Term 2 Week 5

Life success is nurtured when our learners can explore and learn in new and different ways. For our Junior Campus students, these opportunities are many. Increasingly, research shows us that having an Arts education be it performing, visual or creative makes a significant contribution to a child’s ability to learn and acquire skills that will serve them well in life.

I often reflect on how we grow our student’s confidence, develop their open mindset and challenge their ability to adapt to changing circumstances. All skills they will need in the future.

I also query how technology and the evolution of AI may impact their learning. Having a strong and engaging arts program across drama, dance, visual arts and music is essential to address these questions amongst many other considerations of how we work with families to grow amazing humans!

At Grammar, we are blessed to have an extensive Arts offering steeped in history. It no doubt started with hymns sung in Chapel and now we are and always will be a singing school! From this foundation, we have seen our offering extend across all art forms. On both campuses, we have vibrant classroom and cocurricular experiences in drama, theatre arts, music, dance, and the visual arts. Recently, we have seen high-calibre performances at the Launceston Comps, the superb musical CATS and stunning art exhibitions at the Arthouse and Poimena.

On Wednesday evening the Chair of the LCGS Board, Nigel Bailey, Head of Junior Campus Sheona Carter and I enjoyed a music soirée where 20 of our Junior School musicians performed for parents, friends and staff. It was in the words of our JS Music Captains “wonderful”. I always think the start of the journey is the best part and then take great interest in watching young musicians evolve their skills and talent over the school journey.

Our amazing Arthouse program led by Mrs Cook is a place for students to excel and explore their wildest imaginings. The quality of the artworks witnessed on Mother’s Day and in the recent Mini Glover exhibitions was inspiring. We see our students developing their creative and critical thinking skills as they are encouraged and provoked to think in a different way about the complexities of life.

Grade 5 have started preparations for their musical Seussical and rehearsals are underway. Through the theatre arts process, our young people will learn to lean into their vulnerability, test their courage, and develop and grow their resilience in a safe and supported learning environment. In Term 3 I know we will see a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza!

Our Little Extras program features further opportunities in the Arts, and I am hoping that Hip Hop dancing makes a return!

Through the Arts, we are contributing to the academic success and well-being of our students. Leadership is committed to evolving our Arts education at both campuses to ensure our quest to create bright futures and lifelong joy because of a Grammar education is realised.

Viva La Arts!

Dale Bennett

Principal

National Reconciliation Week takes place between May 27 and June 3 every year in Australia. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey: the successful 1967 Referendum and the High Court Mabo decision, respectively. In 2023, the theme for National Reconciliation Week is Be a Voice for Generations. The theme encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in real ways in our everyday lives.

Students at the Junior Campus will learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait histories and culture at our Reconciliation Assembly on Monday 29 May. We will reflect on the concept of ‘reconciliation’ and find out about some of the symbols that are important. Grade 5 students will also help us to understand the long history of our first nations people. The book, Finding our Heart by Thomas Mayor, will also be shared. This book is about understanding Australia’s past, so we can have a shared future. Author, Thomas Mayor, explains the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The Australian Curriculum includes outcomes to assist children to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture to support our indigenous students to see themselves, their identities and culture reflected in our Curriculum and to develop everyones understanding of reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures. These cultures are described as strong, resilient, rich and diverse.

Our students will be learning about first nations histories and cultures in class. When investigating the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at school, the children will learn about the importance of country and place, culture and people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are connected physically and spiritually to country and place. Culture is diverse, as evidenced by language, ways of life; ways of being, knowing, thinking and doing and societies. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made significant contributions locally, nationally and globally.

Learning will be shared during National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week, the last week of Term 2, where immersion activities are being planned. Thanks to Learning Area Leader (History & Social Sciences) Sophie Gunn, for leading this initiative.

Let us start a new chapter in the future of Australia, where we walk as equals. Where reconciliation is not just a word and a day in the calendar, but where we reconcile the trauma and atrocities of the past and celebrate our shared future and knowledge. William Tilmouth, Arrernte Elder and Founding Chair of Children’s Ground

Further information can be found here: https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/

Parents and friends are most welcome to attend the Assembly, which will be held in Faulkner Hall at 2:15pm, Monday 29 May.

