From the Head of Junior School

Today, 33 of our Year 5 students stood up in front of students and staff from Years 3 to 6 and made speeches about why they would be good candidates for the Junior School Captaincy in 2024. I admire every student who had the courage to present to their peers. Regardless of the outcome, it is an achievement to put aside their nerves and present themselves to the School as worthy candidates. The fact that they have taken the time to prepare a speech and then rehearse and present it shows leadership in itself. Many of our students will strive for formal leadership roles as they go through School. Some may never be successful in gaining a formal role. What they do gain through the process is an understanding of what it takes to be a leader and the skills required to lead, even if that is not in a recognised role. I have witnessed this in our students over many years and also in my own children, who are all proud Girtonians. They develop the skills to speak confidently and can and do step up when the circumstances call for it.

There are many opportunities for our students to develop their leadership and citizenship skills as they move through the School. They present to their class, beginning with Show and Tell in Prep. There are oral speaking tasks as part of the curriculum. Many of you will know the 'Me in a Minute' speeches that are part of the oral language program in various year levels. Student Representative Council speeches, leadership speeches for House Captaincy and School Captaincy, and even the weekly announcements at our Junior School Community or Formal Assemblies all help normalise the process of speaking confidently in public.

I do look forward to presenting our 2024 Junior School Captains to the School community at Speech Night later in the year but I also appreciate that this is just one of the ways that we develop leadership and citizenship in the Junior School. We have a strong culture of encouraging each of our students to lead by example, to do the right thing when it needs to be done, and to always look out for ways that they can help others, whether that is at school, at home or in the wider community. To those Year 5 students who are not chosen as Junior School Captains, I would like to say thank you for your leadership and remind you that this is just one small step in your journey to be a great leader, citizen and Girtonian.

While on the topic of leadership and positive citizenship, I would like to congratulate and thank our Year 6 students – and in particular, Bella Canobie – for their charity work. Bella raised the idea of doing a fundraising event for Guide Dogs Australia. Her idea was supported by the Year 6 SRC and the Year 6 students in general so they decided to have a Crazy Sock Day. On Monday, the students raised a total of $183.70 through gold coin donations – a great example of leadership and citizenship in action.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Year 3 Camp

The drive to camp was 1 to 2 hours and we were dropped in the bush nearby, where we met our guide, Matt. He took us on a long hike to camp. We were exhausted when we came to a river. We stepped on rocks and onto a bridge. Then came the hard bit: we had to climb a hill to get to camp! When we got there, we had lunch. Then we went to the bush to do hut-building. We built them out of wood. Two of the huts had stone walls, which was creative. Afterwards, we went into the huts and the teachers dumped water on them to test how waterproof they were. Almost everyone got wet!

Then we went back to the camp. As soon as we got inside it started to pour with rain. Mrs Moss had to shout to be heard. We got into our cabins and made our beds. After that, we had dinner. We had spaghetti bolognese, and for dessert we had mousse and berries. It was a great first day!

On day two we went to our rotations and were split into groups. One group went to geocaching and the other went to the ropes course, archery and canoeing. We had lunch then swapped over and all had a turn at each activity. After that, we took a quick shower and then had a tasty meal of nachos and apple crumble. After dinner, we had Mr Ruddick’s Famous Trivia Night. It was a good game to end the day.

On day three we all hurried to pack up our cabins and bags. Then we had breakfast. After breakfast we went out to play the Survival Game. We were organised into herbivores, carnivores, humans and germs. You could take a tag from someone below your group. At the end of the game, the team with the most tags won. The ground was covered in gorges making travel difficult. The herbivores were the winners!

Afterwards we had sausages for lunch. Then we loaded our suitcases onto the bus, took our seats and said goodbye to camp in high spirits. We enjoyed our time on Year 3 camp!

Yohan Shetty (3 Jenkin)

Graham Ziffer (3 Jones)

Rhea Sabari (3 Frew)

Prep Drama and Music Evening

Last Tuesday the Preparatory students participated in their Drama and Music Evening. This was the first time the students had performed in front of an audience of adoring parents. The evening began with the students singing ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ and miming some wonderful facial expressions. They then presented a short play to the story ‘Wombat Stew’, where the students took on the roles of various characters such as dingoes, emus and echidnas. Next, the students showcased various things they have been learning in Music this year. This included using actions to represent the tone and form of music, demonstrating a head and chest voice, and showing how to stand in a performance position. The highlight of the evening involved the students performing the Peanut Song with their parents.

Mr Michael Roberston

Teacher of Preparatory D

Prep Parent Reading

Throughout the year we have invited various parents into the classroom to share their favourite picture story book with the Prep class. The children love hearing stories from different families. They also enjoy learning a little about the parents and the jobs they do. Jack Pang joined us this week to read to the class. It was fantastic to see an ex-Girton student return as an adult to read to his own child in the Prep class.

