Welcome Back to Term 2! 

Let’s hope it’s another fabulous term full of uninterrupted learning and many extra-curricular activities.

I hope all families enjoyed the holidays, including Easter and Anzac Day. Late last term, our Junior School students attended Easter Chapels that were expertly prepared by our Year 6 students, Mrs Grant and Mrs Riviere-Pendle. The true meaning of Easter was explored and our students also enjoyed guest appearances from some Easter characters.

Students acknowledged Anzac Day in their classes. Teachers taught their students the significance of Anzac Day by reading picture story books, making Anzac biscuits, researching and through many discussions.

Some classes were fortunate to have Mrs Harrison’s husband, Brett, and his service dog, Matilda, visit. Mr Harrison served in the Australian Army and he spoke to students about his deployments and the importance of Anzac Day and honouring our war veterans.

Our Junior School Captains, Murphy and Meg, were joined by one of our Social Justice Captains, Nethuli, at the Cranbourne War Memorial for the Anzac Service where they laid a wreath on behalf of CGS.

This term, it was wonderful to welcome our parents back to campus before and after school and for outdoor events. I’m sure parents who attended our recent Cross Country event enjoyed seeing their children in action.

Congratulations to our champions and runners up and the best of luck to our students who will now represent CGS at District Cross Country.

Congratulations to Reid House who won the Cross Country for 2022!

I’d like to thank Junior School parents who recently attended our Parent-Teacher interviews. By working closely with parents, we aim to create strong partnerships to support each student’s wellbeing and educational outcomes — these interviews play a big part in that. We are most grateful for our parents’ continued support.

I trust all our wonderful mums, grandmothers and carers enjoyed spending time with their children on Mother’s Day. It was fabulous to see many of you at our F–2 Mother’s Day celebration afternoon.

Given that much of these students’ time at school so far has been spent in lockdown and being unable to have parents onsite, it was a joy to have everyone back together enjoying themselves.

Thanks to Mrs Kylie Ingle, Ms Vanessa Hodgkiss and our F–2 teachers for putting on such a successful afternoon. Thanks also to our wonderful PFC who ran our Mother’s Day stall again this year. I’m sure many of you received lovely gifts wrapped up in love last Sunday from your precious children.

Finally, thanks to everyone who attended our Mother’s Day Morning Tea that was also run by our generous PFC. The opportunity to gather together was appreciated by all and let’s hope these events become the norm again.

Stay safe and well.

Changes to Dandenong Campion Store

From Friday, 29 April, Campion’s Dandenong South store closed for walk-in purchases, but it remains open for Click & Collect during May and June.

Parents can order online for Click & Collect or delivery via www.campion.com.au

A new store in Hallam will open in July with the specific date to be confirmed.

A full list of Campion stores can be located at www.campion.com.au/parents/store-locations/

If you have any questions, please contact Campion via https://www.campion.com.au/contact/ or call 1300 433 982.

Basketball Players Wanted

Casey Basketball Association is looking for girls and boys aged five to nine-years-old who’d like to start playing basketball.

Games are played on Thursdays or Saturdays.

To register your interest, please visit www.caseybasketball.com.au/play

Big Thanks From the PFC

The Parents and Friends Committee (PFC) would like to thank Chandima and Sue, and Year 12 student, Lachlan, for their assistance with the Senior School Athletics Sausage Sizzle.

Thanks also to Sue and Tamara for their help with the Mother’s Day stall.

Secondhand Uniforms

The PFC Secondhand Uniform Shop is reopening soon!

Opening days: Tuesday, 17 May, Friday, 27 May, Tuesday, 7 June and Friday, 24 June

Opening hours: 8.00 am – 8.45 am

Please check the link on the website for details of what items are available.

Fantastic Fundraising Results

Trist House would like to express its gratitude to everyone who purchased an Easter Raffle ticket or donated a gold coin on Pyjama Day.

