PRIMARY MATTERS Scotch College Junior School Newsletter 15 October 2021

FROM THE HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL Continuing with the theme of ‘sparking joy’, a highlight of Week 2 was the opportunity for boys in Prep to learn more about Mary River Turtles, commonly known as ‘Punk Turtles’. The boys read ‘Poppy the Punk Turtle’ from Penguin’s ‘Endangered Animal Tales’ series. The story shares interesting facts about this species of turtle as part of Poppy’s search for a new waterhole. I had the pleasure of speaking with a few of the Prep boys as they tackled the story and their follow up activity. They delighted in sharing some of the facts they had learned. Two facts were remembered better than most. Fact 1: The ‘Punk’ title comes from the gathering of algae on their heads which looks like a punk rock hairstyle. Fact 2: Mary River Turtles breathe through their bottoms (Cloaca to be scientifically accurate). As you might imagine, the second fact was met with many a giggle. It was wonderful to see the boys so engaged and finding humour in their learning. I am very much looking forward to welcoming all of the Prep boys back on Monday and hearing more giggles in person. I am also very much looking forward to welcoming back the Year 1 and 2 boys on Thursday. Next week we take one step closer to having everyone back onsite.

Return to School Considerations We are acutely aware that returning to school will be met with mixed emotion across our entire cohort and the community. It may be a relief for some but a concern for others. Please do stay connected to your son’s class teacher and keep them updated with any issues or concerns you, or your sons, may have. There are many risk mitigation strategies we have in place in our attempts to keep all who are onsite as safe as possible. The government extols the virtues of the ‘Three V’s’: Vaccination, Ventilation and Vital COVIDSafe Steps. All three factors have been at the forefront of our minds in planning the return to school, for instance the school has undertaken a comprehensive ventilation audit to ensure ventilation meets or exceeds the necessary thresholds. By way of a brief reminder the following advice has been shared with us as part of the return to school strategy. This is one of a few areas whereby parents and carers can help support the ‘Three Vs’.

Masks in primary schools A reminder that school children in Year 3 and above are now required to wear masks indoors at school, following directions issued by the Chief Health Officer, Professor Sutton. You can find the directions here. Masks are ‘strongly recommended’ but not mandated for children in Prep to Year 2. You can find more information and advice from the Victorian Government here and detailed suggestions on supporting young children on the use of face masks here.

To add to the above, the school will have masks for adults, children and young children in stock should boys forget or lose their own. We would encourage all reusable masks to be named, much like all uniform. Other means by which families can support each other is at ‘pick up’ and ‘drop off’. We strongly encourage families to make both of these processes as quick as possible and avoid congregating outside of the school gates. We also ask that any boys who are unwell are kept at home. Boys should be wearing their summer uniform. Helping the Boys Transition Back Lucinda McCutcheon (Junior School Psychologist) has kindly shared a document prepared by the Australian Psychological Society detailing advice for parents and carers supporting children returning to school after lockdown. We share it with you in the hope it may provide some useful guidance for those unsure how best to support their son/sons. https://psychology.org.au/getmedia/6a3f524c-02c1-4e29-ac16-32a92a204599/20aps-ccn-is-transitioning-to-school-p1.pdf Have a wonderful weekend when it starts. I look forward to seeing you at the school gates soon. Tom Savill

