From the Head of Junior School
Dear Members of the St Gregory’s College family,
I trust that you are all well. It has been a wonderful start to the year and one that is moving at such a pace! It has been quite refreshing to see the new Kindergarten students here for their transition sessions the past two weeks which has given us a glimpse into 2020.
New Buildings
Our new classroom buildings and learning centre are now complete and we are delighted to open this to the community soon. We just now await our Occupancy Certificate and we will have Year 2 join the new block as soon as possible. As soon as we have this certificate, I will write to parents for a chance to observe and visit the new building over a few days. We have furniture for the new classes arriving on November 18 and the new library space in December. An exciting new step for the College!
Student leadership for 2020
This week, Mrs Ivancic and I had the opportunity to meet some wonderful nominees for the Student Leadership roles in 2019. Formalised Student Leadership responsibilities are a continued venture for our campus and these responsibilities are set to grow as is our growth as a Junior School in 2020. These nominees have a responsibility to build and continue to refine what a St Gregory’s student exemplifies. I am sure that our leaders will have a readiness as well as a willingness to support the work of the School. We as a school are about to embark on the significant challenge of selecting students who will fill key leadership positions in the school for 2020.
Successful applicants are announced at later in the year at the ‘Celebration of Learning’ on December 4. It is important to note that it is an expectation that all students at St Gregory’s College take on the responsibility of being leaders within our School. As such, many additional opportunities exist for students to serve.
Kindergarten 2020
It has been a wonderful experience over the past 2 weeks having the new Kindergarten students for 2020 being a part of our three afternoon Transition Sessions. We look forward to the final session next week as these new Kindergarten students become familiar with the College. These sessions were a great way for our teachers to meet our new incoming students prior to their Orientation Day that is coming up on Monday 25 November. Each Kindergarten student will receive our very own ‘Welcome to Kindergarten at St Gregory’s College’ book as a part of their Orientation, as well as meeting their new teacher and new classmates for 2020.
Move Up Day
Our ‘Move Up Day’ is just around the corner and this is the day where all students K-5 will move up to the 2020 classes for the majority of the day. This date we have most of the new staff in attendance by not all. This will give students the knowledge of who is teaching each grade level and which new students are attending the College in 2020. We look forward to this exciting day and growing to a 2 stream school next year!
Teacher Shopping
It is that time of the year as a College we are starting to look at classes for 2020. It is also the time of the year where parents start to wonder what classes their son or daughter will be in for next year. Teachers are not yet confirmed for 2020, except for Kindergarten with Mrs Limbrey and Mrs Scott. Teachers on classes will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
One thing that I need our whole community to know is that we will not allow ‘teacher shopping’ at St Gregory’s College. We have wonderful teachers at St Gregory’s who do their absolute best to ensure that the student experience is one that is the best it possibly can be. No requests for your son or daughter next year are to be taken to the classroom teachers. If you have a specific request that is essential for your son or daughters learning please let me know in writing. But there will be no guarantee that this will take place due to the variables.
The ‘Move Up Day’ is the date we have selected to see the classes in action before we make concrete decisions for 2020.
When we are making classes for next year we keep in mind:
- Friendships that are a positive for the learning of the child
- Friendships that may possibly disadvantage the learning of the child in the class or any clashes of personalities that we can avoid
- A good academic mix between the classes
- Specific needs of the child that would suit one class over the other.
Boarders Weekend is Coming!
Our next Boarders Weekend takes place next Friday 15 November and Monday 18 November. This day for the Junior School will be dedicated to Professional Development. As many of you know, our foundation years has been dedicated towards having a strong literacy focus and setting up stable routines and practices. Our staff will now spend the day looking forward into 2020 as we refine and build upon our practices as we set to start a new Teaching and Learning Framework from 2020. These days are extremely beneficial for staff as we ensure that we are all moving in the right direction with clear vision and scope to meet the needs of our students.
As our St Gregory’s College motto states, ‘what you sow, so shall you reap’.
Joel Weekes
Head of Junior School