From the Head of the Preparatory School
I trust that I wasn’t the only one that felt that this week was another significant step forward in our journey back to ‘normal’ school life. It has been lovely to have parents back onsite this week for Three-Way Conferences and to pick up students in the afternoons. For many months it has felt awkward insisting on parents staying outside the school gates and connecting via video conferencing tools. I trust that this Friday evening’s Prep Community Event will further restore the strong sense of community and partnership that is central to the success of the Prep School.
Three-Way Conferences
As mentioned above, it has been so encouraging to see parents and students wandering in and out of classrooms and engaging in learning conversations. These conversations are invaluable in ensuring that parents, teachers and students are on the same page, as together they set clear, achievable learning goals for the year ahead. I trust that this process has helped to make your son’s growth transparent and that all stakeholders have a strong appreciation of each student’s next steps in learning. These conferences, and the preparation that goes into them, are instrumental as we engage our students in their own learning journey and empower them to take responsibility for their future growth and development. I trust that these conferences will support the partnership we share in the boys’ learning.
Public Speaking Competition
The task of speaking publicly, in front of ones’ peers, is regarded by many adults as one of their greatest fears. As a young person, in my high school years, I can recall sharing such a fear. However, I can also recall a range of school and personal experiences that I went through that helped to develop my confidence and skills in this area. Ironically, I am now accused at times of enjoying this type of experience far too much.
Over the last few weeks all of the students in Years 3 to 6 have had the opportunity to prepare and deliver a speech to their class. I consider this to be a significant and invaluable learning experience for our students as they have been supported to tackle the challenge and to work through this with the support and scaffolding provided by their teacher and parents.
Today we had the privilege to listen to some budding young orators as they participated in the finals of the Public Speaking Competition. It is wonderful to see boys have the confidence and poise to stand in front of a group of their peers (both with preparation and impromptu) to share their thoughts and opinions on a given topic. Congratulations to all of the boys who participated in the competition and specifically to the finalists.
Congratulations to our winners this year:
Year 3 Peter Arquilla
Year 4 Cayden Tsang
Year 5 and Overall Winner Jayshan Shanmugaratnam
Year 6 Domenic Alvaro
International Maths Day – House Challenge
On Wednesday we celebrated International Maths Day. Whilst Mathematics is often seen as a necessary set of skills and understandings, it is important to acknowledge the beauty and power that comes through numeracy and mathematical thinking.
Adam Spencer, a famous media personality and self-professed maths nerd, is quoted as saying, ‘Numbers are the musical notes with which the symphony of the universe is written.’
The teaching and learning of Mathematics at the Prep School seeks to stretch our students’ thinking, develop their numeracy and problem solving skills, and to encourage them to think creatively and critically about the world around them.
To ensure the focus of the day wasn’t just theoretical, the students and staff engaged in a series of mathematical challenges whereby they scored points for their House. The House Masters were joined by their respective House Captains and Vice Captains for a public Maths Trivia competition before the students engaged in a series of Live Mathletics challenges.
The winning House of the Public Trivia Maths Competition was Hilliard, followed by School, Archer then Henderson.
The overall results incorporating the students’ participation will be announced next week.
Archer and Henderson House Chapel
Last Sunday, the students and parents of Archer and Henderson came together in the Memorial Chapel at the Summer Hill campus for their annual House Chapel. It was lovely to be able to gather together again for this important occasion after not being able to do so for the last couple of years. Mr Smith reflected with the congregation about God’s faithfulness in keeping promises and the importance of us learning to see and trust them. God’s promises is the focus of Chapels this year. Chapel also presented the first opportunity for many months for the Trinity Singers to once again lead the community in worship. My thanks to all involved in leading the service, including the Trinity Singers, and those that attended. I trust that all left encouraged as I did!
Year 5 and 6 Camps
Next week our Year 5 and 6 students have the opportunity to extend their learning by visiting Bathurst and Canberra respectively. These camps and the experiences attached, are integral to the students’ learning in their current Units of Inquiry. We trust that the students and teachers have a great time learning in a different in situ and are inspired to delve deeper when they return to school in Week 10.
CIS Swimming Championships
On Thursday a handful of our boys participated at the CIS Swimming Championships. There were several outstanding performances including:
- Junior Relay team (Aris Ferizis, Timmy Zhao, Daniel Jin and Athan Ferizis) came 2nd
- Aris Ferizis, won the Junior 50m Breaststroke, won the 50m Butterfly, came 2nd in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle
- Athan Ferizis won the U8’s 50m Freestyle
- Daniel Jin won the U9’s 50m Freestyle
- Owen Hoang came 3rd in the U11’s 50m Breaststroke
- Harris Yang came 2nd in the 50m Butterfly and 3rd in the U11’s 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke
- Timmy Zhao came 3rd in the Junior Butterfly
Congratulations to all the boys who competed.
Chris Wyatt | Head of the Preparatory School
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11
