Term 3, Week 3

Senior Executive

Talent and Perseverance

In this week’s newsletter video, the talent of our students in Carry On along with the ingenuity of Ms Marianna Lebiedzinska-Frost in writing and directing the musical has been spotlighted. You also have the opportunity to hear from Dr Nick Clements whose insightful research for his second book Tongerlongeter is well worth engaging with (a longer interview with Nick is available here.)

This last fortnight, we have already been reminded of the sporting talent of our students with seven soccer players selected for the State team and our Grade 7/8 Girls and Boys Soccer Teams winning their NSATIS Finals.

While these staff and students have shown great talent, they have also shown great perseverance in pushing through the inevitable highs and lows which come with any journey which involves intensive and sustained rehearsals, research, training or writing.

Grade 12

For our Grade 12, the School Ball last Saturday night was one of the high points of the final part of their School journey. Earlier in the year, a low for Grade 12 and for many in the School community was The Examiner and The Advocate reporting over Easter. Not long ago, I received a response from the Australian Press Council in relation to the complaint the School had lodged regarding the reporting and was informed that given the dialogue occurring between the relevant party’s legal representatives they are unable to consider the complaint.

Laurel House

During the course of this year the School has been looking at how we continue to develop our work in the area of consent. One of the opportunities we have identified is to work more closely with Laurel House. Starting this term, Laurel House staff will be leading six sessions with all of Grade 9 as part of their HPE classes. Laurel House will also be speaking with Grade 11 and 12 towards the end of the term and evening sessions for parents are currently being scheduled. Fraser House students have also selected to support Laurel House and have commenced this relationship by inviting Laurel House staff to speak at their House Meeting in addition to raising funds through a lunch time event last Friday.

Feedback and Suggestions

The School always welcomes feedback and suggestions on how we can make improvements to benefit the excellent education and opportunities provided to students. This week, we introduced an improved process for sharing feedback including concerns and complaints. Our students, staff, parents and carers, and members of the community are able to access the Concerns and Complaints Handling Policy from our website and provide their feedback through an online form. Further details around this process can be located here. The School Handbook also provides information as to who to contact about questions as they arise and this can be accessed here.

Learning Hub Development

For many students, the Senior Campus Learning Hub is a popular place to drop into throughout the day whether it is to read a book, get some work done, play a game of chess or simply have a chat with Mrs Parker. Currently the Learning Hub is undertaking a staged renewal following learning from a library review at both campuses last year. When the Learning Hub development is completed some of the improvements students and staff will enjoy and benefit from include:

Additional study space in the main body of the Learning Hub;
A large new fiction area with soft furnishings, river views and space to accommodate a class for reading;
A dedicated teaching and research space for teachers taking a class to the Learning Hub;
A more visible and accessible Careers Office;
A closed in photocopy area to help ensure noise does not disrupt student study;
An enclosed IT area with a user-friendly training/ help zone; and
A welcoming arrival area where students can connect with and seek help from Mrs Parker.

COVID

Over the last 24 hours, the realities of COVID have suddenly come closer to home and there is a heightened level of anxiety in relation to whether a lockdown will be put in place. While we all hope this will not be necessary, I am confident the whole community will be able to navigate and do our very best through whatever restrictions may be required. If you are aware of your child being particularly concerned at present, please make contact with Heads of Campus so additional support can be provided. The School is ready for remote learning, continuing to follow Public Health advice and will always prioritise the safety of our community as decisions are made.

Developing Leaders of the Future

Term 3 began with two days of Professional Learning for our staff. It was a great time to re-connect, reflect on our pedagogy and practice and then prepare to welcome the students to Term 3.

Together, we began an investigation into positive behaviour management strategies, and how we can support students to develop self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and skills. These skills are outlined in the Australian Curriculum and Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) Personal and Social Capability learning continuum. As a Junior Campus staff, we will monitor what we say we are doing, what is working well and where we might seek to improve. This will continue to be a focus for the term.

Importantly, we want to help the children develop personal and social capability so that they can feel confident and take action to make our world a better place. Learner agency and taking action are two very important components of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and align well with the Australian Curriculum.

