Term 2 Week 1

Welcome back to all our families. What a fantastic start to the term we have had at Grammar. The students across the School have returned with energy and zest. I would like to thank our students who represented the School at the Launceston City Service for their attendance and support of this important occasion. At school we honoured the sacrifice of those who have served and each of our three services recognised the importance of the freedoms that we enjoy.

As a school with a strong connection to service in the armed forces, it was timely that on the 18 April at a small service, we celebrated the centenary of the laying of the Foundation Stone for the first building at the Senior School campus at Mowbray. The laying of the Foundation Stone was on what the Examiner described as “a glorious day and an important milestone in the progress of the state”. It was the realisation of the hopes, the crowning success and the ceaseless efforts of our 9th Headmaster, Rev’d John Walter Bethune, the Trustees and the Old Boys of the school. A great new structure that would be a fitting memorial to the 100 Old Scholars who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War.

I am excited for all of the events and special experiences that our Junior School students will participate in this term. Importantly, the opening of the play areas and the development of our green spaces will be a highlight in the lead up to Foundation Day. I am also looking forward to the Launceston Competitions and wish our students well. I have been privileged to see several rehearsals and I know our students will give it their best. If you have the opportunity to attend AGFEST we look forward to you dropping into the Grammar site!

Wishing all of our Grammar families a wonderful weekend.

Dale Bennett
Principal

ANZAC Day – Lest We Forget

Over 30 Junior Campus students and their families responded to the invitation from the Launceston RSL to participate in the ANZAC Day March and Civic Service on Tuesday 25 April. It was very pleasing to see some students proudly wearing the Service Medals or Replicas of their Veteran relatives. The Grammar students marched from Prince’s Square to the Launceston Cenotaph, where the Service was held. Our Junior Campus leaders joined the Senior Campus Captains to lay a wreath to honour and remember those who have served Australia.

By learning about special days and weeks celebrated or commemorated in Australia, we can appreciate the importance of similar important occasions observed around the world. It is important for our students to commemorate days such as Anzac Day, to learn about the contribution made by different groups and individuals in the community and how and why we choose to remember significant events of the past. It is also an opportunity to learn about the symbols and rituals that accompany such important events.

We began term two with an Anzac Assembly, giving all our Prep-Grade 6 students an opportunity to experience some of the rituals and traditions of an Anzac Service first hand. Our Grade 6 leaders who attended the ANZAC Day March and Civic Service shared their experience with the Junior students. A picture story book written by Catriona Hoy and Benjamin Johnson, My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day, was read. The Ode was recited and Music Teacher, Mark Saunders played The Last Post which was followed by a minute’s silence before Reveille was sounded. The mood was very respectful. By participating and commemorating such occasions, we hope that we can help our younger students to understand the importance of peace in our world and how they can make a difference.

Thanks very much to Learning Area Leader (Humanities and Social Sciences), Sophie Gunn, for her leadership and commitment, ensuring that Anzac Day was appropriately acknowledged at the Junior campus.

Junior Campus Playground

The Junior Campus playground has been installed this week! Children enjoyed watching the trucks arrive, materials being unloaded and then the assembly of the equipment. The highlight was the seeing the huge concrete mixers and then the delivery of the softfall. The team prepared the foundations and then built a giant swing, monkey bars and a spider net. On Monday, it will be ready for the students to play on!

Sheona Carter
Head of Junior Campus

In my experience there are a number of ways to assess the health and even excellence of a School. Academic results matter, so too sports participation, the way students wear their uniform, and the way people treat each other. All these are important, but one big indicator is the health of the Music in the School. By this measure Grammar is in great shape! 

We have had two big events recently where our Choir and Music ensembles have been outstanding.  

At our Easter services, including the Elizabeth Street Chapter Holy Week service, our musicians produced and sang a version of the Kyrie Eleison written by Dr Melissa Rogers. It was simply beautiful and was performed with technical precision and spiritual depth. 

This week we commemorated ANZAC Day with two services led by students. Once again, the musical contributions were excellent and moving. Our Chamber Orchestra, Senior Choral leaders and the Grade 10 members of The Fellas provided the foundation and heart to services that were powerful in their impact.  

Any observer at these events would have marvelled at the quality, high levels of participation and excellence of the music at Grammar. 

A final note – Godsway Williams gave the Anzac Oration by profiling Captain Norman Roff, our Headmaster before WW2, who died leading his Company of the Tasmanian 2/40th Battalion. Godsway was able to capture the importance of Roff to Launceston Church Grammar School and inspire us to find our way of serving and being peacemakers. 

