On Monday, 10th October, all of the staff were involved in Professional Development. This was a special time, with the Springwood Campus of the Junior School hosting the day. Many of our staff across the whole school hadn’t visited our lovely Lower Mountains Campus before. All of the staff were appreciative about learning what happens in Junior Schools and had fun thinking about the journey of life long learning.

Students in Stage 2 had a ball at Hyde Park Barracks this week to support their learning in History. There are many, many events this term with Year 2 and Stage 2 out at Bungawarra next week, our first ever Early Years Day Camp for Pre-K, Kinder and Year 1 and Stage 3 off to camp too! We have Stay and Play days and orientation for new students, and an exciting Stage 3 Showcase evening all coming up soon – so much to fit in!

We are looking forward to enjoying our Nativity plays this term, which I understand have been an integral part of the early years learning experience at BMGS. Both campuses are preparing for these events and I look forward to celebrating Christmas as a community. Mrs Arrell and Mrs Boros will advise to “Save the Date” for these events soon. We know how crowded our school and family calendars get in Term 4.

I’d like to congratulate Mr Carr and his students for their efforts in MANSW – The Mathematics Association of NSW runs competitions for project-based Maths and our school entered many excellent projects. You may have read that we had some winners across a number of categories in New South Wales and there was a lovely story in the Gazette about the girls who studied Sugar Gliders. We have wonderful news this week that those girls – Matilda, Clare and Mariella came first nationally for their project. Another small group including Sy, Kyah and Adelaide received a Highly Commended for their Maths project about Bush Tucker Gardens. Stage 2 Coral Sea achieved a Participation award for their whole class project on rockets. Our Junior School are incredibly proud of these achievements.

Mrs Rachael Newton

Head of Junior School

Junior School Basketball

Term 4 - Week 1

On Monday, 10th October, the BMGS Swish played STA. What an exciting game! The score was very even right up until the last 15 minutes of the second half. It was great to see some familiar faces back on the court and some new faces giving basketball a red-hot go for the first time. I am really excited about the season ahead for BMGS Swish and know that their coach, Mr Dillon Hunter, will make sure they learn as many new skills as they can while making if a fun experience along the way. The final score was a win to the boys, 26 to 19.

The BMGS Slam Dunks played the Ballers and they were fortunate enough to play their first game against a team who were very accommodating, knowing the girls were playing in the Under 16s. With six players present, the girls showed great determination, resilience and teamwork to try and make sure everyone on their team scored a basket. They came awfully close, with nearly all the players scoring, some of them, multiple times. The girls lost 20 to 40 but they deserve to feel really proud of their first effort, especially with new players on the team and playing against more experienced players. Thanks to Mrs Lord for her coaching expertise, humour and ability to make this a fun experience for the girls.

On Tuesday, 11th October, the BMGS Stars played their first full game, which was umpired by two umpires and included timeouts to chat about strategies. The game was an absolute nail-biter! At half time we were only up by one point. The game got away from us a bit in the second half but it was great to see everyone still doing their best to defend and attack. We scored a couple of crucial baskets in the last couple of minutes and then with only 30 seconds to go, Sebastian Nicholls got the opportunity to take two free shots and one of them went in which meant that he equalized the game for us. The final score was 7 all.

Congratulations to Harry Burgess for scoring his first basket as a new player on the team and well done to Robert Sommerville and Hugo Courtemanche for their baskets too. As always, it was a huge team effort with all of the players contributing to the team’s success.

Mrs Lori Gerrard

Blue Mountains Artfest

Blue Mountains ArtFest is a festival that celebrates the talents of local and regional Blue Mountains artists. Check the ArtFest website for details about events and workshops, and to download an entry form for your child’s art entries. For further details on how to enter, please see the PDF below:

Performing Arts News

Junior Production (Years 7 to 9) - Auditions