Foundation – Year 6 Learning Conversations

Thank you to those parents who took the time last week to come to school and speak with their child’s Class Teacher. I hope this was an excellent opportunity to share information about your child’s progress, interests and learning needs so far this year. Additionally, I hope this was a chance to foster a positive and respectful relationship between home and school. Also, I would like to remind parents that they are able to arrange meeting times with class teachers throughout the year via the Junior School Diary or email depending on your child’s Class Teacher. Before and after school are times when teachers are readily available.

 

Foundation – Year 6 Division Swim Carnival

Recently, the Boroondara Divisional Swimming Carnival was conducted at the Monash Aquatic and Recreation Pool Centre and as a Junior School, we had eight students perform. Congratulations to the following students:

Year 5 – Jasmine Li

Year 6 – Maddie Huynh

Year 6 – Angelique Quah

Year 6 – Anika Selvaratnam

Year 6 – Anneke Sinnappu

Year 6 – Maria Vais

Year 6 – Christina Weickhardt

Year 6 – Maddie Wood

Special congratulations must go to Jasmine Li of Year 5 who won her 50m backstroke race and qualified for the Eastern Regional Swimming Championships on Friday 13 March. At this event, there will be some of the best swimmers in the state competing against each other and we wish Jasmine all the best with her backstroke race.

 

International Women’s Day Assembly

On Wednesday we were lucky to welcome inspiring old grammarian, Dr Yvonne Mah, to speak at our Junior School Assembly to start our International Women’s Day celebrations. Yvonne spoke fondly to students about her love of learning at Camberwell Girls and the importance of her time here for developing her strong values, commitment to social justice and also her passion for STEM.  Yvonne has had an extensive career in different areas of STEM and is currently working in chemistry forBASF.

Dr Mah is a passionate advocate and supporter of women in STEM initiatives, and it was inspiring to hear how her work with producing different chemicals and working on innovations has had an impact on our day to day lives. The students were fascinated to learn that Yvonne has been involved with the production of chemicals that are used in hard hats, carpets and even clothing! We thank Yvonne for her encouragement to all of our students to harness the natural curiosity that is sparked by STEM challenges and experiments so they can work to help solve the problems of the future.

Emma Hinchliffe
Deputy Head of Junior School

 

Year 1 Wonder Walk

Last week as part of our Year 1 inquiry exploring how objects and places help to teach us about our past, students embarked on a short wonder walk around the local streets. The focus of the walk was to notice and reflect on the different types of buildings and architecture in our local streets and how and why houses may have changed over time. Students used the See-Think – Wonder thinking routine as they observed and recorded the features of houses from the 1800s, 1900s, 2000s, 2020s and even saw a house that has just started to be built. We looked carefully for changes to the sizes, shapes and uses of houses, and how different materials had been used for different purposes at different times. After our walk, students generated questions for further exploration.

Some things students are now wondering are:

> Why do some houses have flat roofs?

> What do the features of the houses look like inside the houses?

> Who has lived in these houses over the years?

> Why have some houses been changed over time?

> Why do people change houses?

Emma Hinchliffe
Deputy Head of Junior School

 

Early Learning Centre

At Camberwell Girls, we believe that in today’s contemporary, fast paced society, it is important for children to have an opportunity for relaxation or a time where they can ‘just be’ and learn techniques for relaxation.

In Early Learning, on a daily basis, the children have an opportunity to relax their body and mind and rest and rejuvenate. Relaxation can take a variety of forms:

> breathing exercises

> meditation

> listening to classical music

> participating in experiences conducive to relaxation

> resting or sleeping on a mattress in the afternoon

At different times throughout the day, aromatherapy, classical music or dimmed lighting is used to create an ambience conducive to relaxation.

The amount of relaxation or sleep that a child requires during the day is influenced by how active and energetic the child is throughout the day and the amount of sleep the child had during the previous night at home.

It is important that children have a sufficient amount of sleep each night to ensure healthy growth and development.A well-rested child arrives at school ready to concentrate, learn and actively engage and participate in play.

The Australian Government has worked with experts to develop guidelines to help parents create a healthy and safe bedtime routine for their child. It recommends that a child between 3-5 years of age requires 10-13 hours of good quality sleep (this total may include a sleep during the day) and consistent sleep and wake-up times.

At home, it is important that a consistent bedtime and wake up time is established and an overall calming bedtime routine is developed in the early years. A bedtime routine is considered to be the most important part of helping a child transition to bed and settle in bed ready to sleep.

A bedtime routine involves:

> doing the same things each night before bed

> avoiding loud or active play just before bedtime

> avoiding screen-based activities before bedtime – this includes watching television, playing computer games or using a tablet or other handheld devices

Paediatrician Marc Weissbluth believes that an early bedtime may have more benefits to a child than merely sleep duration. He advocates that whena child sleeps is probably as important or maybe more important than the length of time achild sleeps. This is because the sleep that happens earlier in the night tends to be deeper and more restorative than sleep that takes place later at night and in the early morning.

The Australian 24‐Hour Movement Guidelines (Department of Health) not only focuses on the importance of sleep but also the importance of a balance between physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep. The guidelines provides a picture of what a 24 hour period should look like for a child – this includes time for active play, time spent sitting and lying down and the ideal amount of sleep.

For children aged 3-5 years it suggests:

Physical activity: At least 180 minutes spent in a variety of physical activities, of which at least 60 minutes is energetic play, spread throughout the day; and more is considered to be better.

