Edition 16 9 October 2020

Our GPS Track and Field team was announced this week and is ready for the GPS

Championship next week at Nudgee College. Good luck boys! Front row, centre is

Captain of Track and Field, Will Davidson (right) and Jackson Spies, Vice Captain

(left).

From the Head of Junior School Dear Parents At this stage it is nice to feel more optimistic about the term ahead than was the case leading into term 2 or term 3. Given the State Government’s recently released COVID Roadmap and the positive state of play with coronavirus management in Queensland, the mood is more buoyant about what may occur in schools this term. While I have not provided finer detail around the major events scheduled this term, planning continues, with reference to the latest government conditions. For events such as Twilight Concert, Speech Day and our Year 6 Dinner, this now means we move beyond Plans A, B, C or D generated last term and into Plans E and F, with greater possibilities of some parental attendance as long as we comply with the updated COVID conditions. I have listed a range of major events below and some initial indication as to our directions for your reference.

Date Event Status

Wednesday 14 October Musicians’ Cup proceeding (live streamed)

Monday 2 November Welcome to Senior School Function for Year 6 Parents

cancelled

Thursday 5 November Night of Notables proceeding with a COVID safe checklist

Friday 13 November Year 6 Dinner proceeding in a modified format with a COVID safe checklist (plan E)

Tuesday 17 November Year 6 Fair proceeding with a COVID safe checklist

Friday 20 November Twilight Concert planning for this event is proceeding following the Government guidelines quoted below

as of 1 October ‘The maximum number of attendees permitted at outdoor events with a COVID Safe Checklist has been increased from 500 to 1000 people per event’

Wednesday 25 November

Picnic Day proceeding with local activities only

Thursday 26 November Speech Day proceeding in a modified format with a COVID safe checklist (plan E or plan F)

Return to normal school finish time from week 2 Commencing on Monday 12 October, all boys from Prep to Year 6 will return to the normal finish time of 3.10pm. I thank parents for being so accommodating while we had the staggered finish times in place.

Enrolments At this point in time we have some year levels at capacity for 2021 and others that are close. If you have a younger son you wish to enrol in 2021 or 2022, I encourage you to contact the School promptly. The same applies should you have friends or relatives seeking to do the same.

Grammar Boy for a Day events The Junior School will host two further Grammar Boy for a Day style events this term. This is a wonderful chance for boys to visit and have a trial day in the Junior School from Prep to Year 6. If you have friends who are interested in a Toowoomba Grammar School education, commencing in the Junior School, you may wish to let them know about these opportunities as outlined below.

• Come and Try Prep @ Grammar on Tuesday 20 October

• Grammar Boy for a Day on Thursday 22 October.

COVID-19 expectations Health advice from the Federal and State Governments is for the benefit of all members of our society. All adults in and around schools are asked to comply with all reasonable expectations. This is obviously for the benefit of adults and children. It is also for the welfare of all staff at school.

• The Government’s health advice asks schools to minimize the number of adults

entering schools. Consequently, we ask that parents do not to walk into school nor visit

classrooms.

• Children and staff are not to attend school if they are unwell

• Parents are asked to use the drop off and pick up zones

• Parents are asked to contact staff via telephone or email in preference to face-to-face

meetings.

• Parents and teachers are expected to convey clear hygiene messages to children.

• School bubblers are in use and are being cleaned regularly. However, the preference

is that all boys bring drink bottles to school rather than use shared facilities.

I thank all parents who consistently comply with these expectations.

New Students We welcome two new boys to the School this term with Joshua (Josh) Gallagher, 5L and Oscar Hodge, 6J commencing their schooling with us this week. I welcome the boys and their families to the Junior School and wish them a long and happy association with Toowoomba Grammar School.

Staff Mr Evan Rees, who teaches Japanese in the Junior School and Senior School as well as science in Year 6, is on long service leave this term. Mrs Kathryn Stewart, a former class teacher at our School, will cover some of Mr Rees’ classes, teaching Japanese culture, cooking and craft. Mr Sharpe, Deputy Head of Junior School, will also take on some Japanese lessons, a subject he has taught on previous occasions. Mrs Van Itterbeeck, our French teacher, will cover Year 6 science during this time.

