The Anchor

Primary School 

From the Head of Primary 

Our school values of compassion, commitment, integrity and respect have been at the forefront of our pastoral care programme this year. This past week, students have had multiple opportunities to put these into practice as well as reflect upon them. Our tenacious Year Fives and Threes tackled their first NAPLAN practice tests, our Fives and Sixes listened to an inspiring talk from Ben Sainsbury on never giving up in the face of adversity and finally, today, our Year Threes to Sixes participated in the Interhouse Swimming Carnival (well done Mokare). 

 

Whilst a lot of our classroom activities focus on the academic side of our children’s schooling, at GSG we strive to provide a holistic education that develops the entire child. Our Year Sixes have given up their lunch times to run activities with our younger students as well as supporting our Friday pastoral rotations. Another example of this is our Horizons programme. This term students have had the opportunity to broaden their horizons with a range of diverse offerings. 

Horizons Term 1 Summary

Dance

Ms Amelia Dempster (who was once a dance instructor) has run a dance programme for our ECC students that has included a range of fun warm-up games and technical activities alongside choreographing a dance routine. 

 

Wild Space

Miss Hard and Mrs Clifford take a group of adventurers each Wednesday to our school Wild Spaces. Everyone puts on their gumboots and explores the wonders of nature. Climbing trees, throwing rocks (carefully), observing the tides, and searching for fish and crabs are just some of the fun things happening each week. 

 

Lego Club

Mrs Gouldthorp guides the engineering proteges of the ECC with exciting Lego challenges each week, where students harness their skills of creativity and design. We love seeing the outcomes on display.

 

Technology Club

Imagine pulling apart an old tv, laptop or toaster to see how it works and then using those parts to create your own piece of technology. Mr Hardey and his crew of electrical engineers inquire into the way things work each week and are now beginning to build their own inventions. 

 

Dancercise/Mindfulness

Miss Steinert and her group of dancercise students from Years Three to Six get their heart rates pumping with some high-energy dancing before winding down with some quieter stretching and mindfulness. A time to dance away the worries of the week before clearing the mind. 

 

Book Club

Ms Diletti and her group of avid readers meet each week over milo and biscuits to discuss the events of their latest books. They have investigated authors such as Morris Glietzman by reading Girl Underground and visited the Library to investigate other books he has written, discovering that he writes a variety of genres. They looked at graphic novels and this week are reading How to Train your Dragon by Cressida Cowell and will compare the book to parts of the movie. 

Values and ECC Stars of the Week

Our fortnightly value is commitment – being dedicated and loyal. Our swimming carnival was a great way to show this value and I look forward to awarding our upper primary students next week.

 

Well done to our ECC Stars of the Week: Atticus Sprigg, Alexandra Schaefer, Zayne Prasad and Carter Jones, and our ECC values winners for commitment: Annabelle Brennan, Hamish Field, Ava Murnane and Jemima Lester. 

Baudin’s Birthday

Thank you Mr Neil Ferreira for including our Primary students in Baudin’s Birthday Bash. The cake and games were a highlight for all.

Upcoming Events

Next week we begin to celebrate Harmony Week. Classes will complete activities individually before we all come together on Friday for our pastoral care period. Families have been emailed a form to choose a Passions and Pursuits activity that will be run for our students in Pre-Primary to Year Six next Friday. Activities range from crafts and cooking to different sports that celebrate all the diverse cultures that make up our world. Our House Leaders will help our classroom teachers run these activities. Students can wear sports uniform for the whole day.

  • Friday 10 March: Primary School Music Assembly, 2.20pm start in the Hall (all families welcome including those of our choir students)
  • Friday 17 March: Harmony Week. Please have choices for Friday’s Passions and Pursuits in by Monday 13 March.

Mrs Leah Field | Head of Primary