Issue 9 / 5 June 2015
Junior School Bulletin
Junior School News Reports Over the past 18 months we have had a Task Force evaluating the format of the written reports of the Junior School. At the beginning of the year, I presented some of the work that we had completed at the Parent Information Nights. 1. The first major change is that the reports will now be emailed home to you and then they will be available to you on Parent Lounge after that. We will not be sending home printed reports. 2. For students in Years 3 to 6 we have moved to an A to E scale. However, it is really important that you look at the descriptors for each of these letters. These descriptors describe what each letter grade represents. 3. Prep to Year 2 is referred to as the Early Years of Schooling in Queensland. In these early years of schooling students are viewed as capable learners who have diverse experiences and backgrounds. They are engaged in learning the curriculum in ways that are appropriate for the needs, interests and stages of development of young learners. Our Semester Reports for students in Years P-2 include a new scale that reflects a developmental approach to learning. 4. We have added a section into the reports titled “Commitment to Aspects of College Life”. This will be graded with Outstanding, Consistent and Inconsistent. A lot of these items used to be covered in the comment section. This will now give you a snapshot of how your child is performing in various aspects of College life. 5. The written comment at the end of the report will continue to be a comprehensive and affirming insight into your child’s progress at school. A greater emphasis will be placed on areas of school life that your child does well and targets for future growth. Learning Outside of the Classroom There are numerous opportunities for students to continue their learning in and outside of the classroom. Camps, excursions and other special activities give children the opportunity to gain skills, knowledge and experience that cannot be replicated in the classroom.
The students and staff from Year 5 have just returned from their camp to Luther Heights in Coolum. They had a rewarding time participating in many activities that forced them out of their comfort zones. These included low ropes courses, flying foxes, surfing and spending 3 days and 2 nights away from home. The Year 4 students had a beneficial day learning more about Australian animals when they visited Fleays Fauna Centre on Tuesday. This excursion relates closely to the work that they are doing in their Unit of Inquiry. A select group of Year 6 students were involved in the Reader’s Cup Challenge. In the process of reading a number of books, their literacy and comprehension skills were taken to another level. Mufti Day Last week we held our termly Mufti Day. The theme was Red for Daniel Day. It was great to see a large number of students wearing red. The College raised $1487 which was donated to the Morcombe Foundation for their ongoing work with child safety. We were privileged enough to have Bruce and Denise Morcombe share their story with the students. The key message from their visit was to Recognise, React and Report. The students were encouraged to recognise those feelings when something doesn’t feel right. Our bodies tell us when we don’t feel safe through our body clues and the children were taught how to recognise those feelings. When they recognised that something wasn’t right they were encouraged to react by getting away from the danger. Finally they were told to report to an adult in their life. It is the adults who can make a situation safe again for them. Darrin Schumacher Head of Junior School