Junior School News
Learning in Year 1
Year 1 have had a fantastic term of learning!
During inquiry lessons, Year 1 have been learning about the features of plants and animals. We have explored different insects, their structure and how they survive. We have also learnt how to observe the details of different insects and attempt to draw them. We then learnt how to give each other feedback on our work in order to improve.
Year 1 also explored different plants, their function and structure and will continue to research different facts to build their knowledge. Below are some photos of the students hard at work.
Mrs Mazzo and Mrs Ball
Year 1 Teachers
Read on and on and on...300 students complete the Premier’s Reading Challenge 2020
At the close of the Premier’s Reading Challenge 2020 (PRC) on Friday, 28 August, 303 of our students completed the Challenge. With the addition of books read in class and during Library lessons, all Kindergarten, Year One and Year Two students read 30 or more books by the Challenge end.
Mrs Borg’s Year 4 class, 4M were in the lead throughout the Challenge and stayed strong to take out First Place in the Class Challenge, with all 26 students reading over 20 books. Second and Third Place was taken out by 6M and 6B respectively. A wonderful indication of their love of reading. Well done.
4B’s Pizza Party prize will be organised for Term 4, along with the presentation of Certificates for all students who completed the Challenge this year.
Special mention should also go to our three Senior students who also completed the 2020 Challenge - James Palpal-Latoc (Year 7), Daniel Dimech-O'Connell (Year 8) and Ryan Carter (Year 9). It is wonderful to have some older reading role models for our students. Well done, boys.
Mrs Cosentino
Teacher Librarian/Literacy Specialist
Reading Rockets takes off again
Our annual Reading Rockets Challenge, coinciding with the PRC has stunned and amazed us, yet again. This year twenty three of our students competed to see who could read the MOST books during the PRC Challenge period. Now that students can log more books than the Challenge requires (ie. over 20 or 30) this was a great opportunity to keep our students motivated to read.
First Place this year was taken out by Emily Scott-Glassock who read 363 books!
Our Top Ten results:
- Emily Scott-Glassock, 1B read 363 books
- Ryan Delaney, 2B and Georgie Wilson, 1M both read 330 books
- Abigail Delaney, KM read 326 books
- Tyler Cummins, 1B read 270 books
- Max Miguelez, 2M read 266 books
- Thomas Scott-Glassock, 6M read 226 books
- Arabella Green, 1B read 209 books
- Stella Herbert, 2B, read 139 books
- Benjamin Mumford, KB read 125 books
- William Mumford, 2M read 120 books
We are so proud of these committed students as well as the following who are reading machines: Emilia Balan, Malia Behn, Zachary Luszczynski, Chloe Carino, Alexa Carino, Olivia Sheedy, Alexander Sheedy, Lilijana Risteski, Sasha Periera, Siena Austin, Reuben Tucker and Alexandra Davis.
We recognise that this Challenge becomes more difficult as students progress to chapter books in Years 2 and onwards so it is wonderful to see Thomas, Chloe and Alexandra still competing whilst reading mich longer texts.
A special morning tea in the Library will be held to celebrate our Reading Rockets very soon.
Mrs Cosentino
Teacher Librarian/Literacy Specialist
Year 6 Transition to High School Program
As part of the Year 6 transition to high school program; students currently in Year 7, accompanied by Year 7 Coordinator Mr Wilson and Mrs Louise Millar, Director of Teaching & Learning in the Senior School, visited the Junior School for a Q&A forum. It was a wonderful opportunity for our current Year 6 students to hear directly from those who have transitioned to high school recently and what their experiences have been.
They were able to answer the many questions and queries of the Year 6 students, whilst also sharing some insights into their first few terms of Year 7 at St Greg's. Many handy tips and tricks to being prepared and organised and a general overview of what high school life has installed for them at the College were shared and received well.
We thank the boys, Mr Wilson and Mrs Millar for taking the time to come and visit us at the Junior School and in helping alleviate any worries or concerns some of the Year 6 students may be starting to feel in their final months of primary schooling.
Some of the student's testaments and statements after the Q&A forum;
Fletcher
After the forum I now know that I will enjoy high school and I am looking forward to meeting and making lots of new friends.
Connor
High school isn’t as scary as it sounds and that it provides lots of opportunities to meet plenty of new people in the first few weeks.
Owen
That if we are organized and stay on top of our homework it is easy to manage and give us plenty of free time.
Fraser
That we must bring with us a high level of respect towards all teachers and that we will be exposed to various classes, subjects and teaching staff.
Marc
High school is not as hard as it sounds, it just means being more organized and taking responsibility for yourself and your things.
Reading the Shortlist
The Junior School Library has been buzzing with all of the activities focusing on our lead up to Book Week in Week 2 of Term 4.
