Junior School News

From the Head of Junior School

The recent return to the cold, wet weather made me think about my summer holidays as a child. No, I didn’t spend my summer holidays in either of the polar circles. Far from it. Most of my summer holidays were spent in a beachside caravan park exploring beach caves, fishing, diving or paddling the surf ski out to the islands just offshore. Summers were generally sunshine filled days and cool nights but occasionally the weather would turn and we would get a couple of cold wet days. While it meant no fishing or ocean bound activities it provided an excuse to spend hours indulging in one of my favourite childhood pastimes. I would dig a trench around my tent to divert the water and then hunker down on the camp stretcher under my sleeping bag and lose myself in books. Famous Five, Tolkien, Reader’s Digest, Commando or Gunsmoke magazines, whatever I could access from the local corner store or second hand shop would be eagerly devoured. Regardless of what the weather was doing outside the tent, inside I would be happily visiting whatever vista the author was describing. Watching the rain outside my office while I sat warm inside took me back to those times when wet weather meant guilt free reading marathons. 

As adults, spending time reading for pleasure is often very low on our list of priorities. Perhaps we should reframe it from a guilty indulgence to important modelling for our children. A 2018 research study by Hilhorst, Lockey and Speight found that reading for pleasure increases phonics and writing ability, improves spelling, increases vocabulary and improves reading confidence. It can also increase empathy and improve relationships with others as well as improving general mental health and wellbeing.  Rather than feeling guilty for taking time out of our busy lives to enjoy a good book, perhaps we should see it as an investment in developing a love of reading for pleasure in our children. Perhaps this weekend would be a good time to sit in front of the fire (or under the doona) and indulge in some recreational reading time as a family.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

The Whole World In Their Hands

Girton Grammar Junior School students enjoyed a celebration of world cultures at the Girton Grammar Junior School International Day this Friday, 12th August. 

Mr Don Thompson, said that young people are naturally inclusive and celebrating culture helps them to remain open-minded and curious about the world around them. 

“Young children love opportunities to immerse in learning outside the classroom, and International Day will give them a fun opportunity to explore another culture. 

“Students were invited to wear costumes that represent a culture of their choice, and students have relished this opportunity to dress up and have fun. 

“Throughout the day, the students participated in various cultural activities, including a Taiko drumming demonstration, Bollywood dancing, Japanese origami, French petanque, Chinese character writing and Indian rangoli decorations. Crepes and Bento boxes will no doubt be popular lunch choices,” Mr Thompson said. 

More than thirty languages are spoken at home within the Girton Grammar School community, with students from 29 different countries of birth. Inclusion is one of the school’s core values. International Day is being revitalized after several years of hiatus, and Junior School parents have been involved in preparing for the day. 

“It was wonderful to come together in this positive celebration of all that makes our school and the wider community culturally interesting, richer and, therefore, stronger,” Mr Thompson said. 

VSFM: Performance Choir

On Monday 1st August, the Junior School performance Choir performed at the Victorian Schools Music Festival. It has been years since this choir has performed on stage and while we were nervous we did ourselves proud and were awarded Gold. Comments from the judges include: ‘…the presentation was outstanding’, ‘great repertoire’, and ‘a very entertaining performance’. We are so happy to be out and about and making music in the broader community again. 

Parent Reading Evening 

Thank you to the parents who took time out of their busy routines to attend our parent reading information evening. The aim of the evening was to provide parents with ideas for building positive reading habits at home. We were very fortunate to have reading consultant Sarah Mayor Cox introduce the session and share some great strategies for promoting reading comprehension and a general love of reading with children. Classroom teachers are very familiar with Sarah’s Three Sharings strategy and how useful it is when discussing reading in the class but parents were also thankful for Sarah’s discussion on how it could be used at home as a family prompt for engaging in discussions about books that children have been reading. Parents who were unable to attend the event can speak with their classroom teachers for more information about the 3 Sharings Strategies and other ways of encouraging discussion about reading at home.    

PARENTING IDEAS: Strategies to encourage listening in your kids

If you pause and do a small audit of how well your children listen, you might be pleasantly surprised. Unless you are responding to a child with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, you’ll probably discover that your child does listen. Regularly. Consistently. And well.

So pause and consider when they do and when they don’t. You may find that things are going better than you thought. But… we all want to do things a little better.

So let’s consider the following 3 strategies to build and encourage listening in our children:

#1 Gentle Reminders

Call your child by name. Look at them and quietly remind them of the issue that’s requiring focus. The fewer words you use the better. Two is ideal. For example, "Your bedroom", "Your stinky socks", "The dishes", and so on. Say please, and smile kindly.

#2 Work on it together

Being told to go and carry out a task alone can feel both isolating and punishing. Often the tasks we ask our children to complete can also feel overwhelming, even when it’s within their capability to complete.

You’ll often find that you don’t need to do much while you’re "working together". Sometimes simply being present, talking, and offering gentle guidance (like humorously saying, "what are the first three things you’re going to put away in this catastrophe of a bedroom?") is enough to get them going.

#3 Context

Your child might be perfectly capable of going to bed on time most nights, but on a sleepover night (or some other major event), the context changes. Demanding perfect behaviour at a funeral might make sense and be a sign of respect, but if they’re grieving and confused, or if all of their cousins are there and they’re excited, we might need to adjust our expectations. Requiring our children to listen to us the same way in every context is akin to expecting our children to act like robots. Be mindful of context.

Junior School Ensembles Spectacular

Girton's Got Heart