We raised $1,515 and the funds were donated to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

Congratulations to the winners of the Easter hampers:

• First prize: Luca (Leaver) 4N
• Second prize: Ayden (Trist) 6M
• Third prize: Akam (Leaver) 6M

Amy Mepstead

Year 6 Teacher, Head of Trist House

Book Fair

As the weather gets colder and wetter, there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book! It is a great activity to do independently or to share with a loved one. The presence of books in the home has been proven to have many benefits to student’s learning and academic success.

The Library loves to share its resources, allowing students to borrow books to share with their family. Sometimes children may want to own the books and purchasing books that a child can read repeatedly can spark their creativity, imagination, pride in their collection and continue their love of reading. This is why we run Book Fair.

This year’s Book Fair theme is ‘Dive into Reading’ . Students are already excited and sea creatures and beach displays are slowly appearing around the school.

Book Fair will run from Friday, 13 May until Friday, 20 May.

Junior School classes will have an allocated time to visit and see all the books on offer. Senior School students will be able to attend before and after school to avoid interruptions to their classes.

All students will create a ‘wish list’ of books they’d like to buy. Families are then able to use the details provided to log in to Scholastic Book Fair and purchase from their child’s wish list.

Once payment is made, families fill in their details and invoice number on the wish list, clearly indicating what they have bought, and their child returns the wish list to the library no later than Friday 20 May. Some children may be able to get their books straight away and others have to be ordered. Once the books are received by the school, your child will be able to take them home.

Due to COVID restrictions, we will not be processing payments on site and all orders must be made online. However, we are always happy to help and you can contact the school via email or phone and we will guide you through the online purchasing process. Money raised through the Book Fair will help the school increase the selection of books available to our students.

We know that spoiling our children with books to keep is not always an option so these books could be used as birthday or Christmas gifts or students could use pocket money. Students are reminded that they may not be able to get some or all of the books on their wish list and that they can continue to borrow books from the library anytime.

Diana Thompson

Head of the Joan Reid Learning Center

Poetry Time

This week we launched our first competition of 2022 for the Years 3 to 6 students.

Independent Schools Victoria is running a poetry competition with a theme of ‘Belonging’.

The students have shown lots of enthusiasm and I am sure we will have many wonderful entries. Today at lunchtime, we had over 30 students busily typing up their first poems and students may enter multiple times.

The categories are for written and video entries and the competition closing date is Friday, May 27. Good luck Casey Grammar students!

Miss Sarah Nolan

Upper Primary Leading Teacher

Learning to Tie Shoelaces

Tying their own shoelaces can be quite tricky for our younger students, but it is an important skill for them to learn. This is particularly evident in PE lessons when an untied shoelace could result in a trip, or missing some of the lesson while waiting for someone to tie it up.

Did you know there are a few different ways to tie shoelaces?

To help you find the technique that works for your child, here are some useful YouTube links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMuNjnNyaiA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_A2ki_PJy8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeSkBOYUlag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwqQvKtmefE

Belinda Roffey

Year 2,3 & 4 Physical Education Teacher

Mother’s Day

On Thursday afternoon, we were thrilled to hold our Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 Mother’s Day Celebration.

It was wonderful to welcome our mothers and special friends for an afternoon of fun activities and special time together. We began our celebrations by singing as a groupand it was lovely to see our Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 students singing together with big smiles on their faces as they looked out at the audience of mums and special friends.

From crown making, photo booths and colouring to nail salons and reading corners, the Junior School courtyard was buzzing with excitement. All students made something special to give to their mothers and it was a very special afternoon with lots of memories made.

We wish all the mothers and special friends a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Vanessa Hodgkiss

Head of Early Years

Woodwork Fun

This week, we were lucky enough to have a woodwork lesson in the secondary school with Mr Anthony Brown.

The students made personalised wooden keyrings by sanding, filing and engraving their designs. The students began the lesson by putting on a protective apron and listening to instructions and the equipment and learning space impressed them all.

Thank you, Mr Brown, for your generosity and sharing your knowledge with the students!