2021 AUSTRALIAN MATHEMATICS COMPETITION During Term 3, students from Years 2 to 6 competed in the 2021 Australian Mathematics Competition. Students from Years 2, 3 and 4 completed the Middle Primary competition paper, whilst students from Years 5 and 6 completed the Upper Primary Competition. Both papers consisted of 25 multiple choice questions, along with 5 extended response style questions. The highlight achievements for the Junior School were the Prize Winner Awards obtained by the following students: Year 4 Christian Gonzales Year 5 Kevin Sui and Jun Gardiner In addition, Christian Gonzales (Year 4) and Kevin Sui (Year 5) were recognised as being joint Best in School Award recipients. Top students by year level were: Year 2: Frederick Pagnin Year 3: Luke Heng, Isaac Khoo and Evan Wang Year 4: Christian Gonzales, Wayne Xuan and Linus Gani Year 5: Kevin Sui, Jun Gardiner and Hugo Harkness Year 6: Ethan Bates, Lachlan Wang and Matthew Chen Details of the achievements of all award winning boys are listed below. Year 2 Distinction: Frederick Pagnin Credit: Christopher Moller Year 3 High Distinction: Luke Heng Distinction: Isaac Khoo, Evan Wang, Sebastian Khaw, Edward Beeny, Dylan Pai, Devin Lin, Hayden Vo, Lawrence Cao and Hector Xu Credit: Mark Ballantine, Tom Caplan, Ryan Ye, Kiran Bien, Matthew Zhang, Charlie Martuccio and Xavier Xiang Year 4 Prize Winner: Christian Gonzales High Distinction: Wayne Xuan, Linus Gani, Edward Jie and Aiden Ng Distinction: Sharad Jasinarachchi, Alex Bai, Carrick Wu, Ramon Tang, James Yap, Michael Wu, Louis Ting, Hayvim Lam, Lewis Wilkes, Brendan Yip, Jordan Dimitrovici, Max McWilliams, William Batchelor, Aaron Zhou, Ethan Zhang and Shray Sahni Credit: Michael Dardel Jessop, Aarav Bansal, Sebastian Pelosi, Alvis Chau, Viren Datta, Rory McLennan and Matthew Koo Year 5 Prize Winner: Kevin Sui and Jun Gardiner High Distinction: Hugo Harkness, Aaron Shen, Matthew Dallalana and Jeremy Lew Distinction: Thomas Doan, William Wang, Winston Chen, Timothy Cheng, William Nguyen, James Luk, Harry Zhang, Bryan Cao, Declan Cogley, Lucas Lee, Rahul Appu, Michael Newman and Edwin Shen Credit: Yevan Navaratne, Yusuf Mohammed, Kingsley Pang and Noah Stamoulis

Year 6 High Distinction: Ethan Bates, Lachlan Wang, Matthew Chen, Rohan Cali and Daniel Chen Distinction: Luca Pelosi, Joel Heng, Jamin Ho, William Wood, Jack Darley, Sash Yuvaraj, Alexander Ang, Nathan Nai, and Harvey Haintz Credit: Angus McCallum, Benjamin Aziz, Jake Turner, Will Sladen, Aaryan Berera, James Wong, Justin Warzala, Joshua Baker and Sacha Demetriou In total, 95 Junior School students participated in this demanding competition and our overall results consisted of 3 Prize Winners, 14 High Distinctions, 48 Distinctions and 28 Credits. A great effort from all participating students. Dean Gregory Maths Coordinator Dean.gregory@scotch.vic.edu.au JUNIOR SCHOOL TUCKSHOP From Monday 18 October, the Junior School Tuckshop will be taking ONLINE lunch orders only. A reminder that orders must be placed by 8.30am on the day of ordering. If you need to set up an account, online ordering instructions, using your Parent login details, can be found at https://www.scotch.vic.edu.au/my-scotch-parents/junior-school/notices/all-levels.aspx

soirée

/ˈswɑːreɪ/ noun

1. an elegant evening (or afternoon!) party or gathering, typically in a private house (or Scotch College zoom!), for conversation or music.

