Junior School

junior

school

What an extraordinary year this has been with devastating bushfires in January and the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the year. Yet, in the face of adversity comes the opportunity to grow and develop and find within ourself strengths and new ways of working and supporting each other. It has not been an easy year by any measure, but it has been a year upon which we can look back with a sense of pride and certainly relief that we have gone the course and emerged knowing we have done well.

Learning at home using the online classroom throughout Term 2 and 3 was something that had to be learnt as we went, particularly for the younger grades – the boys, their parents and their teachers. It was a steep learning curve the first time round and, while there were bumps along the way, all parties adapted and learnt to learn in new ways. With a growth mindset we were confident that we could do this, and the boys set about developing skills as responsible, independent learners. Parents rallied to the cause and were marvellous in the support, guidance and patience they provided, often when they had competing demands with work commitments and other family matters. I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for their goodwill and determined endeavours.

The boys themselves have emerged with new capabilities in managing their workload and accessing learning in new ways. Through the online platforms they have shared their talents in a variety of ways, both educational and entertaining, including showing their mastery in the kitchen, demonstrating PE skills; performing in online concerts; reciting poetry, while also meeting the demands of their daily lessons and Zoom schedules. They can take pride in their achievements and positive approach, showing resilience and optimism. I pay tribute to our wonderful Junior School staff who, throughout this challenging year, have developed an engaging program providing experiences for boys to discover their talents whilst encouraging their personal development. All contributed to making our school a better and more interesting place. A special mention must be made of the extraordinary work done by Mrs Dune Richards in the Junior School Office and the high standard of care and attention she provides to all members of our community, especially in these times when anxiety is high and personal connection is restricted.

We are blessed with an incredible community that rallies to support the school and each other. My sincere gratitude goes to all those involved in the Friends of Norge, led by Ms Debbie Cheong, Ms Lydia Dwijayanti and Ms Viviana Yong, for enriching the Junior School experience for boys, staff and families. While many of our usual community events had to be cancelled due to COVID-19, our class reps did a wonderful job keeping our community connected. This all contributed to making our school the amazing place it is today.

This year we welcomed Mrs Eunice Goessler as Year 2 teacher, Ms Jacinta Sonego as Health Co-ordinator, Ms Renata Haynes as Learning Assistant, Miss Donna Zhang as Chinese Assistant, and Sam Rattray as AFL Trainee. After 31 years of dedicated service as a Teacher’s Aide, Mrs Robyn Mounsey retired this year. Her contribution to our Junior School and to the advantage of the boys has

been enormous. At the conclusion of this year, we will bid farewell to a splendid group of Year 5 boys, thank them for their contribution to the Junior School, and wish them well in their next stage of schooling. They have done a fine job as leaders of the Junior School and they will leave with many fond memories and confidence in themselves. They are well prepared and ready to embrace the Middle School experience.

Mr Howard Kelly

Head of Junior School

“The boys themselves have emerged with new capabilities in managing their workload and accessing learning in new ways.”

What a year! In 2020 we experienced a global pandemic and embraced new technologies as a means of maintaining our connectedness and sense of belonging with our extended families, friends and learning communities. This year, our youngest students experienced many challenges which they managed with fun, laughter and through the medium of play.

I enjoy making castles with my friends in the sandpit, and imagining I am driving a truck in a busy city. Beep Beep!

Victor Huang

“We pretended the tanbark was treasure..”

I worked using the rakes. I like to play with my friends.

Tony Lu

I love making afternoon tea for my friends and teachers.

Shaun Gao

I was trying to move the tanbark to the wheelbarrow. We pretended the tanbark was treasure.

Lucas Zhang

I am a pirate, I’m sailing on a boat with other pirate friends, hunting for treasure.

Maximus Xu

I was a pirate looking for the treasure chest with my friends.

Patrick Ng

I like digging in the mud to make a little creek.

Scott Man

We are making a mud volcano.

Kendrick Jiang

I love playing games. My favourites are UNO and connect four.

Reid Battye

I like playing all the games at school, especially the shape game.

William Chock

Tiddalick needed to laugh because he drank lots of water.

Theodore Poon

I’m pretending to be an emu to get Tiddalick laughing.

Liam Zhang

I like sitting on the mat and I like reading books!

Jasper Sham

Sitting outside whilst reading a book is so relaxing!

Oliver Cai

I like to play lego with Henry. I build lego men and I like to build lego cars.

Alexander Lim

I love playing with lego at school. I have built many cars, people and even a beach with Alex!

Henry Ku

In distance learning I made a spider and I’m happy to make it. I like to put it on the bench, so the spider can stick. I used bluetack to stick it on the bench.

Lucas Lu

On Wacky Wednesday I made a hat. I like my hat, it’s great.

Anderson Gu

We put Alexander the duck in a jar and tried to get him out. When we poured water in, he rose up! My favourite experiment was when we put vinegar and powder (bicarb soda) in a bottle and it blew up a balloon!

William Chen-Low

Look I am the biggest lion ever!

Easton Li

My friends and I used the wooden train tracks to build a bridge.

Michael Wong

Jasper and I are working out how to land on all the planets we are going to visit.