Yesterday, 4N went to the Woodwork Department to create something new. Our task was to make a keychain out of wood. We were able to use different tools to create our keychain, such as various types of files and we used a tool called an engraver to write our names. Some people made the keychain for their mums. We also used files and sandpaper to create curves on our keychains. Mr Brown showed us a crayon called a wood crayon that we used to make our letters stand out. At the end of the lesson, we used wood oil to make our keychains stand out. I really loved this lesson. It was a special treat for 4N! - Takdeer K

Today was such a splendid day because 4N did woodwork! We went into the room and got our aprons on. The woodwork teacher was Mr.Brown. The tools that we used were an engraver, sand paper and many other tools. What we were making was a key chain. Since it was close to Mother’s Day we were able to make one for our Mums if we wanted to, or one for ourselves. I made one for my mum. I had a terrific day. I can't wait to do more in Year 7! - Ruby T

Miss Sarah Nolan

4N Classroom Teacher

Year 4 Table Tennis

During Term 1, Year 4 students participated in the Spinnaroos program run by Table Tennis Victoria. This involved a series of four lessons teaching students how to play table tennis. The students were coached by Josh and Winuk from Table Tennis Victoria and it was rewarding to see each student improve their skills and game sense during the lessons. Our students have shared some memories of the program below.

In March we did table tennis! I love table tennis but I'm not very good at it. We learned all sorts of things like backhand and forehand. My favourite part was to see how many times we could hit the ball in a row — my highest rally was five. In the last week of table tennis, Josh said if we could return one of his special serves, we would get a prize. They got a ... keychain! I loved table tennis and I can't wait to do it next time! Eva, 4H

In table tennis, we learnt how to hold the bat. We got to play some matches. We learnt how to start a match. We worked in teams of four and played 2V2 or 1V1. I had fun playing table tennis and learning how to play. Ngong, 4H

For the past four weeks, all the Year 4 students have been learning table tennis from talented coaches. Our table tennis coach was named Winuk. He taught us everything a beginner needs to know. First, we learnt backhand and forehand and how to serve and return. Also, we practiced hitting the ball upwards as many times as we could. He even taught us how to slice the ball and showed us videos of him playing in tournaments. He could return the ball so fast our eyes couldn’t keep up. We even did rallies — that’s when you try and keep hitting the ball back and forth as many times as you can. Charlie & Meth, 4B

For the last four weeks, Josh from Table Tennis Victoria has visited 4N in our sport class to teach us about table tennis. This activity took place in the Gymnasium. Josh has taught us various concepts such as the basics, like holding a bat and serving. We improved our table tennis skills over the four weeks that Josh was here. Josh challenged our skills by doing his own special serve that we had to return. If we returned it, then we would win a special prize. Not many of the students could return it, because it was difficult. The Year 4s had an amazing opportunity learning more about table tennis. Josh was really kind and gave us all a prize at the end. Mckenzie & Ruby, 4N

Belinda Roffey

Year 2, 3 & 4 Physical Education teacher

Cross Country

Well done to all students from Years 3 to 6 who participated in the House Cross Country event this week. It was great to see so many students dressed in their House colours, dancing, supporting their teammates, performing House chants and completing the 2 or 3- kilometre course.

It was fantastic to finally be able to welcome back parents and friends after so many restrictions, too. Thank you for coming to show your support. Thank you also to all the staff for ensuring the event ran smoothly.

Congratulations to Reid House on winning the event and to the Champion and Runner-Up Champion in each age group. They are:

Champion 8/9 Boys: Snaver M

R/Up Champion 8/9 Boys: Cooper S

Champion 8/9 Girls: Zara M

R/Up Champion 8/9 Girls: Erlyn S

Champion 10 Boys: Ryan C

R/Up Champion 10 Boys: Blake R

Champion 10 Girls: Ava T

R/Up Champion 10 Girls: Eva S

Champion 11 Boys: Akam S

R/Up Champion 11 Boys: Kobi M

Champion 11 Girls: Isabella S

R/Up Champion 11 Girls: Arianna J

Champion 12/13 Boys: Oliver V

R/Up Champion 12/13 Boys: Leith S

Champion 12/13 Girls: Alarice M

R/Up Champion 12/13 Girls: Charlotte H

Jeff Batey

Primary School P.E and Sport

Congratulations Reid

Our Junior School Cross Country event was filled with yellow, blue, red and green as the children in Years 3 to 6 beamed with House pride!

