Junior School News

From the Head of Junior School

Well, here we are again. Not the news we were looking for to end the week but also not totally unexpected. While none of us look forward to going back to remote learning, last year prepared us well and, hopefully, these interruptions to our normal routine will be short and pass quickly. Our teachers have worked hard with little notice once again to ensure that our students could switch to remote learning today. Each class will have received updates from the teacher with outlines for the daily classes, resources and meeting times. Every Junior School class will have a scheduled Zoom meeting at 8.45am where the teacher will check in and go over the lessons for the day. The format will be similar to the last lockdown with core lessons in the morning and Specialist or project-based lessons after lunch. Parents who need assistance can contact Junior School Reception on 03 44085919 and we will be happy to help.

Parents who are essential service workers can register their children to attend school next week while the lockdown is still in place. The registration link is:

https://astra.girton.vic.edu.au/survey/intro/1197

Students attending school onsite are asked to bring in the work packs and the resources that they have been provided. They will be working in year level groups with assistance from the staff supervising. Students may wear neat casual clothes and will be completing the classwork assigned and attending their Zoom lessons from school. 

Once again I thank our parents, students and staff for their patience and commitment to making the best of our 4th round of remote learning. We look forward to seeing everyone back on campus soon.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Cross Country

The Junior School Cross Country was the last of our House Carnivals for the year. As always, it was great to see students supporting each other to reach their goal of running 1, 2 or 3km.  All competitors who finished contributed to their House points as did the top 10 place getters with bonus points.  It was a close contest on the day and we just made it through all age groups before getting rained out towards the end of the carnival. Congratulations is extended to Jenkin House for taking out the House Cup for the day.   

Congratulations also to the Age Champions of each age group and podium finishes. 

Preparatory: Narrative writing

Preps are learning how to write narrative stories.  They were given a picture and asked to write a narrative to go with the prompt.

Gerald the Giraffe took his friends to the playground and they did flip backs

Marcus Leske (Jenkin)

Gerald the Giraffe took his friends to the show world. They had a snow ball fight

Ashton Jack (Jenkin)

Gerald the Giraffe took his friends to Disneyland. They played lazer tag.

Mac Doherty (Millward)

Gerald the Giraffe took his friends to Bunnings and they bought rat traps

Louis McIntyre (Riley)

Gerald the Giraffe took his friends to the pool. They went on the slide.

Ava Clarke (Aherne)

Year One: Creating Illustrations 

Year One students were given a sentence and asked to create an illustration following their discussion group. 

One day the heavy wooden door slowly began to open with a groan……..

What was behind the door? 

Year Two: Excursion to Lauriston & Malmsbury Reservoir

On Thursday the 13th of May, Year Two students visited Lauriston and Malmsbury reservoirs.  At Lauriston reservoir, the group were met by the reservoir keepers, who provided tours in two groups. The children were permitted to walk along the bridge and view the water spilling over the catchment. They were also given the opportunity to see this from the bottom of the reservoir. 

The second part of the excursion was to Malmsbury to see the reservoir and spillway. A highlight for many students was sitting in the spillway (without water) and imagining what it would be like after a significant downpour of rain. 

The final destination for the day was Malmsbury Botanic Gardens for lunch. Students enjoyed playing on the playground and avoiding the hungry ducks! 

In the following weeks, the Year Two students will be creating a three-dimensional model to show how water travels from the reservoir to our taps, after experiencing this concept on the excursion.  This excursion was the culmination of study of the Water topic this semester and an incursion with Coliban Water earlier in Term Two.

Mrs Catherine Stagg

Teacher of 2D

We went on an hour and 8 minute drive on the bus. It was very boring!  We drove to Joseph Brady's system of water works from the Coliban River. When we got out we had recess.  I went in a  group down under a bridge and they opened a gate.  It was amazing! Water sprayed up high, it was very cool but cold so I sat down on a seat.  Then it was my turn to go up onto the bridge. I had a group photo up there. 

We went on the bus again bus but not for as long to Malmsbury.  There we did our work sheet and then we went to Malmsbury's Botanical Gardens.  The geese chased me!  We had lunch there and it was fun.

Abraham Chapman (Riley)

We went to Lauriston and had a tour two times and also had a snack.  We asked questions about the tour. Then we went to Malmsbury where we had another tour.  We had lunch and it was great fun.

Marceline Ritchie (Frew)

On Thursday we sat on the bus for an hour to see Lauriston reservoir. We saw water going down the wall and through the pipes.  When the gates opened, water rushed out. It was so cool!  Then we sat on the bus for half an hour to Malmsbury.  When we got there we worked on our booklet.  When we finished we had fun.

P.S. the goose chased us!