Anderson Cheung

Distance Learning

I enjoyed doing the reading and maths activities on the iPad. The Home Court game Mr Jones mentioned was so much fun. I miss my friends from school.

Issac Huang

The best thing was the 100 Days of School and the LEGO fun day. I really enjoyed doing the art activities at home. I missed playing with my friends and being at school with the teachers and the boys.

Tishan Jayalath

I enjoyed doing science experiments at home with my mum and sister, especially the clucking hen. I missed playing with all my friends when I was at home.

Owen Le

I enjoyed our writing activity on Wednesday. Zoom meetings were great because I have a new school mate – my Dad.

Henry Wan

I liked doing PE in distance learning. I liked doing the exercises.

Xavier Deng

100 Days of School

100 Days of School was on my birthday. I loved making my 100 Days of School t-shirt with my Dad. I drew 100 stars with a permanent marker.

Niel Das

I really liked morning tea on the 100 Days of school. I had 100 pieces of popcorn.

Teddy Kemp

I loved making my 100 Day crown and doing the 100 puzzle.

My 100 cupcakes were delicious!

Xavier Patamia

I enjoyed making my 100 Day crown and seeing all my friends’ 100 Day shirts.

Patrick Rye

I ate cupcakes. I liked making the crown. I did 1 push up in 1 second. I loved the 100 Days of School, it was the best day in the world.

Eason Zhan

LEGO Fun Day

I liked to play the LEGO Bingo game. It was so much fun. I dressed up as Superman.

Alex Ai

LEGO bingo was fun. My friends and I played Jurassic Park with LEGO blocks and we had a great time. I like using LEGO to make different things.

Arvin Aminazad

I dressed up as superman on LEGO fun day. I loved making big robots and little robots

Nikhil Das

I really enjoyed making the LEGO tower, and then knocking it down!

Ethan Vohra

I really enjoyed the LEGO bingo time, it was so much fun to play with different LEGO characters. And I just love playing LEGO, I can make anything and create my own LEGO empire.

Anthony Zhang

Reading and Writing in Prep

Reading and writing were so much fun! I liked reading my dinosaur books and writing my pirate ship story.

Marcus Chen

Reading and writing is fun! I can read properly now! Writing the Father’s Day card was fun. I loved creating books on Book Creator. Thank you Mrs Gatley for helping me with my writing at school.

Aarik Kumar

Reading and writing is fun! I collected Coles Little Treehouse books and read them. I loved reading on Epic and writing my pirate story. I loved making my own eBook on Book Creator.

The Needs of Living Things

I named a stick insect, his name is Sticky. Sticky is the biggest one, and he never wastes his food.

Max Ma

Jake Yang

I enjoyed Cars and Stars. I liked the activities. We listened to the question and had to choose the answer. I liked making the model. I had a lion. I used food, oxygen and water.

Eason Song

Science: Forces

I had so much fun doing all the experiments! I learnt when I made a pendulum that the longer the string, the longer it takes for the pendulum to swing back and forth. I made a tumbling toy that tumbles down a slope with a marble inside.

Zachary Wai

I loved making bouncing bubbles! Because they are bubbles, but they bounce and also because making them is lots of fun!

Carlos Guo

I had fun making the clucking hen. It made a squeaky sound when I put the sponge in water and pulled the sponge down the string.

Arnold Patel

I loved making bouncing bubbles.

The bubbles can bounce like a basketball. You can even hold them for a long time. I also enjoyed making the liquid. I put in loads of sugar and it must be very sweet.

George Wu

“I really missed seeing my friends and playing in the playground.”

Distance Learning

I loved being able to sleep in and not having to rush to get to school. I really missed seeing my friends and playing in the playground.

Alexander Bhattacharjee

I like home, because I can see my dog every day. I missed my friends, it is nice to play with them.

Gordon Chen

I missed my friends. I really hope we can go back to school. Distance learning was fun.

Ethan Chong

I enjoyed being a super Zoomer so much! I missed the happy faces of the teachers and students so much!!

Aiden Ding

I missed my friends at school.

Harrison Gration

Writing Procedural Texts

The purpose of procedural text is to tell the reader how to do or make something. A procedural text consisted of title, goal, materials or ingredients, method and conclusion.

Samuel He

A successful procedural text needs to include a title, goal, equipment or ingredients, steps or method and a conclusion.

Samuel He

A procedural text is an instruction or recipe that tells you how to make something. Remember to start with a verb in your method.

Chris Jiang

A procedural text tells someone how to make something. You don’t always have to write a full sentence in the method part.

Josh Ko

When you are writing a procedural text, you must include: Title, Goal, Ingredients/ Equipment, Method, then a Conclusion.

Anthony Li

Our Class Party

I enjoyed the number game most.

It was fun to have a party on Zoom.

Alexander Lim

I loved celebrating the term with my friends and dressing up for the party.

Jake Lin

I enjoyed the game, because it was fun. I like the food, because I can eat whatever I want, and I like everyone’s costume.

Kevin Liu

I got to wear a nice costume and play lots of fun games. I liked the Scavenger Hunt the most.

