From the Head of Junior School

Dear Members of the St Gregory’s College Community,

Welcome to another newsletter and the end of another week at the Junior School. Things are moving very quickly towards the end of term – but who is counting, right? 

The part of my role that I love the most is the opportunity to walk into our 14 classrooms and witness energized teachers and the enthusiastic learning environments that are created and maintained in the Junior School. I am so proud of what has been achieved at the College and it fills me with immense pride to know that our students are safe, supported and challenged in their learning environment each day. 

The Learning Escalator 

A few years back I spoke to the parent community about the Learning Escalator. Some of you may have seen an infamous YouTube clip of a man and a lady getting stuck on an escalator and crying out for help. Obviously, the notion of getting stuck on an escalator is ridiculous because one could always walk to the other end of the escalator. 

However, as ridiculous as it may seem, the clip represents the attitude of many people in society today – they want everything handed to them and are not prepared to do the hard work to reap the benefits. The same can be true of our students. It is easy for them to slip into the habit of allowing the teacher to drive the learning whilst they focus on doing. 

One of the big driving forces behind taking on the PYP (Primary Years Programme) in Junior School, was to ensure students are developing abilities and learning habits that allow them to be curious and skilful learners and able to succeed in familiar and unfamiliar situations. 

This does not downplay the importance of the basics. Rather, it acknowledges their importance whilst focusing on the higher, more meaningful goal – deep learning. Our ANTS Program, explicit numeracy agenda and focusing on the essential learning experiences are aided by this philosophy. 

The International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme (PYP) is the perfect framework to facilitate this type of learning and to avoid students getting stuck on the ‘learning escalator’. 

The PYP encourages students to become life-long learners who ask good questions, find answers and seek to take action in their learning. The program highlights the skills required to be successful learners and uses the concepts to drive the students thinking to a deeper, more sophisticated level. 

In a rapidly changing world, our ultimate goal at St Gregory’s College is to provide students with the ability to learn what they need to in whatever circumstances they may find themselves. 

Lunch on the Lawn

One of the toughest things for schools in 2020 was not having the regular community events taking place that bind our community. So, having events back on-site this year has given many parents the opportunity to see what is happening in the College and form important relationships, not only with teachers and staff but also with other members of our extended community. 

Two weeks ago, we held our Junior School Lunch on the Lawn and it was wonderful to see so many guests turn up for this event. This will continue to be a regular item on our events calendar and another opportunity for us to build upon the wonderful community that we have at St Greg’s. 

Thank you to all the families who took the time to join us and especially those who had a friend or two come and sit with them for lunch on the day! 

The New Play Spaces

It is with great excitement that I share with you the new playground equipment here at the Junior School.  I am sure some of you may have seen the equipment through your recent visits or heard the students share their excitement now that it is open for their enjoyment. 

The children have been having a great time on the slides, located near OOSH and the activity centres located in front of and behind the Library. Below are some photos giving you a snapshot of the new equipment. 

The Cookbook . . . our cookbook is underway, to secure your page with a recipe and photo (optional) into our book, email this through by Friday 25 June. Happy cooking!

As our St Gregory’s College motto states, ‘You will reap what you sow’.

Joel Weekes

Head of Junior School