Prep Tea Party 

It was with great excitement that I received an invitation from our Prep class to join them for a tea party last Monday. I arrived to see a wonderful long table set with a beautiful tablecloth, lovely floral napkins, fancy China cups and saucers, mini -teapots full of juice or milk for making milos and platters of muffins, brownie slice (thank you Bianca!), croissants and macaroons! There was something to tempt everyone at the table. 

Being a special tea party, the fabulous Miss Taylor had bought for each person at the table, a pearl necklace which we all wore throughout the day – we looked very ladylike indeed! 

As a thank you to the girls for inviting me, each girl was given a thank you card and two very special hair slides, making all the girls look incredibly beautiful at the party and as they moved through the day.  

It was a time of laughter, chatter, and excitement as I got to know more about the girls, and they got to know more about me. I had the better deal – they are such a lovely group of girls it was easy to get caught up in their chatter and with their enthusiasm about being in Prep. 

A huge thank you goes to their wonderful teacher, Miss Annie Taylor, who arranged the tea party. The girls were so excited about it, the rest of the Barbreck heard all about it too! I hope that when the Prep girls look at their necklaces and hair-slides they recall fond memories of this special event. 

Australian Curriculum 9.0  

Recently the Australian Curriculum 9.0 was released across the country. Within the latest version there are significant changes to the primary curriculum, providing a refreshing emphasis on essential content such as phonics and knowing and applying mathematics facts.  

The recent changes to the Australian Curriculum are testament to the strength of our Barbreck Academic Strategy that already places an emphasis on teaching students for a deeper understanding of key learning areas and developing critical thinking skills for long term academic success. We will move quickly to adopt the new curriculum.  

Within our Academic Strategy our Barbreck girls explore key curriculum areas through engaging activities that immerse them in their learning, creating greater connection to knowledge.  

This term we have seen our Year 1 girls presenting a story in Assembly on everyone is different, everyone is the same, which explores the differences humans have on the outside but the same feelings on the inside. The girls practised for days and were so proud of themselves in their final presentation – it was a wonderful example of learning through doing. I congratulate the girls and our Year 1 teacher, Mrs Courtney O’Brien, as well as our Year 1 parents who would have been reciting lines at home with their daughters in the lead up to the main event, I am sure!  

In Year 4 this week the girls created a Wax Works Museum within their classrooms. Parents, staff and other Barbreck students toured the Museum and learnt about the many explorers who created trade routes and pieced together our map of the world. The girls presented information about their chosen explorer and many of them came dressed as their explorer – further strengthening their understanding and knowledge of this Humanities and Social Sciences topic. Congratulations to the Year 4 girls and their teachers for this live learning expo.  

Reporting 

The Junior School teachers have been busy preparing the End of Semester Reports which should be published on our mystcatherines portal on Monday 27 June. Parents will receive a message when they have been uploaded and ready for viewing. As you are aware, the reporting program is changing next semester for Years 4 to 6 in Mathematics and specialist subjects. As such, this will be the last time that Years 4 to 6 parents will receive a report in the current format except for English and HASS in Semester 2 this year. Years Prep to Year 3 will continue with the current format for next semester before changing to the new format in 2023.  

More information and a date for the parent night will be forthcoming in early Term 3 to ensure all parents are well informed of the new and improved program of continuous reporting. 

Semester Break 

To all our wonderful Barbreck girls and their families, thank you for a great start to the 2022 School year. It has been so lovely to be on campus again, sharing our learning and spending time together as a Barbreck community once more. 

I wish everyone in our Junior School community a wonderful semester break and look forward to the return of our girls on Tuesday 19 July.