Junior School

This week we saw the return of our families to our learning spaces. Students, guests and teachers were humming as our students shared their learning and toured their special guests around their classrooms. For some families, this is the first time they have had the opportunity to visit their child's learning space and had a real experience with the learning. Our Year 5 leaders excelled as they ushered guests to their children, setting the tone for an organised, impactful and memorable morning. It was a wonderful moment for us to showcase the strength of our school leaders from across the cohort. As always, they inspire me with their leadership skills, public speaking and the excitement they bring.

Success is ours to achieve and what a success our Open Morning was. We look forward to the coming semester where there will be more experiences like this to come.

Shelley Parkes

Head of Junior School

During Week 8, our Junior School will be emersed in Hands-On Math. The mathematics focus will encompass many elements of numeracy within a central idea. 

The topics are student-centred and have evolved through student interest. We investigate, apply and create to discover how mathematics forms part of our everyday life and is a lifelong skill to consolidate and build on. 

Jo Boaler, professor of mathematics education at Stanford University, author of The Elephant in the Classroom and founder of youcubed, agrees that using fingers and other props are an important tool for children who are mastering maths. 

‘Any physical manipulative can help students understand mathematics, including counting on fingers,’ she says. 

Jo advocates that visual and physical tools can be helpful long beyond the early years and can actually give your child’s learning a boost. ‘Some of the world’s top mathematicians work only visually,’ she explains. ‘The latest brain research tells us that when students think about mathematics visually, they are using different brain pathways than when they think numerically, and when they think both numerically and visually, learning increases.’

It’s not just fingers that can help your child master maths; puzzles, games and even the environment can all be used to good effect. 

We look forward to our mathematics exploration and connecting our previously learnt concepts to our central focus.

The title focuses for each year group are:

Engage Phase 

Prep – All about Oranges

Year 1 – Let’s Go Shopping

Year 2 – What’s in a Shape?

Explain Phase

Year 3 – Garden Design 

Elaborate Phase 

Year 4 – Chocolate Crackles

Year 5 – Trip Around The World

Sarah Caffrey

Head of Curriculum Junior School