Our Thursday Soirée Series yesterday after school was yet another success! We had over 13 boys from Prep through to Year 6 on Zoom performing on piano, violin, clarinet and saxophone. I was so impressed with the manner in which the boys presented themselves and the high standard of performance. Well done boys on your awesome effort! Here is the program of yesterdays’ Soirée:

The aim of our weekly soirée is to provide our students with the opportunity to perform one of their pieces in front of an audience in a supportive environment. All too often instrumentalists have limited opportunities to develop skills as a soloist because they only ever play to their teacher in lessons and in the hearing of family members during their daily practice. We recognise that the performance aspect is a beneficial part of the boys’ development as a musician. It is also helpful for Scotch College staff to hear boys playing in order that we can provide appropriate opportunities for students in the school program. Unfortunately due to lockdowns, our boys have not had as many performance opportunities as they would normally have had in a school year. These soirées will be particularly useful for boys preparing for an AMEB Examination. We would prefer pieces to be less than 4 minutes, only one movement and include no repeats. Boys performing should wear school uniform. They are to introduce their piece are also expected to bow appropriately at the end of their performance. All boys are expected to remain on Zoom for the entire soirée. We cannot accommodate boys leaving early to attend other activities. It is important from an educational perspective for boys to listen to their peers. It is also basic concert manners to remain until the end of the individual concerts. Imagine if your son was the last performer and the rest of the audience had gone home! If you would like your son to be involved in the Thursday Soirée Series, please email emma.macrae@scotch.vic.edu.au by the Wednesday prior to the Soirée each week. Next week is going to be so exciting with our Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 boys coming into school for part of the week. Our instrumental staff are looking forward to seeing boys for their lessons in person, rather than in ‘zoom-land’ and making music together again. Music staff will be contacting their students to discuss how lessons will take place over the coming weeks. If you are unsure of scheduling or anything else regarding your son’s instrumental music lesson, please email their individual instrumental teacher for clarification. Emma Macrae Head of Junior School Music emma.macrae@scotch.vic.edu.au JUNIOR SCHOOL LIBRARY NEWS As we begin preparations in the library to welcome staff and students back on site, we would encourage all boys to find their books and put them safely into their bags. Due to current government restrictions, the boys will not be allowed to borrow during their library lessons. We will advise of any changes as soon as they are available and hope to get the boys back borrowing as soon as possible. Please reach out to your local library for click and collect options or continue to enjoy the Wheelers ePlatform library until regulations are updated. Thanks for your patience whilst we work our way through the challenges of current regulations. Amy Rogers Head of Library Amy.rogers@scotch.vic.edu.au

SOCIODRAMA PREP – YEAR 2 Talking with Boys About Identity We want our sons to thrive and flourish in a diverse, multi-cultural world and we owe it to them to help them make sense of the confusing and emotionally charged messages they receive about themselves and others. These early years are the most crucial when boys are curious about the world around them, but are also quick to form stereotypes and biases that can become deeply ingrained as they grow older. These are the people who are going to inherit this world, and we owe it to them to lay a strong foundation for the next phases of their lives. Sociodrama this term will give the boys scenarios, questions, thought starters in an accessible around race and identity. The lessons will give boys the tools and vocabulary to talk about people's differences and similarities in an open, non-judgemental, curious way, and help them address any unfairness they might see or encounter. This week’s oral story is about Princess Donnasaurus and Princess Tia:

At first, neither princess thinks the other looks the way a princess should, but Princess Tia and Princess Donnasaurus talk it out and team up. Together, they embark on a quest to open an enchanted backpack and defeat the evil identity-stealing Erazor!

Along the way, Princess Tia and Princess Donnasaurus meet Princess Slime Monster, Princess DottyPotty, and Mister Princess. They learn that a true princess is kind, brave, and proud of who they are—and takes care of their neighborhood. All princesses have that in common, but they also each have their own identity. Your identity is made up of all the things about you that make you who you are, and it’s special to you; no Erazor can ever take it away.

Once again, the boys will explore the themes through drama games.

