Learning Across the
Junior School
Message From the Assistant Principal: Head of Junior School
Neurodiversity Workshop
Last Tuesday, our teaching staff from ELC-Year 12 participated in a workshop led by Sarah Tilley, Director of Connect Allied Health. Sarah is a Principal Speech Pathologist, Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostician, and Specialist Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner. She provided valuable insights into neurodiversity. The staff gained a deeper understanding of how the natural differences in thinking and learning are valuable and how our educational approach can embrace this diversity. The workshop focused on creating a more inclusive learning environment for all students, fostering educational spaces where every learner is supported. This was a very engaging workshop which was highly valued by all attending staff.
Music Night: R-6
Last Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of attending the R-6 Music Night, a special event showcasing our students involved in private instrumental and voice lessons, along with our Junior Choirs. The evening highlighted the deep love for music within our community and the incredible emerging talent among our students. My sincere thanks go to the dedicated instrumental music tutors who made this night possible—Jenny Hu, Mark Joyner, Jason Ding, Maeve Edwards, Carolyn Ferrie, Stacey Tonkin, and Jozefien Peelman—as well as the private tutors from outside Loreto College. A special thanks also to Tom Hamnett and Tim de Jong for bringing the event to life. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening for everyone in attendance.
Year 4 Camp
On Monday, our Year 4 students set off on an exciting overnight camp at Douglas Scrub Campsite near McLaren Vale. They enjoyed a range of activities, including an adventure trail, Trangia cooking, bouldering, shelter building and a morning at the Indigenous Education Centre, Warriparinga. This experience allowed the girls to strengthen their social and teamwork skills in a supportive and adventurous environment. A big thank you goes to Ms. Catherine Boots, Ms. Eugenia Chan, Ms. Jessica Edwards and Ms Paola Merullo Bianco for their dedication in making this enriching opportunity possible.
Reception Transition
We have been thrilled to welcome our new 2025 Reception girls over the past few weeks during their transition visits. Last Friday, we marked the beginning of this journey with a beautiful prayer service led by our Reception Gold girls. It was a testament to their growth and development over the past few terms that they could participate in such a heartfelt service. Our Reception Gold girls showed warmth and kindness, making our new students feel welcome and helping them to start building positive connections.
Lisa Sexton
Assistant Principal ‑ Head of Junior School
Learning in Year 1: Shapes are Everywhere!
This term in Mathematics the Year One students are learning all about 2D and 3D shapes. After spending time revising the names of shapes, the students explored the properties of shapes. The students participated in a ‘shape hunt’, where they found shapes in the environment. They even used 2D shapes to create some gorgeous artwork. Next, the students were introduced to the concept of regular and irregular 2D shapes. They have been eagerly counting the sides of the shapes to name the different-looking irregular shapes! The students have been learning to name the shapes by learning the Greek meaning of the words, for example: "tri" means 3, "quad" means 4, "pent" means 5, "hex" means 6 etc.
Some students made 11-, 12- and 13-sided shapes, and they were eager to find out the names of these shapes: hendecagon, dodecagon and tridecagon. They loved pulling the word apart to understand it: for example, "tridecagon" is a 13-sided shape: "tri" means 3, "dec" means 10; 3 and 10 makes 13!
Now we are exploring 3D shapes and their properties. The girls had fun playing with the 3D shapes, discovering which shapes can roll and stack. They loved finding 2D shapes on the 3D shapes and making connections between the names of the 2D and 3D shapes. The students are learning to use mathematical language to describe the properties such as vertices, edges and faces. Once again, the girls headed out on a ‘shape hunt’, this time finding 3D shapes: stools are cylinders, books are rectangular prisms and ice-creams are cones and spheres! Shapes really are EVERYWHERE!
Learning in Year 1: Biological Science
This term our inquiry big idea is Living things have external features that help them to survive. The students enjoyed unpacking our big idea and using prior knowledge about living things to do so. This week, the Year O1 students welcomed our new class members- 2 Green Tree Frogs to our classroom! We used information texts to help inform us about these animals and their features and had a ‘close up’ look at the features of these incredible creatures. The students discovered the frogs have sticky pads on their toes that help them grip as they climb, they have long strong legs to help them jump away from predators and to quickly catch some yummy insects for dinner! We learnt they have big eyes and amazing vision, to help them see food and predators, and they can even see in the dark! We have loved learning about these remarkable animals, and we look forward to learning even more about other amazing Australian animals and their features when we head to Cleland Wildlife Park on an excursion, next week!
Claire Derrington
R-6 Teacher
