Recognising Student Achievement and Excellence

Last week we enjoyed our first Awards Assembly for 2021. Many students from Years 3–6 were acknowledged and celebrated for living the School values, their academic achievements, sporting endeavours or excellence in the arts.

I’d like to congratulate all our award winners. You should be very proud of yourselves.     

We also celebrated one Principal’s award recipient from each year level. These prestigious awards were presented to the following students: 

  • Year 3   Jovita Jobin 
  • Year 4   Isabella Sutcliffe 
  • Year 5   Murphy Hancox 
  • Year 6   Cameron Carr 

Congratulations to our worthy winners. It was wonderful to see so many parents returning to the PAC once again to celebrate their child’s achievements.  

Year 6 Students Produce a Newsworthy Performance

Last week we were delighted to have the talented students of 6M kick off our 2021 class assemblies. I can honestly say after not having any assemblies for well over a year due to COVID, this assembly was certainly worth the wait.

The students produced a News program for their audience and every student shone. Huge congrats to all our students and their fabulous teacher, Ms Mepstead. You have definitely set the bar high for all our assemblies to come!    

Celebrating our Special CGS Women

I’d like to sincerely thank our PFC members for their two events last week.

Firstly, thank you for the Mother’s Day Stall. Our Junior School students thoroughly enjoyed carefully and lovingly selecting their precious gifts for their mothers. I hope all our mums enjoy opening these gifts on Sunday.    

Secondly, thank you to the PFC for organising, catering, and running the Mother’s Day morning tea last Friday. Our mums certainly enjoyed the opportunity to again come together and celebrate all the special women in our CGS community.    

Last Friday also saw our P–2 classes open their doors to welcome their mums to a special early Mother’s Day celebration. As I wandered from classroom to classroom it was obvious from the smiles on the faces of our mums and our students that it was a huge success.

Many thanks to our mums for attending and to our teachers for all their efforts in making this great event happen.    

Wishing all our mums, be they parents or staff, a very Happy Mother’s Day!    

Melissa Roberton 

Head of Junior School 

Huffing and Puffing their way to Fitness 

The Year 1 students have begun this term with Huff and Puff Fitness. The students participate in activities and games designed to improve fitness, including fitness stations, tiggy, dance and relays.

They notice and discuss the changes in their bodies during and after these fast-paced activities such as breathing faster, sweating, feeling hot and their heart beating faster. The students are encouraged to keep going even if they feel puffed and are learning to slow down, reduce the intensity or to have a short break.

“You run around and your heart beats faster. You get stronger and you breathe faster. I like it because I get stronger.” —Lachlan 1H 

“Huff and Puff is when you get really sweaty, your heart beats fast and you breathe faster. It’s good for you because you get fit, you feel hot, and you’ll be big and strong.” —Myra 1H 

“It gets you fitter. It makes our heart go fast and it makes you go faster. When you’re running you look straight.” —Emir 1B 

“We jog and run around. You breathe in and you breathe out. You run on your tippy-toes. It helps you and makes you fit.” —Anavya 1B 

“You play tag. You run away from the tagger and if the tagger is super-fast you better run super-fast. You can do fun activities like jumping jacks, go through hoops and we can go around the poles. I feel my heart beat faster. I breathe quicker.” —Allanah 1S 

Belinda Roffey 

Year 1, 4 & 6 Physical Education teacher 

Using Maths to Explore Science 

In STEM, our Year 2 and 4 students have been applying their Maths skills to explore the science and engineering involved in Whirly Birds while engaging in sequential/algorithmic thinking.  

Year 2 students have been applying their folding, cutting, and estimating skills and exploring measuring in centimetres using a ruler. Year 4 students have been measuring in millimetres.  

After creating a Whirly Bird from a base design, the Year 2 students have been observing what happens when we change variables in the design and the role that weight and gravity play.  Click here to see the Whirly Birds in action!

