Term 2, Week 9

It seems hard to believe that this week is the penultimate one of term two.  This time next week our students will be about to start their two-week break. A chance to regroup and refresh.  The halfway point of the year. Mid-year exams for our senior students are behind them and school reports are arriving to provide direction for the future.  In some ways this season of the School mirrors life.  Some days seem longer than others, some colder, others just right. The difference between the shortest day and the longest equates to almost six and a half hours more sunlight. At times students (and indeed all of us) can feel we are in the metaphorical shortest day.  That the sunshine has gone away.  We suffer setbacks, heartbreak and the vagaries of life. As an educator, I believe one of the most critical skills our children need is resilience.  The ability to “bounce” back from such days.  But it can be hard sometimes.  The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote so long ago. “You have power over your mind – not outside events.  Realise this, and you will find strength.”

Great advice though sometimes easier said than done.

Nelson Mandela suggested. “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

Recently at junior netball I heard a parent speak about how much their daughter’s team had improved.  Over the season they had gelled as a team, trained hard and improved.  They were coached well and embraced the feedback. From regularly being soundly defeated they were now competitive.  For students to fail, to try again and again, can be daunting.  As Winston Churchill wrote in the darkest days of World War II. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

As we approach this term break, I encourage you all to have conversations with your children about what worries them, what concerns them and strategies for moving forward.  How can they have the courage to continue on? How can we as a school help?  What can we do to support your children? What can we do to support You?

This time can be hard for our young people.  Research shows that 1 in 5 adolescents have suffered or will suffer from anxiety.  I am heartened, however by a willingness of young people to recognise this and so often ask for help.  As we take time with our families, I hope you have time to talk to them about how they are feeling and to always reach out to the School for assistance.  Like the netball team, together we are coaches, manager and the support staff to collectively keep all out players on the court that is life. As Marcus Aurelius also wrote. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

Enjoy the weekend with your families. Take time to breathe.  Take time to enjoy. Take time to love.

God’s Blessings

Nicholas Foster
Acting Headmaster

NAIDOC Week – National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observanc

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. We have taken the opportunity to invite palawa artist, Annie Hay, to create a piece of art that tells a story about Grammar. Annie has created images that represents kanamaluka, the mountains, the community and the creatures that share country. The finished work will be on display at the Junior Campus.

Grade 6 lead the way…

Student perspective is valued and appreciated at Grammar. In the Primary Years Programme (PYP) it is called ‘learner agency’ – voice, choice and ownership, and contributes to student success. Grade 6 leaders have been invited to update the School Board on how they view the School. To set the scene, we looked at what we should keep doing (what is working well) what we should start doing (ideas for improvement) and wat we should stop doing (things that are seen as unhelpful. The leaders posted their ideas on the board and then sorted and collated them to identify broad themes. One of the things to improve was their ability to act on their ideas. To support this, we have been meeting regularly to hold each other to account and offer support.

The leaders have surveyed staff, asked them to hold class meetings and elect Junior Council representatives, considered the best way to reinstate community events and reflected on the environment and how we might better embed sustainable practices. Service and community support is also deemed to be important. The group are keen to ensure that when they meet with the Board next term, they represent the views of not just Grade 6 students, but the students of the Junior Campus.

The leaders are enjoying the preparations and are looking forward to meeting with the Board next term.

Fun in the sun!

Mrs Malinowski’s children have been enjoying the outdoors this week. Dressing up, climbing, planting fruits and vegetables and building in the cubby. How lovely it is to see the children making connections with their friends, learning about the seasons and nature and building together in the cubby. Happy days!

We are delighted that some children will be extending their days at Grammar next term and that we will have new families join our Early Learning community.

Grade 2 Start a New Tradition!

Grade 2 children were inspired by indigenous storyteller, Tamas, who visited during Reconciliation Week.  When learning about how stories connect with the past and how our past plays a role in shaping who we are, they decided to apply what they had learned from Tamas. They wanted to begin a tradition and a legend at Grammar, so decided to collaborate and write a story about the old oak tree. Following the inquiry model, and mirroring what writers do, they tuned in to the project, sorted out what they knew, took their learning further and created the Legend of the Oak Tree. After a very special Grade 2 Dinner, the Legend was narrated and performed for the Grade 2 parents in a magical setting. It was a lovely tribute to Tamas and a beautiful way to celebrate Grammar’s Founders’ Day.

Well done to all our writers, illustrators, party planners, narrators and actors – it was quite a memorable event for all!

Special thanks, too, to our dedicated and creative Grade 2 teachers, Mrs Martine Cook and Mrs Debbie Deans.

