Junior School News
From the Head of Junior School
This week, families entering through the MacKenzie Street gate might have noticed some new blooms poking out of the very hard ground next to the Hall. This has become an annual bloom, having started with one lone poppy several years ago and now growing to over a dozen plants. This is not something that was planned. Some seeds have either blown down from a neighbouring garden or have been dropped by birds. Over the last couple of years, they have found the right conditions to flourish and, while they only bloom once a year for a relatively short time, they are a welcome sight, particularly as we get closer to Remembrance Day. I like to think of them as representative of our school environment. With the right conditions, everyone can flourish.
It’s hard to believe we are already in the second week of the last term for 2023. Today our Year 12s finish their schooling with us before they complete their exams and then embark on whatever path they have chosen for next year. It sounds like a cliché, but when many of them visited earlier in the week, we could only reflect on how quickly the time has gone since they were with us in Junior School. Fifteen of the departing Year 12s started their journey with us in Prep, while many others came to us in Junior School.
The Preps of 2011 were treated to a visit from some dinosaurs when the Walking With Dinosaurs Arena Spectacular did a promotional visit to Bendigo and asked to launch their tour in our gymnasium. A terrific (or terrifying) way to start their school journey. As they finish their journey today, I wonder if they remember the experience. Probably not. What they will remember is the feeling of excitement they had when starting school. The warm feeling they got when seeing their friends each day. The pride they felt when they learned a new skill for the first time or were able to recount some new knowledge gained.
The journey for each of these students has not been the same. They come from a variety of family backgrounds and experiences, and they started with differing abilities. Some found it easier to learn in the school environment while some had to work harder to overcome challenges. Sometimes staff had to have conversations with parents that may, at first, have been hard to hear. This is one of the reasons parents bring their children to us, because we will work in the best interests of their children. It gives us pride to see that they have all stuck the course, whatever their journey, and are now graduating as proud Girtonians.
Congratulations and good luck
Congratulations to our Tournament of Minds STEM team, who will travel to Melbourne next week to compete in the International Finals. They will join the Senior School STEM and Language Arts teams to compete against teams from around Australia as well as New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Thailand and the UAE. For those who missed it, WIN News Bendigo featured our teams earlier in the week.
We wish them all the best in the finals and thank Mrs Bath and the teachers and parents who have been supporting the teams in their preparations throughout Term 2 and 3.
Mr Donald Thompson
Head of Junior School
Premiers' Reading Challenge
Students from all year levels have once again completed the Premiers' Reading Challenge for 2023.
The Premiers' Reading Challenge takes students on a journey where they can discover new people, places and things in every story.
Their imaginations run wild as they pick up each book, as well as gaining literacy skills and knowledge.
Girton Grammar School sets an individual challenge to each student who participates to read as many books as they can from the start of the year to September.
Students in Years 1 and 2 had to read or be exposed to 30 books to complete the challenge, while students in Years 3 to 6 had to read 15 books to complete the challenge.
This year we had 56 students compete in the challenge. Congratulations to the 10 students who read 100 books, and the three students rising to a new challenge this year to read 200 books – an amazing achievement by all.
100 CLUB MEMBERS
Alexander Lee 1D
Alastair Bartlett 2D
Nicky Donaldson 3D
Sophie Lee 4D
Grace Beattie 4M
Ryan Guo 4M
Hazel Anderson 5V
200 CLUB MEMBERS
William Sandiford 2D
Dulanya Wickrama 6V
Ayaan Sapehiyia 6M
All students who participated in the challenge this year are congratulated for their reading efforts.
Prep Excursion
In the last week of Term 3, the Prep classes visited the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens as part of their studies on parks and gardens. The weather was glorious and the children explored the gardens, identifying various types of flora and fauna. Many parents joined us for a picnic lunch, then the children enjoyed some mindful sketching time. The playground was well utilised by all and provided much entertainment for the whole day.
Year 5 Camp
Camp Narmbool took place on the last week of Term 3 and ran for four days and three nights. We certainly packed a lot into our time away!
Day one saw us settle into camp by participating in team-building games and an orientation activity. After dinner we bussed back into Sovereign Hill to view the Aura Sound and Light Show, which provided a flamboyant overview of how gold influenced the historic Gold Rush period. The special effects were stunning and this production helped provide context for the learning we undertook later in the week at Sovereign Hill.
On day two, we took a long trek to Mannas Outstation on the beautiful grounds of Narmbool station. Here we worked in groups to construct waterproof bush shelters. The afternoon was filled with Aboriginal grass weaving and other activities focused on Indigenous artefacts and culture, prior to a Birds of Prey presentation after dinner. Martin Scuffins, a local Ballarat raptor expert, brought along an owl and a falcon to stimulate the students’ fascination. His talk on birds of prey fully engaged the students.
On day three, we travelled to Sovereign Hill to take part in a range of tours and experiences, including a Eureka Rebellion re-enactment, two underground mine tours, a confectionery-making demonstration, gold panning and a pantomime. It was a big day and was also special because it was Owen’s 11th birthday!
Our final day involved learning a variety of Aboriginal games and a visit to the old Narmbool Homestead. We boarded the bus to travel back to Ballarat, where we experienced a guided tour and interactive education sessions in the Eureka Museum. Viewing the original Eureka flag was a standout experience for all, as was examining items used by key figures in the Eureka story.
Many special memories were created on this wonderful camp.
Year 2 Camp
At the end of Term 3, 38 very excited students travelled to Camp Kookaburra (Corop) for an overnight camp. Upon arrival at camp, the students had morning tea and then went for a guided walk to explore their surrounds. Once the cabins were allocated and beds chosen, it was time to begin the activity rotations.
Activities included bouldering (low climbing), low ropes, initiatives (problem-solving), orienteering, the games room, GaGa ball and the zip line.
There was much excitement from the students seeing the teachers join in on some of the activities. Once the activities were finished for the day, students had time to complete some cabin activities, including naming their cabin groups!
That night after dinner, everyone went for a night walk and spotted some frogs and spiders!
The next day, after some sleep, everyone woke up ready for more fun. Students packed up their beds and it was wonderful to see the cabin groups working together to help each other.
It was then time to complete the last of the activities before lunch. Many students fell asleep on the return trip, tired from an eventful few days.
Everyone who went had a wonderful time and were very eager to see their parents ready to pick them up.
Aeroschools
Girton Grammar School took 28 students from Years 2 to 12 to the Gold Coast at the end of Term 3 to compete in the Australian Aeroschool Championships.
Students qualified at State Championships to be able to attend the event and the Girton teams finished the few days of competition with pleasing results, with every team placing in the top 6 of their division.
Further details and photos are included in a separate article.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Lauren Davenport (5 Jenkin), Owen Barnes (5 Frew) and James Davenport (3 Jenkin), who qualified to compete in the 2023 National Country Swimming Championships in Darwin in September. They competed in individual events, joined other swimmers to form relay teams, and participated in a clinic with Olympic champion Chelsea Hodges.
They all achieved amazing results at the Championships:
- Lauren: 6 Gold (50m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m freestyle)
- Owen: 4 Silver (50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m freestyle) and 2 Bronze (50m freestyle, 100m freestyle)
- James: 4 Bronze (50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 100m breaststroke)
