Head of Junior School 

It was wonderful to be warmly greeted by so many of our students on my arrival back at the Junior School after three weeks of Long Service Leave. Mr Messer and I thoroughly enjoyed our time away, visiting our daughter, Meg, in the United States and seeing her graduate from the University of Minnesota, where she was recruited on a rowing scholarship. During this trip, we were able to watch her compete in Eugene, Oregon and in Indianapolis, Indiana as well as attend her graduation. Holidays are fabulous experiences but also serve as a reminder as to how lucky we are to live in a safe, beautiful and pristine place such as Tasmania. I would like to say a sincere thank you to Mrs Sandra Mazengarb who kept the ship steady whilst I was on leave, ably supported by Miss Daun.

Winter is Upon us: Uniform Reminders

Formal Uniform

As this week saw the first day of winter, it is a timely reminder about uniform expectations here at the Junior School. In Terms 2 and 3. Our boys are expected to wear their jumper to school. The jumper is to remain on until recess. Our Junior School environment is quite cold, particularly in the mornings. The added layer of warmth is to keep the cold out and the boys warm. During these terms, the boys are also permitted to replace their soft-shell jacket over their jumper as an additional layer of warmth. It must not replace the jumper and it must not be worn instead of the blazer.

Sport Uniform

During Terms 2 and 3, the rule is that boys are to wear their full tracksuit to and from school on sport uniform days. The beanie may only be worn with their sport uniform and is not to be worn during the day in class. 

P&F Mother’s Day Breakfast 

Our annual Mother’s Day Breakfast was a wonderful community celebration. With over 300 in attendance, which included mums, boys, and their siblings, we had many mouths to feed. Thank you to our wonderful dads and their sons who were here early to help cook the breakfast, cut the fruit, pack up and clean up. Thank you to the families in our community who donated prizes for the raffle. Thank you to all the staff who were here early to set up and help as well.

Lucky Door Prize

Anna Bellamy (Lucas Newton, Year 5): Stella Arden Beauty $200 Voucher 

Raffle Winners

Sindu Xavier (Christopher, year 3): Syra Restaurant $100 Voucher

Elizabeth Dwyer (Grandmother of Oliver Rose, Kinder): Escape Skin and Beauty $100 Voucher 

Danielle Crismani, (Louie Harris, Year 5): Elizabeth St Pharmacy Natio Gift Pack 

Olga Leon: Coal River Farm Voucher 

Suze Houston (Xavier, 6, Sam, 3 ): Toy World Lego adult collection to the value of $200 

Jemma Lockhart (Angus, Year 5): Blundstone Boots

Krystle Hall (Vance, Year 1): All Rounder Carpet Cleaning for up to 5 rooms ($180)

P&F Upcoming Events: Footy Fun Night

Families, mark this date in your diary: Friday 11 August. We will be holding a Footy Fun Night at the Junior School. We will be screening the Friday night game live on the big screen in the hall: Collingwood vs Geelong. More details will be released over the coming weeks.

Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Landing

Today was an exciting morning for our Junior School boys. Miss King, our Prep teacher, helped organise a landing of the helicopter on the main oval of our Senior School campus. Primarily an excursion for our Prep students, we took all the boys along for the occasion. WIN News and 7 News were there to record the occasion so tune in this evening to get a glimpse of the action.

Friday Afternoon Activities

We commenced Friday Afternoon activities on 12 May, now having completed three weeks of activities. We have had scones created in cooking, bridges made in construction, parks and tracks explored in bushwalking, vegie planting in gardening and much more.

Music in the Junior School This Week

This week our Year 3 and 4 classes participated in Music workshops with Mrs Bridget Jenkins - Head of Reconciliation Education. Being Reconciliation Week, we discussed what ‘reconciliation’ means and rehearsed a song called “Yil Lull” by Joe Geia. The Year 3s and 4s learned about the iconic Australian song “From Little Things Big Things Grow” which tells the story of the Gurindji people’s struggle for their land and symbolic of the broader movement for Indigenous equality and land rights in Australia. The students then decorated clap sticks in the theme of “from little things big things grow”. 

Our Prep and Year 1 classes will sing this song at a Naming Ceremony for a water carrier at the Austin’s Ferry campus next week. 

Thank you, Mrs Jenkins, for your time and teaching us more about this important celebration. 

Religious Education: Sacrament of Confirmation

Congratulations to Bradley Muia, Hamish Bewley, Patrick Moloney, Ryder Vagg, Guy Harris and Liam Hazi. These boys received their sacrament of Confirmation at the Cathedral last Saturday. We wish Louie Harris all the best for this Sunday, where he will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at St Brigid’s Parish, New Norfolk.

Godly Play

This term, as part of teacher Professional Development in Religious Education, our teachers have participated in five hours of Godly Play. We have learned about how to engage our students by presenting scripture to our children in a novel, relatable and meaningful way. In Godly Play, there is a focus on ‘I Wonder’ questions’ to provoke thought and wonder about the mystery and love of God.

Find out what the Year 4s learnt at the Female Factory

This term, our Year 4 class have had the privilege of having Miss Organ join us from the University of Tasmania on her last professional placement in her journey to becoming a teacher. She has been teaching our students about the First Fleet. Students have been learning about what life was like in the 1700s, conditions that convicts went through, and the journey to Australia. To support this learning, we visited the Cascades Female Factory, to learn more about the conditions of Female convicts. 

Here are some things our students had to say: 

Hugo – “it showed us what things looked like and how things have changed over time.”

Lewis – “the buildings were really small, and they had to live in them with lots of people.”

Cooper – “they told a story about the women who were there.”

Junior School Sport

Water Polo 

We have a Year 5-6 Water Polo team who have commenced their season. After winning their first three games, the roster has now split into A and B divisions. We were placed in A division after finishing on top of the ladder. Our first A division game was a bruising encounter against SMC, coming out with a much-deserved win of 10-9. 

Players of the week: Charlie Booth and Jesse Mackey.

Encouragement Award: Nate Debnam.

Other games:

Round 1: SVC won: 18 - 6

Player of the Week: Nate Debnam

Encouragement Award: Jesse Mackey

Round 2: SVC won: 16 - 2

Player of the Week: Kieran Bosworth

Encouragement Award: Liam Facer

Round 3: SVC won: 21 - 2

Player of the Week: Oscar Halton

Encouragement Award: Jacob Lowe