I hope this snapshot of learning gives you an understanding of how engaging, purposeful and productive learning is at the Junior Campus. It is also lots of fun!

Sheona Carter
Head of Junior Campus

Upcoming Dates

This week we were pleased to be able to welcome our parents and guardians online and back on campus for the Mid-Year Parent Teacher Discussions.

The discussions, coupled with the Mid-Year Progress Reports (Prep – Grade 6), aimed to give our parents insight into their child’s learning. Of course, we provided parents with an indication of each student’s achievement, at this point of the year, against the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (ACARA) achievement standards, in each subject taught. The future learning foci for each student were relayed to parents. Additionally, and importantly, we provided information about each student’s attitude to learning. Indeed, the final and most important purpose of the reporting process for us, is always to build the connection between home and school.

As an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) school, the learning community is recognised as having a shared responsibility for student learning, health and wellbeing. As a school, we know that there are immense benefits for our learners when parents and teachers are ‘on the same page’. We use Seesaw as a communication tool, to enable a window for parents into the learning happening at School, and to provide a launchpad for further conversations about learning at home. In our younger classes, we appreciate all the assistance our students get from parents in supporting the ‘sharing’ and the ‘word of the week’ experiences for home learning. The parent input that we gain from these experiences provides a richness to our units of inquiry, that staff cannot replicate alone.

As the holidays beckon, I’d like to mention a few research proven ways that you can use to assist your child’s learning, no matter their age!

Notice numbers

In western cultures, early parent education tends to focus on literacy development. What about early number development? Through our Mathematics Improvement Project, we have been shining a light on the importance of students early interactions with number. Making mathematics based conversations part of your everyday dialogue with your children is crucial for their learning. Enabling them to see you using Mathematics in your daily lives, is essential too. Regardless of your own schooling experiences and perception of Mathematics as a subject, it is important for students to grow in curiosity and see the relevance of Maths to their lives. Counting (remember to start with 0), concentrating on the number combinations that make 10 (friends of 10), talking about place value (the true value of numbers), time (analogue please!), measurement and patterns would all be worthwhile conversations to have with your child. Additionally, as mentioned in the recent parent webinar with Tierney Kennedy from Back to Front Maths, the evidence to support the impact of playing with LEGO, on improved student achievement in the senior years of schooling, is indisputable!

Read with your children

Reading with, to and in front of your child is proven to improve the learning outcomes of students. The importance of this remains the same as student grow older. Reading aloud to children and young people, is not only a wonderful way to form a connection with them, but to model effective reading and a love of literature. A student’s ability to read impacts their ability to learn across all subject areas, in one way or another. Our students need to read daily, and to see it as a hobby rather than a chore. Ensuring that there is a balance at home between reading ‘readers’ and reading picture books, non-fiction  texts, magazines, pamphlets, newspapers etc, is really helpful. The most important aim of reading instruction, is to raise students up to a point where they move beyond learning to read, to reading to learn. Carving out time for reading, is never a waste of time.

Help your child learn their spelling words

In the Orton Gillingham approach to teaching spelling and reading, our students learn ‘learned’, or sight words. These words are similar to the ‘Magic 100’ words that student learned in years gone by, but they are supported by a stronger research base. ‘Learned words’ may be called ‘red words’ or ‘animal words’ in different classrooms, but essentially they are irregular spelling words that do not follow a particular pattern. They cannot be sounded out. They make up a large percentage of words that students will frequently encounter in reading and writing, and students need to have them embedded in their brain, for ease of retrieval. Building a student’s learned word bank, is a primary goal of our teachers. Daily assistance from home with this task will assist your child’s learning immensely.

This week and next, our teachers will work to follow up on any actions that arose from the Parent Teacher Discussions. If you would like to know any more about supporting your child’s learning, please ask your child’s teacher or feel free to contact me via email ccalvert@lcgs.tas.edu.au

Claire Calvert
PYP Coordinator

NIJSSA Cross Country Carnival:

On Wednesday 8 June, the running of the annual NIJSSA Cross Country Carnival at Windsor Park. Our school finished in third place overall out of nine schools. This result is one of the best results we have had at this event in recent years, with many of our Reserve runners needing to run on the day.

The students were great ambassadors for the school and I would like to thank Michelle Youl, Josh Freestone and Adam Brooks for their assistance on the day. In addition, our parents did a wonderful job for our school as they acted as officials and helpers on the day.

We had some great individual results and excellent team results from the eight Events. Rose Hyde (Grade 6 Girls) finished in third place in her event, with Laura Cunha (Grade 3 Girls) finishing in second and in the Grade 5 Boys event, Harry Jackson finished in first place with a very strong run, from start to finish. The six Grade 5 Boys combined to win the Teams event on the day as well.

