St Gregory's College Newsletter

From the Head of Junior School

Dear Members of the St Gregory’s College Community,

 

It is hard to believe that we are finishing up Week 6 of the school term! It has been a wonderful past couple of weeks at the College with so much to celebrate. The launch of PYP (Primary Years Programme) with our parents which was met with such a positive mindset, our reverence through Ash Wednesday and having a parent liturgy for the first time also, the Shrove Tuesday pancakes were a highlight! One thing I was super impressed with this week was celebrating the success of the Junior School Swimming Team in winning the Western Region Carnival at the Gordon Fetterplace Aquatic Centre. A huge achievement for our College, still in its infancy.

 

Parent Forum

It was absolutely wonderful to have really strong attendance at the first Parent Forum of the year for the Junior School. Over the two sessions, we had about 70 families join us to discuss the Junior School and our direction with incorporating the PYP (Primary Years Programme) as our Teaching and Learning Framework in the Junior School. I thank Mrs Buckley for leading the Forums and for the positive and meaningful sessions that we spent together.

 

So what is this thing we call the PYP?

Last week we had the opportunity to present to the Parent Community about our vision to implement the PYP (Primary Years Programme) at St Gregory’s College Junior School. It has been encouraging to share with parents the journey that got us to this point and our plan to slowly implement this framework and I thank Mrs Ivancic for joining me in this presentation.

 

The PYP is a fantastic learning framework but at its core, it is simply a collection of best practice from across the world based on educational research. The PYP is a framework that stems from the International Baccalaureate and is for Primary School aged students. The International Baccalaureate mission statement ‘aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect…these programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right’.

 

Whilst I am very proud of the learning that is currently taking place at St Gregory’s, it is important to acknowledge that nothing we are doing is completely revolutionary…it is simply in line with what many leading schools are attempting to do, make learning meaningful, authentic and targeted. As an Australian School, we are mandated to deliver the Australian Curriculum. This will be done, absolutely, but it will be mapped and designed into the PYP framework that sits in 6 distinct transdisciplinary themes throughout the year.

 

The students learning will continue to focus on a balance between ‘the basics’ and making meaningful connections across the curriculum. We use a variety of teaching methods ranging from direct teaching to a guided inquiry approach. Our choice of method is based on the lesson outcomes and the students learning needs.

 

Our ultimate goal is twofold; we want to develop knowledgeable young men and women who have a deep understanding of the world around them, and perhaps, more importantly, we want to create young men and women who understand themselves as learners. These two goals will equip our students for life outside of school.

 

We look forward to continuing to develop our teaching and learning approach over the coming years. I will continue to keep the parent community informed about this framework and how we intend to use this as our vehicle for developing the whole learner and how as a school we are making learning more engaging, significant, relevant and challenging for your son or daughter.

 

Events on the Horizon:

  • Friday 6 March – AFL Giants afterschool program starts 3-4pm
  • Monday 9 March – 5:30pm Lin Meeks Spelling/Reading Parent Workshop (Library)
  • Thursday 12 March – Lunch on the Lawn 10:30am
  • Friday 13 March – Mark Taylor Shield (Cricket) at St Gregs 9:30am
  • Thursday 19 March – Parent/Teacher Interviews (Years 1-6) Day #1
  • Thursday 19 March – Paul Kelly Cup at Elderslie
  • Friday 20 March – Harmony Day/National Day of Action Against Bullying Assembly Years 3-12
  • Tuesday 24 March - Parents/Teacher Interviews (Years 1-6) - Day #2

As our St Gregory’s College motto states, ‘You will reap what you sow"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joel Weekes

Head of Junior School