Sedentary behaviour: Children should not be restrained in a car seat or stroller for more than 1 hour at a time or sit for extended periods. Sedentary screen time should be no more than 1 hour and less is better. When a child is sedentary, the guidelines recommend the child should be engaging  in experiences with an adult such as reading, singing, puzzles and storytelling.

Sleep: 10 to 13 hours of good quality sleep, which may include a nap, with consistent sleep and wake‐up times.

As children are individuals and no one day will be the same, parents should use this as a guide to help shape their child’s daily activities to best support their healthy growth and development.

If you’re interested in reading about the link between sleep and learning then I recommend this brief but informative article. In the article, there are further links to explore related to sleep. http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/sleep_and_learning.html/context/754

Angela Follacchio
Early Learning Team Leader & Teacher

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to all our Ormiston families and a very warm welcome to our new families joining us this year. The holiday stories that students have shared with me across many year levels reflect the diversity of our school community. It is wonderful to hear a child’s unique experiences and adventures over the holiday period. I sincerely hope all families had time together as a family and are ready for a very special Centenary year for CGGS. I was delighted to meet lots of families over the first two weeks and to see so many students with smiles on their faces on their first day of school.

I would like to officially welcome our new students to Ormiston:

Foundation
Isabelle Gilliland, Aryana Perera, Olivia Ding & Katyayani Thathu

Year 2
Alice Hong

Year 4
Nellie Ruddle & Stefanie Nguyen

Year 5
Alexandra Bartnicki, Charlotte Lim, Nirvani Subedi, Poppy Tymmons, Gretel Blake, Yuxin Chen, Jessie Lu, Aathana Sivapalan & Ella Turnley

Year 6
Chloe Byers & Emily Chen

 

Centenary Commencement Ceremony

I was delighted to see so many Ormiston families attend our whole school Centenary Commencement Ceremony on Tuesday at Senior School. As Head of Junior School, I was very proud of our students from Foundation to Year 6 as their behaviour through the event was exemplary. I would like to congratulate the large group of students who ran and skipped up the school driveway to enact the first day of Camberwell Girls Grammar School at Torrington Street.

I would like to thank Kath Buckingham, Angela Columbine and Jasvindar Gill for organising this important part of the service. Also, I would like to thank Maddison O’Meara (Year 4) and Madeleine Law (Year 2) for being directly involved in the service. As a school, I look forward to seeing many students and families at our future centenary events this year.

Ormiston Staffing for 2020

Here is our Ormiston Team for 2020:                                               

Early Learning 3
Ramila Sadikeen & Effie Kitsiris

Early Learning 4 (Full Time)           
Angela Follacchio & Joanna Lee

Early Learning 4 (Part Time)          
Lilian Bishop

Learning Assistant Team Member
Neroli Bowyer-Smyth

Foundation   
Selena Reedman

Year 1
Angela Columbine

Foundation & Year 1 Literacy & Numeracy Support
Annabelle Vivarini

Foundation & Year 1 Inquiry Support
Emma Hinchliffe

Year 2
Mikaela Stanaway & Ellie Zarfaty

Year 3
Liz Ruffles & Rebecca Leondidis

Year 4
Jasvindar Gill & Craig Goodwin

Year 5
Anjali de Quadros/Meagan Wilson & Fiorella Soci

Year 6
Katrina Cheong & Nancy Robottom

Art
Fiona Gibson

Chinese
Scarlett Zhang, Peipei Liu & Lin Zhang

French           
Melissa Drentin

Library           
Sally Spencer

Music 
Nichole Adams & Penny Byrne

F-6 Choir
Jessica Huggett

Sport & Physical Education
Liana Kitsou, Dot Georgiou & Nareen Robinson

STEAM          
Penny Dumsday

Learning Enrichment
Lisa White (Coordinator of Junior School Learning Enrichment), Paul Donohue, FionaGibson

Learning Enrichment & EAL
Michelle May

 

Ormiston’s New Outside Playground Area

On the first day of school for 2020, Junior School students walked through the Junior School Hall and saw a new outside playground area. After two weeks, the students have thoroughly enjoyed playing in the different areas, especially the new sandpit and crushed mulch area. A highlight has been the grass areas where students are able to sit down and eat their snack or lunch, read a book or even play a running game. The next step with the playground is to see what type of equipment and/or resources the students would like to use outside in the new areas. I would like to thank our Camberwell Girls Grammar School gardener Martin Conlon for his creativity, imagination, organisation and an ability to make a plan come to life! Over the school holidays, Martin was here at Ormiston each day and the Junior School greatly appreciates all of his efforts in making our playground so engaging and inspiring!

Chinese New Year Celebrations

During our first week of Term 1, our students had the opportunity to watch a Lion Dance to celebrate Chinese New Year, the year of the Rat. The dance was interactive and involved some of our students receiving fresh fruit and vegetables, which promoted good luck and fortune for all our students and staff this year. One person played the drum and the drum beat encouraged both lions to move quickly around our Junior School basketball court and move in and out of our students.

Early Learning

Children are born belonging to a culture that is influenced by the experiences, values and beliefs of families and communities. We believe that diversity contributes to the richness of our Early Learning community. Our curriculum and everyday practices reflect the values, practices and beliefs of families. We want each child and family to be valued and feel recognised and respected for who they are and to share aspects of their culture. In Early Learning we provide rich and diverse resources to reflect children’s social worlds and provide opportunities for the children and families to share experiences and events that are important to them. These experiences also explore diversity and provide opportunities to develop an understanding about connections between children and families; and similarities and differences between members of our Early Learning and wider community.

