This term has already proven to be busy, with several significant activities, events, and happenings in Middle School. Here’s a little bit about these:
I missed out on attending this year’s Year 9 camp but I have just opened these hot-off-the-press photos and had a sneak peak. Photos do tell the story of one thousand words and I would encourage you to have a look at them so you can see what I mean. The joy and peace on students’ faces, their look of feeling achieved, the sharing of memories, and the relationship building that occurred are clearly in view. You see the students with heavy backpacks walking on trails or resting on top of mountain tops. There are students working their way through difficult resilience-building challenges with big grins or looks of concentration on their faces. One of the hardest and best things students do is to go on a camp. It’s great to see how our Year 9s have grown from this experience.
Year 8s had their Leadership Training Day earlier in the term and have been in the throes of applying for Middle School Leadership positions in 2024. Leadership ability is made up of all of the small choices a person makes in those pressured moments. That ability to think outwardly for others and demonstrate integrity and character when good intentions take effort and need to override human-natured instincts. It’s about putting others first or at the very least ensuring others are cared for even when you don’t feel like it. It’s not telling others what to do but listening to what is needed and helping find or make the solution to the problems. Great Middle School student leaders create a wonderful environment! Here is the link to their Leadership Training Day photos
Our existing House leaders have already run this term’s Legacy Cup event, which was a Challenge of the Minds. Here are photos of this fun event!
Congratulations to all of our hard-working students who were recognised with an Academic or Diligence certificate (or both) for their Term 2 results. I was most impressed with Year 9’s, where twenty per cent received a Diligence and twenty-five per cent received an Academic Certificate. Slightly less but still a significant number have received this recognition in Years 7 and Year 8. What great hard-working and capable students we have.
This week we celebrated reading through the various Book Week activities. I love that there is a culture of enjoying the ‘Dress up as a favourite character’ day and how most of our students get into the fun and those who would rather not are respected and enjoy the day in other ways. There was a great atmosphere on the day and a super assembly to celebrate. As well, there was a Relax and Read day on Thursday with each class having a session to enjoy reading in the library with a popper and snack.
The statement that ‘Every Day Counts’ is a truism that speaks to these aforementioned activities. Thank you, parents, students, and GCC staff for helping our students make the most of each day.
Jacq Vreeling, Head of Middle School