From the Head of the Junior School
Dear Parents and Friends of the Junior School,
It has been a busy and exciting Book Week. We are a school that gets into Book Week because it is a priceless opportunity to celebrate the wonders of literature: escape, imagination, curiosity, languages, communication and community, to name a few. And it is fun! The boys have enjoyed sessions with authors, Oliver Phommovanh and Belinda Murrell. They have enjoyed perusing and sometimes purchasing books from the Book Fair. The parade of characters this morning was a highlight with the students and staff costumed as a variety of classic and modern characters. Among them were wizards, wild things, umpa-lumpas, cats in hats, tin men, Mr Men, Jedi Knights and Sith Lords, a persistent bin-chicken, loads of pirates and some minions who were the life of the dance party! This was the first parade open to parents, siblings and grandparents for a few years and it was immediately apparent that your presence generates much of the enthusiasm, goodwill and community-feel that is so enjoyed and adds enormously to the experience of the boys. Thank you to the parents and grandparents who came this morning or created or shopped to help the boys with their costumes. Thank you also to those who have purchased books from the Book Fair. I especially note and thank our Teaching & Learning Librarians, Mrs Bowden and Ms Gratton, and our Library Services Specialists, Mrs Weber and Mrs Case, who have been tireless in organising and running events this week. The ‘icing on the cake’ in the form of literature-themed scarecrows is testament to the hard work and creativity of Mrs Bargwanna wearing her dual hats of Environmental Educator and Mother Earth! You will be able to enjoy the class scarecrows up close at next Friday’s Festival of the Arts. Book Week serves as a timely reminder of the power of literature and the foundational nature of reading for so much of our learning. Our hope is that the joy of events helps to stoke the fires for reading. Earlier in the week, the boys were encouraged to ensure that they actually read a book this week. If they have not done so, I can think of no worthier weekend project than to pick-up and read a book. What about you? Most of us could all sacrifice a little time on our screens to re-discover the wellbeing effects of a good book!
We switch gears pretty quickly into another celebration next week, with the culmination of many visual arts, music and creative technology projects for our Junior School Arts Festival…artworks are being mounted, instruments tuned and robot dances finalised. We hope that all boys and parents will attend the Festival of the Arts Evening next Friday evening, 26th August, in the Junior School building (5-7pm). Apart from a display of the magnificent array of artwork that the boys have been making at school, the evening will also feature musical and technology performances, as well as a scarecrow walk through the Green Patch. It will be a spectacular event and your attendance will again add to the excitement for the boys.
It is hard to properly describe in words the experience of student-led conferences. In some ways, you just have to be there. Fortunately, most parents were there to experience these first-hand. Just in case, we had our media staff capture and package many of the learning activities undertaken by boys and parents. You can enjoy and share a brief collection from that special event below.
We are looking forward to hosting fathers on campus for our Kindergarten – Year 4 Father & Son Breakfast on Friday 2nd September. Enjoying bacon-egg rolls, coffee and hot chocolate, with the chance to mingle with other boys and fathers is our plan for the morning and we hope it is your plan too. Please book via this link. We hope to see many fathers in attendance.
The Trinity Ball will be held at Doltone House on Saturday evening. Over 450 people will be in attendance, many of them current and former Junior School parents. We look forward to joining together, enjoying community and hearing of the development plans that will have such a positive impact on the campus for our students in the years ahead.
We wish our athletes all the best in tomorrow’s second Invitational Carnival along with the Cru Leaders attending CruFit on Monday and the boys competing in next week’s RoboCup.
Mark Dunn
Head of the Junior School
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Colossians 3:13
