Junior School News

I am extremely happy to report that we have had a busy and productive fortnight in the Junior School.

Our Year 3 to 6 students thoroughly enjoyed our recent Athletics Carnival. Despite a couple of showers, everyone had a wonderful day showing off their athletic prowess and having lots of good old-fashioned fun.

Sincere thanks to our teachers and learning assistants for ensuring that the day ran smoothly and a special shout out to Mr Jeff Batey for organising the day. Well done to all of our ribbon recipients and our Champions and Runner Up Champions, and congratulations to Miss Maria Ramos and Reid House for taking home the trophy after narrowly beating Booth by only 10 points!

District Swimming Update

Last week, 21 students, Mr Batey and Ms Mepstead attended the District Swimming Meet. All competitors swam strongly and represented CGS with distinction. Huge congratulations and best of luck to the following students who won their respective races and are now through to the Divisional Swimming Meet:

10 Girls Butterfly: Ameek B

11 Girls Freestyle: Isabella S

12/13 Girls Butterfly: Alice W

Open Girls Medley Team: Nereesa W, Alice W, Emma V and Isabella S.

Celebrating our Commissioning Service

We were thrilled to have our Year 3 to 6 students back in our PAC to enjoy our recent Year 6 Commissioning Service. It was a joy to present our Year 6 students with their candles to mark their final year at Casey Grammar Junior School and to hear the commitments made by our leaders.

I was very proud of our 2022 Junior School leaders and all our Year 6 students. Sincere thanks to Mrs Riviere-Pendle for ensuring the service was such a wonderful event.

Congratulations to every Year 6 student on your commissioning as the leaders of our Junior School and also to Ms Ramos who was commissioned as our new Head of Reid House.

Although we were unable to have parents onsite, I hope the parents of our 2022 Year 6 students enjoyed the recording of this important celebration.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Mrs Vanessa Khvorostin, our new Year 5 teacher, who recently attended the Monash University Dean’s lunch to receive the following awards:

  • Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence
  • The Bank First Aspiring Teacher Award
  • Peter McRae Meyer Primary Teaching Prize
  • Academic Medal of Excellence

These awards were based on results from studies completed in 2020 and were awarded in 2021 but, due to COVID-19, they could not be presented until now. We are extremely proud of Mrs Khvorostin and I’m sure our students will benefit from the hard work and determination that went in to achieve these prestigious awards.

Car Park Safety Plea

Unfortunately, despite our best intentions to keep our students safe, we still have parents driving unsafely in our car park. As our Principal, Mrs Fiona Williams, recently stated: “You must follow road rules in and around the car parks. This includes driving slowly, stopping and looking for children at pedestrian crossings, parking in designated parking bays and demonstrating respect towards all other car park users.”

Yard Duty Reminder

I’d like to remind parents that CGS staff commence before school yard duty at 8:25 am and conclude yard duty after school at 3:25 pm. We cannot supervise Junior School students before 8:25am or after 3:25pm so we ask that students aren’t dropped off at school before 8:25am.

If you require before school care, please contact Team Kids on 0439 257 842, or Judy Clarkson Cranbourne Day Care and Kindergarten Centre on 5996 1415. If students haven’t been collected by 3:25 pm, they will be escorted to the office to await pick up.

Smart Watches

Since the start of this school year, we have noticed a huge influx of students in the Junior School wearing smart watches. As I’m sure you would agree, these watches are often an extension of a mobile phone and they need to be treated as one. I understand that parents sometimes need to communicate with their child but we ask that this is done after school.

Students can wear watches that don’t connect to mobile phones, communicate with others, play music or games, or take photos. Smart watches create a security risk for our school. If your child is wearing a smart watch, it needs to be handed to their teacher at the beginning of the day and collected at home time. Thank you for your understanding with this important matter.

This year has certainly got off to a great start with all students on campus enjoying learning with their teachers and classmates. We hope this continues for the rest of the year and we are now eagerly looking forward to our Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 camps that are all scheduled during March.

