It has been wonderful to welcome students and families to Junior School this week.  Students have relished the opportunity to reconnect with friends, meet their classroom and specialist teacher/s, and with staff, set the foundations for a strong culture of learning for 2025. 

Strong learning cultures have a sense of predictability and clarity, and this is reflected in enhanced morning routines that all Junior School classroom teachers are implementing this year. We have introduced an additional bell, at 8.20am, to signal to students the time at which they should move to their classrooms, and this initiative has provided an additional sense of calm. 

Clarity has also been established through classroom agreements, co-constructed with students in both homeroom and specialist lessons, and framed around our core values of Kindness, Respect, Courage, Perseverance and Excellence. These agreements, sets of rules students commit to follow, are admirable in theory but only credible if they are revisited, critiqued and consistently lived. Students will be unpacking and learning more about the values in Living Our Values (LOV) lessons, and families are encouraged to discuss them with their children. 

I look forward to working to working in partnership with both families and staff to ensure students are at the heart of everything we do in Junior School in 2025. 

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