Junior Journeys

Making a contribution

By Kellie Osborn Email this article

Action is an integral part of our Primary Years Programme (PYP) and an opportunity for students to seek the opportunity to make a significant contribution to their local and global communities.

It is a core component of agency and offers learners the ability to see that they can not only make a meaningful contribution to the world around them but also be change-makers.

All units of inquiry across our R-12 Year levels are designed to inspire students to respond to the inquiries through action. I commend this article by Simon Munn to you.

Action detectives

The International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

The statement above refers to a significant aspect of the IB’s mission statement. I am sure you will agree that we want this for all our young people. Indeed, as adults strive for this. To support the IB’s mission statement, our teaching and learning explores local, national, and global perspectives in order to raise awareness of some of the challenges the world is facing in our current climate.

Through our units of inquiry, students explore and learn about a variety of local and global issues. They will inquire into the problems and solutions associated with these issues and hopefully develop a passion and a sense of wonder for how they can help. This is where we encourage students to ‘take action’ because of their learning.

Student initiated action can be big or small and comes in many forms. It can be an act of ‘doing’ for someone or something. It might be an act of saying, such as advocating or helping educate other people about what they have learned. They may think or feel different about a problem or simply be different and change their behaviours, such as show more mutual respect or compassion for others.

As a PYP school, we like to celebrate action as an essential element of the programme. One of the most challenging aspects of action is that we often do not know when it occurs. It is most visible outside the classroom and is recognised by family members who have a close personal relationship with the students.

When you notice your child ‘taking action,’ celebrate this with them, and talk with them to draw out more information. Please also share this experience with their class teacher as we’d love to celebrate this at school as well.

Simon Munn
PYP Coordinator

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Junior School Swimming Carnival

Our Junior School students, staff and families had a fantastic day of competition and fun at Unley Swimming Centre earlier this month at their Swimming Carnival. Despite cooler conditions earlier, the day was warm by the afternoon.

It was wonderful to see students enthusiastically embracing the swimming and novelty events with great energy, enthusiasm and team spirit. All students gave their best and clearly enjoyed the day and the opportunity to spend the time at the pools with their classmates. It was pleasing to see the team work, camaraderie and support given not only across year levels but also over our four house teams of Fitzpatrick, Dalton, Barry and McAuley.

We were thrilled to be able to have parents attend this event and share the day with us. We are also very thankful to our many parents who have volunteered their time to assist with Friday’s Junior School Swimming carnival and our recent Swimming Safety lessons. Your support, kindness and enthusiasm has been greatly appreciated by us all.

A huge thank you to Tracey Cramond and the PE Department for organising and managing another exciting and memorable day. Thank you to Simon Munn, Jeff Wray and Dave Carosi for their support of Tracey, staff and students. Thank you to our Year 6 PE leaders who generously and actively involved themselves in supporting across all events and novelties.  A big thank you to the Anne Watson, Elle Marschall and Anita Collyer for their support with communication, first aid and preparations. Thank you to our incredible Junior School teaching and support staff for supporting our students.

Congratulations to our Junior School students who each made the best of their day at the Carnival and returned to school tired and happy.

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Student achievement

Recently, Isobella (Year 7, pictured), Theo (Year 5) and Hugo Black (Year 3) participated in the Surf Lifesaving State titles at Glenelg. Isobella came third in the U/12 surf race and third in her surf teams event while Hugo won his U/8 surf race and came third in boards and his wade race.Theo was a member of the winning U/10 surf teams race.

Congratulations Isobella, Hugo and Theo on your outstanding achievements in a highly competitive field.

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Thank you

Unfortunately, whilst I was not able to attend today's Junior School Afternoon Tea in the Rose Garden (pictured), I was delighted to hear that everyone loved the opportunity to catch up and spend some quality time together, as well as share in some delicious refreshments.

Thank you to all our Junior School families, we remain ever appreciative of your constant care, support and communication with us. A sincere message of appreciation to all staff and students for the diligent and enthusiastic manner in which they have engaged in all  teaching and learning opportunities and the rich co-curricular opportunities offered this term. We continue to be grateful for these contributions to our school culture.

With the holidays fast approaching, it is my hope that we can each find some time to pause, relax and reflect on what we have witnessed and achieved during this initial time in our school year. Autumn holidays present an opportunity to enjoy cool evenings, warm sunny days, and appreciate the beauty associated with the changing of the seasons.

Rest well, take care and stay safe.

Kellie Osborn
Head of Junior School