Tremaine Pavlovski Head of Junior School Drama Tremaine.pavlovski@scotch.vic.edu.au

PE AND SPORT Thank you for supporting our PE program during remote learning. It’s not easy teaching such a subject via Zoom and I know and understand that it’s not easy being a student at the other end of the screen either, especially when all you’d like to do is get outside and off the screen. Mr Gregory and myself continue to appreciate the efforts of our families to adjust, adapt and encourage the boys to stay well in both body and mind. The boys and/or parents should check on the PE Canvas pages regularly, and both Mr G and myself communicate with families weekly to let them know what is expected of the boys and what we are doing in class. If we were at school right now, the Years 3 to 6 boys would be preparing for House T-Ball which is coming up later in the term. The Year 1 and 2 boys would be beginning to learn and understand the game, as well as practising the skills required. We are trying to prepare the boys remotely for House T-Ball as best we can. I can’t wait until we can do that in person! A few other things to report at this stage:

• Family Day has been cancelled, so our athletics has come to an end, although the 100m challenge is still recommended remotely so the boys can be in the best shape possible for their upcoming summer sports and life in general. See the PE Canvas for details.

• House Soccer for boys in Years 3 to 6 was scheduled for the end of last term. We are still working out whether it can be played later in November. Watch this space for information.

• Please encourage your boys in Years 3 to 6 to communicate with their teacher any extra fitness work that is being done remotely. Any feedback regarding the boys’ physical activity and involvement is greatly valued. Many boys are consistently going for runs and long bike rides which is excellent. Helping our boys with email etiquette is an important skill.

APS Sport: Year 5 and 6 The Heads of School this week officially cancelled APS Sport for the month of October. November is still a chance for a return to sport and we will let you know as soon as anything is announced. School Sport Victoria (SSV) has also cancelled all Regional and State events for 2021, which means events like the APS Athletics Championships will not be held because there is no progression for boys in the state pathways and current restrictions do not allow for large outdoor gatherings involving many schools. Our current Year 4 and 5 boys are choosing their Term 1 APS sport for next year. The choices are cricket, tennis, table tennis, softball and swimming. Information to help in your planning includes:

• Swimming trains before school on Tuesdays at 7.00am and is a combined Year 5/6 team.

• Softball teams from both year levels train together after school on Tuesdays. Gear is provided by the school.

• Tennis trains before school from 7.15am to 8.00am on Tuesdays for Year 6 and Thursdays for Year 5. Boys play in pairs and are seeded 1-10 in doubles so 20 is the maximum number. If numbers are more than 20, boys may have to roster into the second choice on a rotation basis. Boys need to provide their own racquet.

• Table Tennis trains after school on Tuesdays for Year 6 and Thursdays for Year 5. Boys play in pairs and are seeded 1-10 in doubles so 20 is the maximum number. If numbers are more than 20, boys may have to roster into the second choice on a rotation basis. Bats are supplied by the school.

• Cricket trains after school on Tuesdays for Year 6 and Thursdays for Year 5. We usually get enough boys for 2 teams which will be selected once training begins. The A team wears white pants and the APS polo, while the B teams wear regular APS sport uniform. Gear is supplied by the school.

The boys will choose their first choice and a second choice in case they need to switch sports for whatever reason. After school trainings run from 3.30pm to 4.20pm. Once numbers have been confirmed for different sports, information about teams entered will be advised via this newsletter. Stay well Scotch families and enjoy this Spring weather together outdoors. Paul McMahon Head of Junior School PE and Sport paul.mcmahon@scotch.vic.edu.au JUNIOR SCHOOL SWAP SHOP If your son is requiring any secondhand uniform items from the JS Swap Shop for his return to school later this term, please place an order via Karena Simpson at karena@pappe.com.au Please include your son’s name, class, student number (4 digits) and items/sizes of clothing. These items will be prepared and you will be advised of collection arrangements. Karena Simpson JS Swap Shop Convenor karena@pappe.com.au

