Primary School
The beginning of a new school year always arrives with a wonderful sense of energy and possibility. As students return and routines begin to settle, there is noticeable excitement throughout the school.
Classrooms are buzzing with the same enthusiasm. Teachers have put great care into creating warm, engaging learning environments filled with colour, inviting displays and stimulating resources. These thoughtfully prepared spaces are already sparking curiosity, and students are eager to immerse themselves in new learning experiences and discoveries. It has also been wonderful to welcome so many students back, with our Primary School now at its largest in quite some time, a reflection of the strength and growth of our community.
Our Djinda classes have made a positive start under the nurture of Mrs Jodene Skeet. We are especially excited to share that this is the largest Djinda cohort we have ever had. This program continues to provide a rich and meaningful experience for students, and it has been wonderful to see them settling in so well.
We are excited to announce that our Grammar Playgroup will commence in Week Three in its new venue, the Anchorage Boarding House. Sessions will run each Thursday from 9.00am to 11.00am and will be facilitated by Mrs Caroline Cameron. This initiative provides a wonderful opportunity for community connection, shared experiences and supported play for our youngest learners.
Grammar Playgroup | Great Southern Grammar
To round off a busy start to the term, we look forward to the Parent Information Session and P&F Welcome Sundowner this Friday. This will be a great chance for parents to gain insight into the year ahead while strengthening connections within our school community.
The year is already off to a fantastic start, and we are excited for all that lies ahead.
Year Group Codes
This year we have added new class codes.
For Flexischools, the following class codes are linked to the following teachers:
Kindergarten A: Miss Claire Hard
Kindergarten B: Mrs Gemma McPhee
Pre-Primary A: Ms Sue Youens
Pre-Primary B: Mrs Rochanne Bloor
Year 1A: Mrs Fiona Gouldthorp
Year 2A: Ms Donna Diletti
Year 2B: Mrs Tahlia Street
Year 3A: Mrs Elizabeth Hardey
Year 4A: Mr Geoff Hardey
Year 4B: Mr Peter Carman
Year 5A: Mr Joel Davison
Year 5B: Ms Gracie Laneaux-Neale
Year 6A: M Paul Osborne
Year 6B: Mrs Gemma Sandy
Classroom News
So many exciting events and opportunities have been happening in our Primary School, we hope you enjoy reading about them below:
Kindergarten
Our Kindergarten community has settled in beautifully as we learn classroom routines, build independence, and grow comfortable with our daily rhythm. Children are showing curiosity, confidence, and kindness as they make new friends and reconnect with familiar faces. We have already enjoyed a couple of exciting Wild Space walks, where we listened carefully, observed closely, and explored with wonder. Along the way, we discovered fascinating creatures, interesting tracks, and tiny natural treasures that sparked many questions and conversations. We are enjoying hands-on play and collaborative learning as we begin the year together and are looking forward to all of the fun adventures ahead!
Pre-Primary
Pre-Primary has started the year with much excitement! We are learning the expectations and routines of our classrooms and making new friends. We have started to learn our initial sounds and have begun our first unit of inquiry. We are beginning an All About Me inquiry, where we will answer the students' questions such as ‘how many people are in the world?’, ‘what body parts do we have?’ and ‘how does my hair grow?’ We have been on our first Wild Space adventure too. We are having lots of fun but as it is our first weeks of fulltime school we are very tired!
Year One
It has been a fantastic start to the year for the Year Ones. We have started our new inquiry looking into ‘How families mark the passing of time in different ways?’ This started with a delve into the 2026 Time Tub. Much excitement followed and items were handled with awe and wonder, raising some astute (and often very amusing) questions like ‘why do those photos have colours and those don’t’, ‘that was taken back in the day’ and ‘were the dinosaurs around when you were little Mrs Gouldthorp?’ Never a dull moment in Year One!😊
Year Two
This week, we have begun our inquiry into different materials and how they can be combined for different purposes. We ventured to the Wild Space to make our own mixtures and solutions using natural materials and enjoyed making playdough and identifying solids and liquids. It’s been wonderful getting to know each other and combining classes to dive deeper into our learning. We’re excited for the year ahead!
Year Three
The Year Three students have been busy settling into our daily rhythms. As part of our maths learning, we collected data about our birthdays and enjoyed creating a huge picture graph to display on our wall. We have also been exploring what it means to be part of a community and discussing how we can work together respectfully. The class proudly wrote their own signatures on our classroom agreement, showing their commitment to being positive and responsible members of our learning community. Well done on a great start to the year.
Year Four
Year Four has started the new year by learning about explorers. We are exploring a new year with new classrooms, and some of us are exploring a whole new school. Our motivations for exploring may include finding hiding places for a recess-time game, uncovering an exciting rack of new books in the library or locating a “washing-hands-room” closer to the Art class. We have discovered that the motivations of historical explorers varied greatly from those of explorers in 2026. In order to walk a mile (or many) in their shoes, we took part in a virtual expedition from our homes in a harsh, snowy climate to collect necessary resources. Through the wonders of Minecraft, we braved wildernesses filled with wolves and polar bears, and did our best to interact positively with the locals we met. As this term progresses, we will research the voyages of famous explorers; let’s hope that they were all really nice guys.
Year Five
Our Year Five students have been busy exploring the wonders of the universe and discovering how humans are connected to it through our inquiry learning. We kicked off with some diagnostic questions to share ideas and spark curiosity.
Students also put their teamwork skills to the test with a fun cup challenge, learning how to collaborate, communicate, and problem-solve together. Alongside this, we’ve been exploring Civics and Citizenship and how rules, responsibilities, and community decisions impact our everyday lives.
A fantastic start to an exciting learning journey!
Year Six
Year Six has made an amazing start to the year. We have been busy moving into our new home in the Tamungup Centre, getting settled with our teachers Mrs Sandy and Mr Osborne and catching up with everyone about our exciting adventures during the holidays. We enjoyed a walk to the Wild Space to prompt our writing.
Friday saw Year Six buzzing with ideas and brainstorms, planning and preparing for our leadership opportunities coming up this year and we are all so excited to consider how we are going to work towards achieving our Anchor Badge this year.
We can’t wait to see what this year will bring!
Upcoming events
Week Two
Friday 13 February, Parent Information Sessions, ECC, Primary & Secondary 5.00pm to 6.00pm
Friday 13 February, P&F Welcome Sundowner, outside the Pratten Centre, 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Week Three
Friday 20 February, Primary School Assembly run by Year Six Leaders, Multi-Purpose Sport Complex, 9.00am
Friday 20 February, P&F Primary School Meet and Mingle, ECC playground,
3.30pm to 5.00pm
We hope you’ve had a smooth start to the term. Please don’t hesitate to contact anyone from the Primary School team to help the beginning of the year run smoothly.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Ms Leah Field | Head of Primary and
Mrs Hayley Ranger | Head of Early Childhood