Teaching & Learning
Junior School Education
By M r Scott Campbell, Head of Junior School, April 2004 – April 2022
For my final Omnibus article, I have been asked to reflect a little upon the past 18 years of my time as Head of Junior School. The Junior School has grown and developed over this time, as has the entire School, P–12. When I commenced in my role in April 2004, the Junior School had a student population of 190 boys from Years 1 to 7. There were ten classes in total, including composite classes. There was no hall, the library was in a single classroom with no librarian, nor were there any music rooms or an art room. The approach was quite different to the broader offerings now available to the boys in terms of deep pastoral care, educational programs, music, clubs and an array of sports.
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Over the past 18 years, I am pleased to have played a role in developing the approach to educating the boys, both in a pastoral manner and with the educational offerings. Central to my approach has been the care of primary school children, treating boys in a kind and respectful manner and expecting this approach from all our staff. I am of the firm belief that respect from children has to be earned, not demanded, and this includes the ability to listen to boys and understand them. This is central to gaining their
respect and guiding them towards their best efforts with behaviour, their learning, and their involvement and achievement in all areas of school, including music, sport, the creative arts and technology. During my time, I was involved with the addition of the Prep Year in 2005. Following this addition, the Building the Education Revolution (BER) financial stimulus in response to the GFC in 2008 resulted in well over $4 million being spent on Junior School