Virtual Gallery This week we have begun using materials from the Art Activity Packs during the remote learning sessions. Many boys were excited to find a variety of materials in the kits and have created some great artworks. Year 4 made God’s eyes with wool and pop sticks, Year 5 folded paper to create Christmas inspired shapes, Prep boys fringed paper strips to collage a triangular shape and Year 6 were inspired by street artists, Rudy Willingham and Invader, to make a variety of designs. It was also pleasing to see boys submit work for the Eye Art Challenge. This week there is the Inktober Art Challenge to try. Ms Priscilla Williams Head of Junior School Art Priscilla.williams@scotch.vic.edu.au

God’s Eye

David Destefanis (4M) Celebrating International Dot Day

Alexi Georgaklis (3T)

Portrait Created with Keystrokes

Jamin Ho (6S) Iris Folding with Paper

Toma Ditchburn (5L)

Pixel Art inspired by Street Artist, Invader

Matthew Chen (6S) Eye Art Challenge Daniel Leong (4M)

Collage Christmas Tree

Quincy Tan (3I) Fringed Paper Collage

Thomas Jones (PJ)

Eye Art Challenge Wayne Xuan (4M)

Art inspired by Rudy Willingham Jackson McLeod (6R)

Fringed Paper Collage

James Waters (PJ) Iris Folding with Paper

Lex Aiello (5G)

God’s Eye

Alexander Talmor (4P) Art inspired by Rudy Willingham

Luca Pelosi (6R)

Inktober Art Challenge

This annual event takes place every year in October, inviting people from all around the world to participate.

Illustrator Jake Parker created Inktober in 2009 as a way to improve his drawing skills.

Every year he publishes a list of ideas or prompts to use in your drawings and encourages people to draw something from the list every day of the month.

This week’s challenge:

Create an illustration using one of the words from Inktober

Will you draw a helmet in your artwork? Maybe a Moon? Maybe a watch?

Will you make your drawing look fuzzy or blurry? Will you draw something that is extinct?

Which word makes you feel excited?

I look forward to seeing your ideas and masterpieces. Please email your masterpiece to priscilla.williams@scotch.vic.edu.au and include your:

• Name • Class • House (Bradshaw, Campbell, Healey, Waller) • Name of your artwork and a brief description of how you came up with your idea.

200 House points are given for your entry

FORTHCOMING EVENTS 2021 Monday 18 October – Wednesday 20 October Prep – on campus learning Years 1 to 6 – remote learning Tuesday 19 October Classical Guitar Recital – JCR (tbc) Wednesday 20 October Suzuki Strings Concert Rehearsal (tbc) Years 5 and 6 Percussion Recital – KHA (tbc) Thursday 21 October - Friday 22 October Years 1 to 2 – on campus learning Prep, Years 3 to 6 – remote learning Monday 25 October Prep – on campus learning Years 1 to 6 – remote learning

Suzuki Strings Twilight Concert – IRH (tbc) Tuesday 26 October – Wednesday 27 October Prep, Years 3 to 4 – on campus learning Years 1, 2, 5, 6 – remote learning Wednesday 27 October Years 3 to 6 String Recitals (tbc) Thursday 28 October – Friday 29 October Years 1, 2, 5, 6 – on campus learning

Prep, Years 3 to 4 – remote learning Monday 1 November Exeat – School Holiday Tuesday 2 November Melbourne Cup Public Holiday Wednesday 3 November Prep, Years 3 to 4 – on campus learning Years 1, 2, 5, 6 – remote learning Thursday 4 November Years 1, 2, 5, 6 – on campus learning

Prep, Years 3 to 4 – remote learning

Years 3 to 6 Woodwind and Brass Recitals (tbc) Friday 5 November Prep to Year 6 return to on campus learning Monday 8 November JSPA Annual General Meeting via Zoom Thursday 11 November – Friday 12 November Year 3 Camp at Cowes (tbc) Monday 15 November – Friday 19 November Year 4 Bike Education Thursday 18 November Years 3 to 6 House T-Ball Please note that due to COVID restrictions, some events may be cancelled or postponed at short notice.