From the Head of Junior School

Following on from our Ensembles Showcase mentioned in the last e-Link, our Junior School Performance Choir competed in their last competition for the year, the Royal South Street Competitions in Ballarat. Under the wonderful direction of Mrs Dusseljee the choir won three sections, were awarded Silver in a fourth and were awarded the trophy for the choir that best demonstrates the joy of choral performance. They are congratulated on a very successful year.

This week we welcome Mrs Moss and Mr Gibbs back from their recent Long Service Leave. Both have returned just in time for the Year 6 “Imagine” day, a day where our current Year 6 students join with those students coming to us for Year 7 2020. This is the first transition day of 3. Students start the day with a mix of excitement and apprehension and leave tired but positive, having made some new friends and for those new to us, happy that they will be well supported in their new school environment.

At last Friday’s Junior School Assembly we farewelled our Junior School Captain, Maggie Byrne. Thankfully it was only farewell for a week as Maggie travelled to Canberra to represent Victoria as the Under 12 Female Soccer Team Goalkeeper. We have been watching Team Vic’s progress with pride as they compete at the School Sport Nationals.

As part of our Parenting Ideas school membership, our parents are given access to free webinars. Through this membership, you can attend all of their parent webinars for parents in 2019 at no cost! Here is the information about the next upcoming webinar:

Step back so kids step up

Children and teenagers are capable of so much more than they are often given credit for. Closing the expectation gap between what adults believe kids and young adults are capable of, and allowing them to create their own solutions to the challenges they face will greatly impact their resilience, and society as a whole. In this webinar, Dr. G will outline the practicalities of doing that, and the guiding principles that will make it possible.

When

Wednesday 18 September 2019 8:00pm AEST

How you can register

Click this link: https://www.parentingideas.com.au/parent-resources/parent-webinars/webinar-step-back-so-kids-step-up
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Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Bringing Books to Life

The Girton Grammar Junior School last week celebrated Book Week, with our annual dress-up parade. Teachers and students celebrated the joy of reading by dressing as their favourite character from a book.

Mr Don Thompson, said that reading had the power to shape a young person’s life well into adulthood.

“Young people naturally possess wonderful imaginations and books are the fuel that keep the imagination burning bright.

“We encourage our students to read whatever they enjoy to nurture their love for literacy. Reading regularly begins as a good habit and can quickly become a passion for life for many people.

Mr Thompson said that students warm to the concept of reading espoused by Dr Seuss who said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

Each year across Australia, the Children’s Book Council of Australia brings children and books together celebrating CBCA Book Week. During this time schools, libraries, booksellers, authors, illustrators and children celebrate Australian children’s literature and you will often see children’s book character parades and librarians creating amazing displays. This year’s book week was 17-23 August.

“We know that reading for pleasure can promote better health and aids in building social connections and relationships, and about 85% of School curriculum is taught by reading.

“The reasons for making a love of reading a priority in schools and at home are compelling,” Mr Thompson said.

Book Week

The theme for Bookweek this year was ‘Reading is my Secret Power’! The Junior School embraced Bookweek across the week with many activities. On Monday the Junior School Library hosted Books and Bickies. Parents and grandparents joined the students to read a book and enjoy a bickie before school. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, the Junior School Library hosted activities around books and reading. There were bookmarking making activities, name the children’s book and reading with buddies. Wednesday was the pinnacle of the week with the Book Week Parade. The students and teachers all enjoyed the opportunity to dress up as their favourite book character. Following the parade, the student all participated in a group activity involving the whole Junior School. The activity is part of the larger display that will be on show at the Junior School Artshow. Thank you to Mrs Polidano and Mrs Kolenarty for making Bookweek in Junior School a memorable event.

Book Week -Story Showbags

To celebrate book week, our class made story show bags. We used our favourite novel for our show bag and included things like a drawing of the main character, a bookmark, a sketch of a setting, a tool used in the book, a key piece of equipment, a map, a piece of clothing from a character, a shoe…. anything at all that related to our book.

I did a story show bag on Pig the Pug books. in my show bag, I had a Pig the Pug toy, a tennis ball, a camera, some Pig the Pug colouring sheets, a Pig the Pug book and some dog treats. It was great to celebrate book week this way.

Xanthe Douglass (3 Riley)

Father's Day

This week has been a buzz of activity about Father’s Day – we commenced the week with the annual Father’s Day Stall. The stall brings great enjoyment to the students to select that special gift for the father, grandfather or special friend. Thank you to the Friends of Junior School parents who spent hours purchasing and wrapping the gifts for the children.

The week ended with Year One hosting their annual Father Day Morning Tea. There were many guests in attendance with everyone enjoying the activities of the morning and then coming together to share morning tea. Thank you to all the families who provided morning tea and to those who were able to attend.

Performance Choir Awarded Silver!

The Performance Choir has had a successful year. They were awarded Gold at the competitions in Bendigo in June and they were awarded Platinum in the senior school section at the Melbourne Schools Music Festival earlier this month.

At their final series of competitions at Royal South Street in Ballarat we were awarded the Silver medal in the Standards section. In our other three sections, we were the winners in each section winning a total of $450.00 in prize money for the school.

The choir also won the trophy awarded at the adjudicator's discretion 'to the choir that best demonstrates the joy of choral performance'.

The Canteen will be available for lunch orders as per usual. Families are most welcome to visit the canteen for purchase of icy-poles, drinks and other goodies.

Camp Australia: School Holidays

Little Dancers Pirouette into Assessments