Aaron Loi

I enjoyed the Number Chart. Because it’s interesting if I can write.

Tony Lu

Cyber Safety

Do not be friends with any online strangers.

Do not click on any unknown links.

Matthew Moi

Tell mum and dad if something unknown pops up online.

Make sure you show mum and dad before clicking on an unknown link.

Cooper O’Meara

Tell the teachers if there is online bullying.

Kai Rajakulendran

Melbourne Museum

I saw a shop and a wooden airplane with a wooden man.

I saw a rainforest and a painting of a fish.

Kimi Xi

I saw a huge dinosaur bone and learnt some interesting things about old toys.

Ryan Xu-Zhang

We watched a movie in a small theatre about exploding volcanoes. We saw lava and diamonds.

Scott Yao

You must never tell anyone your passwords.

Andrew Wang

Never send pictures or information to strangers. We went to a small bug museum. We could hear the sound of bugs.

Isaac Yuen

I saw a fake volcano and we saw signs about volcanoes.

Learning in Lockdown

I liked learning how to work the computer. However, I missed all the joyful faces.

And last of all, I missed being in the classroom.

Samuel Cai

I learned how to use a computer, saving my work and typing really well.

I missed playing with my friends and their company

I missed learning face to face with my teacher and my friends in the classroom.

Tobias Lee

I missed all my fantastic friends.

I missed all the fun times but it was very interesting in distance learning.

Jerry Zhang

I missed my AWESOME friends at school.

It was FUNNY learning in distance learning. I liked LEARNING at home but it is better at school.

Lawrence Lai

Poetry

I found a poem called ‘My Teacher Played Minecraft.’ It had lots of funny parts in it.

Christopher Leake

I liked poetry. I chose ‘The Rainbow’ for my Poem in my Pocket. I also performed my own poem about fireworks.

Aiden Jiang

I liked the poem ‘Ice Cream’.

I liked it because it is about ice cream, my favourite treat.

Pavle-Jay Ng

I liked the poem ‘Spring Song’.

I liked it because it made me more cheerful.

Patrick Tian

Maths Day and Problem Solving Afternoon

This was one of my favourite days this year. It was in Term 1 when we were all at school and played the games in teams.

Jai Nadarajah

I enjoyed playing the frog game and finding the clocks.

Lucas Khoo

I enjoyed the super hard frogs game, finding the clocks and playing make 100 (even though we didn’t complete it)!

Samuel Legge

I remember playing the frog game. It was more difficult than I thought.

It was fun and challenging as the numbers got bigger.

Nikolai Kanarev

I liked doing Maths with Ms Morgan because I like being challenged by problems. I created my own probability problem.

Tobias Mitchell

Learning about Insects

I learned many facts about the life cycle of insects and one of the facts was insects can have many eyes. If I was to make my own insect, I would call it ‘Lotsofeyes’ and it would have lots of eyes.

Charlie Patel

The thing I liked about learning about insects was inventing our own insects and writing an explanation about it. My invented insect was the Antofly.

Massimo Palermo

I liked learning the life cycles of insects because I learned many interesting facts, for example, the butterfly metamorphosis.

I especially liked when the cocoon transforms into a butterfly.

If I could create my own insect, I would call it bonebug. The shape of the body is a bone with legs and wings.

Alexander Yakop

Music – Learning the Recorder and Super Stars Choir

I like playing the recorder because the low notes sound nice and they are calming. Making my own compositions is the best part.

I liked the songs we sang in Super Stars. I especially liked the Telephone song because it let everyone have a turn.

Patrick Waide-Hee

I enjoyed learning new notes on the recorder and singing exercises like mayo.

Xander Russo

I found learning new notes very interesting. I tried to match the notes on the recorder on my piano and I liked playing the recorder game.

Kevin Ma

I enjoyed learning the recorder.

Henry Zhong

Smiling Minds and Emotional Wellbeing

I learnt yoga movements in Emotional Wellbeing. I felt calm and happy after each session. I enjoyed the Star Wars yoga the most and I wish we could do it again in Term 4.

Declan Wang

I feel very calm every time I do Mrs Goessler’s wellbeing and Smiling Minds classes.

I learnt that yoga is not just stretching, it also helps to keep your mind healthy.

My favourite yoga is the same one as Declan, the Star Wars yoga.

Samuel Pai

I learnt how to meditate. I now feel relaxed. I did like all the sessions. It was superb as I always felt relaxed and my heart pounded a lot after those lessons.

Jonathan Yeo

“Have you ever wanted to feed an emu? Well, guess what, when Year 3 visited Healesville Sanctuary in Term 1, we did!”

Healesville Sanctuary

Have you ever wanted to feed an emu? Well, guess what, when Year 3 visited Healesville Sanctuary in Term 1, we did! In small groups, we explored the many different animal enclosures including the lazy koalas, energetic kangaroos and the cold-blooded reptiles. The highlight of our day was seeing the sharp-eyed wedge tail eagle and friends perform in a bird show. We got to be photographers for the day and record interesting facts about the animals. A great time was had by all!

