Junior School

Welcome to Term 4! It has been lovely to hear from families who have shared some of the creative ways in which they enjoyed the term break. Picnics in the backyard, lots of exercise, time off the screen, creative crafts and online catch ups with friends and extended family were on the agenda. We are so pleased that our families continued to be in good health and enjoy time together.

Students and staff are well and truly back in the swing of remote learning, while anticipating and preparing for the imminent return of students to onsite learning. At this stage, the proposed dates for return are included in the table below. We will continue with remote learning for the days when students are not onsite, and the Learning from Home planners and resources will be shared with parents as per our usual schedule.

Back to School – Metro Melbourne (proposed)

We are busily preparing for the remainder of the school year and look forward to celebrating every minute we have together at school. In a year such as this, we continue to use positive language with students that is full of hope and delight, while providing targeted support where it is needed. There are many events for which we are in the process of securing dates. Parents will receive updated communication in due course, especially regarding Annie Jr. 

In Term 4, students are required to wear summer uniform and their Oxley regulation sunhat. If possible, please ensure girls’ summer dresses are at the correct length, with the hem to the bottom of the knee. We do know that there may be challenges to get hems fixed without using the sewing skills of someone outside the home. Likewise, there will be a relaxing of expectations around hair length until such time as students are able to visit the hairdresser. We do ask that students have as neat a hairstyle as possible, with hair off the face, and continue to wear their uniform with pride. Please refer to pages 12-13 of the 2021 Student Diary for details of our Student Uniform Standards. As we draw closer to end of year events, uniform and hair checks will resume and parents will be advised accordingly of anything requiring attention.

Parents are reminded that Monday 1 November is a Student Free Day and Tuesday 2 November is a public holiday.  Please refer to the calendar on the Upcoming Events page, as well as our website, for information about upcoming dates and events in the Junior School.

2022 Class Placement

Parents are provided an opportunity to communicate in writing, to the Head of Junior School, any specific information which could have a significant impact on their child’s class placement for 2022 (e.g. cousins, neighbours in the same level, etc.). As situations can change, requests made in previous years are not taken into consideration. Staffing for each year level is not yet confirmed, so specific requests for teachers will not be considered. All correspondence should be addressed to the Head of Junior School, marked confidential, by Friday 15 October (tomorrow) to be considered.

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Psalm 95:1 (NIV)

Sharee Gaiser

Head of Junior School

What Did You Do at School Today?

Prep

We have had a wonderful start to Term 4! In Integrated Studies, we have started our new topic, Topsy Turvy Tales. Throughout the term, we will develop our ability to think about things in creative and interesting ways. We will be exploring how we can use the gifts God has given us to express our creativity. This week, we used materials from home to design and make our own objects. We are so excited for our last term of Prep and cannot wait to find out what else is ahead. 

Year 1

Did you know that two different containers can have the same capacity? This week, Year 1 students have enjoyed exploring the concept of capacity using water to measure how much a container will hold. We are also excited to begin our Multi Genre Writing Project. After careful thought, we chose a topic we were passionate about and completed a proposal, listing the three genres we plan to write. Term 4 is going to be GREAT!

Year 2

It has been a joyful and exciting return to Term 4 in Year 2. We have all selected our topics for the Multi Genre Writing Project and Miss Newton and Miss Wynne are so proud that the students chose unique and interesting topics! In Integrated Studies, we are learning to design our very own robots! We began this mission by creating cardboard box robots and, by golly, they are impressive! We want to extend a VERY big thank you to our students’ families, who have made remote teaching and learning so smooth. We are counting down the days until the students return and we are truly thrilled!

Year 3

We are excited to be writing texts for our Multi Genre Writing Project. There has been a lot of brainstorming of characters, settings, problems and solutions! Students have been adding dialogue to bring the character and story to life! We have also been delighted to begin our unit, Frame by Frame, in Integrated Studies. Students are enthusiastic to become film makers, creating stop motion animations.

Year 4

It has been so wonderful to see the faces of our fabulous Year 4 students again! What interesting stories we have shared about our holiday at home adventures! We have jumped straight back into learning and had a great time introducing the Integrated Studies unit all about creativity. There are so many different ways to create and such a variety of jobs that require creative thinking. Students began looking at animation as a tool for creative expression, and created an animation using only post-it notes and a pencil. As a fun family activity, perhaps you could ask your Year 4 student to teach you how.

Year 5

We continue to be in awe of our amazing Year 5 students, who persevere through the challenges of remote learning to continue to grow in their knowledge. Watching them support one another during online calls shows us that they will lead the Junior School in an amazing way in 2022. In Integrated Studies, we have started exploring inventions which have made our lives easier over the years, including how materials have been used in new and novel ways. This investigation will help the students to think of creative new products to sell in the Bizarre Bazaar at the end of the term. Hearing the students’ topics for their Multi Genre Writing Project is exciting and we look forward to celebrating their growth as authors through this project.

Year 6

We have hit the ground running in Term 4 and are sprinting toward the finish line! We are now preparing for the Year 6 Graduation and have started to write reflections of our final year of Primary School. Some highlights from our first week include beginning our Integrated Studies Unit, Bizarre Bazaar, where we have been challenged to think creatively and consider different uses for everyday objects, such as a watermelon. Soon we may see Year 6 students carving out the insides and using it as a bowl; making watermelon skin into checker pieces; making a watermelon sculpture; hollow it out and using it as a helmet; and use them as weights for exercise! We exhibited much self-control, waiting until this week to begin reading our book for Literature Circles. We are looking forward to exploring our designated text in more detail and learning from the other students in our groups. This term promises to be full of fun as we take time to enjoy each other’s company and reflect on our achievements across the year.