Junior School
Mr Stephen Nelson
Junior School
Mr Stephen Nelson
Next week, the 61st Hamilton Eisteddfod begins with a week of instrumental and vocal competitions, followed by a week of dance. The Junior School will be represented by many individual performers and groups, including Chamber Singers, Year 5 Multi-Instrumental Group, Pizzicato Strings, and Year 2 Strings. Best wishes to all our competitors, and thank you to our talented Music staff for preparing our students.
The Junior School has participated in a range of Reconciliation Week activities that are aligned with this year’s theme of ‘Bringing Now to Next. ' Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May to 3 June, marking the anniversaries for the 1967 Referendum and the 1992 Mabo Decision. Reconciliation Week is a time to celebrate our shared history, learn about different cultures, and work towards a more inclusive and respectful Australia.
The Year 6 students and staff arrived back safe and sound from a rewarding five-day trip to Canberra. A big thank you to College staff Natalie Povey, Toby Hawthorne and Abbie Cameron, and Year 6 parent Jarrod Sweeney for their contributions to a very successful interstate trip. We had many highlights, but one that stood out was our visit to the Australian War Memorial. We were invited to be part of the Last Post Ceremony, which takes place each afternoon at 4.30pm. During this ceremony, a soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice is commemorated. On the day of our visit, Second Lieutenant Mervyn Ray Tickner was honoured. He served in the Australian Infantry during World War I, specifically in the 19th Battalion. He died on 20 September, 1917, at the age of 25. Our Junior School Captains Hugo Cameron and Livvy Bell laid a wreath next to the pool of reflection and wrote a message on a card on behalf of the College, that will be kept in the Australian War Memorial archive.
Here is a YouTube link to the short Last Post Service:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZatEtLv-XQ
The Canberra camp was my personal favourite camp that I have ever been on. I learnt so much about Parliament House, Old Parliament House and other places while still having fun. I enjoyed learning about the Aboriginal-Chinese people of Australia in the National Museum of Australia, as these stories had never been on my radar. The most memorable moment of the trip was the War Memorial because the exhibitions were interesting and realistic and, I got to lay a poppy on a family member’s name.
Thank you to Rodney, our amazing bus driver and tour guides, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Hawthorne, Mr. Sweeney and Mrs. Cameron for making the camp so special.
Under 10s College Falcons had an entertaining 2-2 draw with Coleraine Gold.
Under 13s College Hawks went down 3-0 to Coleraine Gold.
Under 13s College Eagles went down 5-3 to Demons.
This week’s matches:
Under 10s College Falcons v Dunkeld - 1.00 pm at Pedrina Park
Under 13s College Hawks v College Eagles - 2.00 pm at the College Field