Head of Junior School 

The end of 2022 is upon us! I would like to express how incredibly proud I am of our Junior School community. 

I would like to thank you, our wonderful parent community for your continued support of our staff and most importantly your boys, who you entrust into our care each day. From being a member of the Parents and Friend's Association; coach or manager of a sport team (and we have many); attending an excursion, information evenings, learning plan meetings, parent teacher evenings; for listening, being patient, for dropping in to see us to have a conversation; it all adds up, so thank you.

We are sad to see those families leave whose time at the Junior School has come to an end. We will hopefully see you in the years to come as the boys continue out to the secondary campus. 

I would like to thank the tireless, dedicated efforts of our staff. Many hours of work go on behind the scenes to help make a school run smoothly. We have a wonderful team here at the Junior Campus, from Mrs Gina Graves in maintenance to Mrs Olga Leon and Mrs Michelle Moate in the office, our Student Pastoral Care team, our teaching staff and Learning Support Officers.

Finally, we would like to wish all our families from Kinder through to Grade 6 a safe and relaxing holiday break. Enjoy celebrating the coming of Christ the King with your families. We look forward to the return of our boys to school in 2023. Preps, Grade 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 all commence on Friday February 3. Kindergarten students commence on the following Monday. 

Staff Farewell

Sadly, we need to bid farewell to some of our staff members. Mr Eric Monaghan will be returning to Immaculate Heart, Susie Allan will be taking up a Japanese role at MCC, Mrs Anne Marie McLennan is leaving our Tasmanian shores to return to her home state of QLD, and finally, Mrs Julene Bednall is retiring. We would like to thank them for their dedicated contributions to SVC for the period of time they have been with us. We wish them a fond farewell and good luck for their future endeavours. 

Grade 6 Thanksgiving and Prizegiving

This week we gave thanks to our Grade 6 students in a beautiful liturgy, who have completed their time at the Junior School and will be moving on to commence their secondary schooling in 2023. We would like to wish them and their families all the best as they move to this next exciting chapter in their lives. 

The annual Grade 6 Prizegiving was held after the liturgy. Below are the Major Award Winners.

End of Year Assembly

On Wednesday this week we gathered as a Junior School for our annual End of Year Assembly. The assembly was full of musical items which delighted the audience from Kindergarten, Prep, Grade 3 and 4 students, as well as our Junior Choir. The assembly also included class and specialist certificates for students in all classes. It was a wonderful celebration to end the year on.

Parents and Friend's Association

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Mrs Tara Barton, the outgoing President of the Parents and Friends Association. Mrs Barton has been a wonderful person at the helm of the Committee. We have enjoyed many meetings, hosting and organising events together. Ms Carissa Briggs, Treasurer, and Mrs Angela McManamey, both Grade 6 parents will also be leaving the Junior P&F. Mrs Julie Pepperrell is also stepping down as Secretary. Thank you ladies for your time served on the committee, your energy, ideas and commitment to the school community. I would also like to extend a thank you to all other parents who served on the committee this year. We look forward to your return next year.

Thank you to the many families who supported our Christmas raffle by either donating an item or bought tickets. The money raised from the raffle was: $2,413. 

Prize winners are listed below. These may be collected from the Junior School office..

Bethlehem House Christmas gifts

Early this week, we welcomed Jeff Bednall from Bethlehem House for our annual Christmas gift giving. The significance of our support of the men of Bethlehem House means a lot to our boys. This is the 14th year we have asked for donations to provide gifts for the many homeless men of Hobart. Jeff, who is the case worker, told the boys how much their gifts mean, as many of these men do not have any family at all. We were overwhelmed with the donations this year. A big thank you to for supporting this cause once again. We continue with the message that we are ‘boys supporting men’ and it is very important to us to assist people in our local community.

