Junior School

Easter Message

As we move into the Easter period and the Term One holiday break, please take time to pause and celebrate the beauty of autumn in the Western District and the promise of new beginnings. Easter brings wonder and excitement, much like the curiosity and enthusiasm that fills the Junior School learning spaces.  As we gather with friends and family at Easter, we can reflect on a busy, productive and enjoyable Term One.  It has certainly been an eventful 9 weeks!  

To our wonderful students, dedicated teachers and caring families, have a safe and happy Easter. 

Staffing

It is with sadness that I advise that Mrs. Sarah Covill has indicated that she will conclude as Year 5 teacher in the coming weeks.  Sarah has accepted a position at a school much closer to her home in Portland.  Sarah has brought experience and an enthusiastic approach to her teaching, displayed excellent pastoral care of her students and a willingness to work as part of the Junior School teaching team.  We have commenced the search for an appropriate replacement for Sarah.  We wish her all the very best in her new position in Portland.

House Cross Country

We are excited to announce the Junior School House Cross Country will be run on Tuesday 23 April at our Mirranatwa facility in the beautiful Victoria Valley.  We will provide further details in the first week of Term Two but we are pleased to confirm that parents will be invited to join us to view the cross country competition and the wonderful surrounds at Mirranatwa.

Continuous Reporting 

I trust you have been able to access Term One Continuous Reporting via PAM (Parental Access Module).  Classroom teachers have reported on Literacy, Numeracy and Inquiry.  Specialist teachers have reported on Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students.  Parents will be invited to give their feedback in a Microsoft FORMs survey emailed out this week.  Your comments are appreciated as the Junior School staff navigate this new form of reporting and look to improve the offering to parents.

Term Two start and uniform

Term Two begins on Monday 15 April.  Junior School students are offered a two-week f ‘grace period’ for changeover to winter uniform.  As we know, the autumnal weather in the south west can be warm.  Students are permitted to stay in summer uniform in that two-week window.  From Monday 29 April, we require all Prep to Year Six students to be in their full winter uniform. 

Young House Fundraiser

Congratulations to Young House Captains Imogen Johns and Ada O’Brien, along with the Head of Young House, Mrs Sharon Kelly, on a successful Good Friday Appeal fundraiser. They raised $282.00 on Monday via a gold coin donation for a touch of green and purple casual clothes day and the sale of fairy floss and popcorn. 

The funds will be donated to the Good Friday Appeal and used to research childhood illnesses.  Well done, Young guns!

Frozen Jr Cast

Thank you to all Junior School students who auditioned for roles in Frozen Jr. Ms Kenna, Mrs Milich, Mr Hiscock and Mrs Christie certainly had a herculean task of selecting students for character roles from such a star-studded field.  

Congratulations to the following students:

FROZEN JNR TRIVIA COMPETITION-NUMBER 2

Our second trivia question was What is the name of the imaginary land, beginning with the letter ‘A’, in which Frozen is set?

The correct answer was Arendelle, and the winner is Alinta Margetts in Year 5.

Sports Report

HDSA Athletics 

Last Thursday, our junior school HDSA athletics team made their way to the new venue, Mitchell Park, for the annual HDSA athletics carnival.  Our team represented themselves and our school with pride.  There were many accounts of positive sportsmanship and positive participation demonstrated on the day that made all of the teachers accompanying our team so proud. 

An incredible 17 students placed first, second or third in their respective events.  Many students placing in multiple events (up to 5 in some cases), which is an outstanding achievement.  We eagerly await official results to find out which of these students have qualified to participate in the SSV Division Athletics Carnival in Warrnambool early next term.

Particular congratulations to Harriet Small and Chelsea Pickford who shared in a three-way 9-year-old Girls’ Age-Group Champion tie.

Many thanks to the parents, teachers and gappers who contributed to make this day a very successful and rewarding one for our College team.

SSV Regional Swimming Championships

 Sammie Price, Ruby Price, Matilda Mercer, Olivia Bell and Ada O’Brien travelled to Horsham to compete in the SSV Regional Swimming Championships last week.  These students swam their hearts out in what was a very exciting and competitive afternoon. Congratulations to each of our swimmers who represented themselves and our school so beautifully, both in and out of the pool.  Many thanks to the parents who travelled up to support their children and their swimming endeavours.

Cross Country - Tuesday 23 April

Training has now begun in preparation for our Junior School House Cross Country event which will be held on Tuesday 23 April. 

Students are expected to continue their training over the upcoming holidays in preparation for their 3km, 2km or 1km event.  Students are encouraged to participate as well as they can in each of these events, with staff and students understanding that each child will have their own personal running goals that they would like to achieve on this day. 

Mrs Lousie Patterson

Junior School PE Teacher