From the Head of Junior School

For many years now, we have prided ourselves as a school that educates students' hearts as well as their minds. Our emotional intelligence education programs aim to develop an understanding of how our emotional response to situations can affect how we feel and act. We also educate about how our actions can have a positive impact on others but also a negative impact if we are harsh or unkind. Last week was Do It for Dolly Day, a day dedicated to raise awareness and support for anti-bullying work in the memory of Dolly Everett. Dolly was a 14 year old girl who took her own life due to bullying and cyberbullying. We are finding in Junior School, more and more children are being given access to mobile devices which is exposing them to the risk of cyberbullying and predators.

According to a recent international study commissioned by McAfee, 24% of Australian children reported that they had suffered bullying online. This places Australian children in the second-highest group worldwide after the US. The study gives statistics for the number of children with online access to gaming and social media through mobile phones and game consoles. While the number of Australian children in the 10-14 age bracket was less than most countries worldwide, the figure still indicates that 68% of children in this age group have access to mobile/smartphone usage. The statistics reach the global average from ages 15 to 18.

https://www.mcafee.com/content/dam/consumer/en-au/docs/reports/rp-connected-family-study-2022-australia.pdf

As teachers and parents, we want to protect our children from physical and emotional harm and are tuned in to recognise signs that children are unhappy or just not their normal selves. This can become more difficult when children begin to interact and communicate online. Much of the online communication is non-verbal, so even when the children are in common areas, it is difficult to know the nature of the messaging. It is for this reason that we recommend children of Primary School age do not have open, unmonitored access to social media apps or smartphones and that gaming consoles with online capability are monitored carefully. It can be hard as a parent to resist the pressure from children to allow access to phones or sites because “all the other kids have it” or “I’m the only one of my friends not to have a phone.” Having read countless stories of parents whose children have been victims of cyberbullying there is a common message, that parents are often the last to know.

During interviews, I will often have parents say that their child needs a phone for travel. I certainly support children having access to a phone for safety reasons, but it does not need to be a smartphone or a phone with any internet access, for that matter. Having a phone that can ring limited numbers is more than sufficient for safety. There are also third-party providers that can provide safety filtering for home and mobile devices. Several years ago, I trialled Family Zone, an Australian filter service that was excellent as it provided parent-controlled filter levels for home networks and mobile devices. I am sure there are many more available now. As a minimum, I implore parents to have a look at the research on online access and associated risks. There are some excellent resources available for parents on the eSafety Commission website, Dolly’s Dream website and on the Family Zone website. Please have open conversations with your children about online safety and cyberbullying, and do not hesitate to contact the school if your child is the victim of inappropriate online behaviour or cyberbullying.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/cyberbullying https://dollysdream.org.au/ https://www.familyzone.com/

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Uniform Presentation

Over the past few weeks, we have been reinforcing expected uniform standards for Junior School students. Of particular focus has been the tucking in of shirts, shoes polished, top buttons done up and hair tied back off the face. Some of our students have been saying that their top buttons are too tight. This is often an indication that they do not like the feeling of shirts being done up rather than the shirt being too tight. However, we ask parents to check their child’s shirts for appropriate fit. Children will not be permitted to have top buttons undone as it contravenes the Uniform policy. We would appreciate parents supporting us as we strive for excellence in uniform presentation.

https://www.girton.vic.edu.au/images/Girton-Uniform-Booklet-March-2022.pdf

5M Poetry

The students of 5M investigated how writing poetry enables us to express our feelings on a subject and find meaning in our experiences. They learned about different text features of poems and experimented with a range of literary devices such as ‘mood’, ‘repetition’ and ‘alliteration’. The students used this knowledge to write their personal poems connected to the theme of ‘Belonging’.

NAPLAN

Over the past fortnight, our Year 3 and Year 5 students completed the National Assessment Program in Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The bulk of the testing was completed last week with some children who were away catching up on tests this week. This year all of the testing was completed online. The aim of the testing is to provide the school with some general feedback on the performance of our students against national minimum standards. The results will be released later in the year and parents will be sent a copy of their child’s individual results.

Divisional Cross Country

On Friday 6th May, 57 of our Junior School students represented Girton at the Goldfields and Sandhurst Divisional Cross Country. The day is attended by thousands of primary school students around the region. Students ran a circuit around the Bendigo Jockey Club from 1km to 3km depending on the age group. Congratulations to the following students who will now go on to represent Girton Grammar School at the Regional Cross Country in St Arnaud.

9/10 Boys

William Martin (4 Jones)

11 Boys

Blake Bickley (5 Aherne)

11 Girls

Lucy Richard (5 Riley), Maya Dhanapala (5 Riley) and Alicia Crowley (5 Jones)

12/13 Boys

Hugh Casey (6 Frew)

Exam Stress