This week the Early Learning 4 (Full Time) children went to the Junior School playground and participated in Chinese New Year celebrations through the Lion Dance. As a form of reflection, the children used the languages of drawing and dialogue to reflect on this experience and to express their thinking. Whilst drawing the children recalled aspects of this experience with their memory. Of all the visual arts, drawing is the quickest and most direct way of making ideas visible. It is an incredibly powerful tool – a language – that enables children to explain things to themselves and to others. “Drawing provides an opportunity for children to make marks with an immediacy, directness and precision.” – Ursula Kolbe

The following are some of the reflections from the children that evolved with their drawings.

Alexandra– They didn’t use sticks to hold the dragon up. They put their head under the dragon. I wonder if those people under the dragon can see. I think there were buttons inside and they used their hands to press the buttons. It was fun and that’s because of the cymbals. I liked the music.

Sage – I saw them and they came closer and closer and one of the big girls patted the lion’s back. It was fun! It scared me a little bit because it went close to us when it gave something to Mr D.

Ting Xuan – I liked the people going under the dragon because it moved. They walked near us.

Evie – The yellow and red dragon fought together to get the apple. I liked the dragon going in front of us. The boys with the drums were banging them and making music.

Clara – The dragon was blinking and the yellow dragon actually got the apple first.

Angela – I liked the yellow dragon. The red dragon passed the oranges to the yellow one. I looked up and saw the eyes blinking.

Kelly – I liked the two dragons. I saw the dragons and the dragon looked at Angela and me.

Calista – I liked the yellow dragon because it had a shiny horn on top of its head. I saw it gleaming in the sunlight.

 

Digital Learning in an Age of Uncertainty

 In 2013, David Price wrote in his book ‘OPEN: how we’ll work, live and learn in the future’ that we know only two things for certain. The first is that we should learn to embrace uncertainty, because this age of uncertainty could become permanent. The second is that if all the old certainties are gone, then we have to be open to radical shifts in how we work, live and learn (p. 21). Fast forward seven years and this uncertainty is as true today as it was then.

As we are all aware, the start of the school year has been impacted by the Coronavirus, with many students having a delayed start to the year and unable to attend school. This has presented us with opportunities to develop and trial new ways and modes of teaching and learning. Teachers and students have been working collaboratively to improve the educational and wellbeing outcomes for all students through the use of digital learning tools.

Research has shown that the differences between face-to- face and online learning spaces are significant enough that unique approaches are required for effective teaching online. As such, teachers have been able to harness technology to create engaging and meaningful activities that may not have been possible in a regular face-to-face class. This has included videoconferencing, collaborative documents through Office 365, screencasts and a range of other web-based platforms. The chosen digital tool should engage and excite, facilitate communication and discussion and provide students with greater opportunities for practice and feedback.

The core business of digital learning at CGGS is about educating students to be fully participating citizens in a digitally networked world and the unique start to the year has demonstrated how important this task is.

 Micah Wilkins
Head of Digital Learning and Innovation

 

I wish all our Ormiston families a restful weekend and look forward to seeing many parents next week at our Meet The Teacher Evening on Tuesday 18 February and Twilight Picnic on Friday 21 February. Please see the Junior School Weekly for specific details.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Paul Donohue
Head of Junior School

 

Foundation – Year 6 Orientation Morning

It was a pleasure to see our current students showing leadership skills in helping new students and families that visited Ormiston last week. Orientation morning was an excellent opportunity for the 2020 Foundation to Year 6 students to meet as a group and spend time with their new class friends and class teacher. During the morning, new families had the opportunity to learn more about the daily operations of the Junior School and to meet other new families and ask questions. We are welcoming 18 Early Learning students into Foundation in 2020 which is wonderful for the Ormiston community. This number is reflective of the high-quality program that we provide within our Early Learning Centre and Junior School. I look forward to seeing these students begin their next educational journey with us in Foundation next year.

 

Year 1 Incursion – Beekeeper

On Wednesday 27 November, the Year 1 students were fortunate to meet Des Peachman, a local beekeeper.

In preparation for his visit, the children have been locating and understanding facts about bee farms in their reading. Students have also been formulating questions to find out more information about bee farms. Some of the questions were:

> What do the bees do when the Queen dies?

> Do all of the bees have different patterns on their bodies, like a zebra?

> How long can bees live?

> How do bees make honey in the tummies?

Des taught us that bees can fly up to 5km away from their hives but this has an impact on their wings. As a result, their lifespan is about 6 weeks. The students also learnt that the hive makes new Queen cells – usually 3 to 5 cells – when the Queen dies. We were taught that bees take the nectar, regurgitate it, remove the water and put it in the cells in the hive.

Des also recommended that if ever we find a swarm or nest at home, there are always local bee keepers willing to come, mostly for free, to take them away. Des suggested contacting Swarm Patrol; don’t use Mortein! We’d rather preserve our helpful honey makers than have them killed!

The children had an opportunity to explore some of a beekeepers equipment and hold honeycomb. It was a tremendous opportunity to learn from an expert!

