Junior School
From the Head of Junior School
With Term Four being a slightly shorter term (eight and a half weeks), as a school, we are mindful that the first six weeks be as routine as possible for teaching and learning before the last two weeks when swimming lessons and event preparation makes for a busy finish to the year. We are now at the end of Week Six, and it has been a great learning block for students. Most of their assessments are complete and you are probably seeing many SEQTA releases coming through across your child’s subject areas.
Over the next two weeks, all students from Pre-Primary to Year Six will participate in daily swimming lessons at Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre (ALAC) from Monday 21 November to Friday 2 December. Students will start the day at school and have a regular timetabled morning before travelling by bus for their lessons, either at 12.45pm or 1.30pm, before travelling back to school in the afternoon. Parents are welcome to collect their child directly after their swimming lesson at ALAC if that is more convenient.
Also during this two-week period, we will maintain our regular morning routines, particularly literacy and numeracy lessons. Other items we will begin preparing for are the end-of-year events, the Junior School Awards Ceremony, and the Christmas Concert. Each class will present an item at the concert. This is a lovely final day of school for everyone and we warmly welcome all families to attend these occasions on Tuesday 6 December.
Coming back to this week now, we held a House Activity day on Thursday 17 November for all students to enjoy from Pre-Primary to Year Six. This was the last House event of the year and the final occasion for our Year Six leaders to work with their Houses in a leadership capacity. All classes started the day in their own classrooms, following their usual morning routines, then after recess, we moved into House groups and participated in a rotation of activities which included:
- Lego maze building
- House flag design
- Tower construction challenge
- House Quiz
Year Six students led each of the activities throughout the afternoon and were wonderful role models for our incoming Year Five leaders who will take over the responsibility of leading the Primary School in 2023.
On Friday 18 November, all students in the Junior School will enjoy an orientation experience in the morning to prepare them for moving into the next year level in 2023. All classes will begin the day with their current class teacher in their current classrooms. Once the roll is marked, each class will move into the next year level for the morning block and spend time with that year-level teacher, learning about all the features of that year and enjoying a little experience in that classroom. New students to GSG for 2023 have also been invited to join the classes on this day so they can begin to form some friendships ahead of next year. After morning tea, all the classes will return back to their regular classrooms and teachers for the remainder of the day, new students will stay with their classes for the whole day in Years Three to Six, and new students joining the ECC will be collected by their parents after recess. Orientation Day is designed to give students a little ‘window’ into next year to help them get ready. Class letters will be sent to each family before the end of Term Four to formally introduce each student and their family to the next year level and share who their teacher will be for the following year.
The final few weeks of term are a busy period, but an exciting one for students and a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the year together. If there is any further information you would like for the weeks ahead, please feel comfortable speaking with your child’s classroom teacher or making contact with me directly.
Warms regards, and appreciation,
Mr Ken Raven | Head of Junior School