From award-winning performances and work experience reflections to immersive excursions and innovative STEM challenges, our secondary students embraced every opportunity this term.
Last night, the Year 3 – 6 Choirs and Vocal Express Choir held a choral concert at St. Mark’s Church. Each choir performed confidently, displaying various vocal skills and musical expression. The final item was a creatively combined performance titled ‘The boy who sticks out his tongue’.
The students appreciated the opportunity to perform at St. Mark’s Church, sharing music with family, friends, and the school community. For the audience, it was an opportunity to enjoy the performances after a busy workday.
Thanks are given to all the Year 3 – 6 students for their hard work, as well as to the staff whose guidance and support made the concert possible. Acknowledgement is extended to Choral Teacher Ms Heron and choir accompanist Mr Mallis for their efforts in working with the Years 3 – 6 students, fostering their voices, confidence, teamwork, and interest in music.
Additionally, gratitude was expressed towards Ormiston parents for their support of the student musicians and the Junior School music program. Next year, there will be performances in the new Performing Arts Centre at the Secondary School (Barbara Sutton Hall). Numerous music events, including the Junior School Production, are anticipated in 2026.
Paul Donohue
Head of Junior School
Sixteen very excited Years 5 and 6 students recently represented Camberwell Girls in the State Finals of the Da Vinci Decathlon, hosted at Korowa. The Da Vinci Decathlon requires teams to work collaboratively over the course of a day to complete 10 complex challenges including engineering, code breaking, ideation and cartography. This event not only requires academic excellence, but more importantly, well-developed critical and creative thinking skills, the ability to work as a team, consider different points of view and persevere with difficult tasks. It is a competition which is academically demanding, and one where students are encouraged to enjoy the opportunity to work with like-minded peers and engage with challenging tasks.
Our Year 5 team returned with first place in Art and Poetry, and Code Breaking. Our Year 6 team placed first in Engineering and English and finished second overall. Each student was a great ambassador for Camberwell Girls, demonstrating excellent collaborative, planning and organisation skills, as well as high quality thinking and creativity.
Dr Charlotte Forwood
Director of Learning Design and Development
In the EL4 Part Time classroom, the children have been exploring how our brains, memories, and feelings are all interconnected. They’ve been discovering that our brains help us recall past experiences—like a time we felt happy, or a moment that made us feel scared or sad—and that these memories are often tied to specific emotions.
Sometimes, when we remember these moments, we feel those same emotions in our bodies. Alana shared, “When I draw pictures…for Mummy, I feel love and I give her love”, helping us understand how small acts can create warm, loving feelings. Macy reflected on feeling brave, saying, “When it is nighttime, I’m not scared. I’m brave because I’m not scared of the dark. I like the dark.” These insights show us how children are beginning to make connections between their experiences and the emotions they feel. We’re learning that feelings don’t just appear from nowhere—they are shaped by what we’ve experienced. This growing awareness supports children in understanding why they feel a certain way, and how to express it in words.
As we have delved deeper into our emotional learning, the children have begun to classify their feelings using language they created themselves: ‘positive,’ ‘in-between,’ and ‘uncomfortable.’ This vocabulary has empowered them to recognise that all emotions are valid and part of what it means to be human. They’ve observed how emotions can shift throughout the day depending on circumstances—feeling excited in the morning, frustrated when faced with a challenge, or calm after reconnecting with a friend. By naming and discussing these experiences, children are becoming more in tune with their emotional states and more capable of understanding themselves and others.
Together, we have been developing practical strategies to help manage and move through these feelings—such as taking deep breaths, seeking out a quiet space, or talking with a friend. These tools are becoming part of the children’s emotional toolkit, supporting them to build resilience, empathy, and confidence in expressing who they are.
As part of our ongoing exploration of empathy and what it means to be compassionate citizens, the children have been engaging meaningfully with the concept of ‘acts of kindness’ through our 2025 Service-Learning Program: Anglicare’s Winter Warmth Appeal. Through heartfelt conversations and shared reflections, the children have been learning about the importance of helping those in need, while developing an emotional understanding of what it might feel like to be cold, to go without, or to need support. Donating non-perishable foods has become more than just an action—it is a gesture of care and empathy towards others in our community.
Esther Wong
Early Learning 4 Part-Time Teacher
During Term 2, CGGS participated in the annual SSV Cross Country competition. This year it began with our North Balwyn District Cross Country. A team of 30 students were selected to attend this event. Selection was based on results from our House Cross Country in Term 1.
District Cross Country is held at Macleay Park each year and this year we had a beautiful day and a perfect dry track. There are 3 races on the day, 9/10-year old (2km), 11-year old (3km) and 12/13-year old (3km), with 10 students from CGGS competing in each race. Congratulations to Janice P and Annabelle Z who qualified for Division in the 11-year old race, and to Audrey C and Claire Z who also qualified for Division in the 12/13-year old race.
There is not much time to prepare for the next stage with Division Cross Country being held the following Monday. Boroondara Division Cross Country is a tough track with the race being held at Ruffey Park, a true cross-country track with a very challenging hill about 1km into the race. All four students competed incredibly well, pushing themselves to do their personal best and representing CGGS with great pride. Congratulations to Audrey C and Jancie P who placed in the top 12 in their races, qualifying for Regional Cross Country.