Year 3 and 4 ADANAC Camp

It was a pleasure joining the Years 3 and 4 students at camp ADANAC at Yarra Junction this week. The behaviour of both year groups was exemplary when participating in either outdoor activities or eating breakfast, lunch or dinner. Some of the exciting activities included:

Year 3
> Flying fox                                           
> Low ropes course                              
> Archery                                              
> Canoeing                                           
> Trampolines
> Cage soccer           
> BRAVE – CGGS                                
> Basketball

Year 4
> Aqua ponding
> Disc golf
> Raft building
> Water trampoline
> Archery
> Hut building
> Table tennis

I would like to highlight the Year 3 students who were on their first ever camp at CGGS. Each student enjoyed the outdoor and indoor experiences and they especially loved the food for all snacks and meals. As with every camp, the students will help the class teachers review the camp program to ensure the activities provided were high quality and relevant to all students.

Foundation – Year 6 Choral and Instrumental Concert

Last Friday morning, our Foundation to Year 6 students were involved in our annual end of year Choral and Instrumental Concert. The concert was a huge success and the participation of every student in Ormiston from Foundation to Year 6 was a real highlight. This year we have had 103 students learn a musical instrument which is almost 50% of all our Foundation to Year 6 students. We also have excellent participation rates at the co-curricular level at Ormiston, with 87 Year 1 to Year 6 students actively involved in activities, and participation and enjoyment continue to be our key focuses.

I would like to thank the Music Department for organising the concert, particularly Directors of Music Kate Savige and Rohan Mack, Jane Scott our Music Administrator and our Junior School Music and Choir teachers Nichole Adams, Penny Byrne, Cathy Georgiev, Katrina Cheong and Marianne Rigby-Black. Additionally, I would like to thank the Year 5 and 6 Concert Band tutors Mat Duniam (percussion), Joseph Yu (trumpets), Stephanie Leslie (flutes), Mandy Lo (lower brass), Catherine Oxworth (clarinets) and Laura Tcheupdjian who teaches the Year 2 Super Strings program.

Early Learning Visit Year 6 Concert Band

The Early Learning children were invited to be audience members and listen to the Year 6 Concert Band. It was a wonderful learning opportunity and the children were immersed in and engaged with the music. They demonstrated their curiosity and interest when the Year 6 students shared their knowledge about their different instruments, in particular how they’re played, their names and the various parts. As the children watched the conductor, listened to the music and viewed how the instruments were played, they were focused and responsive participants. We are grateful that our youngest students had this opportunity to engage with members of our school community and celebrate the joy of music. We would like to thank members of the Year 6 Concert Band for their informative presentations and sharing their musical skills; and Mr Duniam and members of the Music Department for this wonderful opportunity. Below are some ELC student responses.

“I liked the loud drums because it made a deep sound.”  – Alexandra

“I loved the trumpet because it makes a beautiful sound.” – Rubyrose

“The drum was my favourite because it makes boom, boom, boom. I love boom, boom, boom.” – Zara

“I liked the flute because it made a high sound.” – Leo

“The music made me feel happy.” – Calista

“It sounded like Coming Around the Mountain.” – Maddie

“The other one sounded like a wolf tiptoeing. It sounded like it wanted to eat something.” – Isabella-Rose

“I like the drum.” – Cathy

“It (the trombone) sounds like someone slipping.” – Lina

“I love the drum because it’s really loud.” – Natalie

“It (the music) made you feel excited and happy.” – Maddie

“I loved the flute because it’s high up (the pitch).” – Olivia

Angela Follacchio
Early Learning 3 Teacher & Early Learning Team Leader

Oxford Australian Children’s Word of the Year

This year the students from Year 3 took part in the Oxford Australian Children’s Word of the Year writing competition. There were hundreds of entries from classrooms all over Australia and students were asked to create a piece of writing based on their own chosen word that meant something to them. All the Year 3 students worked with purpose and creativity to plan, draft, edit and publish some wonderful pieces of work.

One Year 3 student, Mo Lin Yu was an individual award winner in the Year 3 category. Mo Lin chose the word ‘bravery’ and wrote an engaging story about a girl in a ski race. Out of all the entries received by Oxford this year, ‘bravery’ was not only selected as the word of the year, but was also a key theme in entries across all age groups.

Congratulations to Mo Lin and all the Year 3 authors for their hard work and persistence.

Angela Columbine
Year 3 Class Teacher

Digital Wellbeing: ‘Tis the season to be scammed!

The 1st of December traditionally is when many Australians begin to think about bringing out their Christmas decorations and making homes look suitably festive. This date is now sandwiched between two events which are gaining more traction within Australia each year; these being Black Friday, today, quickly followed by ‘Cyber Monday’. Both events are designed to lure consumers into opening their wallets and purses. Whilst shoppers can attend their local shopping centres for greatly reduced prices, increasingly, Australians of all generations are taking advantage of the convenience of online shopping.

Unfortunately, the combination of the festive season and significant retail discounts provides the perfect environment for online scammers to take advantage of busy and perhaps unsuspecting consumers. The ACC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission)  provides the service ScamWatch. ScamWatch presents helpful information on current scams as well as tips on how to avoid the disappointment of not receiving purchased goods online. The most common goods that scammers are attempting to ‘sell’ this season are shoes, smartphones and tickets to events.

