Junior School News

Welcome to Term 3! We hope you had a restful midyear break and are ready to learn for the second half of the year. We are proud of how quickly you transitioned into Remote Learning during Lockdown 5.0 and your efforts in keeping on track while away from school.

Glad we’re back and good luck with the remainder of Term 3.

Haroula Loucaides

Acting Head of Junior School

Year 7 News

Transitioning from remote learning back to the physical classroom is becoming an expected part of our lives. Students are adaptive and resilient, but we all need to support each other as a caring community. GEC prides itself on the kindness and support that parents, staff and students show towards each other. As we move into Semester 2, we eagerly look towards Year 8 where new adventures and learning awaits. So now is the perfect time to focus on developing effective and positive learning and social relationships. It’s time to consolidate our mantra: Get Organised – Get Involved – Get Focused. 

We continue to work within Department rules and sometimes this means making quick changes and accepting that we cannot do all the great things we want to do. Some Assemblies, Incursions and Sporting events have been rescheduled and we are hoping that we can participate soon. 

Our staff continually work together to bring exciting and rewarding experiences to our students. Encourage your child to enjoy a hearty breakfast with Breakfast Club on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Encourage your child to try a new club – we hear the Chess Club is hosting a Tournament and lots of other opportunities are available each day. Stepping out of your comfort zone can bring unexpected opportunities and great rewards so we encourage students to try something new this term. 

During this time of change, the coordinators continue to support students and families. Please contact us if you require our help or want to share a success. We love hearing about our wonderful community and sharing our success. 

A sentence hidden on a page:

As an extension activity in English, Lucas Kennedy (7C) revealed a hidden sentence on a page and surrounded it with a pictorial of the sentence’s meaning. What a wonderful delight to find a rabbit pushing a train across the words. Fabulous critical and creative expression Lucas. 

The Game of Life in Ancient Greece: Barak Shemesh (7H) & Hayden Baker (7H)

Assessment can be fun, especially if you develop a game to show your knowledge about Ancient Greece. An impressive board game, developed and constructed by Barak and Hayden show a deep understanding of daily life in Ancient Greece. The Home Cards, Life Card and Career Cards along with Greek money makes for a fun experience. If you are in the Junior School Office, have a game of life: Ancient Greek style. Congratulations Barak and Hayden on an excellent project.

4th August 2021 celebrates the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day: Proud in Culture, Strong in Spirit. 

Ashley Fisher (7H) reminds us that since 1988, National Voice for our Children is a special day and opportunity for us to show support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. We can do this by learning about the crucial impact that culture, family and community play in the life of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child. Understanding this designated day, celebrates children by making them feel included, giving them confidence and reminding them that they are special.  

Deborah Cordingley & Jake Sherman

Year 7 Coordinators

Sporting Success

Congratulations to Jasper Adderly in 7C who has qualified for the U15s Eastern Regional Lacrosse Team.  Jasper has been named as a goal keeper and will play in a tournament during the second week of the school holidays.  The entire GEC community joins together in wishing Jasper a successful tournament.

Congratulations to Liam Iseya-Louey from 8E who competed in the "Australian Taekwondo Victoria 2021 ATV State Selection Championships" (10/07/21) and placed a Silver medal in the Sparring Cadet - Black Belt 12-14yrs, 41-45kg category! Well done Liam!

Year 8 News

Well done to all Year 8 students for tackling yet another round of remote learning. You all showed the utmost resilience and patience throughout lockdown 5.0. We are very proud of you all. Well done for keeping organised, staying focused and getting involved!

Good luck to all Year 8 students who entered the Olympic medal competition on our year level Google classroom. Keep an eye on Australia’s medal tally throughout the Tokyo 2020 Olympics games! How close will your guess be?

We wish you all the best for the reminder of term 3 and are here with you every step of the way!

Jessica Ballingall & Chris Zuccala

Year 8 Coordinators

Year 9 Corner

We welcome all our Year 9s to semester 2 onsite. It began with the 5th lockdown, which was not quite the way we intended this term to start, but we are glad it has ended now. A huge thank you to all families for their ongoing support. We are one semester down and one to go, with lots happening in the Year 9 Corner. Year 10 course counselling, geography competition, Reach incursion and new electives, to name a few. Unfortunately, camp was cancelled but we are planning some other events and opportunities for Year 9s in the coming weeks or next term.

As we venture into the second half of the year the Year 9s have just completed their course counselling for 2022. Students are considering possible VCE enhancement in Year 10 and excited about picking new subjects. A note for parents and guardians: Subjects needed to be confirmed on XUNO by Wednesday 4th August. We encourage parents to discuss the subjects with their students so there is a shared understanding about what learning will be taking place.

Congratulations to all Year 9s for completing the Australian Geography Competition. 

Just before lockdown we had an incursion from the Reach Foundation. Reach ran a Peer Dynamics Workshop to build self awareness, perspective and empathy and encourage all students to make choices that have a positive impact on one another. It was great to see active participation from the cohort. Below are some reflections from the incursion: https://www.reach.org.au/about-reach/

Something I learnt about my peers is that they also have struggles that are going on in their life but just don't show it . Something I will remember forever is that we are all in the same boat and there is not one person who doesn't have any struggles. I think the reach program was a good learning experience for everyone and I really enjoyed getting to know my peers a bit more.

The incursion we had on Thursday was eye opening for me. I usually keep my feelings to myself but this made me express myself a bit. I said thank you to people in my life who supported me and it made me and the other person better as well. Often we don't know about our peers so much but then listening to their stories helped me understood that how they felt or feeling.

I enjoyed the reach incursion as it was fun enough, but felt it was a little bit lighter than what I remember from previous reach things. I learnt a slight bit about some people and did find out that even some people who I thought had no problems have some and I will also carry with me the thought that someone I love might be gone from me the next day. After that incursion I went ahead to message an old friend about meeting up after covid.

Wish you all very best for semester 2. We want you all to reflect on semester 1 and set new goals for this semester by seizing new opportunities and doing your best.

Sasha Byrnes & Parminder Kaur

Year 9 Coordinators