Junior School News
From the Head of Junior School
As we push toward the midway point of the term it is time to reflect on the Term 2 journey so far and to plan for the remainder of the term. While the commencement of term was one like no other, and the first days and week were a bit unsettling for many, we were well prepared, worked through the minor issues and settled into effective routines so that our students could continue to learn and stay connected to the school and their friends. For many of our students the first two weeks were exciting and a bit of a novelty. By Week 3 some of the novelty of learning from home had diminished and they were a bit flat. Our staff adjusted for this, changed some of the routines and made a point of ensuring that all students had a chance to connect with their peers.
Learning from home during the pandemic is certainly not what anyone foresaw but we have been satisfied that the planning and effort put in by teachers and parents has created an environment that is providing benefit for our students. The results of our Junior School Survey reflected this with 91% of the respondents rating the Junior School’s response to the situation as satisfactory or above (Adequate – 25%, Good - 32%, Very Good – 34%). The response to our overall communication was also very positive with a satisfaction rating of 96%. The feedback that gave us information for improvement was that 43% of parents felt that there was too much work, 51% that it was adequate and 6% that there was not enough. Our teachers have taken this feedback and have adjusted the volume of work and the delivery. Once again, our message from Junior School is to complete what you can, when you can. We are striving to maintain a balance where children are engaged, connected and learning but, importantly, are still enjoying their learning. If, at any time, you find that the home learning activities are becoming stressful for you or your child, please don’t push on to the point where the children are anxious or frustrated. As we said from the outset, there is nothing that they will miss that can’t be covered when we return to school.
With regards to planning for the second half of the term, you would have read in Dr O’Rielly’s letter to parents, that we are hoping to have some direction from the Victorian Government regarding a possible return to school after the Cabinet meeting today. Our school Coronavirus Action Team has been planning for a variety of return to school scenarios dependent on the advice from the Victorian Government. These range from a full return in the coming weeks to a Term 3 return. Whatever the decisions that are communicated from the government today or early next week, we are prepared. While we cannot give parents or students specific details at the moment, we would like to remind everyone that the current situation is temporary. We know that families are dealing with it in the best ways that they can. We are asking our students to remember that this is temporary, we will be back at school before too long and normal routines will be re-established. They also now have their own “Back in my day” stories that they will be able to tell their children in the future.
In the meantime, we would like our students to consider what actions they can take to lessen the impact or to improve the experience, of other members of our community. Some of our Year Two students have taken the time to write letters to residents of an aged care home. They identified that this might be a very hard time for the residents who are unable to connect with their friends and families so they wanted to provide them with something that might help. Our Junior School Captains took time out of their schedules early this week to produce a video for the students and school community. The video can be found below and has some very sage advice for their fellow students, parents and teachers that I very much enjoyed.
Some of their pearls of wisdom were to always wear pants when video conferencing, remember to mute your microphone when your parents are lecturing you and don’t take Math advice from your Guinea Pig or Dog. While they are all very good pieces of advice I really liked their last 5 messages: to reach out and help others where you can, look out for those who need support, be kind, be patient and be happy. If we all strive to enact the last five messages then I am sure that whatever time is left away from school will pass quickly. Wearing pants is always good advice too!
Mr Donald Thompson
Head of Junior School
Friendship Tree
In Term 1 the Junior School children wrote some beautiful messages on leaves that were then attached to the peppercorn tree. Because they were so special we kept them and Ms Searle laminated them all. With the help of some students who are working at school, she created this amazing tree. When students return to school they will enjoy finding their leaf or flower on the mural.
Year Two
Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, the Year Two’s attending Girton Grammar thought about how some of Bendigo’s elderly residents might be feeling lonely without the ability to venture outside or receive visitors, due to the restrictions set in place for safety. Therefore, in the spirit of outward thinking, they thought it would be a good idea to write some letters and draw some pictures for the elderly residents at the Royal Free Masons elderly home in Golden square in the hope they might bring some joy and provide some laughter during this difficult time.
Year 2D had a Zoom session where students were asked to dress as a character and then act like that character. It was lots of fun!
Ms Lucy Butler-Rees
Year Three
Students in 3D got into the spirit of ANZAC Day and baked some scrumptious ANZAC Biscuits.
