Junior School Report

The Junior School Team - Mr Perree, Mr Lam, Ms Chiappa and I would like to extend our congratulations to the newest members of our learning community on such a positive start to the year!  

As we reach the mid-point of Term 1, it is clear that our Year 7 students have shown resilience and perseverance in navigating the daily routines of secondary school life. Managing lockers, padlocks, laptops and books for all their classes is no small task and it has been pleasing to see the students refine their organisational skills and grow in confidence each day.  

Our school value of courage was on show by all the students who attended the two day Year 7 camp last Thursday and Friday at Camp Toolangi. The beautiful surroundings and superb weather provided the backdrop for a series of challenging activities that all students participated in with willingness and enthusiasm. The opportunity to come together as a new community enabled students to meet new peers and strengthen their relationships with their teachers.  

To further assist with creating a positive learning community, all Year 7 students will be undertaking lessons from the Social Stencil framework in their Challenge classes throughout the first semester. The course aims to explicitly teach students the skills associated with active listening, emotions and friendship styles and the importance of communicating for managing peer relationships. 

While the Year 7s are familiarising themselves with the Junior School, the Year 8 and 9 students have also made a positive start to the school year, embracing the opportunities presented by the balance between their core classes, where they continue to work on key skills literacy and numeracy skills, while also engaging with their chosen electives. The pathways focus, where students begin to make informed decisions about their senior subjects is also informed by the time invested in the year 9 SkillZ program, a subject where students will explore the importance of routines and goal settings. They will consider the options that are available through tertiary education and Melbourne as their city, a place full of culture and opportunity, before finishing the year with a project that explores an issue of interest.  

While the Junior School staff work in collaboration with families and classroom teachers in order to support the learning process for our students, we would like to encourage families to consider their role in assisting their children with learning at home. In Junior School, students have been provided with a school diary and they have been taught to enter all homework tasks in their diary at the end of the lesson. All students have been encouraged to take their diaries home every evening and establish a positive routine of checking their diaries for any set homework. Generally, junior students may be required to complete set tasks from textbooks or finalise classwork. Families can support their children by establishing a consistent time every evening for engaging with the day’s lessons. This need not be an arduous event but rather an opportunity to reflect on the day’s learning. Children discussing their learnings for parents is a helpful strategy for students to refresh their memory of their learnings and to create the connection between school and home. Students could keep a learning journal and they could draw on the lesson plans on Compass to review their learning. Combined with time spent on wider reading or practising their instrument, students are set to develop positive behaviours required for future studies.  

By Year 9, the approach to homework changes as students look to establish routines that enable them to complete set homework tasks along with time set for reviewing learning. Students could look to review class notes, produce single page summaries, draw concept maps or create flash cards that enable students to make links between key concepts. At this point of their schooling, Year 9s should be looking to establish a better understanding of their preferred learning styles and practise the disciplined practice of time management.  

If any student struggles with homework, we remind them that Homework Club runs every Tuesday and Thursday after school in the B Wing, commencing at 3:15 until 4:00pm. Mr Rae (English and Humanities teacher) and Mr Bernadas (Maths teacher) are available to assist  students with their homework and provide support where needed.  

We look forward to work in partnership with families throughout the year as we support our students to grow in confidence and ability. 

Flora Moraitis - Junior School Co-ordinator