Ethan Aw, Jeffrey Zhong, Zachary Madden, Gaius Pillemer

and Zachary Lim

Celebrating Diversity

We are so lucky to live in Australia because it is an extremely diverse country made up of people from all around the world. In Term 3 we learnt about different cultures that make Australia special. We researched celebrations such as the Chinese New Year, Holi, Easter and Hanukkah. People migrate to Australia due to different push and pull factors. Fortunately, we live in a safe country.

Callum Lew, Harvey Zhao, Liam Williams, Riaan Kumar and

Leonardo Tahn

Huff ‘n’ Puff

3… 2… 1… Go! Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, we begin our day with Huff ‘n’ Puff. The purpose of this is to be active, start the day on a positive note and get our blood pumping. It is always lots of fun. We get to play exciting games like Tom and Jerry, rob the nest and run along the Anniversary Trail. Some activities are competitive like skipping contests and dodge ball, but we remember to be Yetis and a good sport at all times. Huff ‘n’ Puff never fails to make us smile.

Kristian Kedzierski, Ivan Wang, Jonas Fowler and Bennett Lu

Assembly Hosting/ Cooking Video

Assemblies looked a little different this year. Normally the Junior School visits the PAC every Wednesday morning to discover what other classes have been learning and to receive special awards. This year, due to COVID-19, we have been learning online and putting together videos for our assemblies. Our favourite assembly from this year was when we created a cooking video. We made self-saucing chocolate pudding and taught the rest of the school how to make it. It was loads of fun and the best part was the bloopers at the end. It takes many Yetis to create an entertaining cooking video.

Keaghan Ho, Sebastian Sun, Pasan Saranasuriya,

Sebastian Cheung and Jacob Yuen

Hunting for Bugs

“Hey everyone, look here, I found a dead cockroach!” In Term 1, the Year 3s went on a hunt on the Anniversary Trail for living and non-living things. Armed with hoops to mark our search areas, clipboards and magnifying glasses we set off to find creepy crawlies, small reptiles, rocks and leaves. In small groups we sorted them under the headings living, non-living and once-living. We were very surprised by all the interesting creatures that we found including a giant beetle.

Nathan Cheung, Alexander Foroudi, William Cao, Joshua Chan and Alan Yu

Year 4 Camp – Surf Lifesaving Day

The waves crashed against the shore as white foam built up on the tip of each wave. A powerful wave pushed me, and the boogie board I clung to, away from the vast and distant sea back towards the sandy shore of Point Roadknight Surf Lifesaving Club.

Charlie Malic, Hugh Watson, Chris Wu,

Xavier Austin and Jonathan Bai

Year 4 Camp – Kayaking, Lighthouse and Beachcombing

Our kayak was stuck in the mossy rocks as other kayaks raced by. If we could just get out of the rocks we had a chance to get to the destination first. We started pushing our paddles against the rocks and the mossy stones finally let us out of their grasp. The best part was when the kayak tipped over and we fell into the water. It was cold, but we barely realised it!

Ben Weickhardt, Tharan Goonewardene, Harry Anderson, Jonathan Wang and

Thomas Betts

Swimming Carnival

‘Take your marks…BEEP!” The competitors jumped off the swimming blocks as fast as rockets. As we each took a breath we could hear a roaring crowd, but when we went under water, the water blocked out the noise. As the swimmers made their way to the other end of the pool, the water got more and more choppy. It was nearly over and Robinson was catching up but at the final second, Schofield won. The swimmer from Schofield in that race was like a shark in the water as it beat Robinson.

Ned Bolch, Marcus Wan, Ryan Noor

and Charlie Rose

Learning about Science – Life Cycles and Plants

My classmates were abuzz as seeds were being stuffed into ziplock bags, substituting soil with cotton wool so that we could observe the growth as each seed sprouted. Boys jostled for prime positions on classroom windows as we hypothesised that good lighting would translate to good bean growth. We regularly watered our plants, although we discovered a stinky aroma if you smelled the seed resting in it’s moist ziplock environment. Ethan Zhao, Anson Wang, Kiet Tran

and Evan Chen

Sustainability

If we don’t do something about all of the rubbish we create, there will be more rubbish than fish in the ocean by 2050. This news shocked us and motivated us to investigate the differences we can make to save our environment. We were sad and horrified to hear how the rubbish would affect the environment. I feel like if we all work together to reduce rubbish and recycle, we could help and possibly save the environment.

Alexander Kelher, Leo Chen,

Patrick Curry and Thomas Robertson-Brown

Explorers

“SPLASH!” A gigantic wave hit Captain Cook’s HMS Endeavor. The wind was blowing, the crew were ready and Captain Cook was awaiting his first voyage through savage seas and crashing waves. Set the sails. Drop the anchor. Feel the wind. The ship is about to leave. Captain James Cook stands on his deck. What adventures lay out at sea? On August 26, 1768 Cook began his first voyage aboard HMS Endeavour to Tahiti and New Zealand. The journey lasted three years. In Tahiti, Captain Cook took precise astronomical measurements of the transit of Venus. These measurements would help scientists understand navigation and our solar system. After Tahiti, Captain Cook sailed South where he mapped the east coast of Australia, known as the Great Southern Land.

