Junior School

It was a great joy to welcome our Junior School students back to school for the start of the 2022 school year. Staff enthusiastically waited and welcomed each student back into their classroom. It was wonderful to hear the sounds of laughter as students reunited with their classmates and to see the excitement on faces across the yard. Mrs Kirby-Beach and I took the opportunity to visit each classroom, and we asked the students what they were most looking forward to in 2022. There were various answers, including camps, sports events, excursions, turning double digits, and many other events. The anticipation and excitement in the students’ eyes was beautiful to see. 

As we stand at the beginning of the 2022 academic year, we do not entirely know what lies ahead of us. Within our school community, there are a variety of different emotions and feelings about the new year. Over the past few weeks, I have been reflecting on the words of an old hymn written by Alfred B. Smith. They read … 

I do not know what lies ahead, the way I cannot see; 

Yet One stands near to be my guide, He’ll show the way to me. 

I know who holds the future, and He’ll guide me with His hand; 

With God things don’t just happen, everything by Him is planned. 

So as I face tomorrow, with its problems large and small, 

I’ll trust the God of miracles, give to Him my all.   

What beautiful words that hold such profound truth! We can have confidence that no matter what happens in 2022, God is right there with us, holding the future and guiding us through whatever life may bring. 

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome all our new families to Oxley.  It was lovely to meet many of the Prep parents at our morning tea and see them begin to develop friendships that could potentially last for many years to come. While you will recognise many familiar faces among our staff, we would like to officially welcome our new staff member Mrs Janelle Coote who will be working as an LSA teacher.  

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has made me feel so welcome to this wonderful community.  I am incredibly excited that God has brought me to Oxley, and I look forward to serving Him and working with the students. It is an incredible privilege to be able to teach our future generation about God’s love and how He sent His Son Jesus to make it possible for us to have a relationship with Him. A privilege we should never take for granted. 

As a College, it is exciting to see further growth and the development of our property.  As you will be aware, our Middle Years buildings are under construction.  Due to this project, Junior School students cannot access the canteen for over-the-counter purchases. This means that, for the short term, students will not be able to purchase icy poles. Students still have the opportunity to place lunch orders, and parents are encouraged to use the Flexischools app to do this as we are moving away from written orders. Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time. 

Parents are also reminded that on Saturday 19 February, the College will be conducting the annual Scholarship Testing Day. Years 5 and 6 students are invited to apply, and registrations are to be completed online via the scholarships link on our College website. Please note that registrations will close Friday 11 February. 

‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ and we certainly treasure and value the partnership we have with you in your child’s learning. We look forward to working with all our families and seeing the development of each precious student in 2022. 

Proverbs 22:6 

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 

Amy Liddle

Head of Junior School

What Did You Do at School Today?

Prep

We are so excited to be at school! Our first week of Prep was full of new things to do and people to meet. We had so much fun discovering the playground and other important places. This term we will be exploring our God-given identity, discovering what makes us unique, including what we have in common with our classmates. We will be talking about how we grow and change and look forward to learning many new things along the way. 

Year 1

We have been busy showing our new teachers how clever we are. We have had fun getting to know each other and really appreciate the way that God has made us all so uniquely. It was so much fun to guess each other’s baby photo during our Growing Older and Wiser focus for Integrated Studies. In Maths we explored numbers using Numicon equipment to demonstrate our counting skills.

Year 2

We had a wonderful beginning to 2022! The students are a lovely bunch of exuberant and bubbly children who are a joy to teach. They have been so enthusiastic about the Strings Program and are looking forward to learning their new chosen instrument. Meeting their new teachers and classmates has been one of the highlights of their week, and playtimes in the yard have been loud and active! 2022 is going to be awesome!

Year 3

What a fun and exciting start to Year 3! We have returned to school with joy and a whole lot of excitement for what this year will bring. It has been fantastic to see all our friends and teachers again. 

This term in Integrated Studies, we are focusing on Identity. We are looking forward to learning how we can continue to express our God-given identity in and out of the classroom. One of our highlights has been using the Surface Go devices in our classroom. We have already learnt many new features and are excited to see what else we will learn.

Year 4

Wowzers!! What a great start to Year 4. We would like to thank every Year 4 student for their enthusiasm and independent initiative in doing the right thing. The great Call and Response Challenge has started with a bang. Year 4 classes are head-to-head as to which class has the quickest switch to active listening when the teacher calls them. If you have a student in Year 4, try saying ‘Andy’s coming’ and watch that switch take place! In writing, we became annotating scholars this week. The students worked in teams to read narratives and decipher what makes a good one and how to improve it. We hope every family has had a lovely transition back to school life! 

Year 5

It’s been great to see everyone’s faces as we embark on another school year. We’ve been diving into our Ethics and Emotions unit, during Integrated Studies, to discuss the implications of lies that supposedly won’t hurt anyone. Our rich conversations have led us to thinking about our own morals in everyday situations. We have also been starting our Me Tree learning in Health. Thank you to each parent who helped their child identify a golden leaf ability in their student. We can’t wait to continue to encourage and draw out the gold in our students throughout 2022.

Year 6

We, the new leaders of the Junior School, are so excited to be here. In our first week, we wrote a letter to our future selves for us to open on the last day of school, along with a string showing our current height. We are looking forward to seeing how much we have grown, literally and figuratively! We were so proud to elect our Home Group and Enviro Captains for Semester 1. During our election, it was such a wonderful opportunity to hear the passion that our candidates have for our school community, and we know that they will lead our classes well.