Scamwatch recommends that you can shop safely and securely by:

> Being mindful of advertisements on social media as these are often used by scammers to direct you to fake online stores or websites

> Avoiding luxury goods that are being offered for very low prices

> Researching websites by checking reviews as well as the website’s information about their returns policies etc. Remember to look out for spelling errors and poor grammar

> Check for a URL that starts with ‘https’ and a closed padlock symbol when making online payments. Consider using a payment provider such as PayPal and avoid international funds transfers or electronic currency, such as Bitcoin

Scamwatch also recommends you share this information with friends and family. It is worth subscribing to email alerts about scams as these change on a regular basis. Register for these emails at the Scamwatch website: www.scamwatch.gov.au

Finally, whilst the festive season is about much more than gifts, the eSafetyCommissioner recognises the need for consumers to make informed decisions if they are considering buying technology for children and teenagers. You may find it helpful to spend a few minutes viewing key information on how to protect your family’s privacy and security if you are thinking of purchasing items such as wearable tech, smart toys or virtual reality technologies.

Paul Donohue and Felicity Carroll

 

Junior School Netball            

The Netball season is coming to end, the Ormiston students have been showing outstanding skills each week. The Year 2 students have been learning the rules and getting better at their shooting techniques. The Year 3 students understand the game and have been bonding together as a team. The Year 4 Rubies played one of their best games of netball last Friday afternoon, Rubies were very consistent and went for every ball. The Year 4 Garnets defeated KD Stargazers convincingly, the students moved the ball down the court beautifully. The Year 5 Opals defeated Ruyton Rockers 11-1, Opals have been strong in defence all season and transitioning the ball into the attack end to score. The Year 5 Jets are undefeated this Spring Season, Jets will be playing off for first position this coming Saturday. The Year 6 Topaz had a very close game against Strathy Stars, the CGGS team were unlucky with turnovers and ended up going down to them 5-6. Best of luck goes to all teams playing in the Spring Fling Finals this weekend.

Lexie Joyce
CGGS Netball Coach

 

I wish all Ormiston families a restful weekend and a wonderful evening of entertainment at the Carols at Camberwell concert this evening.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Donohue
Head of Junior School

 

Foundation – Year 6 Ormiston Spirit Awards

During this week’s assembly, our Junior School teachers handed out the prestigious Ormiston Spirit Awards in front of the school community. These awards are handed to Foundation – Year 6 students who are consistently displaying our CGGS School Values of Respect, Integrity, Commitment, Hope and Courage in their classroom learning and participation in school co-curricular activities. Congratulations to the following students:

Foundation S
Kayla Yao

Foundation R
Cathy Gao

Year 1G
Angela Hu

Year 1J          
Alice Xu

Year 2S
Ailey Poon

Year 2Z
Nan Cao

Year 3C
Eleanor Robertson

Year 3L
Cathy Wang

Year 4H
Charlie Russo

Year 4G
Ashley Wang

Year 5R
Grace Wan

Year 5 D/K
Abbey Marcou

Year 6R
Sarah Zhou

Year 6C
Lily Thomas

Art
Madison Hall

Physical Education
Madeleine Law

Music
Erena Zhu

Library           
Mo Lin Yu

Chinese (Mainstream)
Sophie-May Ronzani

Chinese (Enhanced)
Jasmine Li

French           
Lucy Ciro

Boroondara Division Athletics Carnival

Over one week ago, three students participated in the Boroondara District Athletics carnival and did a wonderful job competing against the best athletes among local government, catholic and independent schools. Congratulations to Anika Selvaratnam, Christina Weickhardt and Jessica Wu who were all very competitive in their events. Anika came second in her 1500 metre race and qualified for the Eastern Regional Championships, and she came fourth in her 200 metre race. Christina came seventh in her long jump event and Jessica came fourth in her 80 metre hurdles race. I would like to thank all three students for being excellent representatives for Camberwell Girls Grammar School.

Years 3 – 6 Author visit – Felice Arena

The Years 3 – 6 students began Term 4 with a fun and engaging visit from popular children’s author, Felice Arena. Felice shared his path to becoming a children’s author and his ‘sliding doors’ moment with J.K. Rowling. He introduced students to many of his books, including a Chinese edition of his picture book Sally and Dave, A Slug Story. Cathy from Year 3 read some of the story for us in Chinese while Felice read it in English.

In recent years, Felice has written three historical fiction novels – The Boy and the Spy, Fearless Frederic and A Great Escape. Felice captivated students with the stories behind his books, the fascinating research he has done to ensure his books are authentic and gave a valuable insight into his writing process. He had the Senior School Library ringing with laughter when he taught students and teachers how to do Morse Code in a fun and unique way! We could easily have stayed longer to listen to Felice who has definitely gained many new readers with his visit. Felice will be back again in Week 4 for the highly anticipated YABBA Awards where he has two books shortlisted.

Thank you Felice for reminding us of the joy and power of reading.

What I liked about this author visit is that there was a lot of humour and that Felice Arena had his eyes bursting out like he was so interested in telling us about his books and past. As well as that he made us move and stand up so we were not just listening to him, but we were having fun. – Rudra, Year 3

 

Kim Yeomans
Junior School Library Teacher

Year 4 Excursion

As part of their Inquiry topic this term of ‘who is responsible for changes to planet Earth?’ the Year 4’s visited Blackburn Lake Sanctuary last Friday to learn about the natural and man-made changes that have occurred over time. Students viewed maps of the area from the 1800s through to current day to understand how natural and human developmental changes to the landscape and surface of the earth have affected the local flora and fauna.