Mr Peter Dein has been appointed as Director of Cricket at our School. In addition to a very strong cricketing background, he is also a qualified primary school teacher. Mr Dein will work in both the Senior School and Junior School within his cricket role and also in a teaching capacity. He will take some Health lessons with Year 3 and some reading support with our Year 1 classes. I welcome Mr Dein to our part of the School.

I hope all families enjoyed some time together during the school holidays and the boys have returned feeling refreshed and positive about the term ahead.

Regards

Scott Campbell Head of Junior School

From the Head of Teaching and Learning Welcome back for Term Four. I am sure that this term will go quickly. It will be full of hard work blended with some fun events, even if they may not occur in the same way as previous years. One key academic event this term is the Public Speaking competition. Similar to our Writing Competition earlier in the year, this is a competition that involves every boy in the Junior School. The topics have been set so that these speeches do not require a lot of research, but boys can practise presenting content about which they may be passionate. These speeches will occur across the first three weeks of term and I encourage you to have a listen to your son’s speech and practice at home together. External competition results Across Term Three, a number of boys competed in ICAS Science, Mathematics and English competitions as well as the Australian Mathematics Competition. These competitions are designed to test students academically with year level and above questions in each of their disciplines. The boys were well focused and appeared to relish in the difficulty of the questions. Again this year we have achieved some pleasing results. Across the four competition, we recorded a total of 32 Distinctions, 70 Credits and 42 Merit or Proficiency awards. A special congratulations to Henry Thurbin, Viraaj Nirula, Avaneesh Pai and Ruhan Bulchandani who all achieved a High Distinction in one of the competitions. We are currently waiting on UNSW and AMT to send out the certificates. If your son competed in these competitions, his results will be printed on the back of the certificates. Once they have arrived they will be presented at an upcoming Assembly. Well done to all of the boys who competed in one of these competitions.

Rob Jeffries Head of Teaching and Learning

Music News Camerata workshops and recording Next Monday 12 October some musicians from Camerata (Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra) will be visiting our school. Camerata are recording a CD with Tibetan artist Tenzin Choegyal and members of Tribe and Tribe Junior have been invited to be involved in this recording. In addition, some musicians from Camerata have offered to spend some time working with our string boys. String Ensemble and Introductory String Ensemble will perform for the Camerata musicians and be provided with valuable feedback and encouragement from these professional musicians. Music Tuition Bursary A note outlining the Music Tuition bursary was emailed home at the end of last term. Nominations are due today, Friday 9 October. Musicians’ Cup Next Wednesday, 14 October we have our annual Musicians’ Cup being held in the Junior School Hall. This event will be live-streamed and the link will be emailed directly to parents prior to the event. I wish all the boys involved the very best for their performance. Kellie Dixon Head of Junior School Music

Sports News Term 4 sport is underway. Our final major external event for the year is the GPS Track and Field Championships, to be held at Nudgee College on Friday 16 October. We wish boys competing next Friday all the best.

This week marks the start of our Term 4 Inter-House sporting extravaganza. Boys have been split into teams and will compete in Touch, Softball and Cricket over the rest of the term.

Track and Field Carnival Our Track and Field Carnival was held at the end of last term. All boys are to be congratulated on their behaviour and effort throughout the day. Thank you to all staff who assisted on the day. Without your assistance the day would not have run as smoothly.

Congratulations to Stephens House on winning the Track and Field House Shield and to Taylor House for winning the Spirit Trophy.

The final positions are as follows: 1st Stephens 2nd Boyce 3rd Mackintosh 4th Taylor 5th Groom

The Age Champions and Runners Up for each age group were: Year Age Champion Runner Up 5 Years Archie Jones Jack Beresford 6 Years Ben Cook Zac Lintott 7 Years Connor Talbot Liam Fels 8 Years Harrison Dow James Andersen 9 Years Cooper Brennan Cody Fitzgerald 10 Years Jack Mowbray Oliver Wells 11 Years Dominic Seaby Joe Logan 12 Years William Davidson John Tinkler

Staff versus Students Football Match Teachers once again have bragging rights after the annual Football match. Some fine performances were noted by scouts, with Mrs Grills and Mrs Dixon being offered contracts in Europe next year. The match was played in good spirit with both sides showing excellent skills. Physiotherapists around the area were booked out the following day to help teachers recuperate.

