Junior School

This weeks highlights

I hope your week has been uplifting and productive. This week as part of my classroom investigation, I have chosen to explore the Reception classes. The Receptions have been working extremely hard on their learning. From Jolly Phonics to design and digital technology, the Reception classes have been having a wonderful time.

Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming Sean W. Smith to Tyndale. It was a tremendous occasion for students to sing, interact and listen to his message. Sean started his ministry as a classroom teacher and now travels all around Australia telling students the Good News of Jesus Christ. His passion is to see students have an encounter with Jesus. Apart from his jovial and good-humoured conversations, Sean’s message was aimed at teaching students about the overwhelming love that Jesus has for them; no matter what life throws our way, we have a choice to make. He also made it clear that when we have Jesus in our lives, we have a strong foundation, one of hope and forgiveness. Sean explained the trials that he faced while at School and outlined that when Jesus is our rock we can deflect unkind and unhelpful comments. Sean illustrated this message beautifully by lining up three students. These students represented the three parts of our body. The first student represented our physical body, the second our soul and mind, and the third, our spirit. Sean explained that when we do not have Jesus in our lives, we only have the first two parts to ‘fight’ negativity. We try to make sense of it with our ‘earthly’ being (physical (responding) and soul (thinking, reasoning)), but most times we fall short and react with anger, frustration and/or disappointment. However, with Jesus as our third ‘part’, we can give all of our worries, cares, frustrations, disappointments and ill feelings to Him. There are a number of questions that we can all reflect on.

How can I respond to this situation?
Will I make it worse if I act the way the physical part of my body wants to act?
How can I make the situation better?
How will my reaction affect others around me?
Is what they are saying true? How do I view myself?

I was pleased to see so many Grandparents joining with us in the annual Grandparent’s Day celebration. This year we had grandparents from as far away as Perth and Brisbane. This is such a wonderful time for all involved. There were a range of activities in the classrooms from quizzes, question and answer time, games, and more importantly, valuable time spent with family. I was overwhelmed with the positive comments from both students and grandparents, it was such a joy to witness and be involved in. The grandparents started their morning with an address from Mr Croser and then enjoyed viewing Drama students singing a Mary Poppins classic. I would like to thank the Volunteer Team (blue shirt helpers), Anne Bryant and Lynette Colebatch for the Administration of the day and of course the Hospitality Team. This consisted of Year 7/8 students making biscuits, Year 11/12 students making hedgehog slice, the Volunteer Team making sandwiches and Anne Bryant making scones – you cannot have a Grandparent’s Day without scones!

Please continue to read the newsletter for dates and events.

Cameron Lock

Deputy Principal Primary