Junior School Update

Interschool chess competition 

Seven Shelford Girl’s Grammar students from Year 3 and Year 6 attended a PS interschool chess competition last Tuesday at Mount Waverley North Primary School. 

Once again, our chess players did a fabulous job and qualified for the State Finals, coming in joint 8th place. Ariana F came second of all the competing female players and is pictured here with her well-deserved trophy. 

Do it for Dolly

Students were invited to Go Blue for Do It For Dolly Day last Friday 10 May. This was a free dress day, on which students were encouraged to come to school wearing blue to remember Amy Jayne "Dolly" Everett (1 May 2003 – 3 January 2018). 

The focus for Do It For Dolly Day is messages around kindness such as “a little kindness goes a long way”; “when you pay kindness forward, you spread kindness”; “when you are kind, you fill your bucket”; and we raised money via a gold coin donation. Below are some useful resources provided by dollysdream.org.au 

Whole school House Athletics Carnival FRIDAY!

We are very excited about the House Athletics Carnival on Friday. Students may show their House spirit by wearing House colours and t-shirts with their sports uniform. Year 3 to 6 students will meet in their House rooms at 8.20. Year 1 and 2 students will meet Mrs Walker in the JDC. 

We look forward to spectators joining us to cheer on the competitors at Duncan McKinnon Reserve from 9.30am.  

Go Grey in May

May is Brain Cancer Awareness month. On Wednesday 29 May all students are invited to wear grey clothing to raise awareness for brain cancer treatment and research. On the day, students will be greeted at the school gate by our Parliamentarians who will be collecting gold coin donations.  

Wellbeing – optimism

Research is adamant that optimism is a quality that enhances happiness and wellbeing. Yet humans have evolved to identify potential threats and so have been hard-wired with a negativity bias. There are ways to foster optimism in our children and for us to role model optimistic behaviours to them. 

Susanna Newsonen (The Path to Passionate Happiness) advocates four ways to start which I have elaborated on here: 

1. Acknowledge your ability to be positive (and do this out loud)

Self-speak is a fundamental wellness tool and the best way to influence children is to make this self-speak audible to them. When our children are privy to hearing us voice sentiments such as, ‘I have the power to be positive,’ they adopt similar narratives for themselves. 

2. Become aware of when you are being optimistic or pessimistic. 

Reflect on how you view things and consider looking at situations through a range of lenses. Even a setback or an irritation can be reframed into a lesson in patience or resilience. 

3. When you feel frustrated or stressed, find something in that moment that makes you feel thankful. 

Gratitude is like a candle in darkness – it makes everything feel better. 

4. When you come across rudeness, speak kindly. 

Not letting other people’s behaviour affect you is the ultimate ticket to happiness and peace. 

Optimism is the ultimate gift to share with our children to help them navigate their way to resilience and contentment. 

Navigating the Winter weather

Since the temperature has dropped, we’ve noticed that some of our students are becoming affected by colds, flus or Covid. To support them and invest in their recovery, we encourage students to stay home and rest, when needed. Teachers will assist students to catch up tasks or will amend assessments as required. We also recommend the continuance of prevention behaviours such as considering vaccinating against flu/Covid, washing hands and wearing masks, etc.

Vicky Gemmell

Head of Junior School – Student Wellbeing and Development

Jacqui Sidaway

Head of Junior School – Teaching and Learning