Toby Chan, Takashi Canale, Felix Deng, Eric Pan and Bryan Zhang

Distance Learning

When COVID-19 struck, we spent most of Term 2 and all of Term 3 at home. We used technology more than ever. We didn’t get to meet our friends or see our teachers face-to-face. We had to be organised and motivated for our learning using Google Classroom, Zoom and other web-based platforms. Is distance learning good or bad you ask? It is both! Asking questions of our teachers or classmates is hard, although being able to spend time with family is good. COVID has been a big disruption but we will get through it. Evan Lin, William Barnes, Marcus Lai,

Lucas Morey and Christian Ng

Zoom Meetings

“My internet just broke down!” “Sorry, the Zoom glitched again!” These are some of the familiar things said throughout distance learning. Everyone was tired of being at home and not seeing friends face-to-face. However, amongst all of this madness there has been some happiness. Talking to your friends over Zoom in breakout rooms was fun and a new way to connect. Maxwell Cai, Connor Le

Page and Derek Li

The Best and Worst Bits about Working from Home

I was on my last and final task, sweat was dripping down my face as I had been through another tough day of learning. I could finally get some peace to do my work. No noise. No people. Just me. I loved working at home. I wish I had my friends, they just make me better. When there’s no teacher I sometimes got stuck on tasks. That’s why I love having a teacher. They not only help me learn but they also encourage us to learn new things. Every single day was tough for me. But I always made it through.

Isaac Khoo, Alexander Zabojec, Jacob Meaney, Aran Ganesvaran, Lee Li and Nicholas Lipscombe

Summit Challenge

I surveyed the open staircase as I breathlessly climbed up my 100th flight of the day. Eerie cobwebs hung from the crevasse. It was now, or never. As we ran up the stairs, we tried to beat our personal best from the previous day. We had to help our class try and reach the summits of numerous mountains. It got more intense as the weeks went on. The mountains got bigger and bigger, week by week. There were mountains from Earth and even mountains from outer space that we needed to climb. We felt a sense of accomplishment after climbing each and every mountain. Every step counted towards our goal.

“We had to be organised and motivated for our learning using Google Classroom, Zoom and other web-based platforms.”

Zakariya Huq, Samuel Ni, Alexander Liew, Aiden Luo

and Isaac Khoo

House Games Day

House Games Day was great fun. We got to play different games all day with our housemates and earned points. We helped the younger boys who were in our groups. By the end of it all, we had trekked pretty well across the whole Norge Campus! I got to have fun with all my best friends. The day was so fun, I nearly fainted!

Patrick Curry and Thomas Robertson-Brown

Footy Day

It was Footy Day, which meant that it was also the last day of Term 2.

‘I can’t wait!’ I said to myself.

It was winter and I could see my own breath. That was ok though, since we were all doing drills that related to footy. We spread out on the pitch with our partners and we all had a good time practicing with each other. We also did indoor activities which included drawing our own footy kits, footy maths and watching funny bloopers. Overall, I had a fun time and am glad it is a yearly event in Junior School.

Lachlan Miller, Rowan Li,

Matthew Nebbs and Christian Manolidis

Science Talent Search

This year was a very interesting year with the pandemic lockdown. One of the hardest tasks this year in our opinion was the Science Talent Search. The topic for 2020 was ‘Deep Blue: Innovations for the Future of our Oceans’. We had to research a topic which was related to the ocean, once we all chose a topic we had to make a presentation and it was hard to get the materials we needed because of lockdown.

We learnt so much from this year’s Science Talent Search, not only about scientific principles and concepts, but how creative we can be at a time when it was difficult to assemble materials. I discovered much about myself and my parents.

This year’s Science Talent Search was a challenge, but overall it was a fun task.

Dylan Wong, Eric Guan and

Alexander Chan

Maths Olympiad

2020 has been a very challenging year and it comes along with lots of changes. One of those changes has affected the Maths Olympiad. Although the classes were online and from a distance we still managed to learn a lot.

We learned about algebra, substitution and different types of problems in the olympiads. Each week the two groups would meet in a Zoom class for 1 hour to complete a set of math problems. The remaining unsolved problems were set as homework. Each week we would learn different types of problems from the sheet given to us online. Even if you did not complete all the problems in the lesson we would complete them as homework. We thought this was a great format because it maximised the amount of learning each week, instead of not finishing the task and then having to do something entirely different for homework.

The work in Maths Olympiad is challenging like brain teasers, and it has different degrees of difficulty depending on what category the question is. We found algebra to be the most challenging unit. This has taught us that you cannot always solve problems with the click of your fingers and that you have to be patient, look at problems in more than one way and be persistent in finding solutions to complex problems. In Maths Olympiad we share and discuss our answers and how we got there. When we get an incorrect answer, we can get the right answers from a class member and then work backwards to explore where we went wrong and correct ourselves.

Maths Olympiad helped us by making us think outside the box; you really had to start working your brain and using every fact you know that might help. Sometimes the questions were very challenging but you just had to persevere and try to find the solution. The answer wouldn’t just pop up into your head you had to be patient and find the solution to harder questions. And I enjoyed playing number hangman sometimes at the end of the lesson.

