From the Head of Junior School

Term Two for us coincides with a changing of the season, both in weather and in school uniform. In Terms Two and Three our students must wear full school uniform which includes blazers for our Year Six students. This week the weather has been magnificent with crisp mornings and relatively mild days so the change in uniform has been well timed. The school does have a strict uniform policy to which we insist children adhere. We also understand that there are occasionally individual medical circumstances that make the wearing of some items difficult. If your child has a specific circumstance where a special dispensation needs to be made the protocol is to speak with, or write to, myself.

Unfortunately, the change of seasons, and the colder weather, often brings on colds and flu. I know this all to well having succumbed to illness in the last set of holidays. We are reminding students to follow all of the hygiene practices that were reinforced last year. It is important that students who are unwell do not come to school until they are recovered. We want to minimise the spread of illness as much as possible. If your child presents at school with cold like symptoms or develops the symptoms during the day, you will be called to come and collect them. Some children do suffer from Hay Fever, Season Cough, Seasonal Asthma etc which is not transferrable. If your child does suffer from one of these conditions or similar please let us know. They will not be asked to stay home.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Lunch Time Activities

In an effort to provide a safe and inviting space for all of our students some of our teachers and Year Six students have volunteered to run lunchtime activity centres around the school. Each day there will be an activity that students can participate in as an alternative to the usual play activities in the playground. I thank those students and staff who are volunteering their time.

Junior School Parking

In the last two years, we have been working with the Greater City of Bendigo council to reduce traffic congestion and to improve safety around our drop off zone in MacKenzie Street.

This year we continued the staggered pick up times and multiple egress point that were introduced last year in an effort to improve the traffic flow around the school. This has had a positive effect in reducing the line up of traffic around the school, however, several parents have let me know that it has created an inconvenience due to having children in multiple year levels.

We will be reviewing the procedures over the next fortnight to see if we can revert to our standard pick up times but also control the pick up procedures to maintain the safety of all students and to reduce frustration for our parents and other road users. Thank you to our parents for your patience while we adjust our processes to try and get the best outcome for all. Thank you also to all of the parents who regularly do the right thing and help to keep the area safe for our students.

This week the timing on the signs has changed to No Parking from 3-4pm in the afternoons.

Friends of Junior School

Friends of Junior School recently met and held their office bearer elections.

Congratulations and thank you to our 2021 Executive Committee: Clarissa Smith (President), Julia Henery (Secretary) and Kim Henery (Treasurer).

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Paris Room-Batters for her role as FOJS President for the past 3 years. Paris took on the role when her eldest, Caro, was in Prep and has been instrumental in ensuring connections have continued to be made across all year levels in the Junior School. We appreciate Paris giving up her time to support the group and in turn the Girton Grammar Junior School community. Thank you.

Gymnastics

In Term Two, the Junior School student participate in the gymnastic program. Our younger students attend Jets Gymnastics, with our older students attending Palmers Gymnasium. The gym program provides students with exercises in flexibility, strength and teamwork activities. The program increases coordination and encourages proprioceptive awareness. It is a long-standing part of our physical education program and the students love getting involved.

Year One Teddy Bear's Picnic

For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain

Because today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic

Anne Murray

Students happily resumed the annual Year One tradition of sharing treats with their favourite furry friends at the end of Term 1.

Year Five Excursion to Melbourne

In the final week of Term 1 Year Five travelled to Melbourne to consolidate their ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ Humanities unit. It was a spectacular day, with Melbourne producing one of its most vivid, blue-sky days.

Upon reaching the Treasury Gardens we split into two groups so we could rotate through our first activity. One half enjoyed morning tea in the gardens, whilst the other half of the group ventured forth into the Old Treasury Building. The students learned how gold was once transported and stored in this stunning Victorian building. The tour leaders showed the students the architectural features and function of the building. The groups also viewed displays and images of the fledgling settlement of Melbourne and the original Kulin Nation people, the original inhabitants and traditional owners of the Melbourne area.

Next, we travelled to the Exhibition Gardens, to explore the perimeter of the Exhibition Building, one of Melbourne’s legacy buildings of the Gold Rush era. We ate our lunch under century-old trees, stopping to record this moment by the beautiful fountain. A short walk led us to the Melbourne Museum, where we viewed the Melbourne Exhibition. The students delighted in seeing relics of Cole’s Book Arcade and were amazed by the humble dwellings that large families used to inhabit in the ‘Little Lon’ section. Some students were fortunate to catch an eel feeding demonstration. The students were surprised to discover the interesting life-cycle of this aquatic creature and its importance as a food source for indigenous peoples.

How the Gold Rush impacted Melbourne: by Thom Hosking (5 Frew)

Melbourne changed in many ways because of the gold rush. People left their jobs to o get wealthy on the goldfields. The population exploded to 500,000 people living in Melbourne.

James Edmond started the gold rush. A lot of people from all over the world came to try and get rich overnight. This made Victoria the richest place in Australia.

Thousands of people went to the gold mines each week. The bullock wagons could take a week to arrive at the goldfields. Getting to Victoria with a boat was dangerous because the boats were crowded. People got sick easily and the ship ride was super dangerous. Soon the first railway opened in 1854 to get around Victoria.

The population of Melbourne started off with 77,000 in 1851 and then ten years later in 1861 the population grew to half a million people.

The living conditions in Melbourne for the poor people were terrible. The poor people couldn’t get a job and they had to live on the streets. Also, they could not get back home.

A lot of people left their jobs to try and become gold miners. The work owners would pay extra money to their employers so they would stay. Merchants were getting rich because they were selling tools to the miners.

