Junior School

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang JR

Recently, all Junior School students enjoyed a wonderful excursion to the Lighthouse Theatre to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang JR, presented by the Primary Performers. The audience was thoroughly captivated by the spectacular production, with its outstanding acting, singing and dancing.

We were especially proud to see several of our own students involved in the show. Congratulations to Maeve B, Grace and Hannah M, Sebastian C and Arto B, who represented the College with distinction. Their performances were exceptional, and they did us proud with their talent, confidence and enthusiasm.

Being involved in a production of this calibre is a fantastic opportunity, and we congratulate all of the cast and crew on delivering such an entertaining and memorable performance. Well done!

Alex Burgess & Steve Griffin

Head of Junior School | Assistant Head of Junior School

Year 1

Recently in Year 1, we have been enjoying developing our writing skills. After reading the story I Wish I Had Duck Feet, the children used their imaginations to write about something they wished they had to help them at school. As young authors, we have been focusing on using capital letters and full stops correctly, as well as carefully forming our letters so that our writing is neat and easy for others to read.

In Mathematics, we have been learning about place value by exploring tens and ones, as well as practising skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s. We especially love our counting games, which make learning fun and engaging!

Another highlight of our week is spending time in the cosy Library, where we enjoy listening to exciting stories and share our love of books together. We are grateful for the many blessings God provides and for the joy of learning together each day.

Kerry Snook

Year 1 Teacher

Year 2

Year 2 have been reading the book Wow God, Thank you, Sorry, Please by Christian children's book author Simon Camilleri.

Each morning we spend time praying around these four themes and it's insightful and heart warming to hear the different things the student would like to pray about. We are thankful for the gift of prayer and that we can talk directly to our great God!

The students have been rehearsing a song for Junior School Assembly around this theme, the song is called I Love You Lord. We hope people are blessed by their beautiful singing!

Emily Hunter

Year 2 Teacher

Year 3

Over the past fortnight, our Year 3 students have continued to demonstrate one of the greatest strengths of our classroom - supporting and learning from one another.

Peer teaching is a powerful strategy we use regularly in Year 3, particularly during our reading fluency and spelling sessions. During reading activities, students work in carefully selected partnerships, helping one another strengthen reading fluency, expression, comprehension skills and strategies for locating and understanding information within texts. It is wonderful to see students encouraging each other and celebrating growth together.

Our spelling sessions also provide many opportunities for peer support. Each student has an individual collection of commonly used words they are still learning to spell accurately. Partners work together using a variety of strategies, including repetition, whiteboard practice and word games, to help each other master these important words.

During our daily devotions, students participated in the "Skittles Prayer" experiment. As we watched the colours separate and then blend together when water was added, we reflected on the power of prayer and how our prayers can have a positive impact on the lives of others. Students considered the importance of looking beyond themselves and caring for the needs of those around them.

Another beautiful quality that continues to shine in our classroom is the thoughtfulness our students show towards one another. Throughout the year, many students have chosen to spend their hard-earned Class Dojos on rewards that benefit the whole class rather than themselves. This fortnight, one student generously donated a dance party for everyone to enjoy! These moments are wonderful examples of Christian values in action, demonstrating kindness, generosity and a genuine desire to bring joy to others.

Ang Hales

Year 3 Teacher

Year 5

This term, Year 5 have been learning about “States of Matter” for our Science lessons. We have been going over to the Senior Science room and conducting experiments to explore about the different states of matter, how they are made up, their components and how they affect the world around us. One of the surprising things we have learnt is that there are more than 3 states of matter. There is a common fourth one which is Plasma, but there are also many scientific states of matter that are not very common.

When we experimented, learning about solids, we had a huge variety of substances and objects to choose from like ping pong balls, pegs, material, washers, pens and toothpicks just to name a few. The experiments we did tested whether those things could be squashed, poured and manipulated. We concluded that solids keep their shape and do not change it without another factor coming into play like heat.

During another week, we explored the differences between liquids and pourable solids. We have many substances we could choose from to do our tests like washing powder, sugar, flour, honey, oil and water, and we had to see and record what the different substances did. We concluded that liquids will take up the shape of the container that they are in, whereas pourable solids will form a small hill in the centre of the container.

We also experimented with gases. First we discussed and blew up balloons. Then we put tissues into containers and immersed them in water and explored why we were able to keep them dry. Then we had Mrs Shergold come in as a guest scientist and do an experiment where she extinguished a candle flame using the gas from bicarbonate soda and vinegar. It was really cool and we were very impressed.

To finish our unit we are submitting a Kahoot question to Mrs Robertson and we will all do the Kahoot in our last lesson this year. We are also making a board game about states of matter and we will be playing and assessing each other's games. We have a peer assessment sheet we will need to fill in for the games we play. On the whole our unit on States of Matter has been very enjoyable and most informative.

Coral Robertson

Year 5 Teacher

Year 6

In Year 6, we have been learning about poems using the theme, 'A World Without...' Most of the students have become very interested in making poems and loved what they wrote. Some examples are a world without sadness or a world without laughter. Our class has improved making their poems unique and creative! Once they were done with their first copies, they advanced to make their second ones, improving on styles and rhymes!

David Tomkins

Year 6 Teacher