Year 5 Camp

Year 5 camp was a fun experience for both Year 5 classes. We departed school and went to Camp Weekaway on the 5th February, and we came back to school on the 7th. When we arrived at the camp, we were greeted by a tour guide who showed us around the camp. We were then told which cabin we were in so that we could unpack our bags and get ready for lunch. After lunch, we played games like cricket and down ball. We also settled down and did indoor activities like origami. Later that night, we went on a night walk and saw animals like kangaroos and echidnas. The next morning, after breakfast, we took part in a range of activities across the camp. These activities included canoeing, mountain biking, a flying fox and rope courses. On the final day, we left Camp Weekaway and visited Hanging Rock where we drew the scenery and had lunch before the drive back to CGS. Year 5 camp was so much fun. Camp taught us important lessons in managing ourselves and our belongings, to work in a team, but also be independent, and to take a small step towards adulthood. It was a fun challenge and I would definitely do it again!

Ashan Inpanathan

Where We Are in Place and Time

In Term 3, we studied our Australian past. We watched videos and read articles about colonial life. We learnt how the British set up convict colonies and took over this land. Life was brutal even for child convicts. Then, we read about people from foreign countries rushing to Australia hoping to get rich during the Victorian Gold Rush. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to strike gold? Many came but most were unlucky. The highlight was when we built a tool from the gold rush days and reproduced a scene of the goldfields with dirt, sticks and things around the house. We realised how people those days were good at making things from what they had. We enjoyed learning about our Australian history.

We used a thinking routine called ‘See, Think, Wonder’ To analyse life in the 1850’s through art. We examined a painting that was called ‘The Last of England’ by an artist named Ford Maddox Brown. It was about people on a boat leaving England and travelling to Australia to find gold so they could improve their lives. Even though Term 3 had been very difficult it was fun to learn about Australia’s past and we learnt much.

Sean Verghese, Oliver Chen

and Luca Cososlo

Student Leadership Executive

Have you ever loved to help someone? You must’ve. It’s really nice right? In the Student Leadership Executive you can learn how to be a great leader as well as feeling good about yourself by helping others. As much as the leadership executive love all the activities organised by teachers, parents and other students, sometimes, as Year 5 students and leaders of the Junior School, it is important to take the responsibility of making the Junior School a better place, and the Student Leadership Executive fulfills that idea amazingly. As part of the leadership executive, we have helped Junior School with activities, helping kids cope with difficult times and helping others in general. We have had meetings every two weeks to discuss and talk about what our next actions are and should be. Although being in Leadership Executive is a great way to help the school, it is just as important to help others everyday, because you don’t need a reason to be kind.

Gary Kong and Luca Sanfilippo

Benefits of Distance Learning

The benefits of distance learning is that you can have more time to interact with your family and when you finish your work you can go outside and maybe start a project with your brothers or sisters. Another benefit is that you can start whichever work you want to start with and you will not have to stop and go to a different subject when you have not finished.

While there were many things I missed about not being at school, there were benefits of distance learning. I would try to complete all tasks as quickly as possible so that I had free time at the end of the day to go bike riding in my allocated exercise time during lockdown. This was fun and entertained me. Distance learning is also beneficial for keeping calm and doing work peacefully. These are some of the benefits of distance learning.

Thomas Pritchett, Sam Page

and Khris Navaneetharaja

Camcare Charity Drive

The Camcare Charity Drive led by the Leadership Executive and our Junior Chaplain, Mrs Rice, was an amazing event that had a positive impact on people in need in the Boroondara community. Boys and families contributed bucket loads of non-perishable items to donate to Camcare, a local organisation that supports individuals and families in need. We had donations ranging from canned food, pasta, rice, sweets, condiments, bathroom supplies through to games, books, linen and laundry detergents. It was a very special event that we will always remember. It was joyful watching the donated items piling up in the boxes. We will cherish this memory forever.

Felix Smith, Thomas Newman-Thurlby

and Connor Pereira

Sharing the Planet

Our Integrated Studies focus for Term 2 was Sharing the Planet – Adaptations. Over the course of the term, we focused on structural, behavioural and physiological adaptations of animals and plants so that they can survive, protect themselves and reproduce offspring. We also compared different adaptations of species. Our project for the Term was the ‘Adapt-AnAnimal’ project. This was where we had to make up a new animal and combine adaptations, habitats, diet, dimensions, food chains and a description of the animal.

Matthew Leake, Ethan Ouyang,

Lucas Andreopoulos and Conrad Chau

Gratitude

Throughout lockdown this year, we wrote in our Gratitude Journals every day. Each day we were given a new topic to write or draw about relating to our lives. The focus of our journal writing was to focus on different aspects of our life, reflect and show gratitude. It really helped us to think more positively about our lives, especially when we were having a ‘flat’ day. Writing in our journal each day, encouraged us to be more grateful for who we are, our strengths, relationships with friends and family as well as the community and environment.