Students enjoyed walking through the sanctuary and learning how man-made changes such as the planting of vegetation and erecting barriers can have a positive impact on the environment. These include minimising erosion and attracting wildlife and creating ecosystems. It was also very exciting to spot various birds such as lorikeets and even a tawny frog-mouth.

Jasvindar Gill & Emma Hinchliffe
Year 4 Class Teachers

Year 3 – 6 Netball

Netball has kicked off at Ormiston for Term 4. The Years 2 and 3 Netball Skills is a huge hit, the students have been working on many skills and learning the rules of the game. A Year 3 team has formed and they played their first game last Friday afterschool in the Boroondara Netball Competition. The opposition came out strong, but the CGGS team were up for the challenge.

The Year 4 Rubies had a good game but went down 5-2. The Year 4 Garnets had a very close game against MLC, CGGS had plenty of opportunities but couldn’t finish it off.

The Year 5 teams both won their matches last Saturday. Opals were unstoppable down both ends of the court, CGGS kept Ruyton scoreless for the whole game and our students scored 10 goals. The Jets also played a great game, the ball flowed very smoothly down the court and the CGGS team defeated MLC 11-2.

The Year 6 Topaz welcomed some new players to the team and had great patches of play. Unfortunately, Genazzano defeated CGGS 10-5. Congratulations to all netballers on their efforts.

Lexie Joyce
CGGS Netball Coach

 

Digital Wellbeing

We have completed surveying the CGGS community about digital wellbeing. Thank you to our students, teachers and families for your participation. Your contribution has helped us gather current data about our community’s technology usage and perceptions, including any concerns.

Now we begin the process of examining this data. It will be used to help inform our next steps as we work together to promote digital wellbeing. Our teachers have begun this process, by looking at some data trends and considering their implications. We have also had initial student focus group sessions and will be running more of these as we look at refining our shared expectations of device usage for learning. We are grateful that many parents have expressed an interest in participating in digital wellbeing forums and focus groups. Details of these opportunities will be published in upcoming editions of CamNews as well as results from our student, teacher and family surveys. We look forward to continuing our community’s focus on digital wellbeing throughout this term and in 2020.

Paul Donohue and Felicity Carroll

 

Student Achievements

Years 5 & 6 French

We would like to congratulate two Year 6 students, Monique Desai and Samantha Chua.

Monique came second in the Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette poetry competition. This is a competition open to all French students in Victoria. She competed against 700 students in total and 76 finalists. Félicitations Monique!

Samantha received first place in the Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette drawing competition. Samantha illustrated her own representation of the Year 6 poem studied this year. Bravo Samantha!

Year 3 Asha Bhattacharjee – Eisteddfod by the Bay

On 8 September, Asha competed in the Years 8 – 9 section of the Piano category in the 64th Eisteddfod By the Bay (Piano Section). She played a piece titled “Two Little Birds” by Frank Hutchens. In a highly competitive group of 25 participants, Asha missed out on the top three prizes, but did tremendously well to have received an Honourable Mention in her category.

Recently, Asha also sat her Grade 5 piano exam in June and received an A+ (High Distinction) for her results. This is an outstanding effort.

As a school, we are extremely proud of Asha and her musical achievements this year.

I wish all Ormiston families a restful weekend.

 

Yours sincerely,

Paul Donohue
Head of Junior School

Junior School Disco

Last Friday over one hundred students attended our annual Junior School Disco which took place once again in the Senior School Anne Feehan Building (Year 7 Level). The first session involved students from Foundation to Year 3 and the second session included students from Years 4 to 6 to get together to sing and dance. The evening was once again very popular and well attended by students across all year levels. This Junior School event truly promoted our CGGS Strategic Pillar of a Connected Community. These special events throughout the year help bring our Ormiston community together. I would like to thank Susannah Jepson from the Foundation Office for all her planning and preparation in making the disco a very successful event. Also, many Junior School Parent Representatives gave up their valuable family time to volunteer at the event. I would like to thank the following parents:

> Meagan Healy
> Tammy Sim
> Jo Rees
> Rhian Hall
> Angelina Lagana
> Josie Mason
> Carolyn Russo
> Cecellia Zhang
> Helen Yue
> Priya Nadarajah

Book Week!

Happy Book Week!

This year the Book Week theme is ‘Reading is my Secret Power’.

In our weekly Library classes we have enjoyed exploring our reading powers and how reading empowers us. We have also shared some of the books shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council Awards and congratulate this year’s winners.

Book of the Year / Early Childhood –Tricky’s Bad Day by Alison Lester

Picture Book of the Year – Cicada by Shaun Tan

Book of the Year / Younger Readers – His Name was Walter by Emily Rodda

This year we had a Creative Book Week Challenge. Thank you to those students who accepted the challenge and unleashed their creativity by baking and decorating cakes, writing books and poems, making models and posters, painting, drawing and minecrafting. Their work is on display in the Library.

Book Week has been a fun celebration of the joy and power of reading. We began the week with Ms Ruffles, Miss Soci, Ms Hinchcliffe, Miss Zarfaty and Mrs Jackson reading their favourite picture books to eager audiences during lunchtime in the library. The library has also been a hive of creativity with students making reading superhero bookmarks, reading power glasses and book badges at lunchtime library.

The Book Week assembly was the highlight of the week and it looked as though the book characters in our library had come to life! The students’ reading powers of creativity and imagination were on display and it was a delight to see many popular book characters in our Book Week Parade. Thank you also to parents for your assistance with costumes and to those who came along to celebrate.

