Junior School
Stephen Nelson, Head of Junior School
We held our House Public Speaking Final at Monday’s Assembly. All four representatives - Mila McCabe, Amina Barerra, Anika Nelson and Penelope Copley spoke with maturity, poise, and a steely determination to win for their Houses. Adjudicators Ms Bolton and Ms Ridgway Faye had the very difficult task of selecting a winner. After much deliberation, Amina Barerra from Young House was presented with the Simons House Public Speaking Cup. Amina’s topic was ‘How Boredom Can Expand Your Mind.’ Well done to all four speakers.
The following students were awarded ‘Star Student’ Awards at this week’s Assembly.
Year 1
Teddy Tigges for his consistent effort and engagement in oral reading, and his well-thought-out ideas and interesting facts he shares during our group discussions in literacy extension tasks.
Matteo Kearns for great focus and effort during our Inquiry task ‘Exploring Moving Toys’, showing persistence and resolution when creating a spinning top.
Year 2
Lydia King for the effort she puts into every day, arriving at school with a positive attitude, a cheerful greeting and a high level of organisation that follows her around all day.
Year 3
Sam Uebergang for the thoughtful insights and connections made during our ‘Off We Go Around Australia’ unit. Sam has taken the class deeper into the topic with his extensive knowledge of the world around him.
Year 4
Jack Allen for his enthusiastic involvement in our Inquiry unit and our class government. He has demonstrated wonderful leadership during discussions, sharing thoughtful ideas about how our classroom community can run more effectively, while respectfully ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to share their ideas and have a voice.
Jack Nagorcka for consistently working hard in Maths, demonstrating excellent recall of multiplication facts, and confidently applying his learning to solve new and challenging problems.
Year 5
Will Brown for his determination and the effort he applies to his learning, particularly in Mathematics, where he approaches challenges with persistence and a willingness to think deeply. He asks thoughtful and curious questions.
Arthur Adamson for the fantastic effort and determination he brings to all class tasks, consistently showing a willingness to push himself, take on challenges and produce his best work. During our Animal Adaptations unit, he has impressed us by enthusiastically sharing his knowledge and making thoughtful contributions to class discussions.
Eloise Bufton for the care and effort she is putting into producing her best work and for taking risks in the classroom, particularly through her willingness to read aloud and share her ideas during class discussions.
2026 Book Week
This year’s Book Week theme is ‘Symphony of Stories’. The Junior School has been celebrating with several events and activities.
Our Year 5 class designed a ‘Where’s Wally’ scavenger hunt. In Library sessions, students have been voting on their favourite books to take out the 2026 CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) awards.
Our library monitors, Annie Barber and Rosie Bell, read to students in Monday’s Library Club.
On Wednesday, ELC 3s dressed up for Book Week and on Friday we have our annual ELC 4 to Year 6 parade at 9.15 am.
A staff ‘Cryptic Book Title’ competition was also held. Can you work out the titles of these 10 well-known books using the cryptic clues?
2026 Book Week – Staff Competition
The following are cryptic titles for well-known books. Can you work out all 10?
The number in brackets denotes the number of words in the title.
Example - Cryptic Title - Competitive eating rather than serious consequence Answer- (3) The Hunger Games
Cryptic Title | Actual Title |
| Instruction to silence a sarcastic feathered critic. | (5) |
| Books available after the librarian has gone home. | (3) |
| Small Females | (2) |
| A criminal with a very specific shopping list. | (3) |
| What teachers feel when a student actually hands work in on time. | (1) |
| What happens when the pub runs out of beer. | (2) |
| Young male consumes the entire cosmos. | (3) |
| Athlete whose chosen sport involves chasing something flying. | (3) |
| Grubby songs | (2) |
| Waterway that refuses to share its location. | (3) |
Dare to Dream
Excitement is building for our second major Junior School Musical. Tickets for our Dare to Dream are now live for both performances - Thursday 15 October and Friday 16 October. Adult tickets are $20.00 and student tickets $10.00.
If you tune in to local radio, 3HA has been featuring Dare To Dream ads starring Year 6 students Violet Shrive and Penelope Copley. We will hold our annual Junior School Grandparents’ Day on the afternoon of Friday 16 October and hope many grandparents will stay for the evening performance.
Costume guides for all ensemble performers in Prep to Year 6 classes have been sent to parents via Toddle, and hard copies are displayed in each of our classrooms.
Berry House Fundraiser
Berry House ran a bake sale and dress-up day fundraiser in Week 5, supporting the ‘Make A Wish Foundation’. They raised the princely sum of $645.00. Well done to Berry House students, staff, and parents.
ICAS Testing
We concluded our 2026 ICAS Competition testing this week with the Mathematics paper. Results for the Spelling, English and Mathematics tests will be available in the coming weeks. Students will receive one of the following certificates.
High Distinction: Top 1% of participants nationally.
Distinction: The next 10% of participants.
Credit: The next 25% of participants.
Merit: The next 10% of participants.
Participation: Awarded to all remaining participants who complete the assessment.
The ICAS assessments are designed to go beyond the day-to-day curriculum, rewarding higher-order thinking and the application of knowledge in new and challenging contexts. With more than 10 million students from 16,000 schools across 41 countries having taken part, ICAS is one of the largest and most respected academic competitions in the world.
Hockey
Regular season matches concluded last Saturday. Thank you to junior hockey coaches Oscar Hawthorne, Henry Horne, Rupert Merrin, Jack Wallis and Tim Cameron, and junior hockey managers Emma Weatherly, Louise Patterson and Bec Small for their tireless efforts throughout an enjoyable season. We have watched our College players grow as individuals and as teams.
Last weekend’s results:
Under 10 College Vikings defeated Dunkeld 7-3
Under 13 Chiefs went down to Demons Red 1-0
Under 13 Warriors were defeated by Coleraine Gold 5-0
Finals commence this Saturday. Hamilton Hockey asks all spectators to watch the matches away from the sidelines in Under 10s and the dugouts in Under 13s. Best of luck to all players.
Under 10 College Vikings v Coleraine Maroon - 1.00 pm at Pedrina Park
Under 13 College Warriors v Coleraine Gold - 3.30 pm at Pedrina Park
A reminder that once playing commitments are complete, could all College hockey shirts be returned to Mrs Povey at Junior School and Dr Hawthorne in the Middle Years Centre.