Junior School News
Junior School Highlights
Term 3 for the Junior School has really been busy and positive.
Our Year 8s and 9s have been busy planning their future pathways and choosing their subjects for 2023. This has been a really exciting process for them as they are able to choose the subjects they have a passion for or are wanting to do in their future pathways. Year 8s are able to choose from performing arts, technology and visual art subjects. Our 9s going into 10 have been able to choose from these also, plus a lot more.
We have our Year 9s going on camp in term 4, and information has been sent out for this electronically already. Rubicon is an excellent camp with lots of opportunities.
On Thursday 1st September the college welcomed over 200 parents, guardians, and grade 6 students to our 2023 Year 7 information afternoon. In this session they learnt about general aspects of the college, camp and heard from various teachers. This was a huge success, and we look forward to our grade 6s attending orientation day later in the year.
Hairspray the Musical Excursion: Stage and Screen
In August the three Year 9 Stage and Screen classes went on an amazing excursion to the Regent Theatre to see Hairspray the Musical.
With an amazing cast including Todd McKenny, Rob Mills and Shane Jacobson, they brought engaging and high-quality performances that brought together the small ensemble cast as well.
This performance gave students inspiration for their own ensemble performances that they are currently doing in class as part of their assessment. Students are focusing on acting and direction and also theatre production roles in sound, lighting, set design, costumes, props, make up and stage management.
Sarah Mortimer
Junior School Leader
Year 8 News
We’d like to congratulate the Year 8s on making it through another long term and sticking to good routines and habits in their first year of high school completely face to face. In addition to our successes at the regional athletics a couple of weeks ago, we also had a team represent us in badminton after winning the first round last term. Feedback from organisers and other teachers was really positive about the conduct and behaviour of the GEC students, which makes us really proud to be part of this community.
Thank you as well to those who have participated in the inaugural GEC Premier League. It has been fantastic to see students across Years 7-9 demonstrate teamwork and mutual respect across games.
Daniel Bouchet-Hibbert & Jake Sherman
Year 8 Coordinators
Year 9 News
Congratulations to all Year 9s for participating and getting involved in extracurricular activities outside the school including sports, chess club, robotics club, art club, enterprise and sewing club etc. Please encourage your child to take full advantage of these opportunities.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding any competitions or lunch time clubs, please feel free to contact relevant teachers or year level coordinators. The Chess competition is doing rather well under the tutelage of Mr Zuccala and many Year 9s have come on board and are doing well and adding valuable points to their respective house.
Mental health sessions form part of the school’s well-being policy. Any concerns in this regard should be directed to the well-being team.
It is great to see the Year 9s also doing well in their academic pursuits. It is time to reflect on this term and ensure a good study routine is in place. The progress reports were published last week that show Quality of Work, Effort, Classroom Participation & Behaviour and Attendance. I would like to encourage all our families to discuss the latest report and assist their children to look at areas that need improvement and celebrate the areas where students achieved High/Medium standards.
Please communicate with the relevant subject teacher if there are any questions or concerns about the Progress Report.
We want students to check their daily timetable on XUNO so learning equipment and uniform items can be organised especially for PE and non-PE days. Also, remember to try and maintain a healthy routine to help get through the days with a good night's sleep and active/screen breaks regularly throughout the day.
Also, in this term our Year 7-11 Term 3 Parent Teacher Interviews will held on 13th September 2022.
Year 9 Camp expressions of interest are now closed. More information will be given this term, so stay tuned to the updates posted on XUNO and on the Year 9 Google Classroom. The Year 9 camp is at Rubicon near lake Eildon; it is a 2 hour drive from school and will be held from Monday 7th to Friday 11th November. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Another reminder for parents, if a student needs to borrow a school computer, needs technology assistance or has any other IT related issues, please contact the IT office or school immediately.
Lastly, we would like to seek support from all Year 9 families to implement the GEC school uniform policy at school, especially regarding the following rules: no nose piercing permitted, only natural hair colours are allowed, plain black lace up shoes and plain black socks are all part of school uniform. All this information is on our school website and in the student planner.
If a student can’t wear the expected uniform item, we require a signed note by parents/carers of the student to inform the school of the reason and consent given. The ‘out of uniform’ form is in the student planner. If the student does come in the wrong uniform without a note, a consequence will be issued. Further, it is the school policy that no earbud earphones are allowed in the corridor or the school yard due to OHS reasons, and only allowed for educational needs if the class teacher requests them.
Thank you again for your continued support.
Edgar Bonne & Parminder Kaur
Year 9 Coordinators