Today, Mrs Dunwoody speaks on the importance of Upskill, and how it is ensuring our students thrive in a transforming world.
Recently during our Junior School Assembly, our Year 6 leaders reflected on one of our important school values: Courage. While courage is often associated with grand or heroic acts, our discussion focused on the everyday courage our students show at school, such as putting up a hand when unsure, trying something new, asking for help, including someone who feels left out, apologising when they have made a mistake, or standing up for what is right.
The students were encouraged to think about courage not as the absence of nerves or uncertainty, but as the choice to take the next step even when something feels challenging. We spoke about the very normal physical feelings that can come with courage; a faster heartbeat, butterflies in the tummy, sweaty hands or a moment of self-doubt. We encouraged the girls to think about the fact that these feelings are often signs that we are growing, stretching ourselves and stepping into something new. It is important for the girls to know these feelings are okay…in fact, we want them to know how it feels to be brave!
This message is especially timely as our Junior School students prepare for next week’s production of Finding Nemo Jr. Performing on stage requires courage in many forms: learning lines and lyrics, remembering choreography, working as part of an ensemble, trying again when something feels tricky, and sharing their talents with an audience. For some, courage may look like stepping confidently into the spotlight; for others, it may be quietly taking part, supporting a friend, managing nerves, or simply being brave enough to have a go.
At CGGS, Courage sits alongside our other School Values of Respect, Hope, Commitment and Integrity, and these are things we practise in small, meaningful ways each day. Through the production, the girls will have a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate Courage, not only through their performance, but through their persistence, teamwork, kindness and willingness to be themselves.
Our assembly concluded with a simple but powerful idea: courage is not about being the loudest or the bravest person in the room. It is about taking the next step when something feels challenging, and having the confidence to say, “This is who I am, and that is something to celebrate.” We simply cannot wait to celebrate the talents of our students with you next week at our production of Finding Nemo Jr.
Kellie Morgan
Head of Junior School
Physical activity and regular movement experiences form a key part of healthy development in childhood. This well-established understanding drives us at the ELC to continually seek opportunities that support our students’ development in these areas as part of their holistic growth.
The climbing frames and planks remain one of the most popular experiences for the EL3 children. It has been a delight across the year so far to observe them grow in persistence, confidence to ask for help when needed, take calculated risks when ready, and to beam with joy at achieving their new skills. Some of the associated physical benefits include the development of muscle strength, grip strength, balance, proprioception (body awareness), coordination, and safe jumping and landing techniques.
To extend beyond the climbing frames, the ELC team, spurred by Ms Eva’s dynamic leadership, and the highly valued input from our ELC students, has been refocusing our beautiful outdoor space to increase the children’s opportunities for more targeted physical development alongside the imaginative and nature play they also love.
New soccer goals and balls are helping the children develop ball skills, hand-eye coordination, confidence and stamina. Jumbo-size weighing scales have been an intriguing addition with one obvious focus being mathematical exploration. However, using arms and wheelbarrows to transport rocks and other items from across the yard to fill the scales’ buckets requires heavy lifting and coordination, engaging the children’s core and upper body strength.
Hanging bars have been on our wish list for a long time. With their potential arrival the children’s insatiable desire to hang upside down, twist, turn, swing and experiment, will be wonderful for building their upper body, core, wrist and grip strength, and supporting their vestibular development. A well-developed vestibular system supports postural stability, which provides the foundation for fine motor tasks such as drawing, painting, cutting, and writing.
Also, this term a nature-kitchen has been re-created in a dedicated area of the yard, with donated pots, pans and implements to support our sustainability efforts. The children loved helping to sort and share the resources between this area and the sandpit and the space has been transformed into a hive of activity. Furthermore, the children have a beautiful new wooden teepee adjoining the nature kitchen to enhance their dramatic play.
Water play, and sometimes just “happening to get wet”, is a favourite of the EL3 children! The new sensory tub complete with jugs and funnels are a perfect addition and at the same time offer another opportunity for exploration and discussion of mathematical concepts of measurement, capacity and volume in engaging ways.
These outdoor experiences provide rich opportunities for children to develop the physical capabilities, confidence, resilience, creativity, and problem-solving skills that underpin lifelong learning. As Jean Piaget noted, “Play is the work of childhood”, and each day we see this reflected in the rich learning taking place throughout our outdoor environment.
Rebecca Meyer and Jacqui Laird
Early Learning 3 Teachers
Book Week is one of the most exciting weeks of the year. This annual event invites an additional opportunity to celebrate Australian literature, authors, illustrators and the joy the reading brings us, alongside the rest of the country!
