It never ceases to amaze me how every new school year seems to begin busier and busier each January but in spite of the business it has been a smooth start to 2017.
Our new teaching staff have settled in to GCC well under the guidance of their team leaders and students are building friendships in their new class groups.
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Meet the Teacher Parent Information Night. I am confident that these sessions were very helpful in developing home/school partnerships which are so very important for your children.
During one of these sessions there was a request for parents to know the extra – curricular activities timetable for the week. I have included this in my article so you can remind your children about the activities which are being held each day. It is exciting to be able to offer so many different lunch time opportunities to our students throughout the week.
Our new music teacher Mr Renat Yusupov is offering some amazing musical experiences for students including Boyz to Men Music Group (boys only), Sing and Shout (performance group Years 3-6), Primary Concert Band and String Ensemble. Mrs Smith will be working with Year 1 and 2 students in Little Voices again in 2017. Little Voices performs throughout the year at various events/functions and does an amazing job. They are so cute!
Sporting training is held at lunch times and before school, Dance Team is held at a lunch break and a Year 5/6 group before school.
Pastor Jocelyn is meeting with Years 3/4 and Years 5/6 on different days to do Bible Study and develop drama groups for chapels on Mondays and Wednesdays. There is also a Bible Study group with Pastor Joce for our lower school students (Prep – Year 2) and Chapel Band sessions for Years 3/4 so these students can lead the worship on Wednesdays for Chapel.
When you consider these extra-curricular activities in addition to the colouring club and chess groups (just a couple of the activities on offer in the library) our students have so many opportunities available to them. Maybe you can chat about these and encourage your children to consider getting involved.
Personally, I am very excited about the wonderful opportunities available to our students each week.
On Monday the Literacy Pro designers from USA visited our College to see how successful Literacy Pro (Year 3-6) and to visit some of the primary classrooms. This is an incredible honour for our school as they recognize that our staff and students have embraced Literacy Pro and students are making great progress in reading. We are very grateful to Mrs McKellar and Mrs Murray in the library who have guided Literary Pro since its introduction a number of years ago.
The Parent Pipeline on the Responsible Thinking process last week was well attended and I believe it was helpful for all those who were here. It is important to know the background and theory of this process and how it must be implemented in its integrity.
This week there were too more Parent Pipeline sessions with a focus on Literacy Pro.
We hold these Parent Pipelines to equip our parent community with information and skills to assist their children in their educational journey.
In the coming weeks you will be receiving emails regarding other Parent Pipeline sessions
- How to form letters correctly in hand writing (more suitable for Prep and Year 1 correct directionality of letters)
- Strategies for helping with Home Reading (Lower Primary)
If there are areas you would like us to hold a Parent Pipeline session in the future would you please complete the form which will be emailed soon.
We would love to support you as we work together to give your children the best educational experiences we can possibly provide for them.
Regards,
Cheryl Bryers, Head of Primary