FROM THE JUNIOR SCHOOL
Experience November-December!
The Elphin Campus this week has been a hive of activity and exciting learning experiences right across the Junior School as the last five weeks of the school year build towards a crescendo.
With classroom programs at all levels still business as usual, Tuesday’s Sports Morning for Prep and Year 1 students and their families started the week, with Prep students then following on with the commencement of their Learn-to-Swim program through the week and the music program for all classes moving into rehearsal mode for a range of end of year concerts and celebratory events. The first sounds of Christmas have been emanating from the Mary Fox Hall!
Year 5 students were at the Middle School on Wednesday and Thursday as the next step in their transition process towards Middle School in 2023. On Friday they hosted Grandparents’ and Friends’ Day and led the Junior School Remembrance Day commemoration for the whole Junior School.
The Term 4 Walk to School morning saw a contingent from all Year levels – students and parents – walk to school from the Penquite Campus on Thursday morning. That evening heralded the first of our Parent Information meetings with 2023 Year 2 parents visiting the Lemana precinct where Year 2 and 3 students learn and play each day.
On Friday morning there were two sessions of the Learning Together program which supports new 2023 Early Learning Elphin students and parents in their readiness for starting school in February.
Next week the Prep Learn-to-Swim program and music rehearsals across the campus continue, as do Parent Information meetings with 2023 Prep-Year 1 parents invited on Tuesday evening and 2023 Early Learning parents on Wednesday evening (both meetings at 7:00 pm in the Mary Fox Hall).
Thursday 17 November is Orientation Day for new Prep to Year 5 students commencing in 2023 and Friday 18 November is Orientation Day for new students new to the Middle School next year. Also on Friday, all current Prep to Year 4 students will have transition visits to their 2023 indoor and outdoor Year Level learning and play areas.
This is a very exciting time of the school year for every Junior School student and the latter half of the Term offers a range of opportunities for parents and families to share and celebrate this with us. Parents needing further details of any events should check the relevant class page on The Dash or contact their child’s class teacher or the Junior School Office.
Lachie Wright
Head of Junior School
Basketball
Fifteen teams and 124 students graced the basketball courts in the recent Primary Basketball Championships. A highlight on the sporting calendar for many students, it is often the event where students find a love for the game and develop an interest to pursue it as a sport in the future. Students learn a lot about themselves, teamwork, and sportsmanship over the course of the weekend and also learn valuable lessons in humility, courage, and resilience.
We had eight Year 5/6 teams and seven Year 3/4 teams. The success over both weekends was mixed with both wins and losses for all, however they all improved immensely both personally and as a team as the weekend progressed. We had two teams make it through to the Grand Final playoff. The Year 5/6 girls team were victorious in their final game winning the Division 1 competition and one of the Year 3/4 boys teams were runners up in the Division 2 competition. The Div. One girls’ team will now compete at the State Basketball Championships in December. We would like to wish them well for this competition.
Special thanks to all the coaches, many of whom were senior students, and team managers who offered their time and expertise, in a lead up to and, on game day. Thank you to all the parents and friends who assisted on bench duty and who came to support their child and others throughout the weekend. And lastly thank you to the players for trying their hardest right up to the final siren and representing their school with pride.
View all the results for each team here – Primary Basketball Championships – Results
Looking forward to 2023!
Rachel Buck
Cocurricular Coordinator
Virtual visit to Sydney
Last week, Year 1 students enjoyed an opportunity to virtually tour the Sydney Opera House as part of our conneXions learning. We have explored lots of picture books to pique interest, and in particular have appreciated a newly released picture book entitled ‘Jorn’s Magnificent Imaginatio’ which documented Jorn Utzon, the Danish architect who designed this beautiful building. We were also excited to learn that the illustrator, Nicky Johnson is earmarked for a day of learning next year so we can follow up directly with her after viewing the beautiful images in the book.
In class groups, after researching and reading lots of Information Books and KidsNews Articles, we have answered many of our initial wonderings about the Opera House. We are now very excited to have a unique opportunity to record our further questions and have emailed these directly to the Creative Learning Team in Sydney. We are awaiting their responses with anticipation! For a video snapshot of learning please see your child’s Class page in the Blog section.
In Year 1, ACARA outlines that students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read, view and interpret spoken, written and multimodal texts designed to entertain and inform. This unit is a great example of a conneXions and classroom learning collaboration.
Kylie Brewster
connexions Teacher