Message from the Head of Junior School

What a blessing it is to have our students back at school and to be able to see our wider school community again. Open Classrooms was a wonderful way to start the year and the first few days of school have been exciting. 

Welcome to our new students! There are new children in every year group, and it is wonderful to have new faces and to see our school continue to grow. 

In a year of new beginnings, I shared a new word with the children, a French word, ‘regarde’. Meaning to Look and Savour. This word and my thoughts were from the book Phosphorescence by Julia Baird. An excellent read, if you are interested!

This year as we see new things, experience new things, try new things and encounter new beginnings, I want the children to notice them and enjoy them and most of all, be thankful. From new things we can grow and learn, create and explore. Regarde!

This week we welcomed two new teachers, Miss Jessica Steinert who will be teaching Year 1 Green for Semester One and Mrs Michelle Clydsdale who will cover the Executive Release in Infants. We trust you will get to know both of them, and I look forward to introducing them to you. 

During the holidays we made some changes to the classrooms in the Infants. Each of the classrooms relocated, along with Kookaburra Club and the Music Room. This was an important change in our school, especially for our Kindergarten students. We really wanted Kindergarten to feel part of the Infants section of the school and have easy access to the playground. For a young Kinder student, the old rooms were a long way away. Additionally, moving the Kookaburra Club Room closer to the front of the school will provide parents with easier access for faster pick-ups and drop offs. 

Throughout the remainder of the year and over the next few years, we will continue to renovate and upgrade our rooms, in order to meet the needs of a modern learner. Already, we have new CleverTouch Boards in all sixteen classrooms, which was a project we commenced in 2020 and was finished in the Summer Holidays. These boards are interactive TVs and have replaced the old smartboards. 

We have been ambitious and hopeful in our planning for events for 2021, in order to provide every opportunity for our children to learn, grow and serve. This will mean from time to time, we may need to make modifications to our plans to ensure we comply with COVID restrictions. We will email families and also have the latest information available on the HUB for parents to view. 

Parent Information Nights are an opportunity to hear from the Head of Junior School and the classroom teachers and a wonderful opportunity to meet other families in your child’s year group. These will be held in Week Three. 

The Head of Junior School Session will be in the Bishop Peter Chiswell Hall on the William Cowper Campus and will be the same on both nights. If you have children in both Infants and Primary, please choose the night which best suits you. 

I encourage you to come along, even if you have been at Calrossy for years – you never know what you will learn or who you will meet. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Claire Dalziel 

Head of Junior School