07 June 2019
The last fortnight commenced with National Reconciliation Week. It was a great opportunity for our students and staff to further discuss and explore the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Australia’s broader community. We were privileged to welcome Uncle John Lochowiak to our Junior School Assembly and launch the ‘Ask Uncle John’ tile on Keystone where our community can ask questions of our Indigenous Advisor.
I also loved stepping into a Year 5 class where our boys were researching the solar system. I was excited to discover that if I was living on Venus, I would be 66 years old and our Year 5 boys would be between 16 and 17 years old. I was forced to leave the discussion wondering how old I am in Saturn years. I’ve left that question with the class to find out for me.
I’m incredibly proud of our staff who have been modelling best practice over the last couple of weeks, particularly in the area of THRASS (teaching, handwriting, reading and spelling strategies). It has been great to observe teachers modelling lessons for each other and sharing our approached to phonics for pre-service teachers at UniSA this week.
If you get a chance before or after school next week, be sure to pop into the Junior School Library and see the Morris Gleitzman wall. It is an interactive decision map to guide our boys’ reading choices and what is more, Morris Gleitzman, Australian Children’s Laureate, himself has signed it!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Jasmine Taylor
Head of Junior School