Year 4 students have designed their own experiments based on one variable of their choice; hypothesising how that will impact their design and then measuring and recording the data from their experiment and drawing conclusions from it.  

Jess Burns
Junior School ICT and STEM 


Student Reflections:  

“We made Whirly Birds and changed one variable. We changed the length of the blades and found that when you increase the length of the blade by 2cm the length of time it takes to reach the ground increases by 0.5 seconds. We enjoyed experimenting with the Whirly Birds.” —Nathan Carter and Dihein Fernando 4N 


“Our variable was the amount of tape at the bottom. We measured the Whirly Birds twice and used the average time. We thought that the one with more tape would be quicker but it was the opposite. It was fun to measure the results and see the different times for the different variables.” —Ivy Tucker and Gurveen Sarwara 4N   

Conclusions by 4N Students: 

When the blade of the Whirly Bird is longer, it takes more time to reach the ground. This is consistent with our hypothesis.  

When we add weight to the bottom of the design, it made the Whirly Bird slower. This did not support our hypothesis. 

Kitchen Chemistry Reflection

By Aniella Cianciaruso and Esha Shiju 

On April 30th Mad About Science visited Year 6 to show us some cool science experiments. 

We learnt that the PH scale ranged from 1–14, 1 was acidic, 14 was base and in the middle, 7 was neutral. We filled up a balloon with carbon dioxide using only yeast and water. 

We did many other fun experiments with food dye, milk and washing detergent and, best of all, we even made our own sherbet!

Overall, the Science Incursion was super fun, and Liam was really nice to us! I hope that we can do another one another time. 

To the Book Fair and Beyond! 

Our library will hold its annual Scholastic Book Fair from 17–21 May. It is a wonderful opportunity for students to purchase books they enjoy, while encouraging reading and developing literacy skills. Students and parents can purchase a variety of books, from pre-school age to teenage years. 

Due to COVID restrictions, we are unable to have parents visit the Book Fair and it will not open before or after school.

Below are the steps involved in purchasing books:

  • Students will sanitise their hands upon entry to the Library, and again as they exit. 
  • Students will look at the books and fill out a wish list. Parents can then decide if they would like to purchase the books. Younger students will be helped to fill out their wish lists. 
  • All orders must be paid for online. No cash will be accepted. Instructions for payment are on the back of the wish list. 
  • Students should submit their completed order to the Library staff. Please make sure your receipt number is included on your final order.
  • Orders will be delivered to students in their classrooms. Please note that if an ordered item is not available, it will be placed on back-order. These usually take 10–14 business days and will be taken to the student in their classroom when they arrive. 
  • All wish lists must be returned to the Library before 4.00 pm on Friday, 21 May. 

A brochure will also be distributed before the Book Fair. Parents can choose books from the brochure to pre-purchase. 

Purchasing instructions:  

  • Follow the onscreen instructions.  
  • Write the receipt number on the back of the wish list and fill out all the details.  
  • Return the wish list to Miss Birch in the Library. 

Miss Rebecca Birch

Library Technician

Year 6M Makes the News at Assembly 

Grade 6M was recently lucky enough to present at the first Junior School Assembly for 2021. The students spent lots of time planning, writing their scripts and practicing their lines. 

The news themed assembly, ‘6M News’, demonstrated the students’ public speaking and performing skills, while entertaining the audience with their sense of humour. A special thanks to Mrs Bronwyn Kyne for her support behind the scenes. 

Well done on a fabulous assembly 6M.  

“It was lots of fun preparing the assembly, but I was a bit nervous on the stage acting.” —Zac 

“It was a fun experience, and it was great to collaborate with my peers to write our script.” —Kevin 

“I enjoyed watching the practice rehearsals.” —Alexia

“It was fun preparing and practicing our assembly, but it was quite nerve racking on stage. But overall, it was a great experience.” —Sienna

“It was a bit nerve racking on stage, and I am sad that it is over.” —Sehaj