Mrs Josie Beks

Teacher of Preparatory M

Year 1 Excursion

On Tuesday 14 November, 38 excited Year 1 students boarded the bus to participate in a Mini Beast workshop at the Discovery Centre.

The hands-on workshop allowed students to investigate a variety of preserved and live insects. The students learned words like habitat, camouflage and adaptations, as well as key facts about how mini beasts survive in the environment and the importance of insects to our world.

The students were excited to touch a spiny leaf insect and discover interesting facts about how it protects itself from predators. They were fascinated to learn that when the spiny leaf insect feels in danger, it will sway like a leaf on a tree.

The students also enjoyed dressing up like a mini beast, with the bee and the lady bird costumes being the favourites.

The students were then able to explore fascinating exhibits. The mirror maze, shadow box and chair lift captured many curious minds. Several students also faced their fears on the vertical slide. With a 7-metre drop, it is the biggest vertical slide in the Southern Hemisphere.

The students loved the hands-on and inspiring way to learn about science.

Mrs Tabatha Peter

Teacher of Year 1M

BASS Program Band performance

The BASS Program Band had their final performance of 2023 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in front of the Preparatory classrooms. Both Prep M and Prep D made up the audience for an afternoon of musical fun. The trombone section was featured in a performance of 'Slides Rule', which was followed by Mrs Beks and Mr Robertson demonstrating their own skills on the trombone (with the help of Blake and Alex).

The BASS Band was then joined by the Junior Advanced Band and their spirited performance of 'Ghost Busters' – a wonderful opportunity for the Preps to join in the chorus!

Dr Michael Lichnovsky

Music Tutor – Saxophone/Clarinet

Year 2 String Recital

On a Tuesday evening in the Black Box, the Year 2 String players had their final recital for the year. Students have been working hard to perfect their technique and learn a variety of new repertoires for the performance. Parents and friends were treated to wonderful renditions of the 'Grand Old Duke of York' and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', and the concert was capped off in stunning style with an encore of 'Dark Horse'.

The Year 2 students are commended on a wonderful year of string learning and we hope that their introduction to playing a string instrument has been fun and fulfilling.

Mrs Cally Bartlett

Head of Arts

Year 6 Crazy Sock Day

On Monday 20 November, the Year 6 students wore crazy socks to raise money for the Guide Dogs of Australia. We, and our friend Leah Morley, sold Zooper Doopers in Greenland for a dollar each and we sold four bags of them. Even one of our French teachers, Madame Rice, bought one! In total we raised $183.70! We had so much fun raising money for such a worthy cause.

Rishiv Sasalu (6 Frew) said: “In my opinion, the Year 6 Crazy Sock Day was a fantastic event. We all chipped in to help Guide Dogs Australia, and we even got Zooper Doopers from it. Thank you to Bella and Amelia for organising this.”

Lucy Richard (6 Riley) said: “Crazy Sock Day was an amazing idea. Bella and Amelia worked hard to create an awesome event where people could have fun by making good things happen. Most of the Year 6s wore crazy socks – the Year 6 area was a fun collage of colourful socks. The Zooper Doopers were a good way to encourage the Year 6s to donate. All the Year 6s had fun. Thank you to the Year 6 organisers of this event.”

Olivia Wang (6 Aherne) said: “Crazy Sock Day was really fun, and I really enjoyed it. We mixed up Zooper Doopers to make new flavours and they tasted really good. I think that it was a great idea. Most of the Year 6s helped out and thank you Bella, Amelia and all the teachers who organised it.”

So, as you can see, Crazy Sock Day was a tremendous success and it's not just us who said it – all the students agree. Some of us would say we had a Zooper Dooper time!

Bella Canobie (6 Jenkin)

Amelia O'Rielly (6 Jones)

Gifted and Talented Program

Yohan and I had a wonderful time teaching the Year 2s some Maths. They enjoyed dice bomb the most, a game created by Mr Ruddick. It was a wonderful opportunity.

Hasini Balraj (3 Riley)

Teaching Year 2 was great! Hasini and I showed both classes a multiplication and division PowerPoint and then played silent ball, dice bomb and around the world. I would love to do it again next year.

Yohan Shetty (3 Jenkin)

Last week I taught Year 1 about bugs. I started my lesson by showing the Year 1s a PowerPoint on bugs. I then showed them a quiz. Afterwards the Year 1s bombarded me with questions. I hope they enjoyed their lesson.

Graham Ziffer (3 Jones)

Dr Judith Locke Seminars