Last Day: Friday December 9

Tomorrow, we will be heading out for a picnic day at Tynwald Park, New Norfolk. This is a change from Wentworth Park, which was the original plan. Back at school, as is tradition here, at the Junior Campus, 2.45 pm, the boys in Grades 3, 4 and 5 will form a Guard of Honour for the Grade 6 boys to farewell them. The Grade 6 students will then congregate on the futsal court and chant the St Virgil’s College War Cry. 

Kindergarten Nativity

The Kindergarten students put on a performance of the Nativity story at St Joseph’s Church for their families. After much practice and preparation, the boys were very excited about performing and singing the many songs that help tell the story of that first Christmas day.  In class we read stories about the birth of Jesus and investigated the meanings behind the traditions of Christmas.  We discovered what it was like when Jesus was born and where he was born. The boys shared the story with joy and delight.  With the telling of this special story we wished all our families and the extended college community a very happy Christmas.

Interschool Chess Tournament

On Thursday December 1, the Junior School hosted a Black Square Chess Interschool Chess Tournament in our hall.  Over 100 students from ten different schools filled the hall to compete in six rounds of chess.  Eleven of our own Chess Club students participated and the St Virgil's team came a creditable fifth in their very first interschool tournament.  

Black Square Chess has been a wonderful addition to our co-curricular offerings this year, and we are very excited to be continuing with James next year.  If your son has an interest in chess, look out for the sign-up information early next year.  

Triathlon

Last Friday, 49 boys competed in the Primary Schools Triathlon at Bellerive. We had many boys entered into the individual event, with Alex Pritchard, Finlay Child and Alex Mizzen all placing in the top 10 of their respective grades. There were plenty of teams entered across each grade, with everybody showing great sportsmanship towards each other. The boys cheered, helped, encouraged, and supported each other at every leg change. Special mention to Tom Wilson and Tom Splann for stepping up and filling in additional roles for absent boys on the day. Special mention to Tom Wilson for competing in the individual event, and two legs in the team event. It was an excellent day had by all. A big thanks to Mrs Karryn McCullagh for all her preparation around. Thank you to Miss Mikayla Lack and Mrs Nicole Read for looking after the boys on the day.

State Basketball Tournament

On the weekend, our Grade 5/6 team travelled to Launceston to represent the South in the State Primary Basketball Tournament. The team had a tough draw in their pool, their first game being against the number one team from the North. They had wins over Ulverstone and Howrah, and some very inspired efforts against the tall timbers from Sacred Heart Launceston and Burnie Primary. They are to be commended for never giving up and showing a high level of sportsmanship towards their teammates and opposition. A big thank you to Kylie Anderson and James Nadler for coaching the boys all term. The boys certainly learned a lot from the two coaches on the weekend.

Christmas Activities

On Monday, 6L had a day full of Christmas cooking and craft. They were busy chefs making rocky road, chocolate balls and gingerbread men. They even managed to not lick their fingers until after all the cooking was done! The boys also spent time learning how to use a sewing machine and made Christmas stockings or wheat packs. Hopefully some family members will be getting some wonderful homemade Christmas presents this year! A big thank you to Mrs Julia Denniss for preparing all the gingerbread dough for us, and to Mrs Mikayla Lack for coming in to help with the sewing.

Facebook Pages

Prior to the start of the 2023 school year, we will be undertaking a review of how the College currently use Facebook pages and groups, particularly the grade groups for the Junior School and the former whole Junior School Facebook group. Many of these were implemented with the introduction to COVID and provided an additional means of communication. As we use SeeSaw for classroom-based communication, and EdSmart and The Star for broader Junior School information, we will be assessing if these groups are still required. We understand that Grade group pages provide a way to connect to other parents and these could continue, being privately run as some were previously.

Please submit any feedback about the use of Facebook groups and pages by Tuesday January 10 to Shelley Medhurst, Marketing Manager, smedhurst@stvirgils.tas.edu.au. 

Parliament And Civics Education

Students from our school have recently undertaken an education tour of the nation's capital. Students have been given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of  $300 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

Photo Gallery of Recent Junior School Activities