The text of his Oration has now been archived, however it is also available on our website.

Warm best wishes, 

Reverend Matthew Pickering
Chaplain

School Fire Education Programme

Next week, we are fortunate enough to be able to provide our EL-6 students with learning opportunities about Fire Safety in partnership with the Tasmanian Fire Service. This opportunity supports specific outcomes from the Health and Physical Education section of the Australian Curriculum, those that relate to making safe decisions to enhance health and wellbeing. 

Our Prep to Grade 6 students will experience a range of formal lessons through Fire Safety week and Early Learning will have a visit from a firefighter who will provide age level appropriate learning experiences.    

The Tasmanian Fire service school program is designed to raise fire awareness in children and includes fun and engaging activities, videos, activity books and giveaways. We strongly encourage our parents and other family members to participate by reading the information and assisting your child with the after-school activities or within the home learning that your class teacher may provide.  

Key Fire Safety Messages include: 

• Wake up – Install a smoke alarm in every bedroom 
• Plan and practice a home fire escape plan with the whole family 
• In a fire crawl low and go, go, go to the nearest exit 
• In an emergency call triple zero 
• Keep flammable material at least two metres from the heater 
• If your clothes catch fire, stop, drop, rock and roll
• Keep matches and lighters away from children 
• Cooking – Turn it off before you turn away 
• Cool a burn under cool water for at least 20 minutes 
• Most house fires can be avoided. Make your home fire safe 

More information www.tfseducation.com.au  

We are very much looking forward to this wonderful opportunity.  Please email Annabel Eastoe at aeastoe@lcgs.tas.edu.au if you have any queries about the programme.  

Launceston Competitions – Speech and Drama, Creative Writing 

From May 6-12, many of our students are participating in the Speech and Drama and Creative Writing sections of the Launceston Competitions. This competition supports specific outcomes from the Drama section of the Australian Curriculum.  

• Exploring and Responding  
• Developing Practices and Skills 
• Creating and Making
• Presenting and Performing

This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to engage in a community event where they must prepare and present rich literature though drama and/or writing, to a set criterion, for an audience. Our students will receive feedback for their performances and enjoy viewing performances from other schools in our Launceston community. 

A further notice and permission slip will be sent home soon. As we receive more information from the organisers, our staff will communicate session times with parents via Seesaw. 

Parents are welcome to attend the sessions at their own cost. To find out more information, visit www.launcestoncompetitions.org  

Mathematics Improvement Project  

In 2022, our staff began working together with Tierney Kennedy from Back to Front Maths to analyse our longitudinal data for Mathematics and to enhance our repertoire of skills and capacity when teaching Mathematics. Most recently our staff have been interested in understanding the changes to the curriculum since the launch of the Australian Curriculum version 9. Our teachers have shifted their scope and sequence across to the version 9 curriculum and completed any necessary changes in their planning documentation.  

This year our staff have access to a masterclass webinar series. So far this year staff have accessed webinars about; Place Value, Quantity and Partitioning and Decimal Numbers. Next in the series is a webinar about Multiplicative and Structural thinking, including the importance of teaching division. We are very pleased with the progress of our project so far, and the way that it is supporting our staff to deliver the best possible outcomes for our students in this key learning area.  

www.backtofrontmaths.com.au   

Claire Calvert
Primary Years Programme Co-ordinator

This week, Grade 6 students were treated to a session by Launceston City Council Dam Compliance Engineer, Maggie Gilligan and Emergency Management Advisor, Lynda Robins.
They learnt all about the PPRR framework Prevention, Planning, Response and Recovery. The data, images and information shared during the session complimented their current unit of inquiry, ‘Communities adapt to change’, providing authentic examples of the application of our learning.

A huge thank you to Maggie and Lynda for taking the time to speak to our students.

Please join us for the official opening of Splendid & Harmonious at Poimena Gallery on Thursday 4th May at 5:30pm.

Visit us at AGFEST 4-6 May! We will be located at CWA22 in CWA Grove.

Tickets can be purchased here: https://bit.ly/Agfest-2023

Alumnus of 1955, Graeme Hetherington has published two poetry books; Upper Heights & Lower Depths, and The Divided Self: A Tasmanian Odyssey.

To purchase a copy, contact Petrarchs Bookstore on (03) 6331 8088