Reading is alive and well in the Junior School!

‘The greatest gift is a passion for reading.’ – Elizabeth Hardwick

Kim Yeomans
Junior School Teacher Librarian

National Science Week

National Science Week is an annual celebration of science and technology and was recently celebrated at Camberwell Girls Grammar School. Science Week provides an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of Australian scientists to the world of knowledge. It also aims to encourage an interest in science in young people.

Destination Moon: more missions, more science was the theme for National Science Week in 2019. Many exciting activities were on offer throughout the school, which provided an opportunity for students across all year levels to explore the theme.

Activities in the Junior School kicked off on Monday lunchtime with a group of students working with Mrs Lemanis and Ms Dumsday to make their own water rockets out of soft drink bottles. With much of the school watching and counting down (from a safe distance), we used the Science Department’s rocket launchers to show how the movement of gases provides enough force to propel a rocket high up into the air.

The Years 3 and 4 students were eager participants in a ‘Moon Rovers’ Coding Challenge, creating algorithms using Blockly to code a Dash Robot. Their mission was to program their ‘Moon Rover’ to travel across the surface of the moon, avoiding the craters to collect a rock sample for NASA. Some extra keen students repeated the activity during a lunchtime session, creating more complex algorithms.

The Years 1 and 2 students worked cooperatively in groups to create a LEGO Space Scene. The students utilised the School’s Space Mission LEGO kits to produce a range of creative landscapes, astronauts and space crafts. The activity promoted the development of fine motor skills, encouraged positive team work, communication and problem-solving skills.

Students in Years 5 and 6 helped map out the safe places for a spacecraft to land and the scientifically interesting places to explore on the moon with Moon Mappers. This project asked participants to partner directly with scientists – including NASA mission scientists to identify craters on the moon.

A group of Junior School students had the opportunity to participate in an exciting hands-on lunch time activity held in the Senior School MakerSpace. The students were challenged to construct their own telescope made from everyday materials.

Science Week culminated with a viewing of the landing of Apollo 11, the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. A number of the classes came to watch this momentous occasion and reflected upon the character strengths displayed by the astronauts and the scope of the Apollo 11 accomplishment.

Annabelle Vivarini
Junior School STEAM Educator

Victorian Interschools Snowsports Championships

This week Mt Buller staged the 62nd Victorian Interschools Snowsports competition which saw over 6000 students taking part from over 180 schools. Ormiston took an enthusiastic team of 13 skiers and snowboarders from Years 1 to 6 who competed in Skier Cross, Alpine Giant Slalom, Snowboard Cross and Snowboard Giant Slalom events. The participating students were Ivy and Jasmine Xie, Audrey and Annabelle Nemtsas, Rita and Raynee Wong, Mo Lin Yu, Ashley Wang, Anneka Sinnappu, Angelique Quah, Zara Chueng, Jessie Chen and Elysia Wang.

Our athletes proudly represented Camberwell Girls Grammar School and we were thrilled at the endeavour, sportsmanship and persistence each student displayed throughout the event. Many students were participating in Interschools Snowsports for the first time and they handled the conditions remarkably well, with many achieving personal best results.

The soggy, windy weather didn’t dampen the spirits of the students or their supportive families, and the opening ceremony gave them an opportunity to parade with gusto through the Village carrying the CGGS banner before enjoying a fireworks display. A wonderful three days were had by all and the students continued to develop their skiing and snowboarding skills, along with making new friends and seeing each other in a different and magical environment.

We would like to offer our sincere thank you to all the students and particularly their parents, for their valuable help, support, good humour and embracing Snowsports. Many thanks to Teddy Yu (Molin’s father), Henan Feng (Jasmine & Ivy’s mother) and Lynda Ea (Zara’s mother), who were volunteers and team managers and spent many hours standing in the cold, to support and enable us to take part in the competition.

We look forward to seeing you on the slopes in 2020.

Angela Columbine & Fiona Gibson
Year 3 Class Teacher & Junior School Art Teacher

NEXT BIT

Year 1 Science

Last Wednesday, the Year 1 students visited the Senior School Maker Space to work with Ashley from ‘Linked Excursions’ who helped us to investigate how we can use different forces to make movement.

After building our own LEGO car, each team explored the Design process to make changes and improve our creation depending on the challenge it faced. We removed the bunk beds and fancy steps from our vehicles when we realised they weren’t strong enough against the power of gravity! Our modifications let us add magnets to explore magnetism, propellers to explore electricity and even balloons when we explored the power of wind!

I learned that sometimes a magnet and gravity can fight. When the red bit of the magnet faces the other red bit, they repel each other. That makes the magnet float in the air. Gravity is pushing it down but it is being repelled and pushed up. – Elfie

My favourite part was building the car. We had to change it a zillion times! I learnt that some magnets are powered by electricity. That’s called an electromagnetic force – Molly

We had the most wonderful time before heading back to Junior School and watching footage from the Apollo 11 Moon landing. What a wonderful way to celebrate Science Week in Year 1!

Miranda Jackson & Craig Goodwin
Year 1 Class Teachers

Year 2 Service Learning – Hedley Sutton Visit

On Wednesday 14 August the Year 2 students once again visited the residences at Hedley Sutton. Musical items were presented by Ruth Whelan who played Que Sera Sera and Ria Wong, who played ‘I’m A Fine Musician’. The residents loved these musical presentations and could be heard singing along.

