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Head of Junior School<br />

REPORT<br />

2017 in the Junior School has been full, fun and fast.<br />

A major focus once again was thankfulness.<br />

Mrs Amy Corrigan<br />

Head of Junior School<br />

Staff and students regularly<br />

discussed the importance of being<br />

thankful for others, to lift up and<br />

encourage them, and also as a positive<br />

habit for each of us to <strong>demo</strong>nstrate. Our<br />

students also spent time discussing the<br />

concept of ‘Love is a Verb’. This topic<br />

was discussed in particular detail during<br />

Christian Studies and during class time,<br />

with encouraging and exciting results.<br />

Classes enjoyed working on personal<br />

goals to show that ‘Love is a Verb’. I was<br />

impressed with the range of ideas the<br />

children came up with. These included:<br />

‘Thankful Ninjas’, whole classes raised<br />

money for local community members,<br />

some classes wrote thank-you notes to<br />

people in our School and to others.<br />

Staff in the Junior School have enjoyed<br />

professional development and additional<br />

resources to support our ongoing<br />

Literacy focus. This year the Buddy<br />

Reading program was introduced. This<br />

highly successful scheme has not only<br />

fostered a genuine love of reading but<br />

has also positively affected playground<br />

interactions between students of varying<br />

ages. This year we celebrated Book<br />

Week and loved the pleasure our<br />

students and staff have taken in reading<br />

new and interesting stories. The<br />

culminating event for this fun week was<br />

the first K–6 Book Parade and teacher<br />

Reader’s Theatre. The students brought<br />

an amazing selection of characters and<br />

stories to the Parade as we watched<br />

buddy classes walk together reflecting<br />

on this focus, I remembered a quote by<br />

a favourite author, C S Lewis, “A children’s<br />

story that can only be enjoyed by children<br />

is not a good children’s story in the<br />

slightest.” A great reminder of the joy<br />

that can be found in reading for all ages.<br />

This year many talented students in our<br />

School achieved heights we had not seen<br />

before. More than 450 students attended<br />

sports carnivals of varying levels, breaking<br />

all sorts of records. Our Swimming<br />

Carnival, Cross Country and Athletics<br />

Carnivals continue to provide opportunities<br />

for students to push themselves and<br />

achieve goals. Students have had the<br />

privilege of trialling for CIS sporting teams<br />

or representing the School in PISA.<br />

Our NAPLAN results were a good<br />

reflection of the hard work of staff and<br />

students alike, with both Year 3 and<br />

Year 5 results s above State and AIS<br />

averages. Student teams won prizes<br />

in a range of competitions including<br />

Tournament of the Minds, and a gifted<br />

Year 5 team was awarded second place<br />

in the 2017 University of Sydney Sleek<br />

Geeks Science Eureka Prize.<br />

Years 3–6 participated in their annual<br />

camps this year. For many students this<br />

is their first overnight adventure and all<br />

the camps were a great success. We<br />

are so proud of each student and the<br />

resilience they <strong>demo</strong>nstrated in tackling<br />

what is sometimes a tricky first step.<br />

I thoroughly enjoyed my time visiting<br />

the students and staff at each camp<br />

– I witnessed students and teachers<br />

enjoying the flying fox, the crate climb,<br />

BMX riding, rock climbing and more.<br />

A huge thank you to our dedicated staff<br />

who sacrifice time with their families<br />

(and sometimes tiny, new babies!) to<br />

be there, it was obvious from all the<br />

smiling faces it was much appreciated.<br />

The Year 6 students have served<br />

the School so well in their various<br />

leadership roles throughout the year.<br />

For the first time, every student in Year<br />

6 elected a portfolio area to serve the<br />

School in as a leader. These portfolios<br />

included a Community, Ministry,<br />

Creative focus. Our Year 6 students<br />

once again proved to be caring and<br />

compassionate mentors and buddies to<br />

their peers and will be greatly missed<br />

as they move on to Year 7 next year.<br />

We have a group of dedicated Junior<br />

School student leaders who have run<br />

lunchtime clubs for interested peers and<br />

sacrificed their time to contribute to<br />

the School community. Student leaders<br />

enjoyed receiving training and attending<br />

a student leadership conference to learn<br />

about the qualities of an effective leader.<br />

Each year our goal is to see each and<br />

every student grow and learn in a<br />

positive environment. A 2017 Oxford<br />

Falls Grammar School student had<br />

opportunities throughout the year to<br />

display and work on qualities such as<br />

diligence, servant-heartedness, respect,<br />

to develop in their Faith, knowledge<br />

and love of God. I am impressed by the<br />

passion and dedication our students<br />

exhibit in their commitment to their<br />

academic and personal interests and we<br />

look forward to another great year ahead.<br />

Mrs Amy Corrigan<br />

Head of Junior School<br />

OFFICIAL REPORTS HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL REPORT<br />

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