There were 54 runners in each of the events and a total of twelve students finished in a top ten place. I will highlight our students’ results:

Grade 3 Girls:

(4^th in teams event)

• Laura Cunha – 2^nd
• Eadie Tucker – 4^th
• Emily Fanning – 21^st
• Bria Daley – 39^th
• Julia Reid – 46^th
• Sunny Kidd – 47^th

Grade 3 Boys:

(2^nd in teams event)

• Leo French – 5^th
• Oscar Brown – 7^th
• Chase Richardson – 13^th
• Kruze Saunders – 14^th
• Eddie Roberts – 19^th
• Henry Robertson – 41^st

Grade 4 Girls:

(5^th in teams event)

• Sage Bassano – 13^th
• Sebla Reeves – 14^th
• Chloe Annis – 30^th
• Stella Mills – 32^nd
• Alice Gillon – 33^rd
• Jessica Gannon – 34^th

Grade 4 Boys:

(4^th in teams event)

• Toby Flanagan – 3^rd
• Will Archer – 15^th
• Elliot Merriman – 22^nd
• Stanley Thomson – 23^rd
• Max Wagner – 26^th
• Will Hortle – 53^rd

Grade 5 Girls:

(4^th in teams event)

• Nancy Tucker – 8^th
• Chloe Millwood – 13^th
• Ruby Macleod – 14^th
• Ivy Rapley – 17^th
• Maggie Clayton – 19^th
• Willow Daley – 22^nd

Grade 5 Boys:

(1^st in teams event)

• Harry Jackson – 1^st
• Alex French – 7^th
• Archie Green – 8^th
• Zane Dean – 17^th
• Prince Williams – 30^th
• Tom Mitchell – 31^st

Grade 6 Girls:

(3^rd in teams event)

• Rose Hyde – 3^rd
• Zara Cole – 9^th
• Rosie Allen – 11^th
• Lucy Jackson – 16^th
• Georgie Tole – 17^th
• Lulu Greig – 26^th

(3^rd in teams event)

Grade 6 Boys:

(5^th in teams event)

• Zac Holloway – 5^th
• Freddie Clutterbuck – 18^th
• William Duffy – 19^th
• Gene Spotswood – 30^th
• Barney Cook – 31^st
• Ben Watson – 37^th

I would like to thank all of our parents, grandparents and friends from our Grammar community for taking the time out to come and support the team on the day.

On Saturday 21 May (Heritage Forest), 28 May (Tailrace Park), 4 June (Grindelwald Lake) and 18 June (Trevallyn Reserve), we have had continuous school representation in the Newstead Athletics Club Winter Cross Country Series. Students from Kindergarten through to Grade 6 have been competing and representing the school with distinction.

At the conclusion of the sixth and final event, participation certificates and age group medal winners for the series were presented. A number of students won their category, namely Freddie Gunn (U/7 Boys) and Laura Cunha (U/11 Girls), with Cleo Calvert placing third overall in the U/7 Girls.

We congratulate all participants, families and supporters who attended on the Saturday’s and were great ambassadors for the school. Each week we had new ‘first timers’ and the immense satisfaction that each student achieved form running each time, you cannot put a price on. Well done.

Here are some results:

Heritage Forest: (Round 3)

Freddie Gunn – U/7 Boys – 1^st; Cleo Calvert – U/7 Girls – 5^th; Moses Muriuki – U/9 Boys – 1^st; Angus Castle – U/9 Boys – 3^rd; Jonathon Molloy – U/9 Boys – 8^th; Benjamin Mujkic – U/9 Boys – 9^th; Theodore Mujkic – U/9 Boys – 10^th; Isobel Gunn – U/9 Girls – 2^nd; Lily Molloy – U/9 Girls – 5^th; Sidney Bassano – U/9 Girls – 11^th; Olivia Calvert – U/9 Girls – 15^th; Leo French – U/11 Boys – 6^th; Laura Cunha – U/11 Girls – 1^st; Jessica Gannon – U/11 – 14^th; Julia Reid – U/11 Girls – 16^th; Rosie Allen – U/13 Girls – 9^th; Eva Reid – U/13 Girls – 17^th; Indiana Williams – U/13 Girls – 19^th.

