Junior School

2024 Booklists 

This is the second year of a new booklist system for the Junior School. Our focus has been on reducing costs to our parents, condensing the use of textbooks, decreasing our carbon footprint, and lessening stationery wastage. Year-level booklist costs will be added to Term One parent accounts. Thank you to Mrs Natalie Povey for all her work in this space.  

2024 NAPLAN 

NAPLAN testing concluded this week for our Year 3 and Year 5 students.  All students applied themselves well to the tasks at hand. I thank Ms Tzu Winstanley, Mr Graham Lewis, Mrs Sarah Covill, Ms Brigita Keiller, Mrs Bernadine Kelvy and Ms Gemma Ridgway-Faye for the thorough and professional way in which they administered the testing.  Thank you also to Mr Mitchell Clode for his technical support.  Results will be released by ACARA in the middle of the year. 

STAR Students 

The following students received Star Student awards at this week’s Assembly. 

Piccino:  

• Clementine Shrive for always being positive as she builds trusting relationships with her friends.  
• Darcy Stewart for his bravery as an active and valued member of the Piccino’s class, making a smooth transition into the Early Learning Centre.  

Year 1:  Mikey Slabbert for working hard to add more detail to his work in recount writing tasks.  

Year 2:  Herbie Dyer for being a helpful class member who offers his assistance to both teachers and students. 

Year 3:  George Whinney for adapting into his new school setting by being organised in the classroom, showing great leadership and sportsmanship during House Sports.  George is an amazing asset in our Year 3 classroom.  

Year 4:  Omar Diab for his positive start to the school term, consistently demonstrates a strong commitment to excellence in class subjects and actively contributes to class discussions regularly. 

Year 4:  Milla McClure for her ability to settle into her new classroom, make meaningful connections with peers and embrace new challenges with grace and enthusiasm. 

Year 4:  Sammie Price for always trying her best in every subject, especially during our literacy topic on writing recounts. Sammie’s work ethic and enthusiasm for learning serve as a testament to her outstanding character. 

Year 5:  William Harvey for his greatly improved efforts and results in Numeracy.  William’s addition has really improved this term due to his hard work and persistence.  He has taken great ownership over his learning and is an eager and enthusiastic learner in maths sessions. 

Year 5: Archie Barber for his excellent results in his Numeracy addition tests in which he scored 100% in both topic tests! Also of note, is Archies caring nature towards all of his school community.  Archie will hold doors open for everyone, collect their lost belongings, and ensure they are returned and has outstanding manners. 

2024 Year 5/6 Camp Brownlow medals were awarded to: 

Year 5 - Hugo Cameron 

Year 6 - Sidney Hawker 

Continuous Reporting 

As of this week, all Junior School parents will have access to Term One Junior School continuous reporting comments and attached files via PAM (Parental Access Module).  I look forward to your feedback as we transition to this new system of reporting. 

Frozen Jnr Auditions 

Monday and Tuesday saw 41 of our Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 students audition for major roles in our 2024 musical ‘Frozen Jnr’.  This equates to two thirds of our upper years students.  It was wonderful to see the preparation they had put in to learning songs, scales and dialogue.  What was also evident was their support of each other in the lead up to the auditions.  Roles will be announced in the coming days.  Well done to all the students who put their hand up to try out and pushed their individual comfort zones. 

Frozen trivia question #2 - What is the name of the imaginary land, beginning with the letter ‘A’, in which Frozen is set? 

Students can put their answers onto the provided slips of paper and post into the House letterboxes. 

Pickleball is here!

The Junior School has two new painted Pickleball courts, in front of the Vines buildings (Music/Year 5 and Year 6 classrooms).  Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States.  It is a combination of tennis, badminton and table tennis. T he students have enjoyed learning this new and exciting sport.  In Term Two, we will look to run a lunch time tournament for our students.  Thanks to Mr. Dopheide for measuring and painting the courts. 

 Junior Hockey 

The 2024 GRHA Junior Hockey Season will commence on the first weekend of Term Two, Saturday 20 April.  

Division 4 and Division 5 will play on Saturday afternoons.  Division 4 teams are full, but we do have a couple of spots for students in Year 1 or 2 who wish to play in Division 5 teams.  

All players must be registered with Hockey Victoria (link below). 

https://www.hockeyvictoria.org.au/competitions-events/register-now