From the Head of Junior School

Welcome back to our final term for 2024. 

It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of the year. This term we welcomed three new students to our Junior School, which takes our total Junior School enrolments to 400. Enrolments for 2025 are also very strong, already sitting at 411 students. We have put on additional classes in Years 1, 2 and 6 for next year and have waitlists for Years 3 and 5. By the time we commence 2025, we could have our largest Junior School cohort ever, which is a wonderful endorsement of our school community. 

I have been very happy with the way our students have been adapting to the limited play spaces this term while the Covered Outdoor Learning Area (COLA) is under construction. They have been doing a wonderful job making the most of the areas that we have available. We were also very fortunate that we have such talented staff in our Maintenance Team, who have constructed a mini panna court for our students to use while the works are underway. The court has been a huge hit with our students, who are regularly battling each other during the recess and lunch breaks. It has been great to see how the children have negotiated their own rules of the game and are largely self-governing. The COLA is progressing to schedule at this stage, with a forecast completion date of mid-January. 

Congratulations to our Junior School athletes who recently competed in the Loddon Mallee Regional Athletics Championships. Mrs Hamilton was very pleased with everyone’s performance on the day, with many of our athletes achieving personal best results. Our 12-year-old girls relay team won and will progress to the State Championships in November. 

Congratulations also to Ahaan Tadakamadla, Yohan Shetty and Liam Wood, who competed in the Mount Alexander Chess Championships and achieved second place. We have now been invited to send a primary school team to the State Finals, which will be held in Melbourne on 1 November. Good luck to Ahaan, Yohan and Liam, who will be joined by Milan Shetty and Owen Barnes in representing the school.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School