Once Term 2 commenced, the ELC started engaging with an upcoming Book Week by creating a station dedicated to the Early Childhood shortlisted books for 2026. The entire early learning community including children, parents, grandparents, siblings, and staff explored and read these 6 books. They questioned which books they liked and why and shared this with their families and peers. Everyone was then invited to cast their vote for their favourite book in a collective effort to name the “ELC’s Favourite Book” from the shortlisted nominations. During the 5 days leading up to Book Week, a new clue was revealed, 4 in total, to encourage the community to revisit the stories and guess which book was our favourite. Whilst the ‘Emperor’s Egg’ was the winner by the CBCA judges, the ELC collected the most votes for the book ‘Derek’.
“I voted for Derek and it’s funny when the fish poops in the tank and I liked the illustrations and I liked what the fish looked like” Anabelle
I like the book The Emperor’s Egg because Ren looked after the egg. The other children said there’s a creature inside and they go to get a creature, but Ren looked after the egg” Hazel
The children further explored book making and storytelling, as well as actively participating in wonderful and engaging sessions hosted by the JS Library, including meeting author Vikki Conley. We worked together to retell Vikki’s books with puppets, and by composing music together. We were also excited to see Vikki’s gold award from winning the prestigious Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Award for Early Childhood in 2023. We participated in the Junior School Book Week Parade and the ELC children proudly walked together with their teachers and shared their wonderful costumes with the Junior School community. We even watched a Book Week magic show! We concluded our celebrations with an ELC Scavenger Hunt. The children searched high and low through the ELC to find the hiding ‘Symphony of Stories’ characters, illustrated by Briony Stewart.
We look forward to the announcement of the CBCA’s 2027 Children’s Book Week theme and coming together again to celebrate!
Eva Szymanski
ELC Coordinator
Last week, the 69th Victorian Interschools Snowsports Championships was held at Mt Buller, bringing together approximately 6,000 students from more than 250 schools across Victoria.
Representing CGGS Junior School were Alicia J (Year 3) and Caroline C (Year 5). Both students competed in the Alpine Giant Slalom and Ski Cross events and demonstrated determination, skill and resilience. They were wonderful ambassadors for CGGS, not only through their efforts on the slopes, but also through the way they supported one another throughout the event. From striving to achieve their personal bests to cheering each other on while competing and walking side-by-side during the Opening Ceremony, they truly embodied the School value of commitment and demonstrated outstanding teamwork and support.
Mrs White and I were incredibly proud of the positive attitude and perseverance shown by both students. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the wonderful parents who supported and encouraged their children and helped make the experience such a memorable one.
Alicia J. – My favourite part of Snowsports was Ski Cross because it was a new event for me and it was fun. I liked it because I could easily see which side of the flags was higher or lower, so I knew which side to ski on and wouldn’t get disqualified. Snowsports was lots of fun this year because there was lots of snow and it wasn’t icy!
Caroline C. – A highlight of Snowsports was Ski Cross because I enjoyed going over bumps, skiing through the flags and speeding down the runs. I also enjoyed watching the fireworks at the Opening Ceremony.
Angela Columbine
Year 5 Classroom Teacher
Lisa White
Head of Learning Diversity (JS)
Through books and stories, children are transported to new worlds, introduced to diverse characters, and given the opportunity to experience life through the perspectives of others. Our annual Book Week celebrations provide an opportunity to celebrate reading and foster a love of storytelling in our students through a series of exciting and engaging book-related events and activities.
Each year, the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) selects a theme through which we can explore books and stories. This year, the chosen theme was Symphony of Stories, which enabled us to celebrate the way characters, settings, plots, and ideas come together in harmony to create something truly magical within books, much like a symphony orchestra.
Our students and staff embraced this wonderful theme by dressing up as a colourful array of book characters for our Dress Up Assembly on Monday morning. With the sun shining, the entire school community, from ELC to Year 6, paraded around the basketball court to the cheers and applause of students, staff, and families. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to create such incredible costumes and for their enthusiastic participation.
The festivities continued throughout the week, with lunchtime concerts and book-related games and activities in the library. On Wednesday, we welcomed Tim the Magician back to Camberwell Girls for his Symphony of Stories-themed magic show. Tim’s Book Week-inspired performance was engaging, funny, and highly entertaining. Our students were captivated by his incredible tricks, laughed out loud throughout the performance, and left inspired to try a little magic of their own.
Book Week once again highlighted the power of stories to bring our community together. Thank you to our students, staff, and families for making this year’s celebrations such a vibrant and memorable success.
Sally Spencer
Teacher Librarian
Science Week always gives students the opportunity to explore new ideas and use their skills to problem solve. This year students were given two challenges – build a dinosaur when given a range of bones and the next day, build the tallest and strongest tower made from paper straws and masking tape. The tower needed to support 500g. There were many different varieties of towers and students thoroughly enjoyed the quest.
Kylie Rose
Science Teacher
Today, Mrs Dunwoody speaks on the importance of Upskill, and how it is ensuring our students thrive in a transforming world.
Open to the community, Barbara Sutton Hall was on full display last weekend as visitors explored the reimagined space.
Winners are grinners - the Secondary School Track & Field team returned home with plenty of silverware this week!