The students introduced themselves to a number of different residents throughout the visit – asking questions about their past; about games they played when they were little children, memories from school days and the styles of clothing worn. All of these questions have come from our Inquiry focus and the answers from the residents have been extremely helpful for our learning.

The Year 2 students are commended for the caring and respectful manner in which they presented themselves during our time at Hedley Sutton. It was a valuable learning experience. Here are some thoughts from the students:

Student Comments:

“I learnt that my buddy Ivon used to be a piano teacher.” – Amelia

“I enjoyed talking to the residents about the past.” – Kathleen

“I liked how they listened to us and told us about when they were little.”- Georgia

“I liked how we get to talk to the residents about their families.”- Semaya

“It was good that we get to be interactive with the residents and find out about their stories.”- Ruth

“I liked going to Hedley Sutton because I got to learn about the peoples’ stories, and they were very interesting.”– Jade

“You don’t have to be old to remember.”- Ailey

“You are only as old as you think you are. Actually, we are all young.”- Shreya

“I enjoyed going to Hedley Sutton because I like to chat with people about their past.”- Nan

Fiorella Soci & Ellie Zafarty
Year 2 Class Teachers

 

Year 5 & 6 French – Alliance Française Poetry Competition

Our Years 5 and 6 French students participated in the Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette Poetry competition in May, reciting a French poem by heart to a French judge. The judges are very exacting and students must get full marks of 20/20 (100% correct and a perfect score) to be invited to the finals.

Congratulations to the following Year 5 and 6 students who received perfect scores of 20/20:

Year 5

Mara Vais

Sophia Zeitoune

Emily Lioe

Maria Lin

Alyce Law

Amber Chia

Madeleine Wood

Anneka Sinnappu

Year 6

Monique Desai

Lucy Ciro

Anneke Cook

Jenny Wang

This year has been our most successful year participating in this competition.

Melissa Drentin
Junior School French Teacher

 

Fire Fighters come to Ormiston!

Last Friday the Foundation students had their second visit from the Hawthorn Fire Fighters. They learnt many valuable tips for keeping safe in the event of a fire, discussed safe meeting places outside of their homes and learnt about the job of fire fighters. The highlight of the visits was getting to climb aboard the fire truck and spraying the hose.

“I liked it because we sprayed the hose at Stop, Kiss and Drop” – Emma A

“The Fire Fighters taught us that if you catch on fire you have to stop, lie down, cover your face and roll” – Lucy

“We went on the fire truck and we sprayed the hose, it was the best day ever” – Audrey

Selena Reedman & Mikaela Stanaway
Foundation Class Teachers

Year 3 – 6 Hoop Time Basketball Competition

Last week, a select number of students competed at the Hoop Time Basketball Competition at the Nunawading Basketball Stadium. The students were very nervous on the bus ride to the stadium, however, once they arrived the excitement kicked in. Both teams had a warm up game against a boys team, which fired them up for the day. The Year 5/6 team finished third in their division, and the Year 3/4 team finished second. Unfortunately, neither team will be progressing to the next level. However, the students are already super keen to start training now to come back bigger and better in 2020! Go CGGS! Congratulations to the following players:

Year 3 & 4

Allegra Reedman

Annabelle Nemtsas

Anthea Vais

Ashanti Rajakulendran

Natasha Oakley

Scarlett Sim

Genevieve Khaw

Madeline Mason

Year 5 & 6

Mia Chapman

Sarah May

Jessica Wu

Sarah Zhou

Zara Cheung

Charlotte Hayes

Madeleine Wood

Liana Kitsou
Junior School Physical Education Teacher

Year 4 – 6 Netball

The CGGS netballers are getting close to the end of the season. The Year 4 teams have been learning many game tactics and implementing them in the games. Whilst, the Year 5 teams have had some fantastic wins over the past couple of rounds. The Year 6 students are working hard and coming up against tough opposition. The Years 5 and 6 teams will compete in the Semi Finals next Saturday, and the Year 4 teams will play in a Round Robin to finish off the season.

Best of luck goes to all CGGS netballers in the coming weeks!

Lexie Joyce
CGGS Netball Coach

 

Student Achievements

Sabrina Bignold – Year 6
Sabrina had an amazing experience in Hong Kong at the Asian Grand Prix Ballet Competition. This was an amazing experience for her elite ballet level of training and competing. Hundreds of dancers competed in Regionals across twelve countries. Although Sabrinia didn’t receive a medal at the Asian Grand Prix, she was in the mix with outstanding dancers from Asia Pacific.

Sabrina was thrilled to receive a Gold Medal as well as Best Performance Trophy (for highest score) in the first week at the Asian Ballet Competition. She also received a full scholarship to attend the Ballet Intensive Program in 2020. Congratulations Sabrina on this outstanding achievement.

 

Lucy Ciro – Year 6
Lucy Ciro also participated in an inter-school chess tournament at Yavneh Leibler College in Elsternwick on Wednesday this week. She came equal third out of 164 students and was presented with a trophy for her achievement. Congratulations Lucy!

Erena Zhu – Year 3
Erena Zhu, came third with her dance partner Albert in the couples category for Waltz and Quickstep at the Tasmania DanceSports competition. Congratulations Erena!

 

I wish all Ormiston families a restful weekend. I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Donohue

Head of Junior School