Message from the Head of Junior School

Head of Junior School Newsletter

Term 2 Week 8

Welcome to Term Three, it has been a wonderful start to the term! There are always many things on and last week, I delighted in seeing our annual school photos take place. It’s always a wonderful point in time to pause and reflect on how far we have come in a year and how much the children have grown. I trust you’ll enjoy these moments when photos are returned!

This week, we continue to focus on our Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence and what a great time to do it, with the Olympics on TV! No doubt you would have seen some of the amazing performances over the weekend. We will all continue to watch the Olympics and Paralympics over the next few weeks and enjoy the sporting excellence on show. In Assembly I reminded the children that each of them is uniquely and beautifully created by God, with gifts and talents designed just for them and that they should use these gifts of excellence for good. Encourage your children to think about the things they do well and celebrate with them. 

God looked at everything he had made. And he saw that everything was very good. Genesis 1:31

There is so much to read at the moment about dealing with change and uncertainly, and rightly so. We are again in limbo land, waiting to see the Sydney COVID results each day and how that will impact us. The children talk about this at school too. If this or in fact any other changes are causing uncertainty in your child, you can do a few things to help: 

• Talk about how they’re feeling
  • Validate their feelings
  • Acknowledge their feelings
  • Label the feelings
  • Discuss the things we do and don’t have control over and focus on the things we can control. 
• Do something fun, play and laughter are natural stress relievers
• Be active and release the natural endorphins in our body 
• Keep to a routine: Holidays are a natural circuit breaker and always a good time to relax and pause routines. Now we’re back at school, build a sustainable routine to help provide certainty in your family. 

Staff News

• I am delighted that Mrs Emma Frew has returned from Maternity Leave and is teaching Year One Green. It is lovely having Emma back. 
• We congratulate Miss Isabella Clift and Knox, who are expecting a baby late in December. 
• As you may be aware, Mr Laurence Tockuss suffered from a stroke in the July School Holidays. He is making steady progress in rehab at Tamworth Base and staff visit him frequently. We are looking to replace Laurence for the remainder of the year. At present Mrs Emmie Gell is teaching Year Two Green.

Claire Dalziel 

Head of Junior School