Junior School News

From the Head of Junior School

Welcome back to Term 3! It is great to be back into the swing of things after the long mid-year break. Our students have started the Term strongly, getting straight into their second semester studies. This year our teachers have been implementing research-proven teaching and learning routines to refine classroom practices. This is one of the reasons that our students have been able to settle back to work routines so quickly after the holidays. Clear, consistent well-rehearsed routines mean that students know what is expected of them from the moment the bell rings. 

Our drive for improvement has not been borne of poor academic performance. We have consistently had strong academic results when measured against other local schools and against State and National benchmarks. We are driven to improve the outcomes for our students, measured against our own benchmarks. Every year we are striving to improve on the results of the year before. To this end, our staff will be continuing to implement research-based strategies that support student learning. 

One simple way that families can assist our staff is to ensure that their children are at school on time, ready to learn. We are still having a considerable number of students regularly arriving at school after the bell. Our learning routines are now structured so that rigorous learning commences as soon as students enter the classroom after the bell. Our teachers have been implementing Silent Starter routines, where students come into the class and get straight to independent work that draws on previous learning and pre-loads the lesson. They then move into explicit, direct instruction. Students arriving to class late disrupts the learning routines of the class. Teachers are engaged in whole class explicit instruction and cannot stop teaching the class to speak with parents and carers at the door. Of course, most of our students do not come to school independently which is why we need the support of our families to ensure that they arrive at school on time. This will assist our teachers to implement the efficient lesson routines from the moment the bell rings in the morning.

Reports

Thank you to those parents who have provided feedback on our new reporting formats. The new format has been very well received, with many parents commenting on the easy to understand graphic format. We will continue to develop these over future report cycles to include representations of student growth on the graphics. Next week our classroom teachers begin the mid-year Parent Teacher Interviews. This is an opportunity for teachers and parents to go through the student reports and the assessments that underpin the results. Next year, teachers will begin uploading key assessments onto Astra as they are completed with the End of Semester Reports providing a summary of the semester results.

Student Representative Council

Congratulations to the following students on being selected by their peers to represent their respective classes on the Semester 2 Student Representative Council (SRC). We look forward to seeing them in action this semester.

Mr Don Thompson

Head of Junior School

SSV State Cross Country Championships 2026

Damp yet mild conditions greeted our four Girton runners in the Yarra Valley on Thursday 16 July for the 2026 School Sport Victoria (SSV) State Cross Country Championships.

Ronny Epps (5V), Isabella Juric (6M) and Edward Esposito (6V) tackled the challenging 3km course, while Piper Theobold (4D) competed in the 2km event. Despite the heavy track conditions, all four students demonstrated outstanding determination, resilience and sportsmanship against the state's best cross-country runners.

Congratulations to each student on qualifying for this prestigious event and representing Girton Grammar with distinction. Their results were:

• Ronny Epps (5V): 32nd of 89 competitors 
• Piper Theobold (4D): 34th of 92 competitors
• Isabella Juric (6M): 65th of 86 competitors
• Edward Esposito (6V): 66th of 87 competitors

Mr Jarrod Epps

Teacher of Year 3M

Junior School Teacher of Physical Education

Junior School Football Sessions Continue

Our Junior School students have been thoroughly enjoying their AFL Victoria football sessions this term. Each week, students enthusiastically participate in a range of engaging activities designed to develop their fundamental football skills, including kicking, handballing, marking and teamwork.

The sessions place a strong emphasis on skill development while encouraging healthy, active lifestyles in a fun and inclusive environment. Students have embraced every opportunity to challenge themselves, build confidence and work cooperatively with their classmates.

We look forward to seeing our students continue to develop their skills and enjoy the excitement of AFL throughout the remainder of the term and thank AFL Central Victoria for their assistance with our programme each Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Paul Flanagan & Mr Jarrod Wiese

Sandhurst Division Football Carnival 

On Tuesday 21 July a group of 39 Year 5 and 6 students represented our school at the Sandhurst Division Football Carnival held at CMC Junortoun. 

Our boys' team enjoyed an excellent tournament, winning three of their four matches. Their only defeat came in a hard-fought contest against the eventual champions, St Therese's, in what proved to be a terrific performance.

For many of our girls, this was their first experience playing competitive football. While they faced some strong opposition throughout the day, they showed great determination, developed their skills and confidence with each game, and finished the Carnival with plenty to be proud of.

A big thank you to Mr Leske, Mr Gibbs, Mr Epps and Mr Hoyt for their support in coaching and coordinating our teams throughout the day. A special mention to Murray Wearne, who kindly donated a team set of navy socks, adding to the resources available for our football program and ensuring our team looked the part on Carnival Day.

We now look forward to continuing our training as we prepare for our annual fixture against Ballarat Grammar later this term.

Mr Jarrod Epps

In the words of Sam Miller (6H)

On Tuesday, 21st July, a group of 22 Year 5/6 students, along with Mr Epps and Mr Leske, attended the 2026 Sandhurst Division Football Carnival. It was held at CMC, with 11 teams competing for the opportunity to progress to the Regional Football Carnival in Swan Hill.

We were placed in Pool A, which was probably the stronger of the two groups, consisting of four well-established football schools. Those four schools were St Killian's, Strathfieldsaye PS, St Francis, and St Therese's.

We started the day with a convincing six-goal win against St Killian's. We played an attacking game, with the ball hardly ever entering our defensive half, and St Killian's managed to score only one goal. Our next game was against Strathfieldsaye and, while we didn't play our best game, we managed to pull off a three-point win.

In our third game, we bounced back in a big way and played an excellent match, only allowing St Francis to score one point. We went on to kick four goals to secure the win.

We went into our final game knowing that St Therese's had comfortably defeated every other team and that it was going to be a tough contest. The pressure was on because a win would send us to the grand final, while a loss would end our day. It was a close game at half-time, and we were only down by a few points, but we lost focus at the start of the second half and they scored two quick goals. Later in the half, we scored a goal to reduce the margin to eight points, but unfortunately, we ran out of time and lost the game.

St Therese's went on to win the grand final. We were pleased with our efforts, knowing that we were the team that came closest to defeating the eventual winners.

All students represented Girton exceptionally well. We are grateful to Mr Epps and Mr Leske for coaching us and organising our team in the lead-up to the Carnival.