From the Head of the Junior School

Dear Parents and Friends of the Junior School,

It has been encouraging to have so many parents take up some of the opportunities to be involved in school life this week, as our restrictions have eased relating to visitors on campus.  It was a joy to tour new parents on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, part of a large group who took the opportunity to attend our first Cuppa’n’chat for the year. A gathering of keen parents also filled the room for the Auxiliary meeting yesterday and many more enjoyed the sunshine and spectacle of sweaty, puffing but mostly smiling boys at this morning’s Cross Country. Our partnership with parents is cultivated in many ways that go beyond attendance at weekday events but our boys and staff particularly appreciate whenever you are able to participate in our events on campus. Over the rest of the term there will be the opportunity for you to be involved in Learning Conferences, our Family Service (Years 3-6), Amazing Me (Years 4-6), and the Easter Hat Parade and Service (Kindergarten-Year 2). We hope that you are able to join us for a number of events either this term or across the rest of 2022.

Book a learning conference

All parents should have received the invitation to book a Learning Conference in Week 9. These conferences are a terrific opportunity for you, your son (if he is in Years 3-6), and his teacher to discuss goals for the year and important next steps in learning. Most parents have already successfully navigated the system to book a conference. I encourage all parents to make this conference a priority and book a time to meet with the teacher. We can see that most parents and boys are taking the opportunity to have a face-face conference at school but have also provided a link for those who prefer a conference via Microsoft Teams.

Family Chapel Service

It was a joy to physically return to the Chapel with all Years 3-6 boys and staff this week. It will be even more joyous when we include parents for our Family Service for families of boys in Years 3-6 across all four Junior School Houses on Sunday 27 March. The service is not compulsory for boys but we are expecting the Choir and our student leaders to attend. We hope that many other boys and families will join us as well. Boys attending should wear summer uniform.

Cross Country Championships

The cooler temperatures, gentle breeze and blue skies made for perfect running conditions this morning and we greatly enjoyed our Cross Country Championships. The boys competed with one another and themselves in this morning’s runs covering between one and three kilometres. Yet, they also supported one another and it was a particular joy to see them out on the course pushing themselves and looking out for their mates with a kind word, fist pump or cheer, regardless of position in the race. Congratulations to our age champions and the placegetters in each race who will now represent the School at the IPSHA Championships early next term. Congratulations also to boys who ran better or further than they ever have before. For many, finishing the race without stopping to walk may be a personal milestone now achieved or a goal to set for next year.

Farewell, Mr Adams

Today we farewell Mr Adams who has served as the Director of Music in the Junior School for most of the last decade. Mr Adams’ passion for music and, more importantly, for connecting with boys and nurturing them in their development as young men has been evident across his time at Trinity. Mr Adams also has a passion for guiding young people as they chart career paths and has been training to transition into a career as a Careers Guidance Counsellor. We thank him for his wonderful service to the Junior School community and wish him the best as he embarks on this new career direction.

Upcoming events: a reminder

Two important Junior School events will bookend next week. On Monday, we are holding our inaugural ‘All Together Day’ (coinciding with the community ‘Harmony Day’). All Together Day is an initiative flowing from professional development that the Junior School teachers undertook last year in embedding global connections across learning. Boys and staff will spend the morning celebrating diversity and growing respect for the extraordinary and wonderful differences among us. At the same time, we will be recognising what unites and brings every person on Earth together – our humanity. Part of this diversity will be the opportunity to shed uniform for a day and dress in casual clothes, hopefully with a cultural flavour. At the end of the week, on Friday, the boys will be supporting ‘A Day without Speech’ and raising their awareness of communication challenges when they go without speaking all morning in support of OIC Cambodia. Please help your son to get sponsors (or make a tax-deductible donation) so that this powerful learning experience for our Trinity boys also allows us to make a difference in the lives of children with communication issues and far fewer resources accessible to address these issues. We have distributed information (via class Canvas and Seesaw pages) about how to donate or provide sponsorship for your son’s silence. Thank you to those who have already donated. The class competition is heating up with 5T holding a lead, but that may change a number of times before Friday. We are hoping that a big and generous boost of pledges will get us close to our goal before next Friday.

COVID: School expectations

Whilst most families have experienced COVID-19 in their household already this year and are therefore cognisant of the requirements, I wish to clarify that the School’s expectation is that the day a positive test is taken is viewed as Day 0, to ensure a full seven days of isolation elapses before the return to School. The Head Master provides weekly updates via his Head Master’s Bulletin and I repeat his message from last Friday about changes to restrictions…“There has been a slight change to the isolation requirements. A person who has had COVID-19 within the last eight weeks and who is now a household contact does not need to self-isolate again. In addition, a person who has already been a household contact and completed their required isolation within the last fourteen days does not need to self-isolate again if another household member contracts COVID-19. Check the NSW Health website for up-to-date information regarding isolation.”

Fundraiser: Auxiliary Hot Cross Buns

I commend for your attention and consumption the opportunity to source your Hot Cross Buns for Easter from the Auxiliary who are partnering with Raffael’s Bakery to fill us up and raise funds for Auxiliary initiatives. The details are contained elsewhere in the newsletter of how to order on-line buns in ½ dozen bags that will then be delivered to school for us to send home with your son.

Sports and end of Summer season

Well done to the boys and coaches at this afternoon’s Year 3 Sport session. The programme for this term concludes today. We hope you have had fun, built friendships and developed an appreciation and skills in football. Next year, many of the boys will represent Trinity in a football team in competitive games on Saturday mornings. Friday afternoon sessions re-commence in Week 2 of next term when attention turns to basketball.

All the best to all boys in Years 4-6 playing tomorrow morning in the final round of games for this part of the summer season. Best wishes also to the six students representing IPSHA at next Thursday’s CIS Swimming Championships.

Mark Dunn | Head of the Junior School

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” Psalm 23:1-3