From the Head of Junior School

Dear Families, Students and Community, 

We are coming up to a very busy end of term with some flagship events for students and families. I do want to thank the staff and volunteers who have made these happen. It has been busier than usual as the weather forced us to postpone some events earlier in the term, concertinaing them closer together in the last few weeks.

Some of the highlights in the Junior School over the last few weeks have been:

HICES Football Gala Day: For the first time we entered boys and girls teams into this event, which BMGS hosted at Pitt Park. A number of our students have been selected as part of a representative team as a result of their performances. Many thanks to Mrs Wade, Acting Head of Sport, Mr Loggenberg and Mrs Sidarious who helped get this event going and helped out on the day. 

Tours De Vallee and Montagnes Bleues: Madam O’Hara did a wonderful job with both our bicycle races again this year. Students were given croissants, hot chocolate and winners received baguettes as well as certificates. We were fortunate that after rescheduling once, the weather held out for both races. 

P&F Movie Night Under the Stars: Our Springwood P&F put on an exceptional movie night for families last Friday night. The weather was kind to us and we were able to enjoy the beauty of the campus, enjoy a meal and watch Mario 1 before the sequel comes out very soon. David and Jess Elliot spearheaded this event and with the help of others gave us a wonderful time together. 

Stage One Springwood Community Walk Excursion: Mrs Walker took Stage One Buru class into Springwood to look at local features and community places. Students enjoyed being out and about and the train ride home. 

Pre-K and Kinder Inter-Campus Visit: Mrs Vaughan and Mrs Brajkovic organised their very excited students for a trip to Springwood campus. While there, they enjoyed time with other Pre-K and Kinder students, as well as a teddy bear hunt. Well done to Mrs Mackin and Mrs Ligsy who also helped make this day a success. 

Grandparents Days: This is one of the highlights of the year with so many visitors coming for concerts, open classrooms and picnic lunches. Many thanks to the Facilities team, as well as Mrs Cooney, Mrs Lewis and Mr Forbes who organised the music and performances. 

Book Fair: Dr Drew did a magnificent job with Megalong Books to organise and run our annual Book Fair. Many thanks to the families who donated books for our library. I am sure these will get borrowed frequently and will be read over and over again. 

3D Printing: Our new 3D printers have arrived and are up and running in our STEM program. Mrs Hall has done a great job getting these going, and I am keen to see how this technology can be used in an integrated, powerful way to improve student learning. 

HICES Debating: Our First Debating team took part in their opening debate this fortnight, with our Second team debating early next week. Well done to our competitors. Getting the golden combination of matter, method and manner together under pressure is always a challenge the teams enjoy. Well done Miss O’Keefe and teams on your work. 

Da Vinci Decathlon: Mr Illingworth and I took eight Year Six students to Scots All Saints, Bathurst for the Da Vinci Decathlon last week. The students competed in ten different topics including engineering, cartography, art and poetry, and more across the day. They placed second in their age group, which is an outstanding result. 

MANSW Project: Mrs Spohr has begun her project with Mathematical Association of NSW. We have installed a weather station and started to collect data as part of a long-term class project. 

All these events have been made possible because of the ongoing effort and work of staff who are aspirational for our students, and view all these as valuable parts of the school experience. On a personal note, I want to thank Mrs Arrell and Mrs Boros who have been mighty in the background with the administration and assisting me in my first term as Head of Junior School. I truly could not have led the Junior School without them helping me through. 

Staffing and Program Changes

We recently announced via SchoolBox that Mrs Louise Hall will be leaving the school in Term 2 to focus on her young family. Students have enjoyed weekly STEM lessons with Mrs Hall and her ability to connect with all different age groups reflects her professionalism and quality as an educator. 

With Mrs Hall leaving, we are presented with an opportunity to reassess the School’s offering and how we can best provide a robust, challenging and connected curriculum. After discussion with the School Executive and hearing from families over a long period of time, we have decided to integrate the teaching of STEM into regular classroom lessons, and instead advertise for a specialist junior school sport teacher. They will work one day a week at Springwood and Wentworth Falls campuses respectively. 

This change aims to bring a closer connection between subjects and use STEM as a tool for creativity and creation in daily lessons, rather than a weekly specialist subject. We believe there is a need and desire for a specialist sport teacher and this is the right balance for the school at this time.

Please know that STEM is not being reduced or removed from our teaching and learning programs. Our teachers have strong skills in this area, they will be further upskilled in the relevant areas to use the specialist STEM equipment and tools. We recently purchased four new 3D printers for the junior school at a cost of several thousand dollars, which reflects the commitment to this area of the school. 

The process of advertising for the sport teacher is already underway and we are confident of a number of strong applicants. 

Finally, thank you for the support and encouragement over the past months as I have started in this role. I have enjoyed the wonder and possibility of the Junior School; it is a place where you see social, academic and emotional progress quickly as our students grow and change. I have had a lot of fun along the way too.

Please do enjoy the Easter Hat Parade and Easter service before a restful and rejuvenating holiday. 

Christopher Sanders

Head of Junior School