From the Head of Junior School

Dear Parents, Carers and members of the St Gregory’s College family,

Welcome to the end of Week 2 and a great start to Term 2. It has been wonderful to see so many parents starting to come back on site and be a part of our wonderful learning environment. We have had some outstanding results on the sports field of late, which can be seen in Mr Howe’s article later in the Newsletter. 

The thing that has set this term up for success is what is happening across the classes. In my regular classroom walkthroughs, I have the pleasure of seeing engaged classes that are buzzing with students and teachers focusing on learning.  The PYP has certainly made an impact on our classes and to observe the balance of explicit teaching and inquiry has been refreshing to see in action. Well done to all the students and their amazing teachers!

The Junior School Playground

Moduplay have made great progress with our playground and the excitement is growing each day as the students see the development. I think I was asked by half of Kindy the first day if they can play on the equipment second break? Our three projects are not far from completion and I must say these play spaces will be so much fun for our Junior School students. I have a few photos below of the projects progress to date. Once the project concludes, I will be in contact so parents and carers can see our exciting new playground spaces.

How to Develop Curiosity in the Junior Years

In the book Out of Curiosity, Bryan Goodwin says we must provide an environment to stimulate kids’ innate curiosity. “We 

cannot make students become curious,” says Goodwin; “rather, we must lead them to it by creating environments and opportunities for curiosity to flourish.” This statement has not only made me reflect on my own kids’ curiosity but also the students of the Junior School as we develop their curiosity. 

Goodwin envisions a number of “curiosity principles” for schools and parents to consider:

• Embrace not knowing. Curiosity involves an element of risk-taking. “We must delve into an area we know little about or where we feel incompetent. And we’re more likely to do that when we feel safe to admit we don’t know something. 

• Ask fewer, deeper questions. I know as a parent, I am sometimes guilty of asking meaningless questions of my children about their school day. How was school? Who was in your after-school activity? How did you go in Spanish today? All these closed questions mean that I often get a one-word response: good, fine or okay. We want to ask questions of our children that spark thought and curiosity. Goodwin suggests changing the questions we ask: What surprised you today? When did you feel joyful today? What are you wondering about now? 

If you do get a consistent good, fine or okay response from your child then follow up with questions to elicit thinking and discussion: What was good about it? or What made it okay?

• Use questions to provoke thought versus seeking correct answers. Avoid quizzing your children. Make sure that your end of day conversations don’t resemble an inquisition, where your children feel like they are being tested and are expected to give you a certain answer.  It is better to ask broad questions and create a climate where mistakes and different opinions are welcome, so your children are keen to discuss, argue and explore different ideas.
• Use wait time. Teachers at the Junior School, stress wait time or thinking time for our students. It is also good at home to pause for three or four seconds after asking a question. You are very likely to get more thoughtful responses and better discussions with your child if you pause and give them time to think.
• Let your child follow their curiosity. As a parent, I struggled for a long time to understand that the things that I found fascinating, did not necessarily fascinate my children. Support your child to explore their curiosities and passions. “Curiosity is more likely to flourish,” says Goodwin, “when kids are free to pursue their own interests alongside supportive adults who offer well-timed nudges to guide their explorations and keep their curiosity alive.” 
• Go play outdoors. One of the biggest take-home messages from the book is that a great way to stimulate curiosity, even with the most technology-soaked young child, is to be outside having unstructured time to explore and play. 

Our College motto speaks to us as a community and what a wonderful community of learners we have here at St Gregory’s College . . . 

’You will reap what you sow’. 

Mr Joel Weekes

Head of Junior School