In the Australian Curriculum, students develop personal and social capability as they learn to understand themselves and others, and manage their relationships, lives, work and learning more effectively. Personal and social capability involves students in a range of practices including recognising and regulating emotions, developing empathy for others and understanding relationships, establishing and building positive relationships, making responsible decisions, working effectively in teams, handling challenging situations constructively and developing leadership skills.

Students with well-developed social and emotional skills find it easier to manage themselves, relate to others, develop resilience and a sense of self-worth, resolve conflict, engage in teamwork and feel positive about themselves and the world around them. The development of personal and social capability is a foundation for learning and for citizenship. (ACARA)

Kinder Greig Children Taking Action for Reconciliation

Having read the story Respect by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, conversations around respect, invasion and our First Nations peoples bloomed. Ella noticed that we were flying the Australian flag at school and when asked which flag might be missing, she immediately suggested the Aboriginal flag. Benny acted on this connection and arrived at school the next day proudly clutching his own Aboriginal flag that he had created. We set about finding a flagpole and flying the flag proudly in the playground.

“If we don’t fly the Aboriginal flag, they might think we are still mean,” Ella

Wonder Recycling Rewards Programme

Grade 5 have also been showing initiative and taking action. Last term, they decided to participate in the Wonder Recycling Rewards Programme. The letter below that they wrote to the community explains what they achieved.

To the staff and students of the Junior and Senior Campus

As you all know, last term in Grade 5 we took action and decided to participate in the Wonder Recycling Rewards Programme. We would like to thank all of you for your help with our project.

In the holidays, Mrs Bassano posted over 1000 bread bags, and over 1000 bread tags to the Wonder Recycling team. Well done to our entire school community for helping us take responsibility for the future of our planet by changing our recycling habits.

As a school throughout the programme, we earned a total of 1500 points. Now we can order some new sports equipment. We would like to make a special mention to Grade 4 Bowles who were the class that collected the most bread bags and tags throughout the promotion. We will come and see you soon to discuss a little treat for you.

We would like everyone to keep thinking about our planet when it comes to recycling soft plastics. In Grade 5 we will be continuing to recycle bread bags and tags so please keep bringing them up to us, and we will make sure that they are taken to the supermarket red-cycle bins. Even though the Wonder Recycling Rewards Programme has now closed, we can still continue to make a difference. Thank you.

Grade 5 Launceston Church Grammar School

Junior Campus Council

An example of promoting learner agency can be seen in how we listen and support the students when they have ideas. Our Junior Campus Captains, Xavier Case and Shaneli Vithanarachchi, suggested that the Junior Campus Council (JCC) be reinstated. Together, they mapped out a process and presented their ideas to the students in Grades 3 to 6 at Assembly. Xavier and Shaneli invited each class to elect a representative and to reflect on what is working well and where there might be areas for improvement. There are already great ideas emerging. The JCC will also be given the opportunity to provide feedback on how we can ensure that we have a safe and positive learning environment in the classrooms and in the playgrounds. The first Junior Campus Council (JCC) meeting will be held in Week 4.

Junior Campus Environment Leaders

Our Junior Campus Environment Leaders, Lydia and Izzy, have been collaborating with Chaplain Elizabeth. The leaders have been working behind the scenes to promote action and care for our planet. They are discovering that together, we can make a positive impact! Lydia and Izzy initiated a visit with Mary Gill from the Launceston City Council to design a recycling wall for all those ‘hard to recycle objects’.

Next, they visited the Prep to 2 Assembly to explain the WHY? WHAT? and HOW? of their recycling initiative.

WHY recycle? To make it easier for us to recycle things for all of us so that we can be kind to future generations.

WHAT is recycled? Batteries big and small (but not car batteries!), old mobile phones, CDs, DVDs, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes, small e-waste (old iPods, chargers, cords), plastic lids, plastic bread tags, old pens and highlighters, glasses (ie spectacles), X-rays.

HOW can we recycle? Children can collect items at home and then bring them in and place them in the filing cabinets that are now in the Resource Centre. The Environmental Leaders will take the hard work out for you in connecting with organisations to recycle the items.

Both were surprised at how the recycling wall was being utilised before being officially launched!