Edward Goh, Sammy Ramsay

and Charles Pettolino

Virtual Clubs and Activities

The Year 5 Leadership Executive had planned to organise and run lunchtime clubs in Term 3. However, because we were in lockdown, we had to take the clubs online. A wide variety of clubs were organised and videos were developed by leaders promoting the activities, including The ‘Word Jumble Club’, ‘D.I.Y Club’, ‘Movie Club’ and the ‘Paper Planes Club’. The purpose of these clubs was mainly to entertain the boys at home, lift their spirits and to create a sense of community online.

Kamran Vohra, Caius Kyoong, Justin Yip and Abhik Khatry

House Games

House Games Day was a very entertaining and fun event at the end of Term 1. Year 5 leaders planned, organised and lead a variety of games for boys in Prep to Year 4 to participate in. We spent weeks planning and preparing the games, including the rules, instructions and equipment. On the day, boys rotated from game to game every ten minutes representing their House. We planned a variety of games including Tug of War, Human Ten Pin Bowling and Scavenger Hunt. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to lead an initiative within the school that provided the boys with a great level of enjoyment.

Roy Legge, Aren Sharma, Richard Su

and Ethan Van Damme

Challenges of Distance Learning

Distance learning was a new experience for us and because of this, it brought many challenges with it. The first challenge was getting used to the new learning environment of being at home and not at school. Communication was difficult because you could not just ask your teacher a question at the time when you think of it, instead you had to write it onto Google Classroom or wait until your scheduled Zoom session. Finally, not seeing our friends everyday was probably one of the hardest challenges of all.

Liam Marcus, Sean Zhao, Ben Liu,

Jeremy Chen-Tilley and Sebastian Kilroy

“Distance Learning was a new experience for us and because of this, it brought many challenges with it.”

2020 has been a very different but extremely rewarding year for Junior School Library. Despite some challenges we were able to celebrate many special events, introduce a number of new services and most importantly, continue to promote a love of reading across the Junior School.

In Term 1 we launched Orbit, a new user-friendly interface for the Junior

Library catalogue. Using

Orbit, boys are able to search our catalogue and databases independently, making reading and research much simpler and more engaging. We were also excited to provide Year 4 and Year 5 students access to eBooks and audiobooks through the platform BorrowBox, in collaboration with the Senior Library. In the months when learning from home was the norm, library lessons moved to Zoom. Classes continued to share highquality literature, as well as build essential information literacy skills. Throughout remote learning, Junior Library committed to maintaining lending services to our community. While the library may have not been open to visitors it remained open for borrowing, offering a very popular click and collect service. During lockdown the service processed around 200 online requests and checked out close to 2,000 books to our eager young readers.

When not in remote learning, students enjoyed hands-on library sessions, lunchtime activities and special events including Book Week, National Simultaneous Storytime, NAIDOC Week, Anzac Day and Norge Footy Day. A fun highlight this year was a visit from school support dog Indra who shared in one of our Pre-Prep reading sessions.

Book Week celebrations, usually held in August, were rescheduled to Term 4. With the theme ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’ as inspiration the library was abuzz with book themed festivities including character dress up day, quiz challenges, lunchtime scavenger hunts and craft activities. We welcomed adventurer, explorer and author Tim Cope to the library. Tim spoke with Prep to Year 5 classes about his amazing adventures travelling the world with his dog Tigon. Also, during Book Week certificates were presented to boys who completed the 2020 Premiers’ Reading Challenge. Well done to the 44 boys who completed the Challenge, reading a total of 1,434 books, a fantastic effort considering the changed circumstances this year.

Mrs Michele Rutter Head of Junior Library

Mrs Maryanne Walker Junior Library Technician

JUNIOR SCHOOL STAFF

Back Row L-R: Carmen Morgan, Fiona Howie, Michael Pettolino, Huw Jones, Tristen Haines, Samuel Rattray, Mathew McRae, Ying Lu, Maryanne Walker. 2nd Row L-R: Michele Rutter, Dune Richards, Sofia Tsolakis, Helen Thomas, Ann Spragg, Natalie Rice, Zoe Linnell, Kanika Arora. Seated L-R: Kaye McDougall, Trista Fry, Eunice Goessler, Caroline Gatley, Howard Kelly, Colleen Jarrett-Burke, Emily Bond, Michelle Ponert, Robyn Mounsey. Absent: Mrs Diane Collins, Mrs Hailey Lowe, Mrs Renata Haynes, Miss Donna Zhang, Mrs Jo Bhaskaran, Miss Prue Fennessy and Ms Jacinta Sonego.

PRE-PREP

Back Row L-R: Mrs Kaye McDougall, Kendrick Jiang, Victor Huang, Maximus Xu, Patrick Ng, Oliver Cai, William Chen-Low, Ms Fiona Howie. 2nd Row L-R: Liam Zhang, Scott Man, Reid Battye, Lucas Zhang, Shaun Gao, Tony Tao, Anderson Gu. Seated L-R: Henry Ku, Michael Wong, Alexander Lim, Theodore Poon, Easton Li, William Chock. Absent: Anderson Cheung, Lucas Lu, Jasper Sham.

