From the Head of Junior School

Thank you to the parents, carers and staff members who attended our Junior School Meet the Teacher event on Thursday evening. Parents and carers were able to hear to a general overview of their child's year level, class expectations and routines from teachers, before enjoying the opportunity to socialise in the wonderful weather. From Week 3, teachers will be conducting Parent-Teacher Interviews where parents will be able to discuss their children’s needs and goals for the year in more detail.

This year we welcomed 380 Junior School students through the gate on the first day. This is the largest number of commencing primary students for five years. I sincerely thank our students and families for welcoming all the new students and making them feel at ease in their first few days. Some of our current students reached out to new students even before they had arrived in Bendigo! I know from the feedback provided by the new families that this was very much appreciated. It is always a little intimidating to come to a new school, let alone a new city or even country. These small gestures by our more experienced students and families make a big difference.

Over the break, some minor works were completed around the Junior School. The most noticeable to the students are the new line markings in the back playground and Greenland. We thank the Girton Parents and Friends Association for sponsoring these works – our children have already spent hours enjoying them. Later this term, some major building works will commence on the front playground as we begin constructing the Junior School covered outdoor learning area (COLA). There will be some disruption to the front oval and basketball court while the construction takes place, but we are very much looking forward to having a space we can use for outdoor activities in all weather conditions.

Finally, I would also like to thank those parents who have volunteered to be classroom representatives. We very much appreciate the involvement of the Friends of Junior School in building a sense of community and belonging among our families.

STEM for Girls

Last week my attention was drawn to a STEM for Girls program sponsored by Rotary and run at the Discovery Centre. It is for girls in Years 5 and 6 and will run for seven weeks from 15 February. More details can be found in the upcoming events section of the Discovery Centre website. I would highly recommend it for our Year 5 and 6 students with an interest in science and technology.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Junior School House and Vice-Captains

Today we inducted the Junior School House Captains and Vice-Captains at Junior School Assembly. Well done to all the students who courageously presented their speeches to their Houses and congratulations to the students who have been elected.

Aherne House Captain	Allegra Krelle
Aherne House Captain	Fletcher Welling
Aherne House Vice-Captain	William Bickley
Aherne House Vice-Captain	Olive Lees

Frew House Captain	Arlo Speer
Frew House Captain	Alice McIntosh
Frew House Vice-Captain	Joshua Ashby
Frew House Vice-Captain	James Jackson

Jenkin House Captain	Stella McIntosh
Jenkin House Captain	Rrig Sharma
Jenkin House Vice-Captain	Manaal Muhammad
Jenkin House Vice-Captain	Kendryek Ryan

Jones House Captain	Mikaela Hall
Jones House Captain	Azlaan Qureshi
Jones House Vice-Captain	Savannah Marwood
Jones House Vice-Captain	Elijah Willits

Millward House Captain	Tyler Brown
Millward House Captain	Steel Austin
Millward House Vice-Captain	Caroline Batters
Millward House Vice-Captain	Josephine Turpie

Riley House Captain	Cordelia Ford
Riley House Captain	Gracie Seipolt
Riley House Vice-Captain	Digby Snell
Riley House Vice-Captain	Dane Vedelsby

Meet the Teacher Evening

New line markings

The Junior School students were very excited to return and find the playground looking quite different.

Over the holidays, staff from Brighter Lines in Bendigo had worked to create some exciting playspaces for the students. This is a work in progress, and they will return in the next holidays to complete the job.

This work has been paid for by the Girton Parents and Friends Association, and we are enormously grateful for their wonderful contribution to our campus.

Year 4 Science

We have just started our Biology Unit and today we were looking at food sources, an area we will be focusing on over the coming weeks. Students will be learning about dietary categorisation (carnivore, herbivore and omnivore) and where organisms are situated within a food chain (producers, consumers and decomposers). Today students participated in their first Year 4 Science experiment and there was a lot of excitement around the fact that they were able to wear a lab coat and safety glasses as we created our own containers to compare the decomposition rates of different foods.

Mr Justin Leske

Science Teacher

Outside School Hours Care Newsletter

Tennis lessons

Ballet lessons

VR assists VCE Chemistry students