Welcome Dr Jacob

We were very pleased to welcome our new Deputy Principal, Dr Robert Jacob, to Casey Grammar last week. Dr Jacob has immersed himself in the life of the school, attending many school events and quickly becoming well known to the students, staff and parents. He is a very welcome addition to our school community.

School Events

It has been a busy couple of weeks with many important school events. Our Senior School music students participated in the SIS Big Night Concert, which was a wonderful celebration of music across all SIS schools. Senior School parents had the opportunity to meet with their child’s teachers at our Parent Teacher Students Conferences and the choice of on-line or face to face interviews proved to be very popular amongst both the parents and the teachers. Junior school will hold their Parent Teacher Interviews early next term.

Our Year 10 students enjoyed many career-focused activities and excursions during Careers Week. Thanks to our extraordinary Careers Counsellor, Ms Blythman, who organised these fabulous learning activities for the Year 10 students. The whole school participated in a huge variety of cultural immersion activities during Harmony Week, and we all learned a bit more about the food, dance, songs, customs and clothing of the various cultural groups represented in our very multi-cultural school. Congratulations to Mrs Riviere-Pendle for her organisation of a very full week of activities across both Senior and Junior School.

Our Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students are relieved to have another set of NAPLAN tests behind them. We look forward to receiving the students’ NAPLAN results later in the year. This data is always useful for differentiating lessons to accommodate the individual learning needs of each of our students.

Farewell to a Much Loved Building

The Joan Reid Learning Centre has been vacated in preparation for demolition over the upcoming school holidays. Last Thursday, staff gathered beneath the stained-glass windows for one last time to say farewell to this much-loved building. The Joan Reid Learning Centre was officially opened in 2000 and has played a central role in the learning of many generations of Casey Grammar students. The staff came together to share fond memories of the building and its many learning spaces.

One of my favourite stories is from Head of Junior School, Mrs Roberton, who had two of her children christened by Reverend John Leaver in front of the magnificent stained-glass windows in what was then known as the ‘Secret Chapel’. The old Joan Reid Learning Centre makes way for our magnificent new building which will commence construction next term.

ISV Parent Portal

I recommend the Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) Parent Portal to you. It contains lots of well researched articles relevant to various aspects of modern parenting. Clinical Psychologist Andrew Fuller is a regular columnist, and you will find his work wise, relatable and entertaining:

https://theparentswebsite.com.au/writers/andrew-fuller/

I also found the article written by Joanne Orlando ‘Should you be checking your kid’s phone?’ interesting and informative:

https://theparentswebsite.com.au/should-you-be-checking-your-kids-phone/

Fiona Williams

Principal