Category: Latest News from John Colet School Belrose

Deputy Head of School Comment

Today I received an email from our new Sports teacher Mrs Collins to say that our year 3/4 T- Ball team had shown such good sportsmanship that they had been commended by the opposition. “They graciously gave the opposition extra players to make up their team and were supportive and encouraging throughout.” It is always inspiring to see that the children are actively engaged in demonstrating the school values and representing John Colet so well.

Di Renshaw
Deputy Headmistress
The post Deputy Head of School Comment appeared first on John Colet School | Sydney.

See Full Post >>

Head of School’s Comment

Thank you to our Parents and Friends Association who have been working with many families over the past month to organise Lunar New Year celebrations. The children have had a range of related activities in class and during Art, as well as receiving fortune cookies today and watching a Dragon Dance.
We would also like to acknowledge and thank those parents who have stepped into being Class Representatives this year. Our Class Representatives play an important part in coordinating and bringing our community together. They cannot do it alone though, and helping out over the year can come in many forms. Don’t hesitate to offer assistance when needed, as more hands make light work.
Julian Wilcock
Head of School
The post Head of School’s Comment appeared first on John Colet School | Sydney.

See Full Post >>

Deputy Head’s Comment

Eagle Awards are given to children to acknowledge the demonstration of the School Values. These awards can be nominated by any staff member who observes a child putting the values into practice.
In the last two weeks it has been a pleasure to give out a number of awards to children who have quietly and generously seen a need and offered their services. This usually means giving up play time which they do happily. This is one way to see that the teaching of our School Values has become part of their being.
Di Renshaw
Deputy Headmistress
The post Deputy Head’s Comment appeared first on John Colet School | Sydney.

See Full Post >>

This coming Wednesday we have our first Market Day for 2021. Our 6th Class House Captains choose a charity or project they wish to support and together with their 6th Class team look to raise money around a fun event. This Term Neo Siu, representing Cook, has chosen Care Australia and the School will have a mufti day (children can wear clothes of their choice).
Organising Market Day is an important part of 6th class students’ connection to the value of Service. They have also demonstrated other examples of service in their first few weeks of school by helping L1st students to class, speaking in Assembly and to visitors to our School, and most importantly through leading by example.
Julian Wilcock
Head of School
The post appeared first on John Colet School | Sydney.

See Full Post >>

Deputy Headmistress Comment

This week I would like to revisit one of the most important aspects of our teaching pedagogy at John Colet which is the regular practice of the Pause before and after each lesson. The children learn to bring themselves to stillness from the very first day that they start at school. If you speak to any child  in any class, they will tell you that the pause clears their mind and brings them to peace. As one child in 3rd class said yesterday, I go to a big space. The effect of continually coming to a point of stillness cannot be underestimated. It allows the children to continually re-set and come back to themselves so that they can give full attention to the next task at hand.
Di Renshaw
Deputy Headmistress
The post Deputy Headmistress Comment appeared first on John Colet School | Sydney.

See Full Post >>

Head of School’s Comment

This week our Primary students who had tried out, and been selected to be in a PISA team, had their first competitive matches. By all accounts their performances were strong and they supported each other as a team, as well as showing respect for the opposition. We have seen the same positive approach from students involved in our regular sports lessons as also during our current swimming program.
As we look forward to our Primary Swimming Carnival in just a few weeks, it is the combination of individual personal bests, healthy competition between the Houses, as well as support and respect for fellow students across the board, that makes this event so special.
We are looking at the value of Service, and in particular the concept of our ‘duty’. The points above are great examples of having a duty to perform at our best, or of the duties within a team or

See Full Post >>

Straight back into the work

When you have the same class teacher for two or three years, there is no downtime at the start of the year.  Our 4th Class are really working hard right off the bat.
Writing: The children are enjoying beginning to learn about the Odyssey. This week they have written great dialogues from inside the Trojan horse; they are working on making their writing engaging for the reader with rich vocabulary and on using the correct punctuation and spacing for direct speech.
Dictation:  We have begun a weekly program of dictation to help children practise giving their full attention with a focus on handwriting and spelling. Each week, using our spelling focus, the children will copy text (using their cursive script as much as they can), and then write the text in a dictation.
Maths: we have been revising and learning new strategies for adding and subtracting in our heads, and also moving on to

See Full Post >>