Please keep safe and well

Melissa Roberton

Head of Junior School

TWOsDAY

Casey Grammar School’s Year 6 students love to make learning fun and Tuesday, 22nd February was no exception! To celebrate TWOsday (22.2.2022) they took part in a range of TWO themed activities.

They found 22 examples of nouns, verbs and adjectives from page 22 of their reading books, did 2 minutes of jumping jacks and wrote a 222-word story in 22 minutes!

Did you know that this date is a palindrome and an ambigram? This means that the date will read the same from left to right, from right to left AND upside down! The Year 6 students tested this out by making a giant 22.2.2022 on the Casey Grammar School oval.

We love seeing the students get so much joy out of learning!

Junior School District Swimming

On Thursday, 24 February, some of our students headed to Dandenong Oasis to participate in the District Swimming Competition. The students supported each other with lots of cheering and encouragement and Casey Grammar performed exceptionally well.

The School finished 4th overall and a number of our students nowprogress to Divisional level after finishing first in individual events or relays. They are:

  • 1st Place U10 Girls Butterfly: Ameek B
  • 1st Place 11 Girls Freestyle: Isabella S
  • 1st Place 12/13 Girls Butterfly: Alice W
  • 1st Place Open Girls Medley Team: Nereesa W, Alice W, Emma Van and Isabella S

Thank-you to the parents who came along to show their support and to Ms Mepstead for helping on the day.

Jeff Batey

Primary School P.E and Sport

Years 3-6 Athletics Carnival

It was fantastic to be able to go ahead with our Years 3-6 Athletics Carnival at Casey Fields on Friday, 18th February. Despite a few showers, we managed to complete all events. The participation and enthusiasm shown by the students was commendable, with plenty of support, encouragement and House spirit on display. While Booth house mounted a mighty comeback towards the end of the day, it was Reid House who accumulated the highest number of points overall and claimed the House Cup by just 10 points in the narrowest of margins:

  • 1st Place – Reid: 366 points
  • 2nd Place – Booth: 356 points
  • 3rd Place – Leaver: 246 points
  • 4th Place – Trist: 216 points

Congratulations to the following students who took out age group Champion and Runner-Up Champion:

  • 8/9 Girls Champion: Zara M (Reid)
  • 8/9 Girls Runner-Up: Pranshi R (Leaver)
  • 8/9 Boys Champion: Logan S (Reid)
  • 8/9 Boys Runner-Up: Ishkhwab S (Reid)
  • 10 Girls Champion: Vrinda S (Booth)
  • 10 Girls Runner-Up: Ameek B (Reid)
  • 10 Boys Champion: Blake R (Trist)
  • 10 Boys Joint Runner-Up: Tyler M (Reid) and Kimi D (Reid)
  • 11 Girls Champion: Lucy Van Bl (Trist)
  • 11 Girls Joint Runner-Up: Arianna J (Booth) and Harleen S (Reid)
  • 11 Boys Champion: Akam S (Leaver)
  • 11 Boys Runner-Up: Jacob D (Reid)
  • 12/13 Girls Champion: Alarice M(Reid)
  • 12/13 Girls Runner-Up: Meg Van B(Trist)
  • 12/13 Boys Champion: Lucas L (Booth)
  • 12/13 Boys Runner-Up: Oliver V (Booth)

Thank-you to the large number of parents and family members who attended to show their support for the students; it was great to be able to finally welcome you all back to a sporting event, and hopefully plenty more to come. Thank-you also to the Casey Grammar staff for running their events and completing duties so efficiently.

Jeff Batey

Junior School P.E and Sport

Reid Wins The Cup!

Athletics Day 2022 was full of fun, sportsmanship and House spirit. This was my first Head of House event and I felt tremendous pride in the way that the students in Reid carried themselves throughout the day. All students tried their personal best and did what they could to contribute to our overall House points. The day ended with a victory for Reid.