POETRY
Year Three students spent time in English last week studying poetry. They read poems in their Countdown magazines and then were given the opportunity to be poets themselves.
They wrote Haiku poems after learning about the structure and composition of this beautiful form of poetry from Japan. The students were also encouraged to write a poem of any sort and to freely use their imaginations. We hope you enjoy the poems that have been selected for publication from the Year Three classes.
Mrs Linda Gibson
Teacher of Year 3M
Mrs Erin Moss
Teacher of Year 3D
Year Four
Year 4 have been mixing it up and keeping our days interesting. Last week we had Wacky Wednesday. We saw Albert Einstein, fairies, Willy Wonka and many more wacky costumes. This week we celebrated Matthew’s birthday, had a visit from some family pets and a couple of sneaky Mother’s Day craft sessions. We also introduced our Tech Free Wednesday. The children followed the normal program minus technology and you can see from the images some completed their spelling with a twist. Today was Footy Friday. The children all missing their sport so it was a fun way to end the week. We are very proud of the children. They are all showing remarkable resilience and we look forward to next week with a few more surprises!
Mrs Rachelle Fisher
Teacher of Year Four
Year Five
Mr Ruddick issued his Year 5 students with a lockdown challenge this week. Students were asked if they could recreate the school song on an instrument at home. He received some wonderful submissions from students. Please enjoy the above performance by Kira Collins (5 Jones).
Year Five Science
Year Five students are looking to the skies to study planets in Science. When asked to observe how the moon moves across the sky each night, Lachlan Krueger took it one step further and captured a splendid photo of the moon through his telescope.
Year Six Science
Year Six students have been studying microorganisms and been looking at mushrooms as part of the group of Fungi. Vivek Vattakatuchery discovered these mushrooms when walking on the O’Keefe rail trail.
Art at Home
THE COLOUR WHEEL
We are now completing Week 3 and heading into Week 4 of remote learning. Students in Year 6 have worked hard to make an installation based on the colour wheel. There has been a great variety of work submitted.
PAPER SCULPTURES
Students found their inner sculptor after looking at traditional and modern sculpture around Bendigo
PORTRAITS INSPIRED BY THE WORK OF SANDRA SILBERZWEIG
CATS
Students were inspired after reading 'Cat and Fish' and looking at the lines and patterns in illustrations.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and students for the great work they are doing at home. All students are artists and the creations that are submitted fill me with joy! Keep them coming!
Mrs Nic James
Teacher of Art
Junior School Bass Band Programme
The Year 5 and 6 Band programme online learning has produced some wonderful recordings of Wind, Brass and Percussion students over the last few weeks.
The Band programme is run by Mrs Jacqui Vine, Dr Michael Lichnovsky, Mr David Turpie and Miss Effie Hamilton. The challenges were that these beginner lessons are usually held as group lessons, where the beginner students rely on listening to their teachers and they attend with various skill levels and music literacy. We also discovered that the video files were too large for ASTRA, so had to come up with alternatives. The general consensus is that we have all learnt a lot!
The music staff involved have been producing weekly lessons and delivering them through video/ Youtube (recording our lessons) and linking these lessons via the ASTRA pages.
We have all learnt so much in the way of technology and communication, and the benefits to the students have been amazing. The music teachers involved have been thoroughly delighted with the recordings they are receiving from the students and can hear the progress being made.
Music at Home
Sarah Crosby enjoying her piano Lesson with Mrs Betty Higgs remotely.
Teacher Reflections
CONNECTIONS
Growing up I wanted to be a pharmacist, a musician in the Royal Australian Navy, an Educational Psychologist, a teacher or a presenter on Play School. Although these jobs may appear very different on the surface, they have much in common – in present times, even the presenter on Play School!
I wanted to help people. I wanted to be surrounded by people.
My Mum is an extraordinary teacher. She taught at a small country school that had an enthusiastic and close-knit staff. I spent countless days assisting in the classrooms, going out on yard duty, attending camps, running swimming programmes and joining in staffroom discussions, long before I gained my teaching degree.
