Junior School

Early Learning Centre - 20 Years Young

Happy Birthday to our Early Learning Centre - 20 years young on Monday 29 July!  An afternoon tea, birthday cake and a touch of winter sun and warmth made for a fitting celebration. Mr Peter Irvin, the College’s Business Manager in 2004 when the centre opened, was in attendance, along with Board Chair Mrs Rosemary Merrin. 

Current ELC 4 families gathered for afternoon tea and a good time was had by all. The Early Learning Centre is an important component of the College.  Many of our students begin their College experience as ELC 3 and ELC 4 students.  Two current Year 12 students, Macey Hermon and Zoe Weinberg were also present for the celebrations.  Both girls started their College journey at the Early Learning Centre.

Sheepvention Monday

Sheepvention is upon us. A reminder there is no school on next Monday, 5 August. 

Week 3 Assembly 

The following students received Star Student awards at this week’s Assembly.

• Year 1 – William Farquharson for being a helpful member of Year 1 and always starting the school day with a positive attitude.
• Year 2 – Annie Barber for consistently displaying a great attitude towards learning. She approaches tasks with a positive mindset, always tries her best and finds time to help others. 
• Year 3 - Lucy Cameron for her exceptional dedication and never-give-up attitude in Maths. Her encouragement and positive influence make her a true role model for her classmates. Fantastic work, Lucy!
• Year 3 - Harriet King for her outstanding effort and determination in Maths. Her constant support and motivation inspire her peers and set a fantastic example. Congratulations, Harriet!
• Year 4 - Lachlan Pickford for his positive start to Term Three, trying his best during tasks, and adhering to the Year 4 classroom rules to the best of his ability.  Keep up the good work, Lachlan.
• Year 6 - Ellie Lewis for demonstrating curiosity and always bringing a sense of fun to class activities. She has a go at challenging tasks and shows enthusiasm for all class content.
• Year 6 - Poppy Edgar for the exceptional effort she puts into everything she does. She often goes above and beyond the task expectations, works hard to present meaningful and insightful ideas and makes valuable and enthusiastic contributions to our class.
• Year 6 - Fred Nagorka for presenting a well-researched and articulate speech for his Parliamentary Prize entry. He is also an enthusiastic member of the class who willingly shares his insightful knowledge about a wide range of topics.

At this week’s Assembly, Mrs Milich’s focus was the Olympic motto of Higher, Stronger, Faster, Together. In Latin, this reads as Citius, Altius, Fortius, and Communiter. She also spoke about our College values and how having values gives us all something to aspire to.  Mr Horne shared his favourite Olympic moment - Kieren Perkins’ win in the 1500 m at the Atlanta Olympics. After illness and a disrupted preparation, Perkins qualified last for the 1500m final. He went on to win the gold, displaying great strength and resilience. 

College Musicals

As excitement steadily builds for the Junior School’s first ever musical, ‘Frozen Jr.’ in early Term Four, our Senior Campus will be presenting ‘High School Musical’ next week - Thursday, 8 August, Friday, 9 August and Saturday, 10 August (2pm and 7pm). A limited number of tickets is still available, so get in quickly and enjoy this all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza. 

Frozen Jr. shirt orders have closed. Thank you to Mrs Povey for all her work in organising the ordering. We look forward to these cobalt blue beauties arriving in a few weeks. 

Hockey Results - Saturday 27 July 

Division 4 Foxes fought hard to a 3-2 win over Dunkeld in a top-of-the-table clash. Foxes remain in first position with four matches to play before the finals.

Division 4 Wolves went down 2-0 to a spirited Demons team. Many thanks to Division 5 players Will Brown and Chelsea Pickford for taking the field and performing well.

Division 5 Panthers recorded a strong 6-0 win over Coleraine Gold and comfortably held down fourth place on the ladder. 

Division 5 Tigers showed real grit and determination on Saturday, playing with hail coming in sideways throughout the game to win 9-0. The Tigers are beginning to play a great team game, passing between players and using their speed and stick skills to create some wonderful passages of play (despite being frozen!). Goal scorers were Will Brown (4), Charlie Wall (3) and Lucy Cameron (2). The player of the day went to pocket rocket Charlie Wall for his excellent listening skills and response to being asked to run, chase and tackle throughout the game. A big thank you to Doug and Bec for organising warm water to help get feeling back into the Tigers fingers. 

School Victoria Netball Championships

Yesterday, our Year 6 girls competed at the Netball Victoria School Girl’s Championships at Pedrina Park.

We were blessed with the most incredible Pedrina Park weather and a large field of very talented teams from Ballarat, Portland Casterton and Hamilton Districts. Our primary team played eight games, losing only 2 games to finish third overall.

We are incredibly grateful to Mrs Kate Pye who gave up her time to come to school and run coaching sessions with our girls and then coached them so successfully on game day. She mentored our team beautifully and they grew in confidence and skills, gelling so well as a team in each game.

Thank you also to Mrs Jo Frost, who gave up her time to umpire on behalf of our Year Six team for the day. We were so grateful that Jo, who doesn’t have a child at the Junior School, was willing to donate her day to us. Her compliments about our on court attitudes and positive sportsmanship made us all so proud. 

Mrs Patterson

PE Teacher