Eastern Metropolitan Region Cross Country was held just over one week ago. This race takes the students outside Melbourne to run in and around the Yarra Glen racetrack. Audrey C and Janice P were lucky to have a clear day but the track was challenging after some heavy rain. Janice P competed in the 11-year old race while Audrey C ran in the 12/13-year old race. Both students ran well, displaying determination and resilience amongst a very tough competition with some of the best runners in the state. Overall, it was a fantastic effort by both Janice P and Audrey C in the cross-country competition this year.
Kim James
Head of Health, Physical Education and Sport (JS)
In recent Foundation to Year 4 Chinese classes, both heritage and mainstream students have explored a cultural component to learn about the rituals and traditions of the Dragon Boat Festival. Heritage students delved deeper by learning about the background stories of the festival and expressing their understanding through writing activities. As part of their interactive learning experience, all students enjoyed creating dragon boats and making rice dumpling handcrafts.
Learning about culture alongside language is an essential part of language study. By engaging with the traditions and stories of the Dragon Boat Festival, students deepen their understanding of Chinese culture, making their language learning more meaningful, relevant, and engaging.
Scarlett Zhang
Chinese Class Teacher
Year 4 Mainstream Chinese students have been exploring a story in Chinese titled ‘How Will I Get There?’ In the story, Pingping embarks on a journey to visit her friend Xiaoming in Beijing. Along the way, she meets various characters – including a policewoman, a train driver, a friendly alien and a pilot.
After learning the key vocabulary and sentence structures from the story, students worked in groups to create animated scenes using iPad applications such as Toontastic and PuppetPals. They then recorded audio narrations in Chinese to accompany their animations. It was inspiring to see how confidently the Year 4 students applied their language skills to bring their original cartoons to life, creatively combining storytelling with technology.
Please see the animated work below from some of the students.
Scene 3 -Pingping he chuan zhang – Eshaal A & Charlotte B
Scene 4 – Pingping he wai xing ren – Alex L & Sarika M
Scarlett Zhang
Chinese Class Teacher
Year 5 students have been combining language skills with a burst of energy in French this term, learning how to give clear, confident instructions. Building on their knowledge of body parts and action verbs, they stepped into the role of fitness instructors to create their very own aerobics videos.
After practising vocabulary like levez les bras, sautez, and touchez les pieds, students worked in pairs or small groups to write a script for a short workout routine. They then filmed themselves enthusiastically delivering their instructions and demonstrating each movement with flair and clarity.
The results were fun, creative and impressively accurate; think energetic jumping jacks paired with great attempts at pronunciation and lots of laughter. It was a fantastic way to reinforce imperative forms and vocabulary in a real-world context, all while promoting teamwork and confidence in speaking aloud.
Bravo, Year 5! You’ve proven that learning French can be as dynamic as a high-knee sprint.
Jo Rittey
French Teacher
This term in Year 6 French, our CGGS budding linguists have been busy exploring the vibrant world of francophone culture through a variety of engaging activities. In our “Going Shopping” unit, students dived into the colourful experience of shopping in France, learning key vocabulary for fruit, vegetables, and clothes, as well as essential phrases like “Combien ça coûte?” and “Je voudrais une pomme, s’il vous plaît.” They’re now stepping into the world of fashion as they prepare to take on shopkeeper role-plays—watch out Paris, here they come!
As part of our cultural exploration, students also journeyed to the island of Madagascar (virtually, of course!) and created fabulous recipe videos featuring traditional dishes for submission to the AFTV competition. The kitchen may have been messy (désolée les parents!! – apologies to the parents), but the results were magnifique! This project has sparked laughter, curiosity, teamwork, and a delicious sense of discovery.
As the French say, “L’appétit vient en mangeant”—appetite comes with eating, and our students are certainly hungry for more learning!
Bonne journée,
Rouba Ojaimi
French Teacher
This term, the Year 2 students have been learning about space and looking at the question “Where is my place in space?”. In the first part of our unit, we have explored Earth, the Sun and its impact on Earth, the Moon, gravity, atmosphere and different eclipses that occur.
We have also combined this learning with our STEAM lessons with Ms. Rose. We have had engaging activities about the Sun and its position, how weather works and the different seasons.
Throughout this unit, we have combined reading and writing to enhance and embed the learning experience. Students have completed Single Paragraph Outlines about planets. Through this, they have learnt information about the planets and their characteristics, understood what a paragraph is and have demonstrated the use of topic sentences and supporting details and their assistance to build paragraphs.
We can’t wait to show you what we have been making with all this knowledge!
Peter Sartori
Year 2 Classroom Teacher
From award-winning performances and work experience reflections to immersive excursions and innovative STEM challenges, our secondary students embraced every opportunity this term.
Curiosity, creativity and care have shaped Term 2 at the Junior School with highlights including student-led sustainability initiatives, national debating success and inspiring community connections.
Celebrating 105 years, rallying behind fundraising efforts, and supporting student growth – ended by showcasing the strength and spirit of our Camberwell Girls community.
This edition, Mrs Dunwoody reflects on a term filled with learning, leadership, and community connection, including milestone events and exciting student initiatives.
