From the Head of the Junior School

From the Head of the Junior School

Dear Parents and Friends of the Junior School,

Thank you to many parents who made time to participate in Learning Conferences this week with their son/s and classroom teacher. We value these opportunities as we are convinced a strong partnership between home and school makes a significant difference to each boy’s wellbeing and growth. We hope that you found the conversations informative and that our students have enjoyed celebrating their learning journey across the year and understand the next steps that will help them to finish the year positively and prepare them for 2023. Parents in Year 6 and 5B will have the same opportunity in Week 2 of next term and we will advertise each teacher’s availability at the commencement of term.

Apart from impromptu conversations with parents and boys awaiting conferences, another highlight of my week has been the opportunity to observe boys exercising their speaking and listening skills as finalists, hosts and in the audience at the conclusion of our Public Speaking Competition. Boys participate at the class level before finalists prepare another speech and, in the case of Year 5 and 6, also are required to deliver an impromptu performance. Public speaking is an important skill and the competition is a chance for all boys to showcase the skills they have developed across many presentation opportunities (incidental and planned) and to observe skill development in their peers. The content and presentation skills evident this year exceeded previous years’ finals and I am in no doubt that this reflects a higher quality of competition at the classroom level. Well done to all boys and particular congratulations to the finalists:

Year 3 – Alessio Calautti, Arjun Gupta, James Sutherland

Year 4 – Ryder Elsibai, Dimitri Karlos, Kiran Mohanan

Year 5 – Terence Ho, Nicholas Ma, James Saunders, Allan Shaba

Year 6 – Jordan Buultjens, Jack Lai, Luke Nunez, Eamon Turner

This year’s grade champions are:

Year 3 – Alessio Calautti

Year 4 – Dimitri Karlos

Year 5 – Allan Shaba

Year 6 – Eamon Turner

Thank you, Mr Hoare who worked with teachers to organise the competition; Mrs Taylor, Mr Becarovski, Mrs Cook and Ms Boyd-Boland who adjudicated; and to the boys who filled the host and time-keeper roles at both finals.

After a drizzly start, yesterday morning provided the dry conditions necessary for getting outdoors and clambering over obstacles. Every boy (and some teachers) climbed, clambered, cantered and eventually tired from lapping around the oval and successfully navigating enormous inflatables. Our Walk-a-thon was a wonderful success by any measure: smiles, steps and dollars! I am incredibly heartened by the generosity of Trinity families every time we ask you to partner with us in supporting a great cause. This year’s Walk-a-thon has been no different…at the time of printing, on-line donations exceed $16 125 with some cash donations yet to be included and some further sponsorships yet to come. This will allow the Junior School and JMF to run events and supply multi-sport wheelchairs for Wheelchair Sports NSW to use in their holiday camps. Thank you, everyone! If you are yet to upload your contribution for Mufti or your sponsorship, please finalise this over the weekend so we can announce final figures and the winners of the class pizza lunch next week. Thank you to the Auxiliary coordinators for organising the inflatables and ice-blocks.

I remind you to note information distributed about the co-curricular programme for Term 4. Expressions of interest must be lodged by Monday morning to be considered for next term’s activities. We will endeavour to process these before the term concludes so that you will be able to log-in and view which activities your son will be doing in Term 4.

Please note the commencement date for next term. All students in Kindergarten to Year 6 will return to school on Tuesday, 11th October. The Monday will be a Professional Development Day for staff so students will not be in attendance on this day.

The announcement of Thursday as a National Day of Mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will not impact Year 6 Camp and we are very grateful to our teachers and staff at Camp Somerset for committing to providing a full week programme for the boys. Other families are reminded that Friday is a regular school day and boys are expected to finish the term at school unless leave has been sought and approved.

We wish the Year 6 boys and teachers a fantastic and challenging time at camp next week. Outdoor education experiences are graduated, with increasing levels of challenge and expectation for each boy as he grows during his time in the Junior School and then through the high school years. Our Year 6 boys will notice a significant ‘step-up’ in terms of the level of challenge compared to previous school camps. They will be under canvas for four nights and sometimes cooking for themselves. This fits perfectly with the increased expectations we have of these boys as leaders in our school and as young men getting ready for high school. At the briefing talk today, all of the boys were encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own gear and to use the checklist provided. Translation…Mums and Dads, please do not pack your son’s bag for him (although a little bit of help and checking what he has done would still be a good idea)! We hope for great weather for our Year 6 boys and their teachers but know that they will rise to the challenge and be well looked-after, regardless of what the week throws at them.

Mark Dunn | Head of the Junior School

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

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