Weekly eNews
Ross Featherston
Headmaster, Brighton Grammar SchoolWork hard, be kind and embrace the challenges and opportunities that come your way.
These were key themes of this week’s Business Breakfast guest speaker, Jo Gilbert which all relate to our BGS core values.
As a leader, Jo, who is Head of Sustainability at the AFL, believes in collaboration, inclusivity, empathy, having a growth mindset and being authentic – all attributes that we encourage in our students.
These values were on show with the recent strong performances of our First XV Rugby team at the VSRU grand final and our Year 7-9 performers in The Lion King JR, and will again come to the fore when our students support the Winter Sleepout tomorrow night.
Finally, I hope you enjoy the opportunity of a long weekend with our mid-term break on Monday.
Peter Tellefson
Deputy Headmaster, Head of Junior SchoolOur Parent/Teacher Interviews over the past few weeks have provided an opportunity to strengthen links between home and school. I appreciate the time commitment from our Junior School staff and the support of our parents to ensure our boys learning and progress is our main focus for Semester 2.
To raise and educate boys, parents and teachers need to have a significant understanding and appreciation of what makes boys tick. I often tell staff that ‘boys learn teachers, not subjects’. You can be the best Mathematics, English, Science, PE or Art teacher, but if you don’t understand boys you will not be an effective teacher.
Teachers must like boys, as approval is at the heart of working successfully with boys. Boys need a sense of connectedness and belonging, to feel a part of ‘the team’. If boys sense their teacher likes them, they will work hard for their teacher and respond positively to their learning environment and the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis. We are fortunate at Wilson House our teachers have a clear understanding of what makes boys tick.
Wilson House Happenings & Reminders
- This morning all boys from across the school who are competing in the Interschool Snowsports enjoyed breakfast in the Rosstrevor Hall. Our boys were presented with their bibs and passes, best wishes to our Prep – Year 6 boys who will be competing next week. Thank you to Mat Steed, Cindy van Dijk and Basia Quill for their coordination of the team and organisation of the breakfast and to all parents for your continued support.
- Our Prep – Year 6 boys will welcome their dads into the classroom for activities and to celebrate Father’s Day from 8.15am – 9.15am as below:
Prep – Tuesday 29 August
Year 1 – Wednesday 30 August
Year 2 – Wednesday 6 September
Year 3 – Monday 28 August
Year 4 – Monday 4 September
Year 5 – Tuesday 5 September
Year 6 – Thursday 31 August
- This year’s Book Week theme is Read, Grow, Inspire. The Book Week Parade will be held next Friday 25 August and Prep – Year 6 boys are invited to dress up for parade. Boys can come to school dressed in costume or bring a costume to school based on the theme Read, Grow, Inspire. See the BGS app for further details.
- As marked in the BGS Calendar, next Monday 21 August is a mid-term break and the Junior School Office will be closed for the day.
- Save the Date – Year 6 Musical – The Pirates of Penzance Jr – Wednesday 6 September and Thursday 7 September from 7.00pm – 8.15pm. We encourage all ELC to Year 6 families to support our Year 6s. Booking information will be available soon.
Student Achievements
- Congratulations to the Year 6 Debaters who competed in interschool debates against Loreto Toorak and Firbank. The boys demonstrated self-confidence and critical listening skills, as well as being organised for the roles assigned to them.
The topics were, ‘That business and education should be reduced to a 4 day working week’ (affirmative side) and ‘That parents should provide their children with pocket money’ (negative side). Best speakers were awarded to Liam Krastich, Caleb Arceri, Ben Collard and Angus Naughton. The boys did a fabulous job representing BGS and it was a great experience for all involved.
- Congratulations to our champion mathematicians who competed in the Mathematics Association of Victoria Year 5 Maths Games Day at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar last week. They enthusiastically took part alongside 132 students in a series of maths challenges including problem-solving, automatic recall and strategy games. It was a close competition with BGS being awarded 4th place.
Well done to Terry Ji and Waters Zhang who qualified for the final rounds in the fast response category. Jasper Mace, Lenny Lui, Kyle Wang, Roy Gu, Max Liu and Tom McLean also performed well. It was a wonderful opportunity to represent BGS and showcase their skills in the subject.
- Congratulations to Lachie Collett who has been selected to represent Victoria in the SSV 12 Years and under Team Vic Touch Football team. Well done Lachie and good luck competing at the Combined Touch Football Championships in Darwin.
Amelia Barrow
Director of the Early Learning CentreCelebrations seem to have been the theme this week in the ELC with our Parent/Teacher interviews starting the week by reflecting on how far each boy has come with his learning. Taking the time to go through our observations and learning intentions is so valuable, whilst also receiving parent feedback for goals moving forward.
With the meetings being held in our wonderful Lower Primary classrooms, parents were also treated to see the next steps for their boys when they head across the car park in one to two years.
We can’t wait to celebrate Book Week by joining Lower Primary students to watch the performance of Frank’s Red Hat on Tuesday. We also invite the boys to bring their favourite book to school for the week to share with friends.
Our highlight will be Thursday’s cosy pyjama day with fun indoor activities. Save the date for our Father’s evenings on Wednesday 30 August for ELC4 and Thursday 31 August for ELC3 4.30 – 5.15pm where we will enjoy experiences in the classroom with our Dads.
Parenting tips
Sibling conflict
If you have more than one child, you will almost certainly have experienced your children fighting, provoking each other, or competing for possessions, power or your attention. Whilst very common, conflict between siblings can be disruptive and frustrating, shattering our notion of a harmonious household and happy family. The link below has tips for parents to help restore calm to the household.
Olivia Tims
Junior School Psychologist/Head of Psychological Services
Building Update
Our Centre for Science, Creativity and Entrepreneurship is certainly rising from the ground at a pleasing rate with much of the basement area now completed, paving the way for the ground floor works to commence very soon indeed.
This is an incredibly exciting project as we focus on preparing our boys for the world beyond tomorrow. The ground level will feature multiple creative arts, design and technology spaces for pursuits including woodwork, materials technology, digital artwork and traditional art practices.
The second level is dedicated to science featuring state-of-the-art laboratories for chemistry, biology, and physics designed to spark curiosity and foster a passion for scientific discovery.
A sincere thanks to the generous members of our community who have already made our Centre for Science, Creativity and Entrepreneurship a philanthropic priority.
There is still a range of opportunities available for members of our community to support the Centre. If you are interested in finding out more, please feel free to contact John Phillips, our Director of Advancement.
JPG News
End of Term Lunch
The JPG will again be offering an end of term lunch for the ELC and Junior School boys on Friday 15 September 2023. Lunch will include a pie, juice and a treat. The cost will be $10.00 (extra pie $5.00).
Online ordering is available through Flexischools online ordering system. Orders must be placed by no later than Friday 8 September 2023 at 5pm – no late orders will be accepted. Please note that normal Tuck shop ordering will not be available on this day.
