Welcome One and All

Wishing a very warm Casey Grammar School welcome to all our students, staff and their families for 2022. It has been wonderful to see our students back in their classrooms and to hear their laughter and happy conversations with their teachers and friends.

I’d particularly like to welcome our new Junior School teachers. Mrs Vanessa Hodgkiss is our new Head of Early Years and one of our Foundation teachers. Mrs Fiona Laidlaw also joins us a Foundation teacher. Mrs Roxanne Levett and Mr Brent Jenkin have joined our Year 3 teaching team.

This year, Mrs Vanessa Khvorostin will be teaching Year 5 and Miss Elody Trompeuse has joined us to teach our Specialist subject, Digitech, which includes ICT and STEM. We also welcome Miss Sam Griffin back from maternity leave. May your time at CGS be long, enjoyable and productive.

Resilience and Adaptability

Our Junior School teaching staff has been hit hard with COVID since returning to school. As I’m sure you are aware, this has been very disappointing for those staff and their students. I’d like to thank our fabulous students whose teachers have been isolating recently. Their resilience and adaptability have shone through and I have seen firsthand just how happy they are when their teacher returns.

It isn’t easy having your teacher absent in the first two weeks of this school year, particularly for our Foundation students. I sincerely hope we are over the worst of this and that the year ahead is filled with students and staff onsite and with rich learning experiences in and out of the classroom, including excursions and camps.

Student Safety At All Times

I’d like to thank our parent body for working cooperatively with us to continue to ensure the safety of our school community by following our guidelines, particularly in relation to the arrival and departure of our students.

As I’m sure you are aware, student safety is of the utmost importance to us. Please continue to follow the guidelines that our Principal, Mrs Fiona Williams, communicated to parents and please take great care and exercise patience in our car park. Please be aware that, at the start of the school day, all students should be dropped off at the gates of the school. Also, remember that ONLY students in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 with NO older siblings will be dismissed at 2:55 pm. All other students will be dismissed on the bell at the usual time of 3:10 pm.

Keep safe and well

Melissa Roberton

Head of Junior School

An Exciting Start to the Schooling Journey

It has been wonderful to see the smiling faces of our Foundation students as they commenced their school journey. Our focus has been on developing a strong foundation for learning, helping students to feel excited about learning and to foster a sense of belonging.

Students have participated in a range of purposeful experiences, including varied opportunities to engage in creative expression, exploration of early literacy and numeracy skills and daily shared reading. They have also enjoyed our wonderful specialist programs including Performing Arts, Physical Education, Religion and STEM.

There have also been opportunities for structured interactive play and social skill development. During Circle Time discussions students have explored the concept of friendship, effective communication and developing self-confidence. Foundation students have embraced their new learning environment and routines with enthusiasm and we have been impressed with their positivity, inclusivity and resilience in these first few weeks of school.

Vanessa Hodgkiss

Foundation Classroom Teacher

Head of Early Years

Reconnecting with Friends

Our Year 1 students have settled into school routines while reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. We are learning more about friendship through shared reading experiences, including stories like The Rainbow Fish and Lost and Found that teach us about sharing, kindness and helping others.

Students have been extending their learning through many hands-on activities including fine motor skill tasks, maths games and art projects.

Specialist classes are also well underway, with students enjoying sport, music, religion, computer and library sessions with our great team of specialist teachers.

Stephanie Hall

Year 1 Teacher

Laughter and Enthusiasm

It has been lovely to see our Year 2 students enjoying the first few weeks of the new school year. All our classes have enjoyed being back in the classroom and being around their friends.

The laughter and enthusiasm has made for a very positive start to the year. They are quickly setting good work routines and habits for a successful year ahead.