Heads of Junior School 

Bethlehem House Visit

Yesterday Mrs Chambers and the Mini Vinnies President, Owen Thristan and Vice President, Hunter Wright-Dawes walked up to Bethlehem House to meet with Jeff Bednall, the senior case worker, Danielle, the social worker and Michael and William who are currently staying there. We chatted for a while, mainly about the football and the upcoming Easter celebrations. Jeff also recalled to Michael and William that SVC Junior School and Bethlehem House have had a long history of support over the last 13 years, with Christmas support, a sleeping bag drive, ‘jocks, socks and beanies drive’, Easter Hampers and visits throughout the years. It was great for the boys to meet our friends and to see Bethlehem House, the independent living area and the PODS. The boys were happy to give the Easter Hamper with easter eggs donated by our community, to the men of Bethlehem House. We wish the Bethlehem House community the joy and hope of the Easter season.

On our return we ran into ex-student Alex MacDonald and the boys were excited to learn that he was in Mini Vinnies at the Junior School and the St Vincent de Paul group at the Senior School. He was very excited to see the boys and shared with them that his journey in service commenced at the Junior School and was strongly shaped by his visit to Bethlehem House. 

Holy Thursday Liturgy

We commenced our last day in prayer with the Grade 6 boys leading our Holy Thursday Liturgy. Our theme was to walk along the road with Jesus and to use the power of prayer to teach and encourage us to embrace the values of kindness, compassion, resilience when faced with challenges, empathy and forgiveness. The readers and actors lead our prayer reverently and the boys participated thoughtfully. It was an important opportunity to pause and pray as a community, reflecting on the significance of Lent, Holy Thursday and looking forward to the resurrection of Christ.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN for our Grade 3 and 5 students is scheduled in Term 2 from Tuesday May 11 through to Friday May 21. This week the Grade 3 and 5 students have completed some practice test sessions in preparation for the actual NAPLAN tests next term. Your son bought home an information paper on Monday of this week with detailed explanations around aspects of NAPLAN. Should you have any further questions please contact the Heads of Junior School, Mrs Fiona Chambers and Mrs Jo Messer.

da Vinci Decathlon

On Thursday March 25, eight Junior School boys attended the da Vinci Decathlon for Grade 5 and 6 students at The Hutchins School. Jason Tang, Andrew Mooney, Ryan Lamprey, Cooper Todd, Joseph Shanny, Clem McKenna, Zavier Dadswell-Booth and Connor Lucas represented SVC at the event run in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon and designed to celebrate the academic gifts of students.

The da Vinci Decathlon commenced in 2002 as an exciting offshoot of the very successful da Vinci Program for gifted and talented students at Knox Grammar School in Sydney. The Decathlon was a stimulating academic competition that challenged the minds of the seven competing teams from St Virgils, Hutchins, Collegiate and Mount Carmel. It was a full day event and students competed in their team across ten disciplines: engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producer, cartography and legacy.

The SVC Junior School team participated to the best of their combined abilities. They collaborated well as a group in every challenging task presented and were placed third overall in the Maths activity. 

Parent Teacher Interviews

Reminder: Parent/Teacher interviews will be held on Monday April 26 in your son’s classroom at the Junior School Campus. Teachers may request to see you or you in turn may request a time to see them to discuss your son’s progress so far this year. As well as classroom teachers, our Learning Enhancement teachers, Mrs Bednall, Mrs Copeland, and specialist music, Japanese and HPE teachers will be available for appointments.

STCPPSA Swimming Carnival 

The STCPSSA Swimming Carnival was a wonderful afternoon, held at the Hobart Aquatic Centre also Friday. Our team of 18 swimmers competed well and showed the other schools fantastic sportsmanship. SVC placed in most events, with outstanding efforts all round. 

Special mentions go to Finlay Child, Charlie Booth, Henry Mollon, Samuel Pelham, Edward Huigsloot, Jesse Mackey and the Grade 4 Relay team for winning their events. 

We look forward to more sporting events next term, with our Cross Country Carnival in early Term 2. 

Midford Holidays Trading Hours

The Uniform Shop will be closed at Austins Ferry from 4.00pm on Thursday April 1. It will be open on Monday April 26 between 9.00am and 4.00pm. Midford will resume its normal trading hours on Tuesday and Thursday from Tuesday April 27 between 8.00am and 4.00pm. The Uniform Shop may be contacted on; 62493610 or st.virgils@midford.com.au

Calendar Events

Thursday April 1                 Holy Thursday Liturgy; Caritas Cup and Easter Raffles

Friday April 2 – Friday April 23        Easter break and End of Term holidays

Monday April 26                 Parent/Teacher interviews (student free day)

Tuesday April 27                 Commencement of Term 2