Grade 6 Graduation

Last Thursday, our grade 6 cohort enjoyed a special graduation ceremony celebrating their final year at Brighton Primary School.  

You can view the graduation ceremony via this link.  Below are speeches given on the night by the School Captains, Aden and Emma, as well as, Principal Steve and Assistant Principal Joel.

Brighton Primary School

Grade 6 Graduation Speech

Thursday 10th December 2020

By Principal Steve Meade & Assistant Principal Joel Snowden

Good evening to our teachers, parents & families, students and in particular, our grade 6 students.

We want to start this Grade 6 celebration by conveying our sincere appreciation to the grade 6 teachers - Emma Devries, Ella Gillings, Billy Bennett and Kerry Timmins - who have completed outstanding work preparing our Grade 6 students in such a fine manner.

We would also like to acknowledge the support of Christie Walsh, Lynn Rush, Kelly Brentwood and Nish Kapoor who have also provided tremendous support to the grade 6 students and teachers this year.

And thank you also to Anna Maria Jones and Kt Goosey; our performing arts teachers for their amazing ‘behind the scenes work’ in supporting our grade 6 students and teachers this year. Thank you Anna Maria and Kt.

We’d like to give a shout out to all those watching via our streaming link at home. Who would’ve thought that would ever happen. Hopefully, you have a good connection and we look forward to our farewell assembly next week and seeing many of you in person. 

Thank you also to all other BPS teachers and staff in attendance tonight for your input into the lives of these fabulous young people sitting in the front rows as well as your commitment to their education focused on the development of the whole child.

To the Class of 2020:

Wash your hands! Sanitise! Keep your distance! 

As we gaze out upon this incredibly talented class of 2020, we are also reminded what a challenging last year of Primary School you have all encountered this year.  In schools, we often talk about ‘out in the real world’ Well, it doesn’t get more real than 2020! 

Although you may have been disappointed to have missed G6 camp, interschool sport, significant time in your leadership teams and time at school with your friends your class of 2020 is likely to be remembered as one of the most famous classes in our school history.

You will have a unique story to share throughout your life about the circumstances of your last year in Primary School.

How you respond to circumstances is more important, more defining, more lasting than circumstance itself. When you look back on this challenging time, how you emerged from it will help define you.

Your parents have probably shared stories about their school days including having to always walk to school as well as surviving their teenage years without a mobile phone. Can you imagine? But you? You get to tell the tale of surviving Grade 6 Google Meet online classes, bad Wi-Fi and learning from home for a significant chunk of grade six.

Kudos to all of you for the resilience, flexibility and perseverance demonstrated while learning from home during Terms 2, 3 and several weeks of Term 4 this year. Our calculations are that you spent nearly 100 days learning from home! You can proudly share this story of resilience and adaptability with your children and grandchildren.

Sometimes the worst things in life that happen to you can be the best things that happen to you, if you don’t let the worst of it get the best of you. A mantra we used on many occasions this year was “This too, shall pass.” And the best is certainly yet to come. Find the joy. It’s there somewhere.

This year, many of you have chatted to us about the things you really value most. We heard you say your family, your friendships, your teachers, your pets, your freedom and time to play, your hobbies. Most of you even said how much you missed school and learning and were so happy to be back! Who would’ve thought! 

Here is our final message to you…

Life brings opportunities and obstacles. Pursue the opportunities AND be persistent and patient getting past the obstacles.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes but do learn from the mistakes of others; it’s cheaper and more efficient. 

Never be afraid to question the way things are done and don’t be satisfied with the inevitable response “because that’s the way we have always done it.”

Follow your heart, and use your head.

And, lastly, don’t forget that mute button!

Thank you

Steve & Joel

Brighton Primary School

Team Captain's Aden McCarrol & Emily Ward 

Grade 6 Graduation Speech

Thursday 10th December 2020

Good evening everyone, my name is Aden McCarroll and this is Emily Ward. We are the BPS 2020 School Captains. Welcome to our 2020 virtual graduation.

Emily: We can’t believe it was 7 years ago that most of us began our Primary School journey. Our first day was both exciting and terrifying, as most of us cried as our parents abandoned us, leaving us standing with our new teachers, who we didn’t know. Now look at us all...we have successfully made it through our primary school days and are here to reflect on all our good times.

Prep

Our first day of Prep was one of the most overwhelming experiences of our lives. We walked into the Prep hall not knowing what the next 7 years of school would bring us. Fortunately, we met our older buddies, who would help us settle in, and teach us all the new rules at school. The 100 days of prep was a huge accomplishment for all of us. We were asked to dress up as what we wanted to be when we were older. Some people dressed up as firefighters, footy players, doctors and teachers. Some kids had a slightly different idea about their future jobs - someone dressed up as Darth Vader, and there were plenty of princesses and superheroes too. After only 100 days, everyone felt like they had learnt so much already. 

We would like to thank all our prep teachers: 

Miss Flood, Miss Kirk, Miss Costello, Miss Daniels, Miss Macmillan and Miss Payne for always being kind and caring, for helping us make friends when we didn’t know many people and supporting us in our first year of primary school.

Grade 1

In Grade 1, we felt we were so grown up as we weren’t the youngest kids in the school anymore. We were all very excited to get homework for the first time, not realising how many more years of torture there were to come! This was also the year we all made new friends as we were in different classes. A lot of us are still good mates all these years later. This was an exciting new experience for all of us. 

