From the Head of Junior School

Next week, Junior School will be participating in the Everyone Belongs campaign as part of the 2024 Bullying No Way National Week of Action. This initiative is an opportunity for our students to celebrate the diversity and inclusion that makes our school a special place.

The Everyone Belongs campaign is part of a national effort to build safer and more inclusive school communities across Australia. This campaign emphasises the importance of acceptance, respect and kindness, and encourages students to stand against bullying in all its forms. By promoting these values, we aim to create an environment where every student feels valued and included.

To highlight the importance of the Everyone Belongs message, we have planned a variety of activities for the week that will engage and inspire our students. These include sharing novels and picture storybooks that highlight the importance of kindness, empathy and diversity; using resources that promote acceptance and understanding of differences; creating posters that celebrate diversity; developing short plays that focus on conflict resolution; and some activities for the senior students that challenge stereotypes and preconceived ideas.

We invite parents and guardians to join us in this important campaign by encouraging discussions at home about the values of diversity, inclusion, empathy and kindness.

Participating in the Everyone Belongs campaign aligns closely with our positive school culture, where every student is known, feels safe and is respected. By taking part in this National Week of Action, we are affirming our commitment to making our school a place where bullying has no place and where everyone belongs.

Junior School Representative Competitions

The last fortnight has been a very busy one for many of our Junior School students, as they competed for the school in various sporting and musical pursuits.

Our Junior School Performance Choir competed in the Victorian School Music Festival in Melbourne. It was a very long day for them, leaving Bendigo at 7am, but they were obviously up for the challenge as they performed superbly and were awarded Platinum, the highest award possible.

Our Junior School teams also performed in Melbourne at the Aeroschool State Championships. I was very pleased to hear that their efforts and behaviour were excellent. Congratulations to the following students, whose teams placed in the top six:

2nd: Rosie Kuhle and Maddy Canobie
2nd: Rosie Kuhle, Maddy Canobie, Lilly Smith, Emelia Carlson, Bea Batters and Camilla Christian
3rd: Rosie Kuhle, Maddy Canobie, Lilly Smith and Emelia Carlson
5th: Lilly Smith and Emelia Carlson
5th: Ruby O’Rielly, Saskia Kooloos, Chloe Jesser and Avika Soni
6th: Winnie Churches, Hettie Churches, Diba Hashemi, Diva Panicker and Sophia Halley

It was also a big week for our footballers and netballers, with our representative teams competing in the School Sports Victoria district competitions.

Staffing

At the end of this term, we will farewell Ms Holmberg, albeit for a brief period, as she takes maternity leave for the birth of her first child. We wish Ms Holmberg well and look forward to her return in 2025. Mrs Michelle Hulse has been appointed to teach Year 5V for Term 4.

Ms Coghill will also be on leave from the beginning of Term 4. She will be taking a term of Long Service Leave and will then be on a 12-month Leave of Absence for 2025. We wish Ms Coghill all the best for her adventures over the remainder of 2024 and then 2025. Ms Coghill’s class will be taught by Mrs Lianne Brett and Mrs Amy Stanton for Term 4.

We are currently interviewing staff for 2025 as there are several positions to be filled with Ms Coghill and Ms Holmberg on leave and the addition of a Year 1 and Year 2 stream for 2025.

Sandhurst Divisional Girls Football Carnival

Not many of us had played footy before, but on Tuesday 30 July, 16 Year 5 and 6 students travelled to Kennington to compete in the Sandhurst Divisional Girls Football Carnival.

With help from Mr Gibbs, Mrs Rowe and our Year 9 assistant coaches Kyah and Chloe, we channelled our inner Tayla Harris and went out and had lots of fun.

After a cold start to the day, we played a total of six games in brilliant sunshine at Kennington Primary School. While we had some mixed results throughout the day, it was evident that we were improving in each match. There was some great pressure from our defence, some strong marks in our attack, and some hard running in our midfield. While not every game ended in a ‘W’, it was a great experience to have.

Thank you to Mrs Rowe, Mr Gibbs, our Year 9 helpers and all the parents who attended for their sage advice and encouragement.

Alice McIntosh (6 Frew)

Sandhurst Divisional Boys Football Carnival

On Wednesday 31 July, a group of Year 5 and 6 boys represented Girton at the Sandhurst Divisional Football Tournament. The day started off a little breezy and chilly but after our first game we were on a roll.

Our first game was against St Francis, where we put a fight but lost by five goals in the end. In our second match against Golden Square, we came back with more force. With our domination in the midfield, a threatening forward line and perseverance in defence, we grabbed our first win of the day, which put a smile on our faces.

Our third match was versus Strathfieldsaye Primary. We knew it would be a tough team to play. We unfortunately lost, keeping them only to three goals. Next, we played Eaglehawk North, where we put on an amazing team performance and took a comfortable win. For our second last game we faced St Therese's. They were undefeated but we came with our best game. We were narrowly defeated, keeping them to one goal in the second half. To wrap up the day, we played Holy Rosary. We came in strong with some goals in the first half but lost by one in the second.

Overall it was a great experience and I would like to thank Mitch Clark (10 Aherne) and Tom Seipolt (9 Aherne) for helping us out in warm-ups and play. I would also like to thank Mr Gibbs and Mr Turner for being great supporters and coaches on the day.

Zororo Tamangani (6 Aherne)

After School Care

The children have been making paper planes and clay creations, and have been building with Lego. They also enjoyed making their own pom poms and sewing them onto a beanie. These looked very cool, and I enjoyed seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when they wore them.

Coming up

During Science Week, we will explore various experiments, including colour-changing liquids, electricity with money, and a very different experiment with gelatine. We are also looking forward to holding Book Week activities and our own mini OSHC Olympics.

I look forward to seeing you and your children.

Miss Jillie

Community Notices