PREP

Back Row L-R: Isaac Huang, Aarik Kumar, Tishan Jayalath, Alex Ai, Arvin Aminazad, Arnold Patel, Carlos Guo. 2nd Row L-R: Mrs Caroline Gatley, Eason Zhan, Teddy Kemp, Jake Yang, Niel Das, Ethan Vohra, Anthony Zhang, Xavier Deng, Mrs Robyn Mounsey. Seated L-R: Zachary Wai, Nikhil Das, George Wu, Owen Le, Xavier Patamia, Ryan Zhong, Eason Song, Patrick Rye. Absent: Marcus Chen, Max Ma, Henry Wan.

YEAR 1

Back Row L-R: Scott Yao, Josh Ko, Tony Lu, Harrison Gration, Ryan Xu-Zhang, Evan Jiang, Kevin Liu, Aaron Loi. 2nd Row L-R: Anthony Li, Jake Lin, Andrew Wang, Ethan Chong, Aiden Ding, Cooper O’Meara, Kai Rajakulendran, Gordon Chen, Ethan Zhu, Ms Emily Bond. Seated L-R: Samuel He, Alexander Lim, Eoin Whelan, Alexander Bhattacharjee, Matthew Moi, Isaac Yuen, Chris Jiang, Kimi Xi.

YEAR 2

Back Row L-R: Nikolai Kanarev, Alexander Yakop, Henry Zhong, Patrick Waide-Hee, Pavle-Jay Ng, Tobias Mitchell, Massimo Palermo. 2nd Row L-R: Mrs Kanika Arora, Jerry Zhang, Jonathan Yeo, Lucas Khoo, Christopher Leake, Declan Wang, Xander Russo, Samuel Cai, Patrick Tian, Mrs Eunice Goessler. Seated L-R: Jai Nadarajah, Aiden Jiang, Charlie Patel, Samuel Pai, Jacob Tang, Samuel Legge, Tobias Lee. Absent: Lawrence Lai, Kevin Ma.

YEAR 3

Back Row L-R: Nathan Cheung, Keaghan Ho, Pasan Saranasuriya, Jeffrey Zhong, Kristian Kedzierski, Ethan Aw, Edward Linehan, Sebastian Cheung. 2nd Row L-R: Liam Williams, Zachary Madden, Alexander Foroudi, Riaan Kumar, Zachary Lim, Gaius Pillemer, Jacob Yuen, Harvey Zhao, Leonardo Tahn, Miss Zoe Linnell. Seated L-R: Joshua Chan, Sebastian Sun, Callum Lew, William Cao, Jonas Fowler, Ivan Wang, Alan Yu, Bennett Lu.

YEAR 4A

Back Row L-R: Aran Ganesvaran, Alexander Zabojec, Takashi Canale, Tharan Goonewardene, Isaac Khoo, Hugh Watson, Harry Anderson, Anson Wang, Ryan Noor. 2nd Row L-R: Charlie Malic, Toby Chan, Derek Li, Alexander Kelher, Christian Manolidis, William Barnes, Bryan Zhang, Evan Lin, Mr Tristen Haines. Seated L-R: Jacob Meaney, Leo Chen, Ethan Zhao, Charlie Rose, Matthew Nebbs, Zakariya Huq, Maxwell Chai. Absent: Samuel Ni.

YEAR 4B

Back Row L-R: Christian Ng, Steve Gayed, Xavier Austin, Lucas Morey, Lachlan Miller, Connor Le Page, Aiden Luo, Marcus Wan, Kiet Tran. 2nd Row L-R: Ned Bolch, Jonathan Wang, Felix Deng, Jonathan Bai, Lee Li, Rowan Li, Nicholas Lipscombe, Marcus Lai, Ms Michelle Ponert. Seated L-R: Alexander Liew, Patrick Curry, Thomas Betts, Thomas Robertson-Brown, Eric Pan, Evan Chen, Chris Wu. Absent: Ben Weickhardt.

YEAR 5A

Back Row L-R: Luca Sanfilippo, Khris Navaneetharaja, Neo Liang, Oliver Chen, Athan Kokkinos, Luca Cosolo, Harold Li, Gary Kong. 2nd Row L-R: William Newman, Samuel Page, Sean Verghese, Thomas Pritchett, Alexander Kanarev, Antony Tsui, Alexander Chan, Mr Michael Pettolino. Seated L-R: Ashan Inpanathan, James Smallwood, Dylan Wong, Andy Tao, Lucas Papadopoulos, Nathan Chiu, Aiden Tang, Lachlan Barnes. Absent: Eric Guan, Tobias Wu.

YEAR 5B

Back Row L-R: Ethan Ouyang, Jeremy Chen-Tilley, Conrad Chau, Abhik Khatry, Ethan van Damme, Ben Liu, Kamran Vohra, Aren Sharma. 2nd Row L-R: Sammy Ramsay, Thomas Torre, Lucas Andreopoulos, Roy Legge, Richard Su, Caius Kyoong, Todd Hu, Thomas Newman-Thurlby, Mr Mathew McRae. Seated L-R: Justin Yip, Edward Goh, Connor Pereira, Charles Pettolino, Sebastian Kilroy, Felix Smith, Liam Marcus, Matthew Leake. Absent: Sean Zhao.