Junior School Report

From the

Director of Learning

Junior School

Miss Jessika Cichy

Hello all, and welcome back for Semester 2! It has been a steady start to Term 3 for our Junior School — a little quieter on the events calendar than the busy close to Semester 1, but our students have wasted no time getting stuck into their learning. Below you will find some celebrations, a few important reminders, and an update on the course counselling process that our Year 7 and Year 8 students are working through at the moment.

The Road So Far

It has been a quiet start to Term 3 for the Junior School in terms of events, but our sporting calendar has more than made up for it. We have had some great achievements across Athletics, Volleyball tournaments and more. A huge shoutout to all of our Junior athletes for their ongoing enthusiasm and dedication, and a special mention to Zairene Fernandez, who received the MVP award at the recent regional Volleyball tournaments.

Our Year 7 students have also received their NAPLAN reports in the mail. Rather than focusing purely on the score itself, we encourage families to look at the growth category — low, medium or high — which shows how much progress your child has made since Year 5. It was pleasing to see the majority of our students sitting in the medium to high growth bands across all five areas, with particularly strong results in Spelling. Congratulations to all of our Year 7s on the effort they put in.

I also wanted to acknowledge our Junior School VHAP (Victorian High-Ability Program) participants, who have completed another term of this ten-week online extension program in English and Mathematics. Congratulations to Mikayla and Toki (Year 7), and Nathan B, Muhammad, Dominic and Ngan (Year 8).

Lastly, an amazing demonstration of bravery and effort from all the students who visited the Dental Van over Week 4. The mobile clinic allowed students to have a full check-up without leaving school, with many having their teeth cleaned and fillings done on the day. Families should have now received a dental report, and in some cases a letter recommending follow-up treatment — if you have received one of these, we encourage you to book that appointment sooner rather than later. Thank you also to the families who returned consent forms so promptly.

Course Counselling – How Families Can Help

Our Junior School students are currently working through the course counselling process, and this is an area where your support at home makes an enormous difference. Over the next few weeks, students will take part in a course counselling interview to discuss and confirm their selections. We ask that families support the importance of this process by reiterating it to your child at home. Students who arrive at their interview having genuinely thought about their options — and having discussed them with family — consistently make stronger, more confident choices than those who decide on the spot.

A few conversation starters that may help:

• What are you most looking forward to learning about next year, and why?

• Which subjects do you enjoy, and which ones do you find you work hardest in?

• Is there a career, hobby or area of interest you would like to explore further?

• Are you choosing this because you are genuinely interested, or because a friend has chosen it?

If you have any questions about subject selection, iCreates or the course counselling process, please do not hesitate to contact the Junior School team.

Care Values: Goals & Foci

Care for Learning & Self – Punctuality & Organisation

We want to reiterate the importance of punctuality — particularly ensuring that our students are attending their morning classes on time. This involves arriving at school before the bell, and ensuring they are grabbing their belongings and heading straight to their first lesson. We recognise the temptation and the need to chat with friends before school, but we are too often noticing that young students are arriving late because the conversation ran too long.

We also want to reiterate the importance of bringing the right tools — particularly the supply of a laptop as part of the school’s BYOD program. If a student forgets a laptop, they must be proactive and see Miss Grey or Miss Cichy before school to borrow one. We have a limited supply, however, so we cannot guarantee this. Students can only see us before the bell at the beginning of the school day, or at recess and lunchtime.

Care for Self & School – Uniform

A reminder that Terms 2 and 3 are winter uniform, which includes black leather shoes (not runners or boots), winter skirt or long pants, school shirt, and a jumper and/or school jacket — it gets cold, so students may need both. A school tie is optional. Clothing worn that is not part of the school uniform, including non-school jumpers, hoodies and sunglasses, will be confiscated.

PE uniform can be worn all day on the following days:

• Year 7 – Tuesdays
• Year 8 – Fridays
• All students – Wednesdays, if they have an active iCreate

Celebrations and Looking Ahead

Westall Way Leaderboard & Shining Stars

Westall points are awarded to students for demonstrating our iCARE values — Care for Learning, Self, Others & their School — and are celebrated at our fortnightly assemblies. Points build towards Bronze, Silver, Gold, Sub-School and Principal’s awards, and students who earn enough points across the semester are invited to our celebration lunch (pizza and ice cream!).

Let’s give a big shoutout to our Top 10 Westall Way Leaders across Year 7 & 8 so far this semester:

• Year 7: Alya, Sakina, Steven, Grace K, Sabrina, Yesha, Deryck, Sri, Elleina, & Zi Ming/Mia!
• Year 8: Alex L, Maahi, Evelyn, Ruzgar, Ghina, Reach, Darsh, Bradley, Muhammad, Ngan/Evan K!

Congratulations also to the many students across both year levels who received their bronze, silver and gold awards at our most recent assembly — a wonderful reflection of the consistent effort happening every day in our classrooms.

I also wanted to highlight a few of our ‘Shining Stars’ this term — students recognised on Compass for going above and beyond:

• Shoutout to RJ & Chakrei (Year 7) – These students were both the “Kahoot Quiz winners in Health - Muscles in the body quiz.” (Mr. O)

• Shoutout to Sakina R (Year 7) – She “Worked well in Literacy and won quiz. Well done.” (Miss. Ryan)

• Shoutout to Brilliant (Year 8) – He was “engaged and completed water wheel practical” (Mr. Song)

Warm Regards

Thank you to our families for your continued support — it truly does make a difference, and never more so than during a course counselling period where the conversations happening at home shape the decisions our students make at school. As always, if there is anything at all we can do to support your child, please reach out to the Junior School team.

Miss Jessika Cichy

Director of Learning – Junior School Westall Secondary College