Junior School News

From the Acting Head of Junior School

I hope all our families had a joyful and restful Easter break. As we begin Term 2, I am excited to welcome everyone back and look forward to another term filled with learning, growth, and meaningful learning experiences. 

Term 2 is a time when students ‘hit their stride’, and we are committed to supporting each child to reach their full potential. We encourage you to stay engaged with your child’s learning, and to reach out to teachers if you have any questions or need support.

This term brings many exciting opportunities for learning, growth, and community involvement. Our students will be diving into new topics in the classroom, participating in a variety of extracurricular activities, and continuing to build strong, respectful relationships with their peers and teachers.  My welcome letter included some key dates but please check in with the Orbit App frequently to stay on top of the details of various school events.

The final week of Term 1 was extremely busy and a time that I would like to reflect on.  As units of work came to end and Week 11 drew to a close, the final week of school was a hive of activity and reflection of the hard work and fabulous learning opportunities that our students receive daily.

During our last formal assembly of Term 1, J6 performed the song ‘We are Australian’.  Our J6 girls also learned the AUSLAN version of the song, which is the sign language used by the majority of the Australian Deaf community. Their goal in including AUSLAN in their performance was to celebrate and encourage appreciation of the language. Just like Australia is shaped by many cultures, it is also home to people with diverse abilities and ways of communicating. It is important to recognise that AUSLAN is much more than just signs to a song. It is a rich and important language for many Australians, and J6 wanted to acknowledge this with kindness and respect. The girls will be exploring more about the cultural and historical significance of AUSLAN later this year.

The weather was finally on our side on the last Monday of Term 1, our last opportunity to hold a Cross Country Carnival.  All students ran their hearts out, with the length, terrain and incline of the course proving a challenge for our speediest students.  Congratulations to all students who qualified to represent Pittwater House at the HICES Cross Country event in the Blue Mountains. We wish you all the very best and hope you enjoy the experience. 

Thank you to Mrs Layton and Years K-2 for your very welcome additions to our Junior School garden.  Through discussions in Year 1 Science and HSIE, Year 1 students thought of and created the rewarding solution/task of improving the garden areas in the Junior School.  Every student who donated a plant works with their buddies to care for and maintain their plant. Together, staff and students will watch these plants grow over the years.  What a fabulous initiative and a wonderful authentic learning experience. 

During the last week of Term 1, Mr Demasi, Mrs Jackson, Mrs Achurch and I were all invited to a very special and incredibly impressive Easter Band performance by our Year 3 students. This performance was particularly impressive because these students have only been playing together since the start of the year.  Their professionalism and skill were undeniable, and they should be so proud of themselves.  Thank you to Mr Abraham, Mrs Leong and all the peripatetic staff who have spent time giving our students the best chance to experience success in Music.

HICES Debating  Pixevity Album JS HICES Debating

During the last two weeks of Term 1, our two representative debating teams proudly competed in the HICES Debating Competition.  Both teams did remarkably well, given it was their first debate together as a team.  Our Junior College team, won against Hills Adventist College with the topic that ‘All School Canteens Should be Vegan’.  Our Prep team argued for the affirmative that, ‘All Public Spaces Should Have Free Water Fountains’.  The boys put up a gallant fight against Clarence Valley but to our surprise, the win was given to the opposing team.  Both teams had extremely well written speeches and spoke with articulation and expression.  I look forward to seeing our two teams continue to compete against students all over NSW in the coming weeks.

Last term our Reading Buddies program officially began. This year we have a record number of big buddies from Years 9 and 10 who are partnered with a little buddy from Years 3 or 4. They meet every fortnight to further enhance the literacy skills of our younger students whilst developing a strong bond as the year goes on. This is one of many collaborative ventures that is strengthening the connections between students in the Junior and Senior Schools.

Our first session saw the buddies being introduced to each other, find a comfortable place, and read a book together. It is fantastic to see the Stage 5 students develop their leadership skills and provide a mentoring role to our Stage 2 students, whilst the younger students thrive on spending time with their older counterparts. It has been a wonderful start, and we can already see that this will be another successful year of this program, leading to better literacy outcomes and lasting friendships being formed.

Thank you to all parents who made it to the Junior School ANZAC Day Service in the last week of School. As always, the Junior School students marked the occasion with respect and a deep understanding of the significance of the day. We are very fortunate to be able to include the Raising of the Catafalque Guard party in our service with thanks to our dedicated Senior School cadets. 

Year 5 students have been working particularly hard in Science.  In Term 1, all students participated in a unit of work titled, ‘States of Matter’.  Students engaged in multiple design solutions and experiments on; evaporation, rainfall data collection and water quality tests. Students were required to design an effective water filtering process.  Students worked in small groups to conduct a ‘fair test’ on each of their designs and and used a variety of scientific skills to inform their inquiry and to make suggestions for modifications and improvements.  If you look carefully at the pictures, you can see that some of the muddy water was ‘almost’ drinkable.. Well not quite but students should be commended for their scientific thinking as all designs were able to effectively improve the quality of the water used for the experiment. 

The final minutes of Term 1 were celebrated with all students participating in a Junior School Jump Off to mark the end of another fundraising venture organised by Mrs Maloney and the SRC leaders Alice and Sebastian. This year we have raised $8286 as a school making us the 9th highest fundraising school in NSW. 

After School Care

I would also like to introduce and congratulate Ms Rachel Simons for accepting the exciting role of After School Care Co-ordinator at Pittwater House Junior School.  Rachel is very passionate about early childhood and primary education (qualified to teach both) and is very excited to make our After School Care program an exciting and successful one.  Rachel is well known to the families who have students who attended After School Care in Term 1.  A note was sent out at the end of Term 1, detailing all changes to our After School Care program and additional information will be sent out in the coming days.  For booking this week, please email: TPHSASC@tphs.nsw.edu.au  

Junior School Co-curricular Activities

In addition to our After School Care program, I have included a summary of Co-curricular Activities that will be running in Term 2.  Most of these offerings are for older students but can be excellent alternatives to After School Care. Please click on the following attachment: