Junior School

International Maths Day

We celebrated International Maths Day this week with a great day of Mathematics. 

Students in Mrs Walker’s class had a whole day of Maths in the classroom, but some of that even felt like Art! Mrs Gerrard’s class found the Maths in their garden project, and Mr Carr’s class worked on their ‘frog bog’. 

All Wentworth Falls classes also visited Kedumba Gallery where we explored the Maths that was in the Art. Ms Susan Templeman was invited to come along and she was incredibly impressed with the collection at Kedumba, but even more so with our amazing students. Our Junior School leaders joined Susan and the leaders from the Senior School for morning tea at Coorah, and had a great morning.

Junior School staff have been thinking about the spaces that our community work and learn in. We are so grateful at Springwood and at Wentworth Falls to have such beauty all around us. I love the different “feel” and aesthetic at both of the Junior School campuses. The trees are different, and let me tell you, so is the climate! On days when I visit both campuses, as I often do, I have to be diligent with checking my weather app!

Recently, our Springwood parents have ‘pitched in’ (working bee-style) to help with the grounds at their campus. I am so thankful for their community spirit, to step in when we had some staff out, to make sure the grounds looked beautiful for Picnic on the Lawn, and our recent Open Day. Our teachers show the students that our school belongs to us all, and it’s also been wonderful to see our students undertake gardening projects on both campuses.

Our Principal, Steve Coote, has recently challenged us with the idea that our classrooms and buildings are really neighbourhoods for learning. This is such a beautiful picture, as I see the children and teachers working and learning in community. Teachers sharing resources, children collaborating on ideas and in play, and really seeking to understand and care for each other.

Sometimes this can best be seen in our play spaces. This week our Early Years students have created an incredible structure out of blocks. A couple of students began the projects, and as others noticed, they were invited to join in. They carefully worked on the project, adding an airport and off ramp, and had a wonderful time. Everyone has been impressed with the building, and are careful and respectful of it. Teachers were delighted that the children even saw some of the Maths that was happening beneath their hands as they built!

Similarly, some Early Years and Primary children have been “mining” on the hill on the side of the oval. Such dedication to this task has called for a safety check! These children were quite determined to tunnel under the oval, and then off to the other side of the world! While the interest in this project has continued for weeks, not quite tunneling as far as hoped, the children came to the conclusion that after extensive safety checks, the mines should close. This all happened with collaboration, cooperation, communication and compromise. We know these “soft skills” are the ones in greatest demand in our 21st century workplaces. Many of these skills are learned as we play.

We’ll continue to explore the idea of Learning Neighbourhoods, and the underlying principle that we must “Love our neighbor as we love ourselves”. As we teach and learn in community, the results of our learning are multiplied, and in the Junior School, very much celebrated.

Mrs Rachael Newton

Head of Junior School

Junior School Basketball

In the BMGS Swish’s second to last game of the season, the Swish played well. An initially close game soon became a clear runaway. As the Swish demonstrated excellent team work on offence and good individual man defence. The team is still improving every week and it shows in Monday night’s near fifty-point outing. The game was a bit rough and this clearly led to some frustration from both teams. The Swish remain undefeated, however with the finals looming there is still work to be done before they can be confident. With single point victories being all that separates the Swish from the other strong teams.

Dillon Hunter

The Slam Dunks had an amazing game for their last game of the season. We were three players down, which meant we had no subs but the girls we determined to give it absolutely everything they had. Their defence in the first half was second to none, they managed to keep the Vipers from scoring any baskets for the first ten minutes and at half time the score was a very respectable 10-0. The second half was a little more challenging as the girls started to tire, but they didn’t give up. They managed to drive the ball to the basket a few times scoring, 8 points as a result! The final score of 32-8 certainly didn’t reflect what an amazing game the girls had! I’m immensely proud of the whole team who have shown incredible grit and determination for the whole season.  Playing in an Under 16’s competition has certainly been challenging and I have no doubt that if we were in an age appropriate division we would have finished with a few wins on the board. 

Mrs Lord

BMGS Raptors played the Night Furies and they won 8-0. It was great to see Michael score his first basket for the season. Well done to his team mates for making sure he was given the opportunity to do so. Sebastion O, Sebastian N and Christian were the other goal scorers.  

The Raptor’s second game was against the Blue Whales. What an exciting game! The game finished with a 4-all draw and the goal scorers were Sebastian N and Alexander for the Raptors and Hugo and Harry for the Blue Whales.

BMGS Blue Whales won against the Bench Warmers, with Madeleine and Hugo scoring point;, however, in their second game against the Not Ballerz, they were undone by their opposition’s excellent scoring.

Congratulations to Sebastian N and Hugo for scoring in all of their games. 

Mrs Lori Gerrard

You're Invited!

Save the Date