Some of these activities have focused on the theme of ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’ and others have drawn on the Children’s Book Council Awards Shortlisted Books. The Book of the Year winners will be announced during Book Week.
Each class created a ‘Curious Creatures’ flipbook by drawing a creature in three parts. These were all put together and bound and then cut into thirds to make a variety of creatures using different parts. Our ‘Curious Creatures’ books are now in each of the classrooms for students to read and use for writing.
5 Blue used recycled materials to create ‘Wild Minds’ Sculptures for our Library display. They mounted all of the pieces together and after they were spray painted white, the students painted them with acrylics to demonstrate their ‘wild minds’. These are going to be a fascinating feature in our Library as well.
Finally, all of our students have loved Lesley Gibbes and Judy Watson’s “Searching for Cicadas’. This book is shortlisted in the Eve Pownall Award for non-fiction texts. We have learnt so much about these amazing little creatures through reading the book, but we have also focused on the leaf litter art created by Judy Watson on the endpapers of this text. We are now in the process of creating our own large scale leaf litter artwork in the Junior School Library.
Mrs Cosentino
Teacher Librarian/Literacy Specialist
PhoneCycle Certificate
Year 3 received their certificate as a part of the Phone Cycle campaign from their Sharing the Planet Inquiry unit earlier in the year. Year 3 raised over $70 through this campaign, which will be donated to Taronga Zoo’s Call for the Wild campaign.
Congratulations on making a difference Year 3!
Mrs Burton
3 Blue Classroom Teacher
Public Speaking Program 2020
Public Speaking has long been a tradition at St Gregory’s Senior College, and it was the dream of one of our Senior students (in fact, our College Captain for 2020), that this tradition continues in our Junior School. David DeVecchis created the Public Speaking Program at the Junior School as part of his Max Potential Project in 2019.
In its second year, this program has developed into a whole-school program with all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 participating as part of their class Literacy program. The program has progressed throughout Term 3, culminating in our Public Speaking Showcase on Friday 18 September. The Showcase was live-streamed to all families and the finalist from each class presented their speech. David De Vecchis was a very proud MC and our students displayed great skills and confidence.
Congratulations to all our finalists and grade representatives. I’m sure 2021 will be even bigger and better!
- Kindergarten B: Alessia Siracusa
- Kindergarten M: Harrison Sacca
- Year 1B: Amelia Gillard
- Year 1M: Jessica Ruksens
- Year 2B: Kye Harding
- Year 2M: Rhys Hodson
- Year 3B: Nuala Fashoyin
- Year 3M: Mikayla Faro
- Year 4B: Denham Tsagalas
- Year 4M: Charlize Anastasio
- Year 5B: Tessa Sabu Mandapam
- Year 5M: Alexandra Nothdurfter
- Year 6B: Annalise Elasi
- Year 6M: Thomas Scott-Glassock
Mrs Ivancic
Assistant Head of Junior School
Religious Education in the Junior School
What a fantastic term we have had with Religious Education in the Junior School.
The teachers have been hard at work incorporating the Marist story into their teaching programs, focusing on the importance of storytelling and finding engaging ways to teach Scripture.
I took the opportunity to go around to classes last week to ask what students loved about their Religious Education lessons. Below is what some of the students said:
Alexandra in Year 5: I love that in our Religion lessons, we make great connections with God.
Tyler in Year 1: I love that we turn the lights off, sit in a circle and put a candle in the middle to listen to the stories about God.
Nuala in Year 3: I love that Religion can teach us how to treat each other.
Jake in Year 6: I love that in Religion lessons we explore the Bible and dissect different stories and see where they originated from.
Prayer Boxes
Our Prayer boxes have been so successful this year and the students have really enjoyed creating special prayer spaces at home to enjoy with their families. It has been wonderful to hear all of the beautiful prayers that the students are writing in the prayer book to share with the class.
Operation Christmas Child
It has been so fantastic to see shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child already returning packed and full of gifts! One shoebox per family was sent home with the eldest child for the family to pack.
Operation Christmas Child is a charity run by Samaritan’s Purse which encourages families to pack a shoebox full of gifts e.g something to love, something to play with, something for hygiene etc. These shoeboxes are then sent off to another country for a disadvantaged child to receive at Christmas- often it is their very first Christmas gift!
As part of the program, the children also receive a Bible and a 12-lesson discipleship program which teaches them about God, faith and being a follower of Christ in their own language.
These boxes are to be returned by Term 4, Week 2 if you would like your family to participate. Please send the empty box back earlier if you choose not to.
I would like to wish all families a blessed and enjoyable break. May God bless you all and keep you safe. See you in Term 4!
Mrs Ashley Mazzo
Junior School Leader of Learning: Religious Education