Head of Junior School 

This fortnight has once again been a very industrious one. The highlight for me was accompanying the Year 6 students to Government House for a talk by, and morning tea with, Her Excellency, The Governor, Barbara Baker. Morning tea included cucumber sandwiches, brownies, shortbread biscuits, and sausage rolls. The morning also included a tour of Government House, with Emeritus Professor Donald Chalmers, the Governor's husband. The students were extremely well-behaved and were fascinated with the architecture, as well as the stories behind trees that were planted, statues that had been donated, and how many people could be seated at the dining table when fully extended. The answer to that, by the way, is 32!

Teacher Assistant Appreciation Week

The quote, "It takes a village to raise a child" adequately sums up what happens here at the Junior School. Last week, we celebrated Teacher Assistant Appreciation Week. At St Virgil’s, we call them Learning Support Officers. Across both campuses, their roles are many and varied. Our teaching staff could not carry out their duties without them by their side, in the classroom, working with our students. Their calm and caring demeanour and presence, "can-do" attitude, and willingness to learn new skills, coach teams, attend camps, take photos, cook BBQs, and umpire games are invaluable. Their efforts and gifts are all very much appreciated by us all here at the Junior School. A heartfelt and sincere thank you to these wonderful people: Mrs Priest, Mrs Thomas, Miss Mazengarb, Miss Banks, Mr Hine, Mr Arkley, Mrs Read, Mrs Tollard, Mrs Stokes, Mrs Sutton, Mrs Berry, Ms Lancaster, Mr Payne, and Mrs Cubit.

Footy Colours and Donut Day

An annual tradition at the Junior School is to celebrate AFL Grand Final Day on the last day of term. We invite all students on Friday 27 September to come dressed in the colour of their favourite AFL team, sporting code, or maybe even as a commentator. Prizes will be given for the best dressed on the day! Last year we brought in "Donut Day" on the same day. It was such a raging success, we decided to do it again this year. An EdSmart notification has gone out with all the details. Donuts will be $5.00 and you can pay via Qkr! app, Eftpos, or cash. Orders must be in by Friday 20 September. The donuts will be iced in the colour of the teams who are in the Grand Final. We will ask the students on Monday 23 September if they have ordered a donut/s, which icing they would prefer!

Football Margin Tickets Still for Sale

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Junior School P&F Fundraising initiative. To date, we have almost sold two boxes. By selling two boxes of tickets, once prize money has been distributed, as a community we will have raised close to $3000. This is a valuable addition to our P&F Funds and our eventual goal to "rejuvenate" our JS playground. We have about 40 tickets left to sell between now and the AFL Grand Final, Saturday 27 September. If you can help out by buying tickets or taking extra tickets to sell, please drop into the Junior School office.

Football Tipping Competition: Keep Tipping through the Finals!

Mrs Olga Leon is still hanging on as the overall leader of the SVC tipping competition, despite tipping Carlton on the weekend! We have a few more weeks to go, so keep tipping. Olga is at 150, three ahead of Tom Grice, Muffinman32, and Jamie Holland (members of staff), all on 147.

House Athletics Carnival

What a thrilling day we had at our annual House Athletics Carnival on Thursday at the Domain Athletics Centre. The weather was perfect for a day out on the track and field. Thank you to Mrs McCullagh, who organised such an efficient and fun day out. Thank you also to Mr Hamish West, who controlled our timing gates on the day, our Year 10 students for their assistance, the many parents/carers who came along to lend their moral support, our amazing staff for their efforts on the day: recording, supervising, and finally to our Years 2 to 6 boys for their wonderful participation, their singing, pure joy, and sense of sportsmanship on the day. Like all things, there can (normally) be only one winner. Congratulations to the Captains of Dwyer House for leading their team with pride to be the overall House Point Winners on the day, Ethan Dixon and Max Marsden (both Year 6). Final points on the day: Dwyer: 810, Joyce: 748, Doyle: 724, Hessian: 705.

Choomalaka Festival & Feast -  Friday 20 September

The Choomalaka Festival is a College celebration of every student’s skills and talents through sound, light, colour, and movement. It is a celebration of the artistic talents of all our students. As in previous years, all of our classes will be performing a musical item on the night, from Kindergarten through to Year 6. For these class performances to be a success, it will require all students from each year group to participate. Along with a celebration of our students’ talent, there will also be food and beverage options available for purchase. All of our Junior School students will be performing in class order from 5.30 pm. We encourage all Junior School parents/carers to remain in the Joyce Performance Centre for as many of the Junior School items as possible, in acknowledgement of the efforts of all the students, their music teachers, and tutors.

STCPSSA Football Representatives

Webb vs Doran Football Match

Four of our Football students were selected to represent St Virgil’s College in the annual Webb vs Doran football match (previously known as Clark vs Franklin). Our students played for Webb. A big congratulations go to Oscar Halton, Jacob Lowe, Hunter Rolls (all Year 6), and Oliver Wagstaff (Year 5) for their exemplary efforts on the field. All four students played key roles in the match across multiple positions. In a nod to SVC, all boys in the Webb team played in SVC Jumpers.

Junior School Football Tipping Competition

This year we had a hard-fought football tipping competition in the Junior School. A big thank you to Mrs Moate and Mrs Leon for marking the tipping sheets every Monday morning without fail. They did a fabulous job. We had multiple round winners each week, each of whom was offered a double pass to the North Melbourne games played here at Blundstone Arena, due to the generosity of Mr Aaron Pidgeon, Head of Tasmania North Melbourne Football Club. Thank you to all the students who participated in the Tipping Competition. We had very strong tippers in Year 2, with three of the top 5 coming from that classroom. Congratulations to these overall winners:

1st: Archer Kilgour (Year 6) - 136

2nd: Sebastian Gillie and Jake Di Santo (both Year 2) - 130

3rd: Theodore Kline (Year 2) and Angus Saunder (Year 5) - 129

Year 2 Excursions

Year 2 has been out and about the last two weeks. On Wednesday 4 September, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Transport Museum. This term, our Year 2 class has been investigating the change in technology. We were able to compare some old vehicles with what we use today. We saw old fire engines, trams, and buses, and even had a ride on a train. On Monday 9 September, we also went to ZooDoo Zoo Tasmania. This term, we have also been learning how to write information reports about animals and identifying important information to share about these extraordinary creatures. At the zoo, students got up close to some of these animals, with capuchin monkeys, lions, and kangaroos being some of the favourites. It was an inspirational learning experience for all students.