From the Head of Junior School

Thank you to Mrs Beks and Mrs Fisher and the Student Representative Council for their fine work in leading our Junior School Remembrance Day Service on Tuesday. It was a well-crafted and well-presented service that paid respect to those who have served our country. I was very proud of the respectful way our Junior School Students conducted themselves during the service and afterwards as they moved back to their classrooms. Thank you to Henry Martin (11 Jones) who came across to the Junior School Service and played the Last Post and The Rouse.

International Day

Last Friday we celebrated cultural diversity in our school through International Day. It was a wonderful day where we were able to celebrate difference through sharing our cultures and hopefully learned something new about a culture we may not have experienced before. Celebrating diversity makes our school a bright, exciting and inspiring place. We thank Madame Rice and Sensei Krelle for all of the work they put into planning our day of celebration together.

2026 Transition

It is that time of the year when students begin thinking about their classes for next year. We will be having our Transition Day on Monday 1 December. On this day, students will meet their teachers and classmates for 2026. This can bring with it some feelings of nervousness and apprehension. This is quite normal and to be expected. Engaging with uncomfortable feelings is part of the growth process.

In Junior School our students are taught to recognise and understand emotions from Prep. We teach our students that all emotions are normal and that, by recognising and understanding our emotions, we can regulate when we are facing challenging situations.

It is also common at this time of the year for parents to try and minimise the uncomfortable situations that their children encounter. This might be by requesting that their child is put with a specific teacher, put with specific children or not put with certain children. Unfortunately, removing obstacles or protecting our children from uncomfortable situations means that they will not learn how to manage uncomfortable emotions. In her book, Bonsai Child, Judith Locke discusses the importance of supporting our children to meet challenges so that they will learn that they can manage difficult emotions and difficult situations. Below, I have linked an article from Judith’s website where she discusses the importance of letting our children meet struggle independently. Children benefit from knowing that they can meet the challenges they face in a supportive environment.

Parking and Traffic Management

I have been contacted by several parents and a member of the community who have raised concerns about the conduct of some of our parents during drop off and pick up in Junior School. I have also spoken to quite a few parents about parking illegally and crossing the road with students at drop off on Vine Street.

To ensure the safety of our students and to maintain good relationships with our neighbours, we are asking our parents to please take the following actions:

Park only in the designated bays
Cross Vine Street at the designated, supervised crossing point
Follow the road directions
Do not make illegal turns
Please be patient with, and courteous to, other drivers.

I know it can feel like longer, but our traffic delay when pulling in to drop off or pick up on MacKenzie Street is less than five minutes. If everyone moves to the highest available bay and stays in their cars, it is often much quicker than that. At this stage of the year, all of our students should be able to tuck in their own shirts, put on their own jumpers and carry their own bags. There should be no need for parents to stop in the No Standing bays on MacKenzie Street, exit their vehicles and dress their children.

Chess

Congratulations to Liam Wood (5 Aherne) who qualified for the Northern Star Chess State Finals earlier this week. Qualifying to compete against the best Primary School players in Victoria was a great achievement.

Our Chess team also qualified for the Chess Victoria State finals in Melbourne in October. The team had a great competition and qualified our school for the State Titles that will be held in Melbourne next week. Unfortunately, we can only have 5 players from the team represent at the State Titles due to their finals format. We wish the team well next week.

Mr Don Thompson

Head of Junior School