Junior School News

Anzac Day

Year 6 Camp Canberra

On Monday 31 April, the brave Year 6s made their way to school, unaware of what would happen on their week-long journey in Canberra. Our hearts skipped a beat when we discovered that we were going to be on a bus for nine hours! But thankfully we had the best bus drivers, Richie and Tony. After a long ride, we had finally made it to our destination ... CANBERRA!

After our tasty dinner, we went to a beautiful place called Mt Ainsley Lookout. From there you could see the entire city lit up, from Old Parliament House to Questacon. It was truly an amazing sight to see.

On Tuesday, we woke up super early, had a tasty brekkie and got dressed up in our school uniforms, ready for the day ahead of us. We first made our way to the War Memorial, where we laid a wreath to pay our respects. We were fortunate enough to hear Joe, a veteran who served in the Vietnam War, talk about his experience. After the War Memorial, we had a mouth-watering lunch at the Botanical Gardens. With our bellies full, we went to the National Capital Exhibition where we learnt about the history of Canberra and how it formed. From there we had a tour of Parliament House. We got to sit in the Senate and the House of Representatives. We even got to do a role-play of being a member of either the House of Representatives or the Senate! After a packed day, we headed back to Leumeah Lodge to have dinner and then BOWLING!

Day 3 marked the middle of camp. The first days had been amazing, so we couldn’t wait to see what our third day in Canberra would be like. We started the day by having a tour of the Governor-General's Residence. We were extremely lucky to see the Bangladesh High Commissioner (who became Bangladesh's Ambassador to Australia) arrive there too! After, we went to the Australian Institute of Sport, where we got to see real-life athletes train! We then went to the War Memorial again, to explore the museum and learn about what our soldiers had to experience. From there, we were driven to Old Parliament House to visit the Museum of Australian Democracy, where we learned loads about our democracy. Then we went on a drive and got to see many countries' embassies. Finally, we ended our busy day by going to Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre. We got to explore many different rooms and had a delicious dinner at their cafe.

Thursday was the last ‘official’ day in Canberra. Our day started by going to the National Zoo and Aquarium. At the zoo we got to do many things such as meeting different animals and even holding a snake! After, we went bike riding around Lake Burley Griffin. Riding around the lake was beautiful; you could feel the wind breezing into your face while you rode. After riding, we stopped and enjoyed a refreshing icy pole and then had some free time. Then the most exciting part of the day came. Some of us went to watch a rugby game (Raiders vs Sharks), while the others enjoyed a relaxing movie night.

Finally, the day we had all dreaded came. It was time to say goodbye to Canberra. While on the bus, I couldn’t help but think how grateful I was to our teachers and everyone who had helped us along the way. The amount of fun I had on this trip was unlike any other. Year 6 Camp was truly amazing, and I can’t wait to visit Canberra again.

By Raneem Ahmed (6V)

Junior School Gymnastics: Photo Gallery

Girton staff present international Yale webinar series

We are proud to share that Girton Grammar’s very own Mrs Prue Milner and Ms Vanessa Juergens recently co-presented an international webinar hosted by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. The session, titled 'Mood Metre: Beyond Plot', explored how emotional intelligence strategies, particularly the Mood Metre, can be used to deepen students’ understanding of character, motivation and plot development across a variety of texts.

Drawing from classroom practice at Girton, Mrs Milner and Ms Juergens demonstrated how the Mood Metre can be used not only as a check-in tool, but also as a lens for rich literary analysis and authentic emotional reflection. Their presentation highlighted student examples, practical strategies and ways to integrate RULER tools into everyday literacy instruction in the Junior School.

It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the Girton Junior School's commitment to emotional intelligence on a global platform and connect with educators from around the world who are on similar journeys.

Congratulations to Mrs Milner and Ms Juergens for sharing their expertise, passion and impact with the international RULER community!