Junior School 

From the Head of Junior School

Firstly, I extend my genuine gratitude to all for your support over the past week. 

Last week was peppered with updates on school operational processes (drop-off/pick-ups, masks etc…), event and co-curricular adjustments in response to Government advice. Our ability to implement these new processes and accommodate the adjustments so swiftly as a community was wonderful. Sincerely, thank you. 

Honestly, even amidst all the updates, it’s been a smooth start to the year for the Junior School. The students are settling into their classes brilliantly. I can already see classrooms have been personalised with student work and little features to make the space their own, which is perfect!

At this phase of the term, we’ve established some core routines with students around starting the day, managing our belongings (bags, diaries, water bottles, other class materials) and working together in our lessons. In the weeks to come we build on these routines with specific age-appropriate learning habits, which for an ECC class might be transitioning between tasks or for older age groups, how they review and implement feedback. My point for sharing this is to highlight the value of routines for children, but indeed for all of us actually. I suspect that 2022 might involve a number of updates, adjustments and accommodations in our lives, which I am confident we can all make successfully, and even more so when we have the reliability of key routines in our day. 

Establishing routines consumes energy and time initially, but in the long run they save us energy and time, which is definitely worth the initial investment. I welcome families to talk with their children around the daily routines they are building at school, this will help reinforce their value and build student agency which is their ability to act with independence and purpose.  

Horizons 

Last week we launched our first series of Horizons activities with ECC students enjoying Dance and Lego options while Years Three to Six students enjoyed Fitness Circuits and Mandarin options. Horizons are special interest activities available to all students in the Junior School and operate on a Wednesday afternoon after school until 4.30pm. Each term we will offer a new range of activities for students to participate in. It was wonderful to see so many students engaging with the programme. Whether the activity is already a passion for them, or its an activity they are just trying out for the first time, Horizons is an excellent way for students to connect with other students who share an interest in a particular topic. We look forward to seeing this programme develop throughout the year. The proposed activities for Term Two and beyond include Drama, Coding, Sewing and Orienteering to name a few.

Upcoming Assemblies

Starting next week we plan to offer online assemblies with pre-recorded material to share at our regular assembly time of 2.20pm on a Friday. Assemblies will be held fortnightly and will follow a similar structure to our on-campus assemblies with House Captains hosting, National Anthem and Acknowledgement of Country, class items, musical items, snapshots from around the campus and Merit Award certificates. Whilst we won’t be able to host on-campus assemblies in the near future, we feel providing an online assembly format will maintain the structure of our week for students and provide a regular connection point for families to see what’s happening around the Junior School. 

Videos will be posted to MyGSG in the Junior School Information section within a document folder labelled Assemblies. 

With warm regards, 

Mr Ken Raven | Head of Junior School