People who got rich spent their money on fancy clothes, posh food and stayed in nice hotels. Whoever found gold had to pay a tax to the government and the government built the Treasury Building to store gold, the Royal Exhibition Building and the State Library so people could be smart.

So as you can see Melbourne changed because of the gold rush dramatically. Lots of beautiful buildings were built and this is how Melbourne became a multi-cultural place.

Year Six War Poems

“I was shivering with fear “

I was scared, shaking and shivering

He was filthy and covered in blood

I was full of fear and nervous

He was so terrifying

I asked, “Why are you here?”

War replied,” I’m everywhere”

I ran but it was too late

0thers came to help but were powerless

If I ever met war again I would destroy him

But he can never die.

Jackson Forder (6 Millward)

War was manipulative and I was belittled.

I hoped for them to leave but War knew my discomfort so they decided to stay.

I asked War, "Why do you choose to fight?"

War replied with nothing but a glare and then they said "Life needs the strongest people around."

Some others came out to talk, but they were frozen by the words.

If I meet War again I would avoid conversation or maybe even disconnect my emotions.

Savannah Mitchell (6 Millward)

ANZAC Poem

They fought fo souls they yet to meet and fought with all they had to breathe.

They travel through mud and travel through slick.

They walk through life at it's full.

They saw the brutality and chaos,

they saw mother nature and her destruction.

They saw the blood and the bullets.

To that we say their name without a sigh.

We are proud of the people, those with us or not.

We shall say their name.

Even when the day is done, we won't forget the fighting souls.

Savannah Mitchell (6 Millward)

State Swimming Championships

On Monday 26th April, a number of our female students represented Girton Grammar School at the State Swimming Championships in Melbourne. The girls had a fabulous day and competed fearlessly in their events.

The 11-year-old freestyle relay team was made up of Emerson Boswell 5 Jenkin, Octavia Yuen 5 Frew, Sophie Mahony 5 Frew and Ruby Flanagan 6 Jenkin. The girls fought hard and came in sixth place.

The 12-year-old medley relay was made up of Emerson Boswell 5 Jenkin, Octavia Yuen 5 Frew, Grace Dobie 6 Jenkin and Stephanie Ingram 6 Jenkin. The race was incredibly closely contested but the girls were not strong enough to make the podium.

The 12-year-old freestyle relay team, however, made up of Grace Dobie 6 Jenkin, Stephanie Ingram 6 Jenkin, Kyah Spiteri 6 Riley and Bianca Schelosky 6 Jones produced an outstanding effort and were rewarded with a BRONZE medal on the podium. Congratulations to all the girls.

Support MND Fundraiser: Buy a Dog Bandana

Bella Canobie (4 Jones), has been making bandanas for our four-legged friends. These will be for sale under the Peppercorn tree every recess next week. They are $5 each and the proceeds will go directly to FightMND - Motor Neurone Disease.

If you would like to purchase a bandana, please meet Bella and her Year 4 friends under the Peppercorn Tree or email her teacher, Mrs Rachelle Fisher, to place an order (rachellefisher@girton.vic.edu.au)

Michael Grose: Sharing Your Interests With Your Children

The family was a little shocked when dad Chris, bought his six and four-year-old daughters a motorbike. “You got them a what?” was the standard reply.

It turns out that getting his daughters a motorbike was a stroke of pure fathering genius, although Chris didn’t know it at the time.

Chris bought the motorbike for his daughters because he had fond memories of riding on his family’s farm when he was young. He wanted his kids to enjoy the same experience.

Close family members questioned Chris about introducing a motorbike to kids at such a young age, but he let it pass. He even received a comment or two about the suitability of such a pursuit for girls. “You and your brothers loved motorbikes, but that doesn’t mean that your daughters will,” was the attitude of some people.

Undeterred, Chris spent many weekends riding in a nearby property teaching his girls the finer points of motorbike riding. He began by riding with each daughter using trainer wheels, slowly progressing to two wheeled riding as they grew more confident.

The parenting genius in three parts:

Helping them to face their fears

Firstly, after acknowledging his daughters’ fears, Chris encouraged them to face them, but in their own time. The girls set the developmental pace, so they felt they had full control over their experiences. He showed himself to be astute listener ready to work with his daughters. This is respectful relationships in action.

Lessons of self-worth

Secondly, through the experience Chris showed his daughters that what they do with their bodies is far more important than how they look. His daughters are young, and their attitudes may change when they become tweens or teens, but the lessons of self-worth they absorb during this stage of childhood are lasting. The fact that these messages come while sharing activities organised by their father adds to their potency.

Communicating and forming strong bonds

Thirdly, he’s using activity to communicate with and form strong bonds with his girls. Fathers generally express themselves best with their children when they are fully absorbed in an activity. Parenting author Steve Biddulph says ‘activity is the language of fathering’. Men are usually at their parenting best when they’re involved in games, having fun or being active with their kids. It is through activity that many dads teach kids lessons such as fairness, playing by the rules, trying their best and, of course, sharing stories from their own childhood.

Another side to this parenting genius is that

Chris shared something of himself with his daughters when he bought that motorbike. Each time he rides with them he is sharing a part of who he is with his daughters – not the work persona, the parent persona or the friend persona – but something that is close to the essence of who is, which was forged during the joyous times of childhood.

Michael Grose

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It. Michael is a former teacher with 15 years experience, and has 30 years experience in parenting education. He also holds a Master of Educational Studies from Monash University specialising in parenting education.

New Student Support Group