What is going on in Junior School?
Excursions and incursions
A great deal has been going on within the Junior School, with many excursions and events unfolding. We have been lucky enough to be able to arrange a few excursions for our students this term.
There is always a great deal to be gained from incursions and excursions, so in utilising this opportunity the Junior School staff had to be careful and strategic when facilitating experiences outside of the classroom. These events are additional ways to enhance the Primary Years Programme (PYP), ensuring the students consolidate and engage in rich opportunities with their learning. This includes involvement with our PLC connections and cross-school interactions, as well as enjoying online incursions for diversity.
Athletics Carnival
Our Pre-Kindy students embarked on their first Athletics carnival on Wednesday and they relished the opportunity to participate in running, spud and spoon races and small relay competition. These events all help to build the carnival's understanding for the younger students and the way in which the day runs, how to interact, and how to gauge small instances of winning and not winning.
What lies beneath
The Kindergarten students have been vigorously investigating their burning question of 'what lies beneath?'. This has enabled the students to investigate their wonderings to find out more about what is underneath the ocean, the dirt, our skin and much, much more.
100 days in school
Our Pre-Primary boys have been busy celebrating their 100 days in school. Interestingly, the boys invited the oldest person they knew at school to come and join in, and so it was lovely to see Dr Alec O'Connell interact and become a part of the celebrations. He was joined by Mrs Ritchie, Mrs Varian, Mrs Cumming and myself. One hundred days is a long time when you are in Pre-Primary!
Musica Vivia
The Year 1 boys had the opportunity to engage with the Musica Viva 2020 event, which this year was uniquely conducted online. The Year 1 boys were joined by Pre-Primary to Year 4 boys, and they loved watching the music and theatre unfold through several laptops and screens.
Art with FORM
In the creative realm, our Year 2 boys have been working through some extended thinking with their learning through the partnership with FORM. Mrs Alexander and the Year 2 boys have been exploring alternative school sessions at Beach School. The classroom is sporting some wonderful articles gathered from their beach experiences. The boys are very excited to utilise the outside space as an extension of the classroom learning environment.
Scottish dancing
Recently the Year 3 boys went to PLC to enjoy a morning of Maths activities and Scottish dancing. This has been a lovely tradition with the Year 3 students coming together either at PLC or Scotch, with students interacting and learning Scottish dancing. A little performance is planned for later in the term.
STEM
Similarly, the Year 4 boys accepted the invitation from PLC and also headed across to engage in some Maths relays and STEM activities. This joint venture was a great way to ensure that the students interacted and enhanced their connections forged previously in their Year 3 dancing and collaboration last year. The Year 4 boys thoroughly enjoyed their recent JPSSA Rugby Carnival against other PSA schools and are looking forward to their JPSSA Soccer Carnival towards the end of the term.
Exhibition journey
It is that exciting time of the year when our Year 5 students embark on their exhibition journey. Year 5 parents alongside their sons have been participating in some sharing sessions where they have been learning about the exhibition process and what direction they might decide to take for their exhibition. These sessions were part of the launch into what is going to unfold as a rich and vibrant experience for the boys.
There are always productive and varied experiences unfolding across the Junior School, all of which are well planned, implemented and aimed to actively support the day-to-day learning of our Junior School students. These opportunities are important to the students and are also a welcomed complement to ensuring rich and diverse experiences are available for all the Scotch Junior School students.