Sheona Carter

Head of Junior Campus

Dear Hawkes Boarding Families,

It’s been another big fortnight in Hawkes Boarding. We celebrated National Boarding Week last week, and it was wonderful to see the students embrace and own the fact that they are Hawkes Boarders. We had our annual formal informal dinner last Wednesday where the theme was Nan and Pop, and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all as everyone dressed up, enjoyed the delicious meal cooked by Mark and his team, and the evening was finished with a few songs of singing and dancing. Last Thursday’s student-lead assembly was run by our Boarders, with Captain Mackenzie Grant doing an exceptional job at organising the whole assembly. We had our very own Davia play the National anthem, Kayden read the prayer, the John sisters demonstrated their amazing musical talents by performing a Cello and Violin duet, finished off by a beautiful singing performance by Anika and Sophie Lamb. Credit also to Anika Terry for putting together a video to showcase a small snippet of what we do in the Boarding House in our spare time. To finish national Boarding Week, we held a sausage sizzle fundraiser last Friday and raised $350 which we donated to the Grade 12 Walkathon’s charity – You Can Stay.

We are nearly at the halfway point in the term which can sometimes feel like a hump to get over, but the attitude and positivity from staff and students are affectious and that is testament to the culture within our Hawkes Boarding Community. Testament to the growth of that culture is the trip we have planned this weekend. Firstly, we are so fortunate to be hosting a few students and families from Cape Barren for the weekend. This is an amazing opportunity to show them what our life is like in Hawkes Boarding, but also to learn more about their background. They will join us as we head of to the Aldridge farm in Branxholm for our annual bonfire and cracker night.

Finally, I just want to remind our parents of the next Boarding Parents Support Group Meeting that takes place this coming Wednesday night. I will send out more information in an email on Tuesday with a link to the Zoom meeting included.

Enjoy your weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday night.

Kind regards,

TJ Pieters

Head of Boarding

In January, I was fortunate to be one of 40 Australian educators who participated in a graduate program at the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel. The Gandel Holocaust Studies Program is an intensive 130 hour course conducted over 18 days which included seminars, workshops, lectures and tours. The aim of the program is to form an active and organised network of Australian educators committed to teaching about the Holocaust and its universal implications. Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, is dedicated to commemoration, documentation, research and education, and key teachings from the Holocaust Studies Program included foundational Jewish history, anti-Semitism and Nazi ideology, ghettoization and the world after Auschwitz.  

What interested me during my time at Yad Vashem and exploring Holocaust memory education is the importance of storytelling to humanise, restore identities and to voice the voiceless. It was a privilege to hear survivor testimony and to bear witness to an individual’s experience to help build understanding and empathy. The program underscored the importance of the written narrative: testimony, experience, the individual, life stories, real people, those that have been heard, those that have been silenced. Else, we are left with historical accounts that relegate the individual to a faceless mass, statistics and historical (in)accuracies. It also reduces a life to the Holocaust at the expense of a life before (and a life after).  

One of our challenges as educators is to consider how to teach horrifying periods in human history sensitively and compassionately. Yad Vashem’s approach of ‘safely in, safely out’ focuses on using age-appropriate curricula in a safe pedagogical way. For example, music, poetry and art are powerful artefacts that can be used in the classroom. It is not necessary to show horrific images for students to build an understanding of the Holocaust. 

If, as Eddie Jaku OAM, Holocaust survivor stated, “Alone is the worst you can have”, then the program emphasised the significance of togetherness and forced me to consider what unites us and our shared humanity. In reflecting upon the program, emerged the significance of learning from the past to better understand the present.  Only through this, can we truly be impactful in the future.  

Natalie Stewart
Director of Teaching and Learning Grade 10-12

Each week I have the privilege of collaborating with staff from at each year level and subject area as they design rigorous, relevant and engaging learning experiences for all our learners at the Junior Campus. The thought, discussion and time that our staff put into ensuring quality learning is occurring for our students never ceases to amaze me.  

During the learning design process, our staff begin with referencing the Australian Curriculum. They reference the curriculum for all the key learning areas and for the capabilities. Our staff select what is to be taught and consider how they will find out what our students already know or where their skill level is already at, with the aim of establishing a suitable starting point for each student. For all learning outcomes, our staff ask themselves one key question,  

‘How will I know that the students have learned what I intended them to learn?’  

The Junior Campus Assessment policy references three types of assessment. 

