One of the many advantages of being in a school community of ELC to Year 12 students is the opportunity for cross-age connections to be fostered. Meeting new people of all ages is always exciting for our Junior School students, and there have been some wonderful examples of this over the last week.
Wednesday mornings before school are a sight to behold. As you wander down the open spaces in the Hickman building, you can see over 30 Year 11 and 12 students completely engaged in mentoring some of our JSK students in maths, reading, Chinese and conversational English. The commitment and dedication of the Senior School students is outstanding and the JSK students greet them with energy and enthusiasm as they work together solving maths problems, sharing a book, practicing their Chinese or discussing the unique complexities of the English language. It is lovely to witness the developing relationships and the ease at which they are formed between the senior and junior members of the school.
There was a heightened sense of excitement in Years 1 and 2 last week when they had a special visit from the Year 9s as part of their C-Change program. The purpose of the visit was to provide each Middle School student with an opportunity to polish their communication skills by teaching the younger students how to make an origami animal or a chatterbox. Each Year 9 student came carefully prepared to teach their younger partner the intricate steps to make something out of a square sheet of paper. There were squeals of delight from the younger partners as the successful paper crafting took shape and a visible sense of satisfaction and nostalgia as the Year 9s successfully communicated the instructions to their enthusiastic students.
Watching the older buddies taking care of their younger buddies in the delightful commotion of House sessions is confirmation that our Buddy System is a meaningful and important part of developing community within the Junior School. The bond between older and younger Junior School students is never more evident than during these authentic experiences where the older students conscientiously take on the responsibility of ensuring their younger buddies are involved and enjoying the experience.
It was fabulous to have prospective parents and future students at our Open Morning on Tuesday this week. Seeing our Year 6 students beam with pride as they talked about our School was a great endorsement for Carey. Watching them engage with complete strangers for up to half an hour displayed their obvious communication and interpersonal skills, not to mention their confidence levels. We are indeed very proud of the Year 6 cohort of students and commend them for the way in which they represented our Junior School.
We wish all our families a very Happy Easter and a restful break and look forward to an exciting Term 2.
Lee Taylor
Deputy Head of Junior School Kew – Student Learning
