Junior School update

Acknowledgement of Country 

The Year 6 students participated in a discussion of the intentions and thinking behind the practice of acknowledging country and then created their own acknowledgements. The following was written by Stella and Sylvie, who read it out in our Junior School assembly on Friday: 

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land - the Boonwurrung country. We thank them for taking care of this land in which we enrich our learning. We respect the fact that they were the first people to live here, and pay our respects to the elders past, present and emerging. 

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing concludes this week, and we are very proud of the Year 3 and 5 students for the calm, sensible and positive manner with which they completed these tests over the last two weeks. After their final test, students were given a sweet treat and reminded that tests like these don’t measure important qualities such as kindness, creativity, curiosity and passion. 

Easter service and Easter hat parade

Parents are invited to join the Junior School at their Easter service on Friday 31 March from 2.00pm at Oaktree Church, where the students will present an Easter drama performance, followed by a parade to showcase the magnificent Easter hats they have created in their specialist art sessions. 

Monogram madness

In Year 6 Visual art, we have been exploring colour and line through layered mono-prints. We learned to design and create multi-layered prints using stencil and trace mono printing techniques. Through the process we learnt and had our patience, resilience and problem solving skills tested. We hope you enjoy all the effort we put into our monograms. 

Camp preparation

Early in Term 2 (1-4 May) the Year 5 and 6 students will be going on camp to Anglesea Valley Lodge. Over the next few weeks, it may be helpful for parents to begin preparing their children to spend time away from home by opening up discussions about things such as: 

• The venue – have a look at the accommodation, dining room and some of the activities via this video (Note – our students will not be doing all the activities in the video because some of these are for senior school students only.) 
• The activities: climbing wall & low ropes; body boarding; canoeing; beach sports; bushwalking; campfire 
• What to do if they feel overwhelmed or anxious 
• What to do if they feel they might not manage the activities  
• What to do if they can’t sleep 

Career Allsorts Exhibition  

On Wednesday 8 March, several budding artists from Years 4, 5 and 6 attended the Career Allsorts Exhibition. They were all so proud to see the artwork they created in an exhibition space at The District Docklands. The opening night was an exciting affair with students from a variety of schools across Melbourne. This link will take you to the Shelford section of the virtual exhibition. Finally, below is a link to a short video from the Career Allsorts Exhibition opening night. Thank you to Milly W in Year 6 for your contribution to the video! 

STAV Science Talent Search 2023  

Students from Years 2 to 6 are invited to apply to participate in the 2023 Science Talent Search. Only a limited number of projects can be entered from Shelford so students need to submit a proposal that must include the category chosen, the title of the project and an outline of the project using dot points. Proposals need to be emailed to Miss Sidaway byFriday 19 May.Further details can be found on Shelly here. 

Important Dates 

Thursday March 30 

Parent – Teacher Conferences with Junior School Specialist Teachers. Classes finish at 12.40pm. Supervision will be provided until 3.15pm for students that cannot be collected at this time. 

Friday March 31 

Easter Service and Easter hat parade 2pm at Oaktree Church 

Junior School Disco 5.30pm -7.30pm! Please purchase your tickets here 

Saturday April 1

SPA Trivia Night - Please book your tickets here. 

Wednesday April 5 

Online Parent – Teacher Conferences with Junior School Specialist Teachers. Classes finish at 12.40pm. Supervision will be provided until 3.15pm for students that cannot be collected at this time. 

Thursday April 6 

Final day of Term 1. Classes finish at usual time. 

Vicky Gemmell

Head of Junior School – Student Wellbeing and Development

Jacqui Sidaway

Head of Junior School – Curriculum and Innovation