It has been a pleasure working closely with Ms Gill’s Year 6 students as student leaders of Ormiston throughout Term 1 and 2. With their area of responsibility, each leader has given their personal best to contribute to Camberwell Girls Grammar School in some way to make it a better School. Next week will be their last opportunity to complete their leadership duties and as a school community we wish each student all the best. Our Junior School assembly next Wednesday will be organised by the Assembly and Events leaders, and we can express our gratitude while at the same time, say ‘Thank You’ for all their hard work they undertook in Semester One.
In Term 3 Week 3, our Year 6L students will become student leaders of Ormiston for the remainder of school year. Our Induction of Year 6L Student Leaders assembly will be on Wednesday 26 July at 9.00-9.30am in the Junior School Hall. All Year 6L families are cordially invited to attend this special event.
Paul Donohue
Head of Junior School
The Year 2 students participated in their first excursion of the year, to Ceres Environmental Park. Even though it was a rainy day, the students shined with their excitement and courage when completing various activities focusing on sustainability. Their first activity was a walk along Merri Creek, when the students had the opportunity to look at a ‘litter trap’ that keeps rubbish out of our waterways. Next, they learnt about composting and worm farms. The students were lucky enough to hold some wriggly worms and give them each a name. Finally, the students had the opportunity to create their own recycled paper. Students were experts at this because they had created paper using a different method, during their STEAM lessons.
Throughout the day, students were able to learn about renewable resources and how they can become more sustainable citizens for the future.
I enjoyed when we were digging in the soil, and finding critters for our nature bingo – Eshaal
My favourite part was holding and speaking to the worms. It felt like a little bit of water was going down my hand. I also have a worm farm at home – Joelle
Mikaela Stanaway
Year 2 Classroom Teacher
On Wednesday 21 June the Year 5 students travelled back in time to the colonial and gold rush days of Australia’s past. They explored many aspects of daily life during the Gold Fever activity as the students took on different roles. Whilst some students searched for ‘gold’ and had the rights of ‘diggers’, other students represented the ‘troopers’ and had the authority to check their gold licenses or arrest the ‘diggers’. The students had a second education session looking at the Indigenous perspective of life before and during the Gold Rush.
The students also had the opportunity to visit the theatre, pan for gold, learn about candle making, go to the Post Office, walk through the Carver and Dalton Auction Rooms, view the jewels at the jewellery shop and purchase lollies from the sweet shop.
Students also went for a walk deep beneath the Earth on the Red Hill Mine Tour. Students explored some of the dangers that the ‘diggers’ faced, such as being trapped under ground by falling rocks or by water. Students learnt about the poor health conditions and difficult environment that were faced daily.
The students were exceptional in how they represented Camberwell Girls Grammar throughout the day. Their inquisitive and thoughtful questions, their interest and enthusiasm is a credit to their willingness to experience and learn new things. They had a wonderful day making memories and enriching their understanding of key learning from the curriculum.
As I walked in to Sovereign Hill, I had so many questions about the place and what it was like for the diggers. When it was free time, I asked the people at the shops for some information. They were really helpful and I learnt a lot too. I would love to go again! – Kaylee
Before this excursion to Sovereign Hill, I was curious about what life was like for troopers and now I understand that troopers had a reason to be strict. They had to earn money to feed their own families. Life was also unfair for troopers because the government used to take a lot of that money. – Anshika
Sovereign Hill was a memorable and educational experience. We loved how everything was set up just like the 19th century and how detailed the mines were. Our favourite thing to do was to watch the candles being made with a variety of colours. We would definitely recommend you go! – Teanna and Annabelle
This experience was really accurate to the 1850s and we loved how the activities were realistic, educational and enjoyable. Sovereign Hill had so much to offer, but our favourite part was the Red Hill Mine tour. It was intriguing and it made us realise what mining was really like. – Lucinda & Quynh
Craig Goodwin & Fiorella Soci
Year 5 Classroom Teachers
The Year 6 Virtual Debating Team faced Forster Public School on Friday 23 June. Ailey P, Aaratrika K, Rachel F, and Aanya R debated the topic ‘students should write reports on their teachers.’ The team had to prepare affirmative arguments and prepared by defining terms, formulating arguments, finding credible real-life examples and preparing possible rebuttals. Their main argument was that teachers would benefit from a report card because everyone benefits from feedback and students were in the best position to give it to them instead of administrators.
We congratulate the students for their win, and they should feel incredibly proud of their teamwork, efforts and strong arguments. The adjudicator stated they had a clear and engaging introduction, applied statistics well, and gave excellent rebuttals that included examples.
‘This debate was an amazing opportunity to improve our public speaking and debating skills. The debate went really well, and it was extremely close. Both teams had compelling arguments, however, we rose to the occasion and secured a win. We look forward to debating against other schools in the future!’
Jasvindar Gill
Year 6 Classroom Teacher