• Assessment for learning occurs when teachers use inferences about student progress to inform their teaching 
• Assessment as learning occurs when students reflect on and monitor their progress to inform action steps they will take to meet their future learning goals 
• Assessment of learning occurs when teachers use evidence of student learning to make judgments on student achievement against goals and standards. 

Our staff are always on the lookout for evidence of learning, although presently, assessment of learning has a little more emphasis. Students have been completing diagnostic assessments across the disciplines, the results of which, our staff will piece together with existing data and observations to track growth and report on each students’ progress. 

Student mid-year progress reports will be released to parents at the end of week 8 of this term. In weeks 9 and 10, parents will have the opportunity to meet with teachers to discuss the progress of their child’s learning in greater depth. The parents of our Grade Six students will also have an opportunity to discuss their child’s learning with their child – one step towards increasing student ownership of learning and preparing our Grade Six students for their Primary Years Programme Exhibition. As always, all our teachers will be available, and we encourage parents to meet their child’s classroom and specialist teachers. Meeting with our specialist teachers enables parents to gain a wholistic view of their child’s learning journey, within and beyond the walls of the classroom. More information regarding dates, times and bookings for parent teacher discussions will be emailed to parents next week.  

Claire Calvert

Primary Years Programme Coordinator

Grade 2 have been inquiring into ‘Journeys connect people’. This week they visited Pearn’s Steam World in Westbury, to extend their learning further. The students thoroughly enjoyed exploring the old vehicles, the blacksmith’s store and other exhibits and it prompted them to ask many rich questions. It’s wonderful to hear that our students have encouraged their families to also visit the site – an opportunity for them to share their learning with others.

Last week, our Junior Campus held their Cross Country at Faulkner Park. Yellow took it home this year, with Maxey-Middleton winning the shield for the most house points.

A big thank you to our families for coming along to cheer on the students, to our staff for coordinating the event and our students for cheering each other on.

Friendly reminder to all students, parents and staff, that the Grade 12’s will be selling their ‘You Can Stay’ Sony Foundation Charity Pyjamas next week after school from 3:30-5:00pm Tuesday and Wednesday from Cafe 1846 at the Senior Campus.

They are $40 a pair, or $20 for just the pants. All proceeds to go towards their year long fundraiser, raising vital funds for Sony Foundation.

If you wish to make a donation, you can do so by clicking here.

Congratulations to the following students on their successful results at the Launceston Competitions – Speech and Drama.

GRADE 7 – SOLO

Second Placing

• Alex Carnicelli – Monologue
• Paige Duncan–Rainbird – Creative Writing (Verse)

Highly Commended

• Alex Carnicelli – Impromptu Reading

GRADE 7 GROUP
First Placing

• Lachie Wragg & Kaleb Reid – Duo Mime
• Caitlin Goodacre, Lucy Jackson & Catherine Campion – Character Trio
• Zac Holloway & Hamish Welch – Character Duo
• George Armstrong, Troy Austen, Michael Chiselett, Alex Carnicelli, (Barney Cook) – Grade 7/8 Mime Group7D Movement Class –
• Grade 7/8 Creative Dance/Expressive Movement Group

Second Placing

• Lucy Jackson & Georgia Freeman – Duo Mime
• Ebony Harper & Bridie Jones – Duo mime
• Heidi John & Sophie Tole – Character Duo
• Tavish Burns, Arlo Burns, Luca Bulow, Hamish Mason – Grade 7/8 Mime Group
• Caitlin Goodacre, Catherine Campion, Lucy Jackson, Heidi John

Third Placing

• Sophie, Katie, Riley – Grade 7/8 Mime Group

Highly Commended

• Lucia Bridle &Mylee Ebert – Duo Mime
• Bridie Jones, Ruby Wright & Kyesha Munz – Character Trio
• Lulu Greig, Georgie Tole, Noah Smith, Ben Watson, Asher Graham
• 7C Movement class – Grade 7/8 Creative Dance/Expressive Movement Group

GRADE 8 SOLO
First Placing

• Paige Duncan–Rainbird – Creative Individual Programme
• Eliza Kitto – Grade 8 Monologue
• Eliza Kitto – Grade 8 Impromptu Reading
• Kathryn Akerman – Grade 8 Monologue
• Lydia Hayes – Grade 8 Monologue

