Rising to the Challenge: From Floods to Friendships
This term has been a vibrant tapestry of events, learning and growth. Our students have embraced a wide range of opportunities to develop and demonstrate the dispositions of powerful learners by showing curiosity, resilience, collaboration and creativity in every corner of the school. From classroom discoveries to whole-school celebrations, it’s been a season of meaningful moments and shared success.
Year 5
This term, our Year 5 students have taken on an exciting leadership role as part of a peer-led initiative designed to strengthen friendships and promote student wellbeing. Through short, engaging lessons, they have been revisiting and reinforcing key concepts from the UR Strong – Friendology program, previously introduced in Terms 1 and 2.
Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students have enjoyed learning about topics such as Inner Ninja, True Colours, Making Friends, Friendship Facts, Friend-O-Meter, Friendship Fires, Tricky Situations, and Kind + Strong. Stage 2 students have been exploring these themes too, with the addition of Mean-on-Purpose, which helps them reflect on more complex social situations and practice effective strategies for managing them.
The program has been highly interactive, incorporating games, circle time, and storytelling to help younger students develop confidence, empathy, and positive relationship skills. Year 5 leaders have embraced the opportunity to connect with their peers, model positive behaviours, and empower others to build healthy, respectful, and lasting friendships.
My group has really loved playing games, circle time and story time. My favourite week so far has been helping our Kindergarten class in naming and understanding their feelings.
My favourite part has just been getting to know all of these other students in our school.
The Peer Support program has already been a highlight of the term, fostering a stronger sense of connection across year levels and equipping all students with the skills they need to nurture meaningful friendships.
Year 6
As part of an engaging geography unit on natural disasters, Year 6 students explored the devastating impact of flash flooding by designing and constructing flood-proof houses. This hands-on learning experience challenged students to apply their understanding of structural integrity and environmental engineering. They researched how floods affect communities and used this knowledge to craft miniature homes equipped with engineered drainage systems and reinforced materials. The goal was to create structures that could withstand the force of fast-moving water, encouraging students to think critically about real-world problems and innovative solutions.
The highlight of the unit was a striking experiment where students tested their models against simulated flash flooding. Watching the water surge through the testing area, students observed how weaker constructions were quickly swept away, while sturdier, well-drained designs held firm. This dramatic demonstration not only reinforced the importance of thoughtful engineering but also sparked meaningful discussions about resilience, sustainability, and the role of design in disaster preparedness. The experience left students with a deeper appreciation for the challenges faced by communities affected by natural disasters and the power of innovation in overcoming them.
Enrichment
Junior School has been flourishing and thriving with Enrichment and Co-curricular opportunities for our students this term! At the start of Term 3, we were able to see a range of students across take part in the Curie Project and see their incredible projects created at the end of last term, in honour of National Science Week. Our students produced quality pieces of learning and inquiry, tackling how a town could be designed to enable humans and ecosystems. Congratulations to Oscar R from Year 5 for winning this competition with his project!
We also had the exciting opportunity to send two Stage 3 teams to the Gateway8 Academic Challenge Competition. Our students had an excellent time being challenged to think flexibly, creatively and play to their unique strengths across a range of Key Learning Areas. One of our teams did a fabulous job on the Music task and received 3rd place!
Coming up in Week 9, we also have the chance to celebrate Book Week as a Junior School! This is always an exciting time and we have a range of events happening throughout the week. As a new part of Book Week, we have a Year 5 and Year 6 team taking part in the ‘Write a Book in a Day’ competition by the Kids Cancer Project. These teams will spend one day designing and creating a book with given parameters provided by The Kids Cancer Project. The aim of the event is to inspire excellence in creative writing and illustrating, as well as Collaboration, Craftsmanship and Curiosity, as well as raising awareness and funds for the organisation. We’d love you to sponsor us if you can – follow the QR codes to see who is on our teams and raise money for the important work that The Kids Cancer Project does.
God bless,
Mrs Kathryn Watkins
Deputy Head of Junior School – Teaching and Learning