It was through watching Mum weave her magic in the classroom (encouraging students who could barely read or write to LOVE literacy), the meaningful conversations with her colleagues and the interaction I had with the students at her school, that I realised that there was only one career choice for me. I was going to be a teacher.
I wanted to help people. I wanted to be surrounded by people.
When I ‘officially’ entered the teaching profession 14 years ago, I never thought I would be teaching a Year Three class of 22 students from the study of my home. I have always imagined that each day of my career I would be standing in the middle of a classroom full of noise, giving students a hug if they needed one, giving students a big high five when I’m out on yard duty, sitting closely beside students explaining a tricky concept and when teaching Preparatory, even wiping their noses.
I want to help people. I want to be surrounded by people.
The introduction of the Online Learning Programme questioned my existence as a teacher. How can I possibly help people? How can I possibly be surrounded by people? The first week I found overwhelmingly difficult. Was I supporting my students? Was I doing enough? I felt awful because I couldn’t ‘be there’ for my students in the way I usually would. I couldn’t teach them the way I usually would. I couldn’t provide the physical resources that I usually would. I laid awake at night thinking of my students.
As we moved into the second and third week, my goal was to maintain academic structure and deliver it with a positive vibe. Using Zoom has been a blessing! I can connect with my students and still explicitly teach tricky concepts. Many students and teachers in our region do not have this luxury. Every day I look forward to my students checking in on ASTRA with a big ‘Good Morning Mrs Moss’ and then meeting them in their first Zoom session of the day. To lift our spirits, we have even had a ‘Fancy Dress Friday’ and ‘Bring Your Bear to School Day’. Next Friday is ‘Footy Friday’ and I can’t wait to dress up in my Carlton gear from head to toe.
I feel as if I am still surrounded by people. It is just in a different way. I have called students and parents, Zoomed students and parents, emailed students and parents… In a way, I am probably more connected to the students and parents in my class than ever before. Yes, I am not physically surrounded by people, but at the moment, it is the closest I can get.
I am still helping people. I am still surrounded by people.
Mrs Erin Moss
Teacher of Year Three
SILVER LININGS
Silver linings. They are everywhere. Sometimes they are just hard to see. Amid all the chaos and confusion of the Corona Virus and the impact of Home Learning, the silver linings can be easy to miss. But they are there.
The most obvious silver lining is the opportunity this has given for parents get an insight into how their child learns. In no other generation in living memory have parents had the opportunity to sit down to see their child learn in such close proximity. This is creating deep connections and memories that will last a lifetime. How’s that for a silver lining?
There's a saying that sometimes you can't see the forest from the trees. Students may not know it now but they are building incredible independence, organisational and self-reliance skills. For the students in my Year Five class, they are only 19 months away from Senior School (insert collective gasp of Year Five parents here!). Home learning is giving these amazing young people a huge opportunity to build their resilience and independence. To me, that’s a huge silver lining.
Another silver lining is the upskilling that is taking place. A month ago, the very idea of creating virtual teaching platforms was unimaginable. Now, it is the new norm. Students, parents and teachers video conference now like its second nature. We are also finding new ways to create social connections in our virtual reality using this visual platform (see Whacky Wig Wednesday image below). It’s the quality of connectedness that matters and we are working hard to make every moment count.
A great silver lining for me has been the students showing their home learning environments, especially the opportunity to show off their pets. Through zooming, our class has met all manner of cats and dogs. Best of all was one of my students who proudly showed off her pet snake python. My phobia of snakes was ecstatic about the silver lining of not having to handle this treasured creature in real life!
The final silver lining I wanted to highlight was the most important of all. It is the learning for learning sake that is taking place. In the comfort of their home environments, students are completing intrinsic, holistic, authentic learning tasks. Home learning is reinforcing one of the messages of all -we are all life long learners.
Please don’t think I am being flippant about what our society is going through. This is a time of desperate devastation. All families have been affected by this virus. Sadly some may have been affected their employment, friends or family. Sometimes, there are few silver linings.
That said, I hope we can stop and reflect during this time on the silver linings. This virus, god willing, will pass. In the meantime, let’s make the most of this situation. In the words of Emerson;
“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
Mr Jamie Turner
Teacher of Year Five
