On Monday, we celebrated Teacher’s Day. There was a special assembly for the Infants, and the Primary children. The children all brought in a flower which represents a gift given with love and respect the two qualities necessary for any learning to take place. The children were also asked to reflect on what a teacher had taught them. These reflections were wide and varied and some of them were shared in Assembly. All the reflections were mounted on cardboard and displayed in the Hall during the week. Di Renshaw Deputy Headmistress …

Moving around the classrooms this week and looking at all the work on the walls, it is easy to see the level of excellence that children strive for and take pride in throughout the school. When children love learning, it is natural for them to want to do their best. On Wednesday I had the pleasure of visiting Lower 1st to look at their writing. I was struck by their beautiful handwriting and by the high standard of their writing. It reflected both focus and effort. Similarly, watching Upper 1st do what is called a “cold write” where they have one stimulus, and are required to write with little preparation, it was obvious that their understanding of grammar and …

This week we celebrated our founders in both the Infants and Primary assemblies. It is important that the children are aware of the rich history behind the founding of the school, but more importantly perhaps the original vision of Leon MacLaren after whom our Hall is named. He believed that principles of truth and justice and development of fine character lay at the heart of good education. This combined with a broad curriculum that includes language, philosophy, music and the arts has laid the foundation for our students since 1985 when John Colet first opened its doors to 14 students. Di Renshaw Deputy Headmistress …

Having been away for most of the week, it was lovely to get back to school today. Respect is the School Value that we are considering this term and it happens to coincide with a deeper consideration of Respect in L1st Philosophy classes. Today the children discussed manners, politeness, and simple courtesy towards others. They all agreed that one effect of manners is to make others happy and to feel that they are acknowledged. Remembering to use manners is a very simple but effective way to teach younger children a sense of self awareness, which naturally grows to become an awareness of others. Di Renshaw Deputy Headmistress …

Next week will be the last week of a long and busy term. At this time, everyone is starting to show the signs of needing a rest. The children have all worked hard this term and really put their best foot forward in so many different ways. On Monday we will conduct our Easter Service and true to form, the 6th class children have stepped up to help out. In particular, two of our senior girls have very willingly lent their services to write a simplified version of the scripture so that the younger children can understand the words from St Luke when they are read by the leadership team. On Wednesday we will have our ANZAC Day service …