Tailrace Park: (Round 4)

Freddie Gunn – U/7 Boys – 1^st; Cleo Calvert – U/7 Girls – 2^nd; Angus Castle – U/9 Boys – 5^th; Jonathon Molloy – U/9 Boys – 6^th; Roy Kidd – U/9 Boys – 12^th; Lily Molloy – U/9 Girls – 5^th; Sidney Bassano – U/9 Girls – 12^th; Olivia Calvert – U/9 Girls – 21^st; Toby Flanagan – U/11 Boys – 9^th; Leo French – U/11 Boys – 11^th; Laura Cunha – U/11 Girls – 1^st; Julia Reid – U/11 Girls – 13^th; Jessica Gannon – U/11 – 14^th; Zane Dean – U/13 Boys – 6^th; Indiana Williams – U/13 Girls – 15^th; Eva Reid – U/13 Girls – 17^th.

Grindelwald Lake: (Round 5)

Freddie Gunn – U/7 Boys – 1^st; Moses Muriuki – U/9 Boys – 2^nd; Sidney Bassano – U/9 Girls – 13^th; Toby Flanagan – U/11 Boys – 4^th; Leo French – U/11 Boys – 9^th; Laura Cunha – U/11 Girls – 1^st; Sage Bassano – U/11 Girls – 7^th; Indiana Williams – U/13 Girls – 16^th.

Trevallyn Reserve: (Round 6)

Freddie Gunn – U/7 Boys – 1^st; Cleo Calvert – U/7 Girls – 4^th; Angus Castle – U/9 Boys – 2^nd; Moses Muriuki – U/9 Boys – 3^rd; Jonathon Molloy – U/9 Boys – 5^th; Isobel Gunn – U/9 Girls – 6^th; Lily Molloy – U/9 Girls – 8^th; Sidney Bassano – U/9 Girls – 10^th; Olivia Calvert – U/9 Girls – 13^th; Sage Bassano – U/11 Girls – 7^th; Jessica Gannon – U/11 – 9^th; Julia Reid – U/11 Girls – 10^th; Eva Reid – U/13 Girls – 10^th; Indiana Williams – U/13 Girls – 14^th.

On Tuesday 21 June was the running of the annual Tasmanian All Schools Championships at Symmons Plains. Our school was represented by 32 students and parents who accompanied the students to the event. All students this year were from Grade 3 to Grade 6. I would like to thank all members from our Grammar community for being there on the day as well and supporting our students.

I will highlight our individual results:

9 Year Old Boys: (out of 241 students in the event)

• Leo French – 37^th (9mins04sec)
• Oscar Brown – 47^th (9mins12sec)
• Kruze Saunders – 91^st (9mins43sec)
• Henry Robertson – 181^st (10mins37sec)
• Dougie Carins – 218^th (11mins54sec)

9 Year Old Girls: (out of 231 students in the event)

• Laura Cunha – 1^st (8mins22sec)
• Eadie Tucker – 18^th (9mins47sec)
• Stella Mills – 167^th (12mins08sec)

10 Year Old Boys: (out of 250 students in the event)

• Toby Flanagan – 10^th (8mins11sec)
• Will Archer – 105^th (9mins27sec)
• Max Wagner – 216^th (10mins57sec)
• Will Hortle – 245^th (13mins16sec)

10 Year Old Girls: (out of 249 students in the event)

• Sebla Reeves – 67^th (10mins01sec)
• Sage Bassano – 175^th (11mins30sec)

11 Year Old Boys: (out of 241 students in the event)

• Harry Jackson– 2^nd (11min43sec)
• Alex French – 44^th (13min37sec)
• Archie Green – 75^th (14min05sec)
• Zane Dean – 100^th (14min28sec)
• Tom Bowman – 223^rd (18min40sec)

11 Year Old Girls: (out of 246 students in the event)

• Poll Carins – 29^th (14mins56sec)
• Nancy Tucker – 86^th (16mins08sec)
• Willow Daley – 101^st (16mins29sec)
• Millie Inman – 110^th (16mins34sec)
• Eloise Mills – 180^th (18mins08sec)
• Holly Dobson – 199^th (19mins04sec)

12 Year Old Boys: (out of 230 students in the event)

• Zac Holloway – 139^th (14min54sec)
• William Duffy – 140^th (14min55sec)
• Harry Brown – 194^th (17min06sec)
• George Armstrong – 224^th (21min47sec)
• 12 Year Old Girls: (out of 210 students in the event)
• Rose Hyde – 23^rd (14mins30sec)
• Zara Cole – 40^th (14mins59sec)
• Georgie Tole – 100^th (16mins47sec)

It has been 19 years since an athlete from our Junior Campus has won a State Title, however, this year we are celebrating two students who medalled in their events. Laura Cunha (9 year old girls) lead from start to finish and won the Tasmanian Title. This is an amazing achievement, well done Laura.

