Junior School

Frozen Jr

This evening, our amazing ELC 4 to Year 6 students will be taking to the stage to perform in Frozen Jr. Presenting our first Junior School musical is an incredibly exciting time for all in our learning community. No doubt there will be a few nerves and a little bit of anxiety as the clock ticks down to 6 pm and our young performers take to the stage. The Australian Performance Arts Conservatory has seven excellent tips to help young performers overcome their pre-performance nerves.

1. Prepare for your performance

Whether you are performing in front of the camera or on stage, you will feel much more confident and be able to ignore your nervous tics if you know your material inside and out. Memorise your lines, learn more about your character, and rehearse diligently, both alone and with others.  

2. Acknowledge your nervousness

Feeling anxious before a performance is perfectly normal. Ignoring these feelings won’t stop them, but focusing only on them gives your mind space for them to build up. Give yourself a time limit to acknowledge your fears, and then slowly let go. 

3. Visualise your performance

Before you step on stage, do a mental rehearsal of your performance. Imagine delivering your lines confidently, interacting with other actors and connecting with the audience. This is an excellent exercise for building confidence and calming the nerves. 

4. Try breathing exercises

As confirmed by many performing artists worldwide, deep breathing exercises can calm your nervous system and restore your body to balance. Whether it’s before or during your performance, close your eyes and practice slow belly breaths to feel steady in your body. 

5. Create a routine

Develop a routine before going on stage. It’ll provide you with a sense of control and reduce pre-show anxiety. You can do light stretches or listen to music while rehearsing your lines to relax and direct your energy to your performance. 

6. Practice positive self-talk

You can’t imagine the miracles that positive words can do. Instead of staying on something, practice positive affirmations and say to yourself, “I’m ready”, “I am sure” and “I will be brilliant on stage” to replace your fear with self-confidence. 

7. Be present in the moment

Don’t let the voice in your head swallow you. Live in the present and focus on what you are doing now. Switch attention from your anxious thoughts to your performance. It’ll help you deliver lines confidently and become a better performer. 

I wish all students success with their performances.

 Laidlaw House Service

Our final House Service for 2024 will take place on Monday, 28 October. Laidlaw House will present their Service at 10.15 am at the Uniting Church, Hamilton. All Junior School parents are welcome. Their theme is the College value of compassion. 

Myrniong Leaders

Congratulations to 2025 College Prefects Sophie Merrin, Jack Jarvis, Amelie Hiscock, Ben Walker, Chloe Headlam, Jock Nicholls, Olivia Read, Emma Donovan, and Skye Headlam. Olivia Rees, Harry Brown and Annabel O’Toole. All commenced their College journey at Junior School. The Myrniong staff and I wish them well in their 2025 leadership roles.

Sport

Last Friday, Grace O’Sullivan (800m, 200m), Max Cameron (Hurdles), Lachie Sweeney (Long Jump), Tommy Brown (Hurdles)and Will Brown (Shot Put) travelled to Llanberris Athletics Park in Ballarat to compete in the Greater Western Region Athletics Finals.

All of our competitors gave it their all to perform exceptionally well both on the track and in the field and we are very proud of them all.  Particular congratulations to Tommy Brown who received Bronze Medal for the 11yo Hurdles event, a wonderful achievement.

Good luck to our Hoop Time teams who are competing in Hamilton at the Regional Finals over the next couple of weeks. 

The College Hawks team (Arthur Adamson, Fred Hawker, Violet Shrive, Harriet King, George Robertson, Anika Nelson and Harry Diprose), kindly coached by Mr Michael King is playing on Monday 21st October and the College Anacondas team (Elsie Dyer, Gwyn Nettleton, Fred Nagorcka, Hugo Toma, Hugo Cameron and Maelys Haynes), kindly coached by Mrs Sara Dyer, is playing on Monday 28 October. We wish both teams all the very best of luck.

A reminder that the HDSA Cricket Blast (Year 5/6 only) competition is on Friday 1st November from 9:30 am at Pedrina Park. Similarly to the AFL 9s day, this is a wonderful round robin event that is inclusive of all players and follows the Cricket 8s rules.

Please respond to the Operoo notification if you haven’t done so already. If you are able and willing to coach or score for any of our teams on the day, please let me know via email lpatterson14@hamiltoncollege.vic.edu.au as I would like to finalise these roles soon.