Student Voices
Clayfield College
Junior School Orientation Day
We had a wonderful time welcoming the newest members of our 2027 Clayfield family to our recent Junior School Orientation Day. As our incoming students connected with their Clayfield teachers and friends, all Junior School students enjoyed a sneak peek into their next year level, helping them feel excited and confident heading into 2027. We asked some of our students to share their highlights and reflections from the day. Here's what they had to say!
After morning tea, we all gathered at the Amphitheatre. We had Mrs Coote, Mr Richardson and Mrs Bryan introduce our rotations. Our group started with a philosophical debate, and the topic was, ‘Should AI be used for school work?’ We had to choose an area that represented our opinion, from strongly agree to strongly disagree. There, we were given a large sheet where we brainstormed ideas to support our decision and came up with our arguments together. We chose a spokesperson who put forward our ideas. We were allowed to respectfully challenge other people’s ideas (not them as a person, of course). At the end, we held a blind vote. I think a few people may have changed from their original position because of the convincing arguments.
After that, we went into the STEM challenge room in The EDGE. The first challenge was moving three puzzle pieces around in order to create different symmetrical shapes. The record in our room was five shapes in five minutes. The next challenge was the cup and rubber band challenge. We had to work together to create a cup pyramid by pulling and releasing the strings connected to a rubber band as a group in unison. It was challenging and frustrating, but we learnt some valuable lessons. We finished this rotation with some trivia, which was enjoyed by all.
The last rotation for us was outdoor games with Mr Richardson. We introduced the new students to some of our playground brain-break games, like P&F Playground Tag and Treetops Hide and Seek.
After lunch, we went on a ‘Languages Experience for Year 5’. We got to make a Latin American mask that we creatively etched in Spanish. In Chinese, we learnt about and traced zodiac animals. I got lucky because I got my favourite animal... a goat!
All in all, it was a great day of teamwork, connection and fun!
Last Friday, instead of being in our normal two classes, we went into three separate groups with a few new faces in each. We played some introductory games and went through what Year 5 looks like here at Clayfield. We learnt about the 5/6 Hub with subject-specific teachers, new furniture, a brand-new Science Lab and excursions that all await us. The room was bubbling with excitement.
‘Save Freddy’ was a highlight of the morning. We had to work as a team of three and, using only paper clips, flip a plastic container (a capsized boat), thread a life jacket onto a gummy worm and finally put him into the boat. We succeeded, even though he was pretty slippery!
I am very excited to say that I made a few new connections that I am looking forward to continuing at Clayfield next year. One particular student is coming for a student-for-a-day visit in the next couple of weeks, and I can’t wait to be her buddy.