It was inspiring to see the participants in Reid, Trist, Leaver and Booth demonstrate commitment from the start and until they reached the finish line. I want to extend my congratulations to all medallist winners for the hard work and effort they put into finishing the race.

I am so proud of everyone in Reid House for the incredible energy they brought to the event and for winning the 2022 Cross Country Cup. This makes them back-to-back winners so far this year. Well done to everyone for a fantastic day!

This year’s Cross Country was so much fun! It was great to be able to participate while leading Reid to victory. I loved seeing everyone’s sportsmanship throughout the day and hearing everyone cheering on the medallist winners. As a House Captain, I was very proud to see that even though kids were worried that they could not finish the race, they still got up and tried their best. That’s what House spirit is all about!! Chrissy M, Reid House Captain

I really enjoyed Cross Country 2022. My favourite part was seeing everyone’s sportsmanship and teamwork across all the four Houses. It was so positive to see the way that everyone was encouraging each other. Cross Country can be a little challenging, but the most important thing is that everyone did their best. Congratulations to Reid for winning and well done to Trist, Booth and Leaver for their awesome effort on the day. Jeremy E, Reid House Captain

Maria Ramos

Head of Reid House

Well Done, Leaver

Congratulations to all my Leaver Legends who participated in our annual Cross Country! You did such an amazing job — whether you ran your heart out, cheered your fellow ‘legends’ from the sidelines, or sung our chants at the top of your lungs. I was extremely proud of you all! And how great did we all look with our amazing red hats???? Until we meet again. GO LEAVER!!!

There was lots of excitement, some great House chants and lots of tired legs at the finish line! Leaver came in 4th place, Trist was 3rd, Booth came 2nd and Reid came 1st. It was a very enjoyable, fun event and everyone made a great effort. Well done to all the Casey Grammar students. Marco L, Leaver

Today was Cross Country and our House came 4th, which is last. I beat my personal record which was 11th place, but this time I got 10th. Paramveer B, Leaver

I loved Cross Country so much because I got to race my friends and race for my house. Leaver needs a win because we are the best. Go Leaver! Jaxon D, Leaver

Bronwyn Kyne

Head of Leaver House

Great Effort, Trist

Trist students represented their House and demonstrated talent and teamwork during the House Cross Country this week. Well done to all Trist students on giving it their best. Congratulations to Isabella on taking out the Under 11’s Girls Champion and Blake on being Under 10’s Runners Up Champion.

Years 3 to 6 had Cross Country today and it was so much fun. It was so adorable when the Year 3s were singing our team's chants. Everyone ran their little heart’s out. Reid won Cross Country but everybody enjoyed today. Mckenzie, Trist

I really loved cross country. It was hard running but it was worth the effort. Irushi, Trist

Cross Country was fun because I got to run around the school and have fun with my friends cheering with everyone. Lucas, Trist

Cross Country was really hard, but it was lots of fun. I actually didn’t think I would be able to run that far, but I tried my best and came 5th in the Under 10 boys. Dusty, Trist

Amy Mepstead

Head of Trist House

Nice Work, Booth

I am extremely proud of the Booth students coming second in Cross Country. They demonstrated wonderful sportsmanship to other competitors and their enthusiastic cheering was certainly evident.

I really enjoyed running for Cross Country. The first few races had tonnes of crowd energy and there was plenty of cheering on the students who ran past. Booth came second with total points and I am proud of my House. Lucas L, Booth

Today was Cross Country. I had so much fun, but I got really tired. I'm surprised I didn't get a stitch. It was nice hearing the Year 3 students sing the chants — you could tell they were excited! I think my House was the loudest. We even had pom poms for the students. I loved cheering on all the runners as they went past. It was such a fun day! Scarlett C, Booth

Today we had Cross Country. I was happy Booth House came second. All the Booth students were cheering on all the runners. There was so much green! We had lots of dress-ups, such as hats and tutus. I was really proud of all students in Booth House —we all tried our best. Zayan H, Booth

Sarah Nolan

Head of Booth House