology this term, students explored the issue of food waste in Australia and investigated practical ways households can reduce unnecessary waste. Through class discussions, research, and practical cooking activities, students considered how planning, storage, and creative cooking can help make better use of everyday ingredients.

As part of the unit, students will be developing and creating their own recipes using common pantry and cupboard items, encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and an understanding of sustainable food practices. The unit has supported students in thinking more carefully about how food is used, valued, and managed within the home.

Year 8 Visual Arts 

In Year 8 Visual Arts this term, students explored the visual language of surf, skate, and pop culture, investigating how artists, designers, and brands communicate identity through imagery, typography, and symbolism. Students examined the influence of contemporary graphic design, street art, logos, and skate culture on visual arts practice, while developing an understanding of how colour, composition, and style contribute to strong visual communication.

As part of the unit, students designed their own original logos and visual identities in preparation for creating personalised skateboard designs. Through experimentation and refinement, students explored how art and design can reflect personality, interests, and contemporary youth culture.

Year 9/10 Visual Arts

In Year 9/10 Visual Arts this term, students explored the theme of sense of place and home, investigating how artists represent landscape, belonging, memory, and connection to Country. 

Through the study of contemporary and historical artworks, students examined how place can communicate personal identity, cultural experience, and emotional connection. Students experimented with a range of materials and techniques to develop artworks that reflected environments and places significant to them, while considering how colour, composition, texture, and symbolism contribute to meaning. The unit encouraged students to reflect on their own relationships with place and how art can communicate experiences of belonging, connection, and identity.

Year 9/10 Food Tech

In Year 9/10 Food Technology this term, students explored the diverse food cultures that have shaped Australian cuisine and everyday dining experiences. Through practical cooking experiences and class discussions, students investigated how migration, cultural traditions, and changing food trends have influenced the foods commonly enjoyed across Australia today.

Students developed their practical skills by preparing a variety of dishes inspired by different cultural influences, while also considering flavour, presentation, and nutrition.

This term, the Year 9/10 Food Technology students have been preparing for the launch of the New England Gourmet Snacks Café, a student-led initiative designed to provide freshly made food and drinks for the school community. The café project has provided students with valuable opportunities to develop practical cooking skills while also applying knowledge across a range of learning areas.

Through planning and operating the café, students have engaged in student-directed learning by making decisions around menu design, budgeting, costing, food preparation, customer service, and organisation. The project has embedded Mathematics through measuring, scaling recipes, pricing, and budgeting, while Science concepts have been explored through nutrition, food safety, and food preparation processes. Students have also developed important teamwork, communication, and project management skills as they worked collaboratively to prepare for service.

The café has become a meaningful way for students to connect their classroom learning with real-world experiences while contributing positively to the wider school community through service and hospitality.

Mr Andrew Duggan-Smith

Art/Design & Technology Teacher

Year 9 Outward Bound Adventure

A blurry-eyed group of Year 9 students departed at 4:45am on Sunday, 26th May, embarking on an 11½-hour journey to Tharwa, Canberra, for their week-long Outward Bound adventure. Designed to develop grit, perseverance, resilience, communication, collaboration and leadership skills, the program challenged students to step beyond their comfort zones and embrace unfamiliar experiences.

After arriving at camp and meeting their instructors, Henry and Grace, students quickly discovered that Outward Bound was about far more than hiking and camping. Early team-building activities and a “Fear in the Hat” exercise encouraged the girls to reflect on their worries and begin building trust within their groups before heading into the field for the remainder of the week.

Throughout the expedition, students were challenged both physically and mentally. Carrying heavy packs filled with food, water, hoochies and personal belongings, the girls navigated long bushwalks, campsites and changing terrain while consistently demonstrating teamwork, encouragement and determination. Activities such as rope making, solving the mystery of “The Box,” and the Bandito Abseil pushed students to communicate effectively, support one another and embrace the idea of “challenge by choice,” with many bravely choosing to abseil down the cliff face.

While the days were physically demanding, some of the most memorable moments came during the evenings gathered around the campfire sharing stories, playing campfire games and enjoying a well-earned hot chocolate. These quieter moments helped strengthen friendships and created a strong sense of connection within the groups.

One of the defining moments of the week was the trek over Castle Hill, where students enjoyed breathtaking views over Canberra before descending the infamous “Mount Murder” — aptly, but affectionately renamed by the girls at NEGS due to the pain felt in tired knees and hips as they slipped, slid and stumbled their way down the steep eroded hillside. There were plenty of laughs, tears and cheers as everyone eventually made it safely to the bottom. Later that afternoon, students were given solo reflection time to write letters to their future selves about what they had learned during the experience.

Returning to base for a hot shower and flushable toilet was understandably a highlight of the final day. However, the experience concluded with one final reminder of the importance of teamwork and perseverance through the Giant Ladder activity and a final group reflection session where students shared challenges they had overcome, lessons they had learned and moments they were proud of.

The Outward Bound experience was an outstanding success, with students consistently demonstrating resilience, courage, teamwork and leadership throughout the week. Many girls commented that they wished they could stay longer, highlighting the positive and lasting impact the experience had on them. Perhaps one of the greatest lessons learned was the value of becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable — embracing challenges, supporting one another, and finding enjoyment and pride in moments that initially seemed difficult or daunting.

Mrs Le-Anne Chandler

Stage 5 Advisor/English/HSIE Teacher

Please find the Careers Newsletter HERE.

Mr Mark Ambrose

Business Studies Teacher/Careers Advisor

The Uniform Shop is now selling black tights for our girls in Junior School. 

They are $11.50 each and are available in the following sizes:

Size 4-6 (105cm - 120cm)

Size 7-10 (125cm -155cm)

Mrs Dee Ritch

Uniform Shop Coordinator

With the Armidale Eisteddfod in full turn, the NEGS Music Department has been quite busy and will remain so next week!

Our Year 3 students Ryan Wang (cello) and Claire Johnston (double bass) have taken part in solo events, and next week Eilish Morgan (Year 10) will participate in the Solo Voice competition. Mrs Sadgrove will take the Junior School String Ensembles out next week as well. The Year 3 String Ensemble will perform ‘Boogie and Chicken in the Kitchen’, the Year 4 String Ensemble ‘Midnight Feast’ and ‘Take your Partners’ (all composed by Blackwell). Saumerez Strings will perform ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ (based on a melody by Mozart) and ‘Kings March’ by Blackwell. They sure sound good! Ms Hughes’ Year 9/10 Elective Music Class will compete in the Class Ensemble competition. 

Ms Wright took the Junior School Choirs out this week and they sang beautifully. The highlight so far is the Year 7 Choir under the guidance of Ms Wright. They performed in the Choir Night on Wednesday, 20th of May, and won 1st Prize in their age group. This is an amazing outcome considering it was their very first public performance ever. Well done! Not only did they sing beautifully, they behaved in a very professional manner and listened attentively to other choir performances. 

Overall, the Music Department is very proud of all performers. We thank the parents for their wonderful support. 

Outlook:

There will be a Twilight Concert on the 11th of June in the Jan Milburn Room, where all students who have instrumental lessons can showcase their achievements. Should your child have instrumental lessons, please ask their instrumental teacher to be in touch with me to schedule them. (Please note that this is not an ‘open mic’ event - students need to have been working with a teacher and be prepared. Students who have been teaching themselves will have other more informal opportunities, but this is a formal concert.)

Musically yours,

Mrs Susanne Hughes

Music Teacher