From the Junior School

Welcome Back to Term Two

A big welcome back to Term Two. I trust all our Myrniong families enjoyed some quality time together over the Easter holidays.  Term One was certainly an action-packed nine weeks, and we were all feeling a little drained at its conclusion.  My family and I travelled back to New Zealand for 10 days and enjoyed Te Waipounamu - the South Island, and all its natural wonders.  

In the last newsletter of Term One I referenced ‘Ikigai’, the Japanese notion of having a purpose or reason for being.  There are ten principles that underpin ‘Ikigai’. I was reflecting towards the end of our family holiday on how many of these we had ticked off. The answer was most, although being honest, number 3 was a challenge.

1. Stay active

2. Take it slow

3. Don’t overeat

4. Surround yourself with friends

5. Exercise daily

6. Smile more

7. Reconnect with nature

8. Express gratitude

9. Live in the moment

10. Like your ikigai

I see our challenge as attempting to imbed as many of these 10 principles into our daily lives at school and work.  Hopefully, it will allow us all to have that reason for getting up each day and increasing our reason for being. 

Teaching Students on Placement in Term Two

This term we welcome five student teachers to Myrniong.  We are very pleased that they have chosen our school for their placements, and we wish them all a rewarding experience at the Junior School.

• Toby Hawthorne - Year 6
• Tzu Winstanley - Year 2
• Sarah Lynch - Prep
• Richard Weisbach - Early Learning Centre
• Scarlett van Wegen - Learning Support in Year 1 and Year 2

House Cross Country

The third and final House sports competition for 2023 is our House Cross Country. This will be held next Monday, 1st May at the Parklands Golf Club.  We will commence with the 12/13yo events at 9.30 am, with age groups following approximately every 15 minutes.  Students will run a course that will lap up and down holes 16 and 17 . Early Learning Centre Piccino and Prep students will run 500m, 7 and 8 year old students 1000m, 9 and 10 years old students 2000m and 11/12/13 years old students 3000m.  We are delighted that we are again able to invite parents to come and support our runners on the day.

Best of luck to all competitors. 

Hamilton ANZAC Day March

A big thank you to all the Prep to Year 6 students who marched in the Hamilton ANZAC Day Service. It was wonderful to see the Junior School students in their uniforms and joining our Senior School contingent in representing College on this special day.

Premier's Reading Challenge and Children's Reading

There are approximately 135 days left in the 2023 Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge.  I know many Junior School families have logged books and are encouraging their children to complete the required reading.  An article in last Saturday’s The Age highlighted the challenges we have as teachers and parents to instil a love of reading in our children.  Catherine Naylor quotes some alarming data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

• The portion of children aged 5 to 14 who read in their spare time has fallen by more than 6 percentage points in four years, from 78.5% to 72.4%.
• Only 68% of boys aged 5-14 read for enjoyment.
• The number of children spending 20 hours or more a week on a screen has jumped from 16% to 24%.

As the opportunities for children to be online grows, the need for schools and parent to help children rediscover the joy of reading and books is of the upmost importance. 

Hockey

This weekend sees the commencement of the 2023 GRHA Hockey Season.  A warm welcome to all new families to hockey.  A reminder that College players must be registered with Hockey Vic prior to Round 1. Please check uniform requirements as all players must have the socks for their team.  Shirts will be distributed at training or school prior to Round 1. 

Matches for this weekend.

Division 5: College Black Panthers v Coleraine Gold - 1.30 pm at Pedrina Park

Division 5: College Tigers v Dunkeld - 2.30 pm at Pedrina Park

Division 4: College Wolves v Dunkeld - 12.30 pm at College Field

Division 4: College Foxes (Bye)

We do have room for a couple more players in Division 5.  If you are interested in your child playing hockey, please contact Mr. Nelson. snelson@hamiltoncollege.vic.edu.au

Stephen Nelson

Head of Junior School