FROM THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

Harmony Day

Harmony Day was embraced with much excitement in all classes across the Junior School this week. Thank you to all students, staff and families for the support of this, not only with the national costumes from all over the world but also with the conversations and discussions at school and at home about cultural inclusivity and increasing understanding of different beliefs and traditions.

LIVE@Elphin

LIVE@Elphin and Connect@Elphin are always an exciting time for the students in the class leading these events. At this time LIVE and Connect are virtual events, meaning that the class preparing their sharing of learning in the usual way and then videoing it for uploading to the class page on The Dash. Parents are able to view it there.

Sharing recent class learning experiences through LIVE and Connect has important learning benefits for students alongside the school-home partnership that it highlights. Reflecting on recent learning helps the development of higher order thinking skills such as making cross-curricular learning connections, synthesising and consolidating key concepts and self-assessing understanding. The process also engages, motivates and empowers learners, builds coping skills and develops effective communication skills.

We trust that families at home enjoy the video presentations and find time to discuss these together. Hopefully we will be able to return to LIVE on campus presentations again before too long.

Elphin Campus Traffic

Concerns regarding traffic issues around the Elphin Campus, particularly in Erina, College and Claremont Streets, were raised with the College by local residents at a Community Consultation meeting this week. Pedestrian safety and compliance with parking regulations during the busy school drop-off and pickup times were central to these concerns.

Road safety for everybody, but particularly younger students when near the street, must be everybody’s priority at all times. This requires close supervision as well as traffic awareness. Parking legally at all times contributes to safety as well as courtesy to other road users including residents with whom we share these streets. Parking should at all times comply with street signs and road markings. This will ensure accessibility to all private driveways.

We all know how busy it can be in the 8.20am-8.45am and 2.50pm-3.15 time slots each day. The combination of school and local commuter traffic (through traffic on Claremont and Erina Streets as well as Elphin Road being one of the city’s busiest arterial routes in the mornings makes this especially busy for a short time.

Things that we can all do to assist students, each other and our school neighbours include:
·         Comply with all road rules and regulations, including when this needs a brief period of patience.
·          Park legally at all times and adhere to the 2 minute standing time in the drive-through zones when using these.
·         Walk or ride to school where possible. This is not only for families who live close to the Campus; others might consider the ‘Park and Walk’ option – park a short distance from the Campus and walk five minutes to or from the gates.
·         Use only the gate allocated to your child’s year level, and where there is more than one child in the family make it a one-stop drop-off or pickup at the gate of the youngest sibling.
·         Spread drop-offs and pickups as much as possible over the full 20-25 minute period.

The College for its part continues to liaise with the City Council Traffic Branch in relation to traffic management in the whole area and has recently sought the assistance of an independent Traffic Management Assessor for a further review of options to improve both road safety and traffic flow efficiency around the Elphin Campus.

All of us contributing and working together will make this a safe and efficient daily process for all.

Mask Wearing at School

All parents and visitors are reminded of the requirement to wear a face mask at all times when indoors at the Elphin Campus. The support of all members of our College community has contributed greatly to the swift reduction of positive covid cases reported across the Elphin Campus this week. Thank you.

Mr Lachie Wright
Head of Junior School