I would like to congratulate these Reid students for winning a medal and for their hard work during the Athletics Carnival:

  • Year 3: Zara McEvoy and Logan Sumanada
  • Year 4: Enaksha Rana and Tyler Martin
  • Year 5: Jake Dawes, Ameek Boparai and Harleen Senghera
  • Year 6: Alarice Moore


Here is what our Reid House Captains had to say about the day.

Chrissy M: This year's Athletics Day was the best! Being the new House Captain and getting to experience winning the Cup was the best part. I got to see everyone cheering on others and supporting not just Reid but the other houses, too. I am very happy that I got to continue the pattern of Reid winning once again.

Jeremy E: This Athletics Day was the best. Getting to win and being the Reid House Captain was great. Winning the Cup was an amazing experience and was the best part. I also enjoyed cheering on others. I am super happy that Reid won and feel excited to keep up our winning streak!

Once again, it was a pleasure to be a part of such an exciting day. Congratulations to our Reid Captains, our Reid students and all the Years 3 to 6 students who were part of the event.

Maria Ramos

Head of Reid House

Memories From Trist House

What a fabulous day was had by all at the annual Years 3 to 6 Athletics Carnival last Friday. It was fabulous to see all the Trist students having fun competing in each of the different events and demonstrating the Trist House values of teamwork, trust and talent.

While Trist didn’t come away with the House Cup, we are super proud of all of our Trist members for their enthusiasm and achievements on the day. Special congratulations to Blake R for winning the Under 10 Boys Overall Champion, Lucy V who was Under 10 Girls Overall Champion and Meg V who was Under 12 Girls Runner Up Champion.

Congratulations also to the Trist House students who represented Casey Grammar at the District Swimming Sports on Thursday. They are Tyler A, Alice W and Nereesa W.

Amy Mepstead

Year 6 Teacher, Head of Trist House

Memories from Booth House

Booth students enjoyed a wonderful Athletics Day. It was the first time that the Year 3 students attended this event and they loved being part of the House spirit. The students dressed in green and had fun singing the chant with green pom poms! The House mascot, Billy Booth, watched the events with great excitement.

A big congratulations to the students who placed in their events—we certainly have some talented and sporty students in Booth! Congratulations to our overall winners including Lucas L Oliver V, Vrinda S and Arianna J. Booth came second overall and we were only 10 points behind the winning team.

Special thanks to our House Captains, Ollie and Johanna, who demonstrated lots of enthusiasm and encouragement throughout the day!

Sarah Nolan

Upper Primary Leading Teacher, Head of Booth House, Year 4 Classroom Teacher

Leaver Legends News

The competition was on when the children in Years 3 to 6 headed off to Casey Fields for the annual House Athletics Carnival. Events included the100m sprint, Triple Jump, High Jump, Vortex, 800m, Discus, Long Jump and Shotput. Everyone was excited and dressed in their House colours.

In every event, students gave it their best and as the saying goes: ‘Quitters never win and winners don’t quit’. We had to stop a few times because of the rain but I am very proud to say that nothing could dampen our Leaver spirit!

Our students share some of their memories below. Well done Leaver Legends!

‘I liked how we all got to improve and did our best this year. When we did our chants, it was super fun because we had new Leaver Legend students from Year 3’. Abaraj K 6N

‘I loved doing the cheer and supporting my team, competing in the events I had lots of fun. My favourite event was the vortex!’ Ivy T 5K

Mrs Bronwyn Kyne

Head of Leaver House

Instrumental Ensemble Program

Our Years 5 and 6 Instrumental Ensemble Program is up and running for the second year in a row with 24 students enrolled. The first couple of weeks were spent experiencing different orchestral instruments and now the students have begun tuition on their chosen instrument.

They are all very excited to take home their instruments and to practice ready for their first orchestral performance at our Winter Concert on Thursday, 2 June.

Mrs Bronwyn Kyne

Performing Arts Teacher, Head of Leaver House