Second Placing

• Alice Gannon – Grade 8 Recital
• Alice Gannon – Grade 8 Impromptu Reading

Highly Commended

• Isabelle Doyle – Grade 8 Recital
• Victoria Szramka – Grade 8 Impromptu Reading
• Taylah Goss – Grade 8 Impromptu Reading
• Paige Duncan-Rainbird – Grade 8 Impromptu Reading
• Lydia Hayes – Grade 8 Impromptu Reading
• Paige Duncan-Rainbird – Grade 8 Recital
• Lydia Hayes – Grade 8 Recital
• Taylah Goss – Grade 8 Monologue
• Victoria Szramka – Grade 8 Monologue

GRADE 8 GROUP:
First Placing

• Kathryn Akerman & Shaneli Vithanarachchi – Character Duo

Highly Commended

• Alice Gannon & Lydia Hayes – Character Duo

GRADE 9 SOLO
First Placing

• Lilian Foster – Grade 9 Monologue
• Molly Clark – Grade 9 Impromptu Reading
• Isobel Talbot – Grade 9 Recital

Second Placing

• Hannah Badcock – Grade 9 Monologue
• Isobel Talbot – Grade 9 Impromptu Reading

Third Placing

• Molly Clark – Grade 9 Monologue
• Laine Cresswell – Grade 9 Monologue
• Sienna Mullenger – Grade 9 Impromptu Reading

Highly Commended

• Sakura Fisher – Grade 9 Monologue

GRADE 9 GROUP
First Placing

• Isobel Talbot, Molly Clark, Sienna Mullenger – Grade 9 Character Trio

Second Placing

• Ruby Schulz & Charlotte Neville – Grade 9 Character Trio

GRADE 10 SOLO
First Placing

• Edie Burns – Grade 10 Monologue

Second Placing

• Sarah Moore – Grade 10 Recital
• Edie Burns – Grade 10 Impromptu Reading

Highly Commended

• Kate Swan – Grade 10 Monologue

GRADE 10 GROUP
Third Placing

• Edie Burns, Sarah Moore, Kate Swan – Grade 10 Character Trio

Highly Commended

• Grade 9/10 Dance Class – Grade 9/10 Creative Dance/Expressive Movement Group

TCE SOLO

First Placing

• Serena Gray – Creative Individual Programme
• Hannah Woollams – Open Monologue
• Savindi Tillerkeratne – Open Monologue

Second Placing

• Emily Schipp -Open Verse Writing
• Laura Akerman – Open Recital
• Sahara Rumble – Open Monologue
• Toby McGee – Open Monologue

Third Placing

• Grace Fieldwick – Open Championship Recital

Highly Commended

• Lola Eastaugh – Open Monologue
• Jeremy Thomas – Open Recital

TCE GROUP

First Placing

• Sahara Rumble & Nina Gibson – Character Ensemble

Second Placing

• Lola Eastaugh & Hannah Woollams – Character Ensemble

SPEECH and DRAMA COMPETITIONS

ADJUDICATOR’S CHOICE AWARDS

THE LAUNCESTON CITY COUNCIL AWARD FOR ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE, 2023

• Hannah Woollams

ARTHUR RIDE TROPHY – competitor securing the highest aggregate – Grade 8

• Eliza Kitto

ARTHUR RIDE TROPHY – competitor securing the highest aggregate – Grade

• Isobel Talbot

HALL PERPETUAL TROPHY – school securing the highest aggregate

• For Impromptu Reading – Secondary LCGS

BEGENT & MAGUIRE TROPHY – Most Promising Competitor – Open

• Toby McGee

NUTS & BOLTS PERPETUAL TROPHY – Most Promising Competitor – Secondary

• Lydia Hayes

DANNY GIBSON PERPETUAL TROPHY – Most Outstanding Monologue – Secondary

• Edie Burns

LAUNCESTON COLLEGE PERPETUAL TROPHY – Most Creative & Entertaining Item – Open

• Serena Gray

Royal Society of St George Trophy

• Grace Fieldwick

CHRIS CABALZAR TROPHY for the overall winner of the Open Monologue

• Savindi Tillerkeratne

LAURA PETERS PERPETUAL TROPHY (Winner 7/8 Creative Individual Programme)

• Paige Duncan–Rainbird

BARCLAY-TAYLOR PERPETUAL TROPHY (Winner Open Creative Individual Programme)

• Serena Gray

We now have copies of ‘Little Grammar 1930-1970 – Our Formative Years’ available for purchase at the Senior Campus. They are $20 each. To purchase a copy, please email community@lcgs.tas.edu.au.