From the Head of Junior School

What a busy start we have had to the term. We are only in Week 4 and already we have held the Judith Locke presentation, the Meet the Teacher Evening, Parent-Teacher Interviews and the Junior School Swimming Carnival. Those of you with children in Year 6 would have also had a quiet week as they attended our annual camp in Canberra.

Our staff and students have been working industriously, but I would also like to mention the Friends of Junior School and their band of helpers who have been working hard to support us over the last few weeks. Last week they arranged a book-covering morning, where volunteers came in and helped cover some of our 9,000 new decodable readers. These readers are a welcome resource that will enable us to effectively implement our structured literacy approach in the early years. We are very appreciative of the parents who have given up their time to begin covering these books. If there are other parents who have some time to spare, we have made up book-covering packs that can be picked up from the Junior School Library before or after school and taken home to cover. I can personally attest to the therapeutic effect of pushing air bubbles out of contact, having had plenty of practice over the last fortnight!

In addition to the excellent work they have done covering books and welcoming new families, our Friends of Junior School also coordinated the sausage sizzle and the selling of Zooper Doopers at the Swimming Carnival. On the day, they served 650 sausages and 28 loaves of bread, and raised $480 for the World's Greatest Shave through Zooper Dooper sales. On behalf of the Junior School, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the parents and carers who have volunteered their time to assist us over the past four weeks.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to our students for their enthusiastic participation in the Junior School Swimming Carnival last Friday. The weather was terrific, and it was a great way to finish a very busy week. Frew House were dominant in the pool, adding their House to the Perpetual Swimming Trophy and further embellishing their very impressive record. We also congratulate Jones House for winning the Spirit Cup. Thank you to Mr Robertson, Mr Doherty, Mrs Hamilton and all the Junior School teachers and support staff for their efforts in preparing for and running the carnival.

Congratulations to the following Age Champion medallion winners:

9-year-old: Margaret Yau (3 Millward) and Oskar Hall (3 Jones)
10-year-old: Maya Reid (4 Aherne) and James Davenport (4 Jenkin)
11-year-old: Sophie Lee (5 Millward) and Conor Elliott (5 Jenkin)
12-year-old: Lauren Davenport (6 Jenkin) and Owen Barnes (6 Frew)

Junior School Production

We are pleased to announce that Girton Grammar's Junior School will be performing Disney's Finding Nemo Jr at the Capital Theatre from 22 to 24 October 2024.

Child Safety and Protection

Girton Grammar School has always been committed to maintaining the highest possible standards of child safety to protect students from harm. In response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Victorian Government enacted world-leading child protection standards with Ministerial Order 870 in 2017, followed by Ministerial Order 1359 in 2022. MO 1359 mandates child safety and reporting measures for all organisations that have dealings with children. Girton Grammar School fully supports this legislation and has enacted the Order to its fullest. To this end, the school has ensured it has the following:

strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety, including through effective leadership arrangements
a child-safe policy or statement of commitment to child safety
a code of conduct that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children
screening, supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse by new and existing personnel
processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse
strategies to identify and reduce or remove risks of child abuse
strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children.

Girton staff complete Child Safety and Protection training annually to update our knowledge of what constitutes abuse, how to identify potential signs of abuse and what action must be taken.

Parents or community members who have concerns that a child may be unsafe and in danger of emotional, physical or sexual harm are urged to contact the school and ask to be referred to one of the school-appointed Child Safety Officers; contact the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing directly (1300 598 521 or after hours on 13 12 78 ); or contact the Police (000).

Details of Girton’s Child Safety Policy can be found on the school website. The school has also published policies relating to student safety and wellbeing in the Publications section of the website. These policies can also be accessed by students and parents through the Astra portal. After logging on using your login and password, you can access Child Safety information by clicking on the Child Safety icon.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like further information about the school’s approach to child safety.

Restorative Peer Mediation Program

Who we are

Restorative Peer Mediators or RPMs wear a bright pink vest as they walk in pairs around the playground and help students with their problems. We mainly assist students in Prep to Year 2. We have been trained by Kristy Elliot from Restorative Pathways, who came up with this idea.

Training

Over a full day, we completed a colossal amount of training, listening and taking notes of videos related to the program. It was loads of fun and we learnt a lot. There are now 30 RPMs ready to help out. It takes a lot of responsibility and other qualities to be an RPM. At the start of the year, the teachers provided applications to students who were keen to be an RPM. It took lots of effort for the teachers to choose us.

What we do

We walk around in pairs in the back playground, T Block and the Prep playground and oval. When we are on duty, we collect our hot pink vests from the left corridor of the office. Please don’t take or touch the bright pink vests unless you are an RPM on duty. If you take them we will not be able to assist you at break time. Remember, if you need support with any problems or disagreements on the playground, the RPMs on duty are always ready to help. We would like to thank Kristy Elliot from Restorative Pathways for training the Year 5 RPMs at Girton Grammar Junior School.

Mitchell Hawker (5 Frew) and Aayush Nair (5 Jenkin)

NAPLAN: Information for parents and carers

French classes

Kelly Sports

After School Care

Congratulations to...

Hamish Knight (10 Aherne) and Amelia Westbrook (9 Frew)