Our Junior School has been very busy this past fortnight, with a wide range of excursions, activities and exciting learning initiatives taking place.

The Junior School celebrated Book Week over the past week, with the theme ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’. The library team organised lunch time activities each day in the Learning Commons and we held a teacher ‘read around’ today during Form.

Classes had different teachers visit them during this time to share some of their favourite stories, which is always fun-filled and a lovely experience for students and staff alike. We of course, also celebrated with our much-loved, annual Book Week Parade in the gym on Thursday morning.

Dressed in an array of wonderfully other-worldly costumes, our girls from ELC through to Year 6 paraded for one another and their teachers. This event was filmed to enable sharing with families.

Junior School Writing

Our Junior School teachers have been working with their girls in Writing lessons, utilising a program called ‘Seven Steps Writing’. This program provides a structure and instructions designed to transform students writing, enhancing their written communication skills.

Teachers Miss Isabella Kasdalis and Mr Nathan Rice led the Junior School teachers this week in a professional learning session, sharing the curriculum knowledge and ideas they gained after attending an information day about the program.

One of the steps in the program leads students in learning how to capture their audience through writing a ‘sizzling start’. Here are some examples of our girls have written in response to different prompts.

I pushed the button and everything changed.

"'BANG!’ What sound was that? It was the lightening of course. The sky turned grey and rain began to fall down. Just then, there was a ‘beep’. I heard it again. ‘Beep, beep’. I saw a red button. I pressed it. Nothing happened. Then, when I looked up chocolate drops were falling down. I was in Candyland!" Olivia Zhong

"I had read many stories about the mysterious blue button but never found it. But when I finally found it, what a scary sight it was!" Willow Wagner

The morning my dad turned into an alien.

"‘CRASH!’ the spaceship landed with a loud noise and my Dad ran out to see what had happened. As he walked closer he started turning green and something started coming out of his head. What was happening?" Alexandrina Cao

In an instant, everything started to slide across the room

"I was reading a book when something caught my eye. To my surprise, it was a pencil floating in the air. I got up and held the pencil. The room started sliding, and so was I..." Karla Fizulic

Monster Madness

"I desperately wanted to scream. I could feel my heart pounding. I trembled with fear as the deathly monster approached me. Could this be the end of me? I could smell his rotten breath coming towards me. What could I do now? I was too weak to defend myself." Scarlet Cooper

"Shuddering in fear, I plunged my loud footsteps in the dark, gloomy water. Looking around with all the effort of my hazel eyes, I tried to find my friend. All of a sudden, I heard a terrified little voice behind me…" Imogen MacLeod

"‘Shhhhh!’ We run and hide behind a tree and all we can see is a pathway into darkness. Our hearts are pounding as we hear the echoing of the monster’s footsteps getting closer as we speak. I taste blood as I breathe in. I smell the wet moss under my feet." Dionne Hnoudis

The Insects

"There was a cold bitter breeze. Face to face they saw each other. Enemy versus enemy. A matter of life or death. Butter the butterfly felt the danger that would come. Peter the praying mantis heard Butter’s heart pounding heavily. Peter slowly edged towards Butter when they heard a buzzing noise…" Katie Fong

Year 6 Debating

The Year 6 girls continued their fantastic work in debating when they took part in Round 3 of the IPSHA Debating Competition on Thursday 19 August at Scotch College.

Three of the four teams that took part came away from the evening with a win, which continued an incredible run after only losing two debates in total after three rounds. All of our Year 6 girls are to be congratulated on their efforts as many hours of planning and preparation go into their presentations.

Additionally, a huge thank you and congratulations to our Year 9 coaches who not only attended our evening competitions, but also gave up their lunch times each week to guide our younger girls by assisting with the development of their persuasive skills.

Our final debate is next month at St Peter’s College and we look forward to a strong finish to the competition.

Code Camp

Code Camp will be back for the Term 3 holidays for girls in Year 2 to 6. Held at School in the Learning Commons, the camps are a great way for the girls to get creative and explore different areas of interest.

Spark Camp
Monday 27 September - Wednesday 29 September
Girls will have the opportunity to code and create their own DC Super Hero game.

Animation Camp
Tuesday 28 September - Wednesday 29 September
Girls will learn how to create two movies from scratch using stop-motion animation.

To book your daughter's place at Code Camp click here. Using the code WILDERNESS25, parents and caregivers will receive a $25 discount if you book before Friday 3 September.