Junior School

Towards the end of last week I had the honour of taking a team of Junior School students to the HICES Football Gala Day. The boys who came along had a wonderful time, despite the heat in Penrith. My own limited understanding of the rules of football afforded the boys a great opportunity to step up and organize themselves, lead and strategise, and to encourage each other. All boys were outstanding, with particular leadership shown by Thomas Sheen and Isaak Brajkovic. Tasman Harrison was selected for the HICES team to play at the CIS Carnival and all players were ecstatic in his achievement. The day could not have run without the help of Amelie Hugo and Aleesha Naumann, who came along to help referee the games on the day. Both girls served all day, sharing their knowledge and expertise and were an amazing example of the kinds of students who serve others here at Blue Mountains Grammar School.

This week our swimmers were off to Homebush to represent our school at the HICES Carnival. We had many students swim their fastest races and beat PBs and Kyah Erne (pictured) will be continuing on to the CIS Carnival. I’d like to thank Mrs Harris who works so hard behind the scenes for us to attend these events, and to staff and parent helpers who came along to help at the carnival and cheer our students on.

Our school is preparing, like thousands of others, to sit NAPLAN tests next week. Our approach in the Junior School is one that promotes doing our best, and keeping a balanced perspective when it comes to formal testing. Students do sometimes sit tests on computers at school, sometimes they are assessed by writing or solving Maths problems on paper, often they show teachers what they know by explaining things or by making something. Our staff use lots of assessment techniques to gain a rich understanding of what students know. NAPLAN results will be one piece of that puzzle, useful for helping with planning and showing growth. I ask that parents help students in Year 3 and Year 5 approach the testing calmly, with a good night’s sleep and a sustaining breakfast in their tummies! Oh – and it’s important to be at school on time so that tests can be done early on in the day while students are feeling fresh.

We look forward to some up and coming events like Grandparents' Day and Easter, details of which will be communicated to you over the coming weeks. We’re in the second half of the term now, which feels unbelievable, except when you chat with the students about all of the learning that has been going on – THAT has been huge!

Mrs Rachael Newton

Head of Junior School

Save the Date

Junior School Basketball

Term 1 - Week 6

On Monday night the first place BMGS Swish played the 8th team on the ladder. It was a very hot day and the game had forced time outs to try and better deal with the conditions. BMGS were able to rest well in what would ordinarily be a more relaxed game. Their opponents suffered an injury early on and went down to having four players. The Swish did the same in response and played a relaxed defensive game. Nonetheless, playing good hard basketball with good sportsmanship, they had a dominant performance and a near 50-point win. With only a few games left in the season. The team reaffirms its position at the top, remaining undefeated all season.

Dillon Hunter

I was fortunate enough to watch the BMGS Slam Dunks on Monday night. In what could only be described as very uncomfortable conditions, a bit like playing basketball in a sauna, the girls continued to be persistent. They nearly had their first default win for the season as the opposition only had two players at the beginning of the game, earning the Slam Dunks an 8-point head start. Somehow, the opposition managed to scramble some players and got four players on the court. The girls have improved immensely and I think, if they were to continue playing and were in an age appropriate division, they would earn the wins they deserve. Unfortunately for the girls, their opposition got the win.

L Gerrard

The BMGS Raptors and the BMGS Blue Whales played each other for their first game and, as always, it was close. They were locked at zero all until the last couple of minutes. Alexander managed to get a clear shot and scored for the Raptors to seal the win.

The Blue Whales went on to play the Night Furies and with some solid passing, awesome defending and some awesome shots, they won 6 to 4.

The second game for the Raptors was also a win against the Bench Warmers 8 to 4. Thanks to Marlien and Gemma for stepping in as coaches of the team while my team played on the other court.

For the final game, the Blue Whales were spectators for the Raptors’ final game of the night against the Not Ballers. It was awesome to see what impact great defending can have on a game. There were some awesome long-range shots from Sebastian and excellent passing from the team. Congratulations to all the players who scored and to the parents who consistently cheer from the sidelines.

The Blaxland Scorchers are now gearing up for their winter competition so if you are keen to put in a team and play with your BMGS friends, with a parent or Scorchers’ coach, or are happy to register as a player and are happy to be assigned to a different team, please fill out the player registration form that was emailed to your parents and I will take care of the rest. An email was sent to your parents on Wednesday 1st March outlining what they will need to do. If you are a parent who is happy to coach a team, please let me know by emailing me on lgerrard@bmgs.nsw.edu.au

Teams will be created in Week 7 and sent to the Blaxland Scorchers.

Mrs Lori Gerrard