JUNIOR SCHOOL

from 2020 St Catherine's School Magazine

by St Catherine's School

ELC

HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

“Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change” a quote by Richard Branson, epitomises 2020 for the Barbreck community. COVID-19 wrought great changes, impacting all facets of life, including education here in Melbourne. While we started the year onsite, we quickly saw the impact of this pandemic, forcing our education system to function outside physical schools; teachers took to teaching from home and students to learning from home with parental supervision and support. One week we were at School, the next we were teaching and learning from home. While such change might be the undoing of some, at Barbreck it highlighted the girls’ capabilities and the depth and strength of the home-school partnership. It demonstrated our collective mettle and our ability to work together to achieve a common goal. The year started with much promise. Our aim was to ensure the best educational outcomes for every girl in Barbreck through a personalised approach to learning. We made significant changes to the timetable. We structured it to provide 8 x 40 minute lessons per day, providing teachers with more time in lessons than previously. Longer lessons supported the introduction of the Explicit Teaching Model ‘I do, We do, You do’ – a program that teaches through explicit instruction. It delivers instruction in ‘chunks’ which is easier for students to process and retain; suiting the cognitive load theory. To personalise learning further, we succeeded in creating times throughout the week in a number of English and Mathematics lessons to enable some students to progress to the next year level for extension. The timetable was enriched with the inclusion of Thinking as a subject, which taught students complex reasoning skills through the application of thinking routines. The move to online learning meant staff and students needed to learn new technologies quickly. The introduction of Microsoft Teams, SeeSaw, and the Portal proved vital in our capacity to continue delivering the full timetable for our girls. While there were some small difficulties at the start as we all became competent using the technologies, it was invaluable with the second online learning period. We were fortunate to be able to send all girls home with a device, and that we had the capacity and capability to provide online learning for all from the start. The staff are commended for their dedication to making sure the girls continued to receive a St Catherine’s education, working above and beyond to achieve this. Congratulations go to the girls who demonstrated diligence, resilience, patience and a growth mindset throughout these online learning periods. They gave many of the staff inspiration to keep doing better. The Year 6 Captains of School, Houses, Music and Library presented fabulous assemblies each week, bringing the Barbreck community together to share, celebrate and showcase, connecting the year levels, staff and community. Commendations and thanks go to the wonderful parents of Barbreck – our partners, who worked tirelessly with us in the support of their daughters. This year we learnt, there is no substitute for schools, they enrich and connect our community; that girls need more from schools than just learning, they want to be with their friends, laughing and sharing stories; that they are capable of rising to a challenge and growing as a result; that face-to-face teaching is best for our girls; and that together, the home-school partnership can achieve great things!

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YEAR 6 LEADERS

We were thrilled to be elected as the Junior School Co-Captains for 2020. Working with Ms McArdle and getting to know all of the Barbreck girls has been an honour.

Our theme for this year was ‘Perseverance’. We chose this as our theme so that students could develop skills that would be important both now, and in the future. While perseverance is always important, it has been even more so this year, given the impact of COVID-19 on all of our lives. We are so grateful that we have been able to help guide the Barbreck girls through such a tough year. We have been very proud of how well the girls have persevered with their home learning. In each assembly, we shared quotes and/or videos with the theme of perseverance. Our favourite video was called Ormi the Pig that made the Prep to Year 2 students giggle. It was wonderful when they came up to us at recess and lunch saying how they were like Ormi – never giving up. To encourage students, we created the Persistence Power Award. Teachers would email us the names of anyone who had shown persistence and we would present them with an award. Seeing their faces filled with joy was so special. We would like to thank the Barbreck teachers for their phenomenal perseverance this year. Considering the impact of COVID-19, they have done an incredible job in becoming more tech savvy, keep teaching, and most importantly, keep supporting all the Barbreck girls. They helped bring some normality into our lives during a time when so much in life didn’t feel normal. While this year has not been anything like we had expected, we have loved being the Barbreck Co-Captains and all of the growth and leadership opportunities that we have had. We wish the 2021 Captains all the very best for the year ahead.

Giselle Upton & Elodie Scott-Elliott

Junior School Captains

YEAR 6 LEADERS

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2. 3. School Captains

Giselle Upton and Elodie Scott-Elliott

House Captains

Lulu Kyriakou, Diya Asthana, Mia Upton, Isabelle Peter, Emma Peele, Lexie Hill, Amity Morris and May Sutton

Music Captains

Minnie Chen and Jinglin (Isabelle) Cao

ART

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1. Lucy Venema, Year 2; 2. Qiyao (Grace) Shen, Year 6; 3. Amelia Wood, Year 1; 4. Piper-Lynn Pascoe and Yueyi (Selina) Wang, Year 5; 5. Xiner (Cindy) Chen, Emily Venema, Clara Barry, Year 4; 6. Jemima Grinsell, Prep; 7. Hazel Wilson, Year 5; 8. Elizabeth Woodruff, Prep; 9. Portia Carosa-Koziora, Year 3; 10. Isabella Ayre, Year 6; 11. Sylvanas Zhu, Year 1; 12. Samara Grinsell, Year 2; 13. Georgina Ayers, Year 3; 14. Peiran Cai, Year 2; 15. Carla Martuccio, Year 4.

In 2020, the Barbreck Virtual Art Room provided students with opportunities to draw on their resourcefulness and problem-solving techniques. These skills were fostered and encouraged during art making and were fully embraced by all students. The life of an artist is complicated. You are on a journey of personal self-expression as well as needing to interact with others for guidance, affirmation and inspiration. During our Learn@Home program many of us have been working physically alone, with the only creative input being from peers or teachers via our computer. We explored different ways of creating art. It has been so rewarding to see students sharing techniques and discussing the best ways to get the most effective outcomes, in sometimes challenging circumstances. Some of our activities have been open ended, with options to further develop and practise skills. Others have been more scaffolded, modelling the process undertaken in normal Art classes. A music and art collaborative task, together with the whole school ‘Snail Mail’ project were both embraced by students, enabling rich learning across the curriculum and all year levels. Art Club was adjusted to complement the online Art program, and Thursday lunchtimes were a time to meet as a group across the year levels to share any at home ‘arting’ and crafting by students and teachers. Artwork was shared live during Learn@Home via online galleries on the portal. It has been a year for adapting and remodeling – both terms familiar to artists and their practice.