From the Junior School Chaplain
Little People, Big Feelings
We find ourselves coming to the end of Term 2 and with such a full and eventful first semester, in combination with a change in seasons, it is really understandable that our students are at times feeling tired and overwhelmed.
This can often result in emotions that are intensified and heightened. When feelings and emotions are dysregulated, meaning the mind and body is unable to manage its emotional response, we can sometimes see big feelings expressed in challenging ways, causing distress for both the child and the guardian involved.
As adults, we often have the skills and strategies to cope with strong emotions, however it can be challenging to know the best ways to support our children in establishing their own strategies and coping mechanisms when these big feelings arise.
Dr Justin Coulson, founder of Happy Families, has a goal for parents and guardians to, “connect with their children in meaningful ways: and to guide children to become strong, caring, whole adults.” Happy Families provide some wonderful online resources that are tailored for families as they journey through supporting their children’s emotions.
In conjunction with these online resources, there is a free webinar being run by Happy Families, coming up on Tuesday the 14th of June focusing on “Little People, Big Feelings”. Bookings are open online.
The next webinar focuses on “Little People, Big Feelings”.
Date: Tue, 14/06/2022 – 20:00
Cost: Free
Darcee Braun
What’s on at Junior School
Week 8, Monday June 13th
Monday June 13th – Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday
Wednesday June 15th – Year 3 & 4 Students visit to the RW Gibson Centre, Senior School – Year 10 Drama Performance (Please refer to Edsmart notification)
Wednesday June 15th – JS Music Evening 1: 5.30pm RW Gibson Centre – Senior School
Wednesday June 15th – JS Music Evening 2: 6.45pm RW Gibson Centre – Senior School
Wednesday June 15th – Selected Year 3 and 4 students to visit Hoop City Geelong (Please refer to Edsmart notification)
Thursday June 16th – Bush Prep, Prep B,G,M,R
Friday June 17th – 2G Assembly Item
Friday June 17th – Conclusion of Term 2, 3:25pm Finish
Term 3, 2022
Week 1, Monday July 11th
Tuesday July 11th – First day of classes for students
Tuesday July 11th – Junior School Commencement Assembly
Friday July 15th – Year 2 Aquatic Program Commences (Please refer to Edsmart notification)
Week 2, Monday July 18th
Tuesday July 19th – Student Learning Conferences, 4-7pm (Edsmart notification to follow in Week 8 with booking details)
Thursday July 21st – Student Learning Conferences, 4-6pm (Edsmart notification to follow in Week 8 with booking details)
Rainy Day Investigations
This week in Investigations, the children in 1B enjoyed a variety of activities aligning with our Literacy, Integrated Studies and Numeracy topics.
The students enjoyed learning more about the habitats of camels, tigers, frogs and polar bears by creating dioramas using scrap and natural materials. There were some interesting questions being discussed around the table, such as, ‘What will the polar bear drink if all the water is frozen?’ and ‘A frog lives in both water and on dry land, so does that mean the diorama is two habitats in one?’.
The children used the books in the classroom to find graphs, digraphs and trigraphs and completed Popsicle stick engineering challenges. There were some amazing creations made to help retrieve a cat in a tree as well as devices to catch a ‘pest’. There were even some children who chose to collaborate to complete their various projects.
In Numeracy, we have been exploring measurement, with a focus on weight. During our investigations, the children practised weighing various classroom items using balance scales. Some students used MAB units to balance out the scales by adding one at a time.
Finally, the students strengthened their fine motor skills by creating patterns and shapes on the geoboards.
Lisa Johnson
How Persuasive can our Year 4s be?
The Year 4 students have been investigating their ability to persuade others. Over the last few weeks, the students have written persuasive pieces titled; why are trees important? Should there be public holidays for children? Why should we have the three Australian flags at the front of our school? The final persuasive piece challenged the students to produce an advertisement where they used persuasive arguments to explain why their product is needed.
Firstly, the students used CANVA on their devices to design an advertising poster. The posters included a picture, title, sentence and slogan. Next, they used a persuasive writing planner to organise their arguments and then wrote a script. Finally, they filmed their advertisement.
Tracey Coffey
What We’re Loving in Library
Last week we were excited to share many of these books with our students as we honoured Reconciliation Week in Australia. The following books are recent releases that we have added to our collection in the past few months. The students responded well to these fabulous books as we read, reflected and learnt more through these stories.
- Backyard Beasties by Helen Milroy published by Fremantle Press.
- We are Australians by Duncan Smith and Nicole Godwin, illustrated by Jandamarra Cadd published by Wild Dog Books.
- Charlies Swim by Edith Wright and illustrated by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, published by Magabala Books.
- Ceremony by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing illustrated by David Hardy published by Allen and Unwin.
- Common Wealth by Greg Dreise published by Scholastic Australia.
