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• Regional visit to Wagin
• Swimming Carnivals
• Principal’s Bike Ride

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend, spent quality time with family and friends and recharged their batteries ready for the second half of the term.

Last Thursday the School celebrated its 111th birthday with a whole school assembly in the Blue Gym. Our guest speaker, Old Boy Chris Webster spoke about his journey at the School and the bonds with his peers that have lasted a lifetime. He reflected on an uncertain start to his professional career which then took a very different and positive direction, allowing him to reinvent himself and find a lot of satisfaction personally and professionally. This was a salient message for the boys about an important phase of their life and that they should do their best whilst in School and then as Chris said, ‘allow the world to open up to you’. If you would like to see photos from the event please follow this link.

Tomorrow Director of the Walters Residential Community Brad Downing and Residential Year Group Co-ordinator Tom Jerram will be in Wagin at the Woolorama. This visit is the first of many visits to our rural communities – and I am in the south west from Friday 12 to Friday 19 March at various sundowners. These visits are a great opportunity to meet with families and friends in their communities and I am also hoping to make connections with prospective and future parents in the area. Please see here for the dates and venues and if you would like to come along I look forward to seeing you.

Tomorrow we will have all boys from the Senior School in and around the pool as we run our Age Group Swimming Championship and modified House Swimming Carnivals. The first event will be electronically timed so that the boys have the opportunity to post their times for selection to the Interschool championship.

Yesterday we received a letter from the PSA with specific information about who can attend the Interschool Swimming Carnival next Thursday 11 March. It states that in order to comply with directives of the WA Health Department at HBF Stadium, and to ensure the safe and successful running of the PSA Interschool Swimming Carnival, only those students and staff directly associated with the PSA Swim Teams will be able to attend the event in person. I can understand that this is disappointing for parents and boys, however this year we will have to view the event via streaming which will be accessible on the afternoon of 11 March by following this link : https://bit.ly/3q90y6U  Please go here to see the entire letter from the committee.

Next Monday morning I am hosting a conversation with our Year 12 parents on how we proactively support our class of 2021 as they engage in events outside the classroom. If you would like to attend please join me at 8.30am in the School Chapel on Monday 8 March. An invitation to this event was emailed to all parents on 3 March.

The fourth annual Principal’s Bike Ride is on this Sunday. The ride begins and concludes at the Claremont campus and if you are an experienced peloton rider and haven’t yet registered, it’s a lot of fun and you can sign up here.

Monday 8 March is International Woman’s Day, an important reminder to celebrate and value the contribution made by woman in society.

Alan Jones
Principal

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• School’s 111th birthday
• Paul Dillon talks
• TEDx Youth
• Parent Forum with Lea Waters

The week that’s been

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend, especially that thunderstorm and lightning show on Monday. It was a moving moment to see the entire school celebrate the School’s 111^th birthday last Thursday. Thank you to our Prefects who led the way, carrying the Torch of Learning from the Church to the campus to symbolise that learning is our light. We also recognised the service of our staff members who have served the School for 15, 20 and 25 years.

Paul Dillon spoke with our upper Senior School boys yesterday on the importance of making healthier choices and the risk taking associated with drugs and alcohol. Paul also spoke with our community on Wednesday evening. Parents and carers are the most influential role models for our children and it is important that positive habits are encouraged and demonstrated, including healthy dietary habits, sleep, respect and the importance of physical activity. SchoolTV has some helpful resources on this topic available here: Drug & Alcohol Use | Christ Church Grammar School – Claremont (schooltv.me)

Round one of House Arts begins today, where we see the introduction of a trial of an eSports competition, along with Chess. Good luck to those competing. Finally, I am looking forward to our revamped House Relay Swimming Carnival tomorrow. Parents are welcome to spectate.

Yesterday we received a letter from the PSA with specific information about who can attend the Interschool Swimming Carnival next Thursday 11 March. It states that in order to comply with directives of the WA Health Department at HBF Stadium, and to ensure the safe and successful running of the PSA Interschool Swimming Carnival, only those students and staff directly associated with the PSA Swim Teams will be able to attend the event in person. I can understand that this is disappointing for parents and boys, however this year we will have to view the event via streaming which will be accessible on the afternoon of 11 March by following this link : https://bit.ly/3q90y6U  Please go here to see the entire letter from the committee.

TEDx Youth@ Perth – Saturday March 20, 2021 12.00pm to 5.30pm

This third party TEDx event is catered towards youth and is something that may be of interest for our Years 10, 11 and 12 boys. It will look at issues and ideas that young people are passionate about today. There will be nine guest speakers, interactive installations, short films and performers. More information and tickets can be found here.

Parent Forum – Seminar with Lea Waters, Wednesday 17 March

All our parents new to the Senior School would have received a copy of The Strength Switch by Professor Lea Waters.

Parents who have read the book and have sons in Years 7 to 10 are invited to our first Senior School Parent Forum for 2021. During this Parent Forum, Professor Waters will show the positive benefits of flicking our strength switch and building on children’s strengths before we correct their weaknesses. She will showcase her science and point the audience to useful tools and practices.

This event will be held in our Drama Centre, Wednesday 17 March, 9.00am to 10.30am. Please register your attendance here.

Upcoming Senior School Events

• House Year Group Swimming Carnival on Campus – Friday 5 March from 11.00am
• Year 7 PA Parent Information Evening and Sundowner – Sunday 7 March 5.30pm
• Year 11 Parent/Teacher Interviews – Monday 8 March
• Year 12 Parent/Teacher Interviews – Monday 15 March
• Parent Forum – Seminar with Lea Waters – Wednesday 17 March, 9.00am to 10.30am

Simon Angus