Katherine Morsillo (Riley)

On Thursday we went to Lauriston Reservoir and Malmsbury on a bus. In Lauriston we walked on the gates and we saw the gates open and we saw heaps of water spilling out of the gates. It was very cold and so windy it nearly blew me over. Before we went on the gates, we had a morning snack. Then we got back on the bus and went to Malmsbury spillway. We did some work there and the work was fun! I saw a cool mower even though it wasn’t about the excursion. Then we went to the Botanic Gardens and ate our lunch. We played on the playground and I played tiggy. After that we got back on the bus and it rained. We finally got back to school and mum picked me up.

James Dalton (Frew)

On Thursday we went to Lauriston Reservoir. We saw a lot of water. We even saw the gates open and a lot of water came out. We got to go up on the bridge. It was really windy. We got to go down and watch the gate open too. It was even more windy. I couldn’t keep my hands out of my jumper. Then we had a really nice lady named Kate. She told us all about the reservoir.

April Theobald (Jenkin)

Year Three: Friendships

In 3D, we have been learning about friendships and how to be a good friend. We played a version of Snakes and Ladders. You can only reach the finish line by looking after your friendships. At the end of the lesson, we listened to a funny story called ‘I Just Ate My Friend.’ We decided it is probably not a good idea to eat your friends! 

Mrs Erin Moss

Teacher of 3D

Year Four: Palmers Gym program

ASTRA Tip: Finding contact details of other parents

Did you know you can look up the contact details of other parents in your year level?  There is an icon on the homepage of Astra called Parent Contacts.  You can choose to share certain contact details here with other parents in your year level.  This will in turn show you who else has chosen to share their details. 

MND Fundraiser

As an SRC Fundraiser initiative this semester I came up with an idea to make Dog Bandanas and use the funds raised to donate to MND.  With a few other Year 4 friends we made the Dog Bandanas and sold them at recess. We sold 55 bandanas to the Girton Community, friends and family. Our dogs looking adorable in their new bandanas. We have raised $275 to donate to MND.

Thank-you to everyone who purchased a dog Bandana. It is fantastic to see our fur babies looking so adorable.

Bella Canobie (4 Jones)

How to Give Feedback for Improvement: by Michael Grose, Parenting Ideas

It can be tempting to allow children to continue to behave badly or to perform chores, homework or sports practice poorly when they argue or resist feedback. Parents need to be part coach, teacher and counsellor so that kids learn how to behave well, develop healthy attitudes to learning and know how to get the best out of themselves. Feedback is one of the most effective tools we have to achieve this. Give it poorly and it will at best be ignored and at worst, rupture relationships and damage self-worth. If you provide feedback effectively, you’ll see improvement in behaviour, attitudes and learning, even among feedback resistant teens.

Here’s how to deliver feedback to make sure it sticks.

Make it specific

It’s absolutely essential to give feedback about one behaviour, skill or attitude at a time, if you want improvement. “Jai, if you make eye contact with your brother when you talk to him, he’s more likely to listen to you.” The feedback needs to be specific rather generalised so that a child or teen knows exactly how to do better. It also needs to be delivered in a non-judgemental way.

Ensure it’s descriptive

“That’s not the way to behave inside” doesn’t help much. “Use your quiet voice when you play inside the house” cues a child into how to behave. Use phrases and terms that have real meaning for kids rather than vague, non-descriptive language such as ‘be a good girl’, so kids not only know what’s expected but they understand how to meet your expectations.

It’s got to be timely

Providing feedback to a toddler half an hour after they’ve thrown a tantrum in public will ensure there’s no impact. On the other hand, providing behavioural feedback when a teenager is angry will ensure one thing – you’ll have an argument on your hands. Feedback needs to be fairly immediate for young children and if possible, provided before an event or activity. “When you set the table put the fork on this side and the knife on the other.” Choose the time and place to provide feedback to older children, remembering that angry tweens and teens generally don’t listen.

Give from a place of calm

Angry parents generally deliver feedback poorly to kids. Regardless of how well you choose your words and how accurate your feedback may be, feedback delivered angrily will prompt the flight/fight response from a child or young person. They will ignore you or start an argument, but they won’t take your message on board when you’re mad at them.

Give sparingly

When children require approval for every scribble, homework problem and picture they draw, it’s probably because they have always been offered feedback on every scribble, homework problem and picture they draw. It’s vital that children develop their own internal sense of validation and honest self-assessment, because as they grow up and face hardship, they need to be able to look to themselves for strength and approval. If they can’t, they will be much more vulnerable to superficial external approval that comes their way in the form of peer pressure, bullying and the usual social jostling. As you wean them off of your feedback, turn their “Mummy, is this picture good?” or “Dad, did I do a good job?” back on them, and ask them how they feel about their work.

Feedback is a wonderful parenting tool that requires attention to detail, sensitivity and a willingness to respect the dignity of the child or young person who is receiving it. It’s also most effective when given sparingly, rather than like a nervous tic, which keeps kids anchored to you for approval.