The Anchor

Primary School

Another fabulous week has passed in the Primary School. Our ECC students began their KIDDO fundamental movement programme under the guidance of Mr Stephen Berryman, Primary School Teacher and Sports Coordinator. Mrs Naomi Cooper, Chaplain, and our Leaders cooked us pancakes for Shrove Tuesday; our Baudin students celebrated Nicholas Baudin’s birthday with Mr Neil Ferreira, Head of Baudin House; and our Leaders are looking forward to hosting our first Primary School Assembly for the year.  It was wonderful to see so many families at our information evening and P&F Sundowner.

 

A reminder that electronic copies of class information will be placed on MyGSG in the Primary School section under each year level. We are blessed with many applications that aid in the smooth running of the school’s operations and communication. I shared an infographic with the most important ones we would like you to have access to. All our GSG staff will happily help you download and navigate these platforms. 

 

SEQTA Engage

The application is used to view student timetables, reports and work samples. Teachers will regularly share your child’s learning and results on this platform, with a mix of photos and experiences alongside work samples and rubrics tracking their progress. Please come and see our teachers if you would like some help setting this up.

 

MyGSG

MyGSG is Great Southern Grammar’s online portal. Your first stop for information about the school and your child. To access MyGSG, navigate to the Great Southern Grammar website and click ‘MyGSG’, which can be found in the top right corner. Alternatively, to access MyGSG directly, go to my.gsg.wa.edu.au in your web browser or from the school app.

 

Great Southern Grammar App

This can be downloaded on your device and provides direct access to notices, the calendar, Anchor articles, absentee forms, key contacts, SEQTA Engage, MyGSG and important links. The app makes navigating all GSG key information very easy.

 

Flexischools App

This can be downloaded through your handheld device to order from the School Canteen. We are blessed with amazing, nutritious food every day for recess and lunch that is made on-site and delivered to each area of the school. Keep an eye out for the specials in the Daily Notices.

Culture, Environment and Engagement

Our Year Five students have been spotted each morning using our grounds as their chosen learning environment for practising their reading fluency. As avid Science of Reading advocates, our teachers understand the importance of fluency in building a child’s reading competence. 

School Values and ECC Stars of the Week

From our Primary School Briefings...Commitment is about making a promise to do or believe something and being dedicated and loyal. You can be committed to lots of different things – school, work, friends, big ideas and inventions, sport, dance, art…the list goes on.

 

During Week Two, the following students were recognised for demonstrating commitment at school:

Raine Melia – Year Three

Harry Osborne – Year Four K

Ava Palmer – Year Four L

Amour Hardey – Year Five

Noah Sanders – Year Six G

Henry Levett – Year Six N

Our House Leaders also did a smashing job of keeping tabs on which classes were showing commitment to earning the great honour of displaying the coveted BRAG AWARD trophy. To be eligible, classes had to have tidy areas outside the classroom, zipped up bags and all hats hanging on hooks. Results were calculated as a percentage of total bags at school each day and it was fantastic to see that Year Six N reigned supreme in Week Two. Watch this space for Week Three results to be decided on by classes showing respect for wearing the school uniform with pride!

ECC Stars of the Week

River Williams, Freya De Snoo, Freya Hueppauff and Rosie Mitrovski – please see their work on display in the ECC building. 

 

Miss Carys Nichols | Assistant Head of Primary (Years Three to Six)

KIDDO in the Early Childhood Centre

As part of our daily routine in the Early Childhood Centre, the students take part in a morning fitness programme called KIDDO. 

 

KIDDO focuses on an area called Physical Literacy; put simply this is the skills, motivation, confidence and knowledge to be active. Focusing on Locomotor and Fundamental Movement Skills, the programme provides knowledge and understanding of why regular physical activity is important to students’ futures.

 

The programme runs every morning from 8.45am to 9.05am in the gym. Parents are more than welcome to attend, watch and help if they wish. 

Mr Stephen Berryman | Teacher/ Primary School Sports Coordinator 

Body Bright 

This year our Primary School has adopted the Body Bright programme. Body Bright is an initiative by the Butterfly Foundation and is a strength-based, evidence-informed body image programme. Designed to be integrated into Australian primary schools, it provides resources and support to teachers and their broader school community. The programme aims to promote healthy attitudes and behaviours towards the body, eating and physical activity in children, so they can thrive at school and in life. It takes a village to raise a child! Butterfly Body Bright takes a whole-school approach to supporting positive body image in children. 

 

Before the term commenced, all Primary School staff completed the Body Bright training so everyone is committed and understands the extent of this commitment. We have implemented this new culture by adjusting our eating times at lunch. Students now play first and then are brought in to eat before the end of lunchtime. This has created more of a relaxed and enjoyable time to eat where students rest and converse with each other over food.

 

Unless requested by a parent, lunch boxes are no longer heavily policed, and students are permitted to eat the contents in any order they wish. We encourage students to listen to their tummy voices to know when they are full. We have already noticed a positive change across the Primary School. The Body Bright programme will be incorporated into our Health lessons and replace language such as BMI, calorie calculation and good food vs bad food and healthy/unhealthy.  

 

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please feel free to email either Mrs Hayley Ranger or Mr Stephen Berryman and they will be happy to help. 

 

Mrs Hayley Ranger | Assistant Head of Primary (ECC)

Upcoming Events

Week Three - Friday 16 February at 2.20pm

  • Primary School Assembly run by House Leaders, Hall (Pre-Primary to Year Six)

Week Four - Friday 23 February

  • House Activities afternoon (all Primary School students to wear their sport uniform including their House shirt.) 
  • P&F Primary School BBQ, ECC (3.00pm to 4.30pm) Please take this opportunity to meet new families and build our GSG community. Mr Jason Pages (P&F President) and DIGS reps will be manning the BBQ and our teachers will be assisting. RSVP here.  

Have a wonderful weekend, 

 

Ms Leah Field | Head of Primary