Grade 2

Grade 2 was a big step up from the first couple of years of primary school. It was a really enjoyable year because we were the oldest in the junior school. This year we had an extended day, where we learnt all about aboriginal culture, watching people play instruments such as the didgeridoo. I remember in Grade 2, we had an incursion where we learnt all about magic and how we could do it ourselves. I thought I was so cool being able to do all these “impressive” card tricks. We were all looking forward to being in the senior school next year. 

Grade 3

Grade 3 was a huge year for us as we were now big enough (and scary enough) to be in the senior school. Not only that, but it was exciting to be old enough to enjoy the 3/4 playground. It was now our turn to be the big buddies for our younger prep buddies, and we loved becoming role models for them. In this position, we were able to impart our wisdom on all things BPS. This was also the year we had our 1st camp at Phillip Island, where we enjoyed lots of different fun activities. 

Grade 4

Grade 4 was an especially exciting year as this was the first time we were allowed to participate in district sports. This was also the first time we participated in a production, which was really fun. Everyone got to try out and we all played a part. Another notable story was, on camp, when the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night so we had to rush out of our cosy beds, just after the teachers had FINALLY got us to sleep. We had to assemble in the evacuation area all because a teacher from another school burnt a cookie in the microwave. 

Grade 5

In Grade 5 we had a market day - this was a pretty big deal! We were put to the test to create and sell our products to the rest of the school. This helped us to learn about economics and finance. We were very happy to see our hard work paying off, as other students in the school enjoyed our products. For our school camp we headed to Canberra and we particularly enjoyed catching a plane with all our friends. We can’t forget the drop slide at Questacon - it was scary and exhilarating at the same time. 

I was asked to be the first to do the drop slide, to set a high standard. What people didn’t know was that I was a regular at Questacon, and had been on the slide multiple times. 

Grade 6

Term 1

Term 1 of Grade 6 was awesome. It was the first time we had been the oldest students in the school, there to set an example for everyone - no pressure! We were also excited for the leadership process. There were 4 stages- written application, teamwork challenge, speech and interview. After each stage we were told who got through to the next one. It was a bit stressful but overall it was a great experience.

Term 2

In term 2 we all had our first lockdown and went into home learning. During the time at home we showed that we could be independent learners. Starting from week 1, it was a challenge to get everything done and manage our own time, but throughout the weeks of home learning everyone soon started to adjust and we learnt some pretty useful life skills.

Term 3

Term 3 was a tough term. We had to deal with remote learning for the ENTIRE 10 weeks. It was especially hard with our preparations for exhibition because we couldn’t get help as easily as we might have at school. All the Grade 6 students showed a lot of resilience to get through it - we know our teachers and the school were really proud of our positive and hard-working attitude. Having said that, we were all so relieved and eager to go back to school.

Term 4 

Finally, in term 4 we were back to normal at school. We were able to complete our exhibition - our biggest project in Primary School. Although it was disappointing that we couldn’t show all our parents and carers our hard work face to face, the grade 6 cohort did an outstanding job, sharing our work via Google Meets. It wasn’t perfect, but we were still able to show off all the time and effort we had put into our Exhibition, and feel very proud of what we achieved.

Primary School has been a whirlwind. Our peers have described it as...educational, awesome, challenging, heaps of fun and overall a brilliant experience. Thank you.

Grade 7

I speak for all the Grade 6 students when I say that we’re nervous, but really looking forward to Year 7. It will be a completely different experience but I know we are ready, and have all been well prepared by our teachers and classmates for all the new memories that high school will bring. It will be an amazing experience for all of us.

Now, we are here at the end of our primary school years. On behalf of all the Grade 6 students, we would first like to thank Steve, our principal and Joel and Sonya, our Assistant Principals. We would like to acknowledge and thank all our hard-working teachers and support staff for making our primary school years so memorable.

We would also like to thank all the teachers who have taught us over the years and have prepared us for high school. Thank you to our specialist teachers who helped us extend our passions in sport, art, music, drama, mandarin and Italian. And a special  thank you to Mrs Pain, Mrs Goosey, Senora Esposito and Senora Falala who have taught us almost every year since Prep

Most importantly, we want to say a special thank you to all our Grade 6 teachers, who have taught us and supported us in the most extraordinary year. We really appreciate the hard work and dedication that you have always given us. 

Miss Gillings: Thank you for always being kind, and showing us resilience. You may not be able to floss yet but you won’t give up until you prove Miss Timmins wrong.

Mr Bennett: Thank you for the awesome games of footy and being a fun and helpful teacher to the entirety of grade 6

Miss Timmins: thank you for your stunning singing and dance moves to help us with our graduation performance and your generous nature.

Thank you for helping to make our Exhibition an incredible learning experience for everyone. And for keeping us safe with the first rule of 6C...

As we enter our final few weeks of primary school we are reflecting on all our great memories that we will always keep. We also need to show our gratitude to our wonderful friends, who we have shared these experiences with, throughout the years. 

Grade 6  enjoy a well-earned break, before beginning Year 7 and your high school adventure. Here are some words to remember. As Dr Seuss says: 

‘You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, 

And you steer yourself, in any direction you choose. 

You are on your own, and you know what you know,

And you are the one, who will decide where you go.’

Good luck to you all!

Aden & Emily