Deanne Elliss
Ochre-ful Artworks
Colours can mean different things to different people. Apart from visual appeal, colours can have special meanings for groups, cultures and even nations. Particularly these last few weeks, as we acknowledge Reconciliation Week; acknowledging and paying respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation. In this moment of Reconciliation Week, students were able to make meaningful connections with their art learning. Discussions about traditional materials / colours used for Aboriginal art and how these are sourced from The Land. Astounding discussions arose about ochre and iron clay pigments, how they are used traditionally to produce colours such as white, yellow, red, black, and charcoal. Smokey greys, sage greens, and saltbush mauves, also add to the wonderful native colour palette.
Painting in modern times is so easy; a tube of paint, mixed to perfection, ready to be squirted on to a canvas. The process is somewhat lost. Prep and Year 1 students embarked on a journey to create their own ochre and paint, kind of traditionally…only we cheated by grinding chalk into a fine powder, not soft rocks from the banks of running creeks. We took our time foraging for sticks, stones, bark, leaves, grass, flowers, and chalky substances.
The process, the discussions and the students’ masterpieces were uniquely beautiful.
Reconciliation week brought about a special kind of magic.
Tash Cooper
Year 4 Music
Last week for Reconciliation Week, the Year 4 students listened to the story of Parrwang the magpie. In this Wadawurrung story, Parrwang ‘lifts the sky’ by removing the cover of darkness over the land. This brings light to the Wadawurrung people and the first sunrise is accompanied by Parrwang and all the magpies singing to welcome the day.
The Year 4 students then began composing music to accompany the story of Parrwang and the First Sunrise. They planned their ideas by splitting the story up into parts and thought about the tempo and pitch that would suit each part to create the appropriate atmosphere for the story. Instruments used included xylophone, maracas and claves. The students also learned the Wadawurrung word ‘nyatne’ which means ‘thank you’ and were able to apply this in using their voice to sing or chant.
This week they continued their compositions and began to record and perform for the class. Well done to Year 4 for their enthusiasm and fantastic music-making in making connections with our First Nations people.
Laura Hollingsworth
Year 3 Swimming Program
Year 3 students had their final swimming session this week. It has been a pleasure teaching and observing students develop their swimming ability by increasing their confidence and skills around water. They participated in some fun games and had an opportunity to show their swimming strokes and participate in a bomb competition for house points.
The students were also able to view the Robo Cup competition where students in Years 7 to 9 studying Systems Engineering from Middle School, competed against other schools from around the state, building and showcasing robots in various fields.
Year 4 Sport Indigenous Games
After a wash out in Week 6, Year 4 students were able to participate in some traditional Indigenous games on Wednesday. Students participated in games such as Gorri, Kalq, Paliwan and Koolchee. These games were played in various parts of Australia using natural materials from that area. During the session, these natural materials were replaced by more modern sporting equipment, but the students enjoyed their games experience and learnt about the natural materials that were used by Indigenous communities hundreds of years ago. It was a very enjoyable session of sport.
Nick Rice
School Holiday Sports Programs
With the school holidays upon us, there are some great sporting opportunities for our students around Geelong. Please find below some programs available during the holidays.
Soccer - Football Star Academy
📣 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗜𝗡 𝗚𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 ⚽
📲 Scan the QR code on the attached flyer to book now or click this link: https://bit.ly/FSAHolidayCampsGeelong
💥 Pick days that suit your schedule
✅ Sessions to suit all levels of ability and experience
👏 UNDERCOVER pitch
🏆 Professional coaches
⚽Keep your child active and having fun over the school holidays
Places are limited so be quick to avoid disappointment.
Feel free to get in contact if you have any questions: Emily 0484 135 332/ vic48coach.football@sportstaracademy.com
Kelly Sports Program flyer
Kelly Sports Program
Canteen Arrangements Next Week
The Canteen will be open on Friday June 17 (the last day of Term 2) as usual at recess and lunchtime.
Thank you to all volunteers who have helped this term. Your assistance is valued by all Canteen staff and students!
Thank you also to Ashley Walters and his team for rebuilding the original online canteen system to work in our unusual school structure, which required it to function across three separate campuses.
If you still require assistance to set up or use the online ordering system or have any queries about it, please email Nick at ithelpdesk@ccg.vic.edu.au and he will assist.
Have a safe and happy holiday break!
Heather Smith, Canteen Manager
Jonathan Ryan, Operations Manager
National Collection of Data on Students With Disabilities
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). With data collected on the first Friday in August (this year, on the 5th), the NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD Guidelines (2021).
Please see the attached NCCD Fact Sheet for more information.
Golf Tournament
The Foundation Golf Tournament is set for Thursday, 27 October 2022. Join us at 13th Beach Golf Links from 8:00am for a shotgun start. Tickets are $190 each ($150 for members) or $750 for a group of four. RSVPs close on Thursday, 6 October 2022 at 5:00pm.
Funds raised from this event will be allocated to our Foundation Scholarship Fund, supporting current students who are in need of financial assistance.
Book online at: The Foundation Golf Tournament
A MYTERN Thought for This Week
Life will throw you curve balls. That's part of the journey - especially since COVID.
So, if you experience moments of feeling out of control, don't judge yourself. It doesn't mean that you are failing.
Grab that wheel and pull over if you have to.
And know that you're doing an awesome job. 👍👏
Discover more about MYTERN here
