Captains' and Prefects' Induction

On Monday this week, I was honoured to induct our Year 6 students into their leadership roles. We inducted our Captains, House Captains and Performing Arts Captains, along with our Year 6 students who are involved in Well-being, Service and Sustainability teams. All of our Year 6 students take seriously their role as leaders of the Junior School and their service is greatly appreciated by staff and students. It was wonderful to celebrate this milestone with them.

On Thursday I also inducted our Year 4 School Leaders at Springwood. The Year 4 children at Springwood courageously undertook a very similar process to those students who lead in Year 6. I was very proud of the commitment and dedication of our Springwood students and again congratulate Poppy Rogers and Hugo Courtemanche, who have been elected by their peers, to lead the students at our Springwood campus.

We have celebrated and fundraised for the McGrath Foundation this week, with a pink-themed day on Wednesday. Students and staff dressed in pink (some head to toe!) and enjoyed treats at recess, helpfully provided by our Parents and Friends Association. The pink treats were delicious and very much appreciated by the children. Students at both Wentworth Falls and Springwood enjoyed games of cricket at lunchtime to get into the spirit of the day. The money raised through mufti, our treat stalls and the added donations of generous families all go towards supporting research and care for people with breast cancer. An incredibly worthy cause.

Our well-being focus this week continued our theme of “What makes a Grammar kid?” with Stage 1 Wirambi (JSW) and Kinder Ngaradyiwu (JSS) sharing on the idea that I am kind. These classes shared so beautifully on this topic, delving in and thinking deeply about what this virtue. Speaking about these topics together is just the starting point – teachers and staff continue to discuss what’s learned in classrooms and in the playground, which is often where deep character and social learning happens. Learning is definitely not just about Reading, Writing and Maths – it’s so very much more than that, and we consider it a privilege to help the children grow in every area.

Parking and Traffic – Junior School Wentworth Falls

Thank you again to all of the parents who are taking care with parking and driving around the Junior School. Thank you for your respect of the following:

Using the Kiss n Drop zone in the morning, as children are dropped off quite sporadically
Parking in our car park, or across the road for afternoon pick up. This avoids a long line of traffic trying to access Kiss n Drop, and holding up traffic on Matcham Avenue
Using Kiss n Drop in the afternoons, ONLY when most children have been picked up
Taking car when driving around children, and when and crossing roads

I am aware that some of our families have not felt safe crossing the road, or picking up children, as some people drive too fast and carelessly. Many of these drivers are picking up Senior students, and I have passed on recent concerns to the executive. We will be monitoring the safety of the pick up zones, and again thank you for your care and willingness to work with the staff as we work together for a safe (and efficient) pick up.

Mrs Rachael Newton

Head of Junior School

Junior School Basketball

Term 1 Weeks 3 and 4

Week 3

The BMGS Swish played the 6th placed Shootin Roos. Another dominant performance from the Swish. However, some confusion with the referees lead to some frustrating and interesting defensive rules being placed on the BMGS team, ultimately making the game closer than it should have been. Nevertheless, a good game and a good win.

Week 4

First played second in this intense showdown. The undefeated BMGS Swish faced off against their rivals and got off to a strong start. Leading 8 to 15 at half time, the Swish seemed in control of the game. Strong team defence and consistent offence put them even further up and they looked like a sure thing. But a late surge from the Sharp Shooters seemed to shell shock the Swish, who watched their lead quickly diminish. In the end, the push from the Sharp Shooters was not enough to overcome the lead that the Swish had created. Final score 22-24 with the Swish the winners.

Mr Dillon Hunter

Week 3 and 4

The BMGS Slam Dunks had a Bye in Week 2 and played the Swish Kebabs in Week 3. Unfortunately, Sophia and Carlia were absent but you wouldn’t have known; the girls still had an awesome game. The girls really wanted to score 10 points and they made it to 8 so they were super close. The girls keep improving their skills each week and it wasn’t just me who has noticed their improvement; the umpire for their game commented to me at the end of the match about how much improvement he has seen since the start of their season.

Mrs Raelene Lord

Week 3

The BMGS Raptors and BMGS Blue Whales played two mini games each during their one-hour session on Tuesday. With the BMGS Blue Whales having to borrow Sebastian O from the BMGS Raptors, they only had five players on the court. This was great for them all to get full games and thanks to Sebastian O for playing for them. The Blue Whales played really well and it was great to see lots of shots being taken but unfortunately, they were a bit off. Tremendous defending made for a lot of running up and down the court. Overall, they won one and lost one.

The BMGS Raptors had a great victory for their first game with a comfortable win. Thanks to Hugo’s mum Anneke for coaching them while I was coaching my team’s game. Their second game was very close but, unfortunately, they were unable to walk away with a win, which keeps the two BMGS teams even for wins and losses.

Week 4

Both of the Under 10s teams were skilled up in the area of getting space, when in both offense and defence, for the first ten minutes of their session on Tuesday. This is to try to teach the players to stay in their space, rather than following the ball around.

The BMGS Blue Whales were missing Hume this week but they did an awesome job of playing as a team to gain two victories and had a draw for one out of the three games they played. Harry Burgess was our sharp shooter this week and he was helped by awesome defence from Madeleine, Mariella and Dane. Robert and Hugo did well to be in the key as unopposed players ready for the sneaky pass as the ball was dribbled down. I was very impressed by their teamwork and they were deserving of their wins.

The BMGS Raptors were coached by Hugo’s mum Anneke and she too was very impressed by all of her players. Our newest player, Michael, enjoyed a bit of time with the ball and it is great to see his love for the game is getting stronger. The Raptors lost by one basket to the BMGS Whales, however, won their other two games.

All the games were very close with only a couple of baskets in the difference at the end of each game, which definitely makes for exciting games.

Mrs Lori Gerrard

REVIVE Youth Group

BMGS REVIVE Youth Group