Equally as impressive was Harry Jackson (11 year old boys) who finished second and claimed the silver medal. This backs up his silver at the same time last year, congratulations Harry! Both he and Laura now will represent Tasmania at the National Cross Country Championships in Adelaide in August. All the very best to these athletes, you will do yourselves, your school and the State proud.

Our Prep to Grade 2 students have had an opportunity to participate and experience Taekwondo skills over the past five weeks of this Term.

Master Josh Warren from Hoju Martial Arts, has facilitated the programme with the assistance from PE Teachers, Nicole Prewer, Christian Zantuck, class Teachers and Educational Assistants. We would like to thank him for coming in and teaching the skills for this sport to our students. The School received a grant through Sporting Schools Australia to be able to have the programme delivered.

At the beginning of this Term, eight Grade 3 and 4 boys participated and represented the school at the Northern Tasmanian Futsal Tournament.

This is the first time that Launceston Grammar has competed and the day was a huge success, with the team winning 3 of their four matches. Well done! I must thank all of the boys for their dedication across the course of the day, their great sportsmanship, team work and the skills that were displayed on the day. A very big thank you to Mrs Rebecca Saunders and Mrs Lucy French for their involvement on the day and in the lead up to be able to have a team be entered and play on the day.

On Thursday’s this Term, our Grade 3 and 4 students have been to Broadland Park and had their timetabled Sport session for the week.

We have been concentrating this Term on Football, Hockey, Cross Country and Soccer. Here are a few pictures from our final soccer session, teams playing in a round robin format to celebrate our focus.

Christian Zantuck
Head of Sport Junior Campus

Each year, every student from Grades 7 to 10 presents a speech to their English class, inspired by a focus. Over the past four weeks, class finalists presented to their grade level cohorts, vying for the coveted first place position.  Always a highlight, this year the standard of speeches was particularly impressive.

At Grade 7 level, with the topic being open, students got to speak to their passions, their interests or their concerns. This is where chocolate came in! Or the compelling question, why school? Or why students should graduate at 13! Judges were particularly impressed by Chanel Charles’ speech on why tertiary education should be free. Congratulations, Chanel!

Our Grade 8 English students were inspired by the idea of ‘Topical Australia’ which continued our Semester 1 English studies of Australian text, film and poetry. Students delivered urgent messages on local and national issues including the refugee crisis, renewable energies and even changing the Launceston Grammar School uniform! Presented in an intelligent, insightful and informed manner, students not only delved into the problems, but looked to solutions. Congratulations to Otto Ford for his winning speech on fake news.

From modern slavery, to homelessness to saying sorry, our Grade 9 students demonstrated their strong social conscience in response to the topic ‘Persuade Us’. They were also able to look at the lighter side of life in their persuasive speeches with one student exploring why e-sports should be a part of the Olympics! Our winner, though, was Jack Gannon, with his incisive analysis of Rupert Murdoch’s monopoly and political sway on topical issues. Congratulations to Jack!

Grade 10 English speech competition finalists gathered in front of their cohort to speak on topics inspired by our Launceston Grammar School 2022 virtues: Wisdom, Service, Humility. The quality of speeches was outstanding and judges were impressed by the gravitas of the inspirational and provocative speeches. Emily Schipp was our grade level winner with her speech on reading for others.

A big thank you to our English teachers for running this very important program in their classrooms. In addition, thank you to our guest judges over the past four weeks; Public Speaking Captains Anjana Kumar and Jade Freeman, Ms Shepherd, Mrs Stokes and Mr Foster.

Congratulations to all our speakers on their engagement with the competition. We certainly have a committed and dedicated group of students who value the voice they have been given to make positive change and impact in our world.

Natalie Stewart
Acting Head of English

UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA

School Leaver Expo

This Saturday (2 July), UTAS will be holding a School Leaver Expo at the Inveresk Campus. See details below or visit the UTAS website.

School Visits

In 2022, UTAS will continue their Schools Recommendation Program for Grade 12 course applications for most courses. Students can apply for up to five courses and, instead of being assessed based on ATAR, receive an early offer based on Grade 11 results as well as other success factors. If students are unsuccessful in receiving an early offer through this Program, they will be automatically reassessed following the release of ATAR results in December. More information about the Program can be found at UTAS website.

UTAS staff will be delivering a brief Grade 12 student presentation about the Program at recess on Monday 4 July, followed by a lunchtime application session. I will contact any Grade 12 students who miss these sessions to provide them with information and assist them with making their application.

I welcome the opportunity to sit down with parents and students at any time throughout the year to discuss options; please contact me on phone: (03) 6336 6058 or email: careers@lcgs.tas.edu.au to arrange an appointment.

Fiona Symons
Careers Advisor