Scotch College

Junior Music on tour in SA

It was barely dawn on Monday, 24 May when a group of Junior School choristers, musicians and various staff departed for St Peter's College, Adelaide.

On arrival, the group received a warm welcome from their billeting families. An equally warm response was felt at each concert in which they appeared. In addition to workshops, rehearsals and combined performances with St Peter's students, the group also visited Seymour and Westminster Colleges.

The trip provided an opportunity to showcase the talents of the Choir, String Orchestra, String Quartets, Concert Band and Drum Corps. The boys also found the universality and power of music and how its common language could bring strangers together.

To end what had already been an exceptional term in music, the Year 5 and 6 Concert was held on 24 June in the Memorial Hall. The highlight was the very moving massed choir performance of Beethoven's 'Ode to Peace' - very fitting indeed.

Grandparents' Day

Prep Grandparents' Day is always an eagerly awaited event for both the Prep boys and their grandparents.

The boys were delighted to be able to show off their brightly decorated classroom, as well as their ability in reading, writing and maths and on the computer. Many comments of "School was never as much fun as this in my day!" could be heard.

In the art room, glue, polystyrene, foil, pipecleaners and straws were transformed into that elusive, mythical creature - the Triantiwontigongalope.

Another impressive part of the morning was the exhibition of the Functional Motor Skills programme in the gym. The boys enthusiastically ran, jumped, bounced, swung on ropes and chased and caught balls in an energetic display.

A busy morning was capped off when the boys entertained their visitors with a brief concert in the Assembly Hall, they amazed their audience by singing a number of songs in German.

Resource Centre Book Fair

The annual Scholastic Book Fair was held in the Junior School in May. There was an overwhelming response to this year's fair, as the boys and their parents flocked into the Resource Centre to peruse the large selection of titles available for sale.

A highlight of the week was the visit of a rather large red dog named Clifford (aka James Adams from 6W), who is lucky enough to have a series of books written about him.

This was our most successful book fair yet! The boys will also benefit from the large number of books which the Resource Centre staff will be able to purchase from the commission received on sales.

Mission Week

A popular visitor to the Junior School during Mission Week was renowned songwriter, musician Colin Buchanan. Perhaps better known to the younger boys as a Playschool presenter, Colin is also a committed Christian and he was most generous in sharing his talents and beliefs with the boys. An undoubted highlight of Colin's visit was the 'jamming' session with Colin, Mr Guy Mason (Head of the Junior School and guitarist) and Mrs Julia Piggin (classroom music teacher and pianist).

Colin's visit left us all reflecting on his message that God loves each one of us and that He wants us all to come to know Him more closely.

Antarctica Study

Year 4 has been studying Antarctica as their Term 3 unit and many special events have enhanced the programme. One of these was a visit to the Imax theatre to view the movie 'Antarctica'. The boys liked seeing the Emperor penguins shooting out of the water; and hearing about the history of our first Antarctic explorers, who claimed parts of the continent for Australia.

Another special event was the speech given by Mr Bob Lachal who now works in the Scotch College Cardinal Pavilion. In the 1960s, Bob was an Expedition Assistant in Antarctica and cared for the husky dogs. He told the boys many stories about what it was like to 'winter it' in Antarctica whilst caring for the dogs. In 1986, Bob was the Officer in Charge of Macquarie Island. He told the boys about the wildlife on the island and how he survived the long, dark days, as well as the days where there was 24 hours of continuous sunlight.

Year 5 Boys Visit to Polly Woodside

Year 5 boys have been studying explorers, the early exploration of Australia, the First Fleet and the early settlement of Australia. The boys recently visited the Polly Woodside and the Victorian Maritime Museum to learn about life at sea and about the experiences of early maritime explorers.

The tour of the Polly Woodside was excellent. Many boys asked well considered and inquiring questions and the explanations and general discussions provided by the staff of Polly Woodside were outstanding.

All boys now have an excellent appreciation of what life was like for the early sea explorers and for those pioneers travelling vast distances across the oceans. They also appreciate that sea life was also exciting, challenging and hectic - which is just like being in Year 5 at Scotch!

Years 1 and 6 Cross Age Excursion

On Wednesday, 26 June Years 1T and 6P boys went to Books Illustrated. This was the first 'Cross-Age' excursion for the Junior School. At present the boys are working with their 'buddies' to write and illustrate a picture story book, so this excursion provided much valuable information and inspiration to assist that process.

During the excursion, the boys were shown the different stages an illustrator works through in illustrating a book.

Ann James, who has illustrated several children's books, talked with the boys about some of the characters which they have in their stories, and then she drew her interpretation of some of those characters.

The boys gained a lot more insight into the illustrating of a book and have incorporated many of these new ideas into their own books.

Year 2 Mathematics

Each Day 3, Year 2C and 2M boys join with their teachers and a small number of parents to engage in a series of

small-group mathematics activities. These 'hands-on' activities are drawn from all areas of mathematics (including number, space, measurement and chance and data) and reflect the 'real world' nature and application of mathematics. Cooking is undoubtedly the most popular activity, as it is not often that one is able to eat the final product of a maths lesson!

Many of the activities take the form of games and challenges and they require the use of problem solving skills and strategies to complete them.

Parent participation in this programme is vital as, with their assistance, a 1:6 ratio can be achieved and the boys can be more actively involved and supported in the tasks. The Year 2 boys would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents who help them in their enjoyment of mathematics.