Welcome back everyone to what promises to be an industrious and busy culmination of the School year. As the term commences, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new students and their respective families to the Junior School, Ethan Burke into Prep, and Binayak Shrestha into Year 4.

Next week we are excited to welcome our Grandparents onsite on Wednesday 23 October for Grandparents Day. The morning will commence with a liturgy in St Mary’s Cathedral at 9.30 am, followed by classroom visits and Devonshire Tea in the Junior School Hall at approximately 10.45 am - 11.15 am.

World Teachers' Day

This week, our Junior School celebrated World Teachers' Day. A big thank you to the Junior School Parents and Friends Association for preparing a wonderful morning tea for our teachers. We are most grateful for the support of the Parents and Friends Association and appreciate the wonderful teachers we have here.

Jacob Despard's visit

On Wednesday of this week, we were thrilled to welcome Olympian, Jacob Despard, to the Junior School to share his inspiring journey. Jacob represented Australia in the 4x100m relay at the Paris Olympics. He and his team set a new National and Oceania record of 38.12 seconds, missing the final by just 0.05 seconds. What an incredible achievement. Jacob spoke to all Junior boys in an assembly and presented a powerpoint, consisting of photos from his Primary years through to his 4 x 100m relay race at the Paris Olympics.

Jacob fielded many questions from the students but it was his message of never giving up on the dream to one day represent Australia and the commitment it took to achieve that, which was truly inspiring for all students. He also reflected on his time at St Virgil’s, and the friendships he made and still has from those years.

Junior School Key Dates

As a Kindergarten to Year 12 College, all students in Years 3 to 6, and their parents/carers, are invited to attend the College Speech Night and Year 12 Graduation on Wednesday 4 December at MyState Arena. On this night, we will be awarding Dux for each class from Years 3-6. We will also be presenting the Junior Edmund Rice, Junior Virgilian and Sportsmanship Awards. During the evening there will also be performances from our Year 5 and 6 bands.

Monday 9 December is the date for our annual End of Year Assembly. Held between 1.00 pm and 3.00 pm in the Nagle Centre of St Mary's College, this assembly will have performances from the choir and presentation of End of Year Class and Specialist Certificates as well as the Year 6 video.

On Wednesday 11 December, all students and families from Kindergarten to Year 6 will be invited to attend our Junior School Thanksgiving Liturgy in St Mary’s Cathedral between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm.

We are looking forward to House Day and Hot Chips Day today. Orders are coming in thick and fast for hot chips. For House Day, all students are invited to come dressed in the colours of their house and participate in house activities in the afternoon.

Learn to Swim Consent

Please look out in your emails for a link to Consent2Go for your son to participate in our annual Learn to Swim Program. Learn to Swim commences on Monday 4 November and concludes on Friday 15 November for students from Prep to Year 6. During these two weeks, our students will either be walking to and from the Collegiate Pool or on a Walker’s Coach. Consent will be required by Friday 25 October.

AFL Grand Final

Saturday 27 September was the much anticipated AFL Grand Final. Whilst for many of us the interest was over as our teams were concerned, we still had reason to take an interest.

Due to the determined efforts of the Junior School Parents and Friends Committee, around 160 extra people watched with interest, as they had purchased a margin ticket for the Grand Final. Thank you to all parents and family members who purchased tickets for $20 each. We sold all but 8 tickets, thus raising an impressive $2740.

I’m pleased to announce the winners of the Margin Tickets were:

1st quarter (8points): Nat Anning and Aimee Tatnell - $50 each

2nd quarter (46 points): Michael Harvey and Kelly Reggett - $50 each

3rd quarter (73 points): Andrew Mazengarb and Peta Jelkic - $50 each

4th quarter (60 points): Jake Ransley and Gina Graves - $400 each

The Grand Final also saw the wrap-up of the inaugural Parents, Friends and Staff AFL Football Tipping Competition.

We had 75 members in the competition this year including staff and our parent community. The competition caused a lot of banter in the Junior School Office on a Monday morning regarding everyone’s tipping form.

There was also much conjecture about whether or not a joker round should be played, if there should be an extra point awarded for tipping all nine games, and should tipping continue through the final rounds.

The banter was all light-hearted, in the spirit of the competition and created a wonderful vibe in the community.

Thank you to Matt Gillie, aka Big Boy McEvoy, (sons: Clancy - Year 5 and Sebastian - Year 2) for organising the competition. Next year we are aiming to have 100 in the competition.

I can announce that the winners were:

Matthew Pigden (father of Leo, Ben and Eddie), pipping Blues 2024, aka Olga Leon on Grand Final Day. Matt ended up with a score of 152
Tom Grice (staff member): 151
Blues2024!! (Olga Leon): 151
Muffinman32 (Angus Murffit): 150

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