Unicylces Term 4 will see the introduction of unicycle lessons during PE for boys in Years 4-6. This is sure to be exciting and boys will hopefully have a lot of fun while improving their balance and core strength. All boys in these year levels will need to bring their own helmets for lessons and knee pads are recommended.

PE Homework This week’s task is to get outside and ride a bike with your son.

Brendan Doherty Sportsmaster

Basketball Results We played Churchie in our last game of the season. We had an away game. The score was neck and neck for the whole game. The lead continued to change and the final moment were nerve racking. With 35 seconds to go the situation remained the same. With a final rebound steal, the ball was lobbed up court. Banjo popped the ball up and we waited as it bounced across the ring for a second and finally dropped in. With 7 seconds remaining the opposition took the ball up court to take their last chance to tie the game, but failed. The final score 37 to 35. The last game in our journey secured TGS Basketball ‘Team of the Year’, from all TGS teams from Years 5 to 12. It has been a privilege for me to play with this great team. We are looking forward to playing again next basketball season.

The 6As took out the ‘Team of the Year’ in the GPS Season.

John Tinkler Basketball Captain

Track and Field Carnival 2020

Life threatening allergies

We have students with life threatening allergies to various things including nuts, bee stings and ant bites. For the parents of these boys, sending them to school each day is a life-altering experience, trusting the School to manage these circumstances very well and with significant care. Our management includes the following:

• Boys are not to share food with one another at school

• We request that parents do not include nut spreads in sandwiches or products containing nuts in their lunchboxes. This is not a nut ban, but a strategy to reduce risk to students with severe allergies until they are more able to care for themselves.

• As some boys can have an anaphylactic reaction via touch transfer or odour, should boys eat nut spreads on toast for breakfast, they are expected to wash their hands before coming to school.

We appreciate the efforts parents make for the safety of these children.

Assembly Awards Weeks 10A and 1B

REACH Awards for Humility (W10)

Kurt Seckler (6C)

Prep G Archie Jones

1G Will Phillips

1O Sammy Forte

2T Isaac Tebbutt

3H Ruhan Bulchandani

3W

Will Sanderson

4G Sam Head Tokota Mears 5S Alby Galbraith 6J Hamish Johnstone Ashton Reedy Aimon Rowe

House Points

Mackintosh 142 Stephens138

Boyce 130 Groom 115 Taylor 114

Junior School Two Weeks Ahead: Week 2A Monday 12 October Camerata music collaboration, Tenzin Choegyal and Tribe /

Tribe Junior, 9.00am - 10.25am Tribe Junior and 11.00am - 12.00pm Tribe

Year 5 Meeting regarding Year 6 Leadership 2021, 1.35pm Tuesday 13 October Mates program, 1.35pm Wednesday 14 October Musicians' Cup, Junior School Hall, live streamed, 8.30am -

10.25am Junior School Tennis Championships, 11.00am - 3.00pm Staff Meeting, 3.30pm - 5.00pm Thursday 15 October Blazer Uniform Junior School Tennis Championships, 1.00pm - 3.00pm Assembly: Year 4 - Year 6 (Musicians' Cup performance and

awards presented, Term 4 Sports Captains announced), 2.10pm

Friday 16 October GPS Track and Field Championships U10-U12, Nudgee College

Saturday 17 October Sunday 18 October

Week 3B Monday 19 October Visiting performer ‘2020 The Greatest Discovery’ (P- Year 6),

9.00am Tuesday 20 October Trial Prep for a Day @ TGS, 9.00am - 12.30pm Wednesday 21 October Year 12 Reunion Morning Tea, Old Hall, 10.35pm (No

parents) Staff Meeting, 3.30pm - 5.00pm Thursday 22 October Grammar Boy for a Day No. 4, 8.15am - 3.00pm Assembly: Prep to Year 3, 2.10pm Year 12 Final Assembly, 4.30pm Friday 23 October Newsletter Saturday 24 October Music bursary auditions Sunday 25 October

Junior School Contact Details

• Office: 07 4687 2555

• Email: gjadmin@twgs.qld.edu.au

• Web: www.twgs.qld.edu.au

• After School Care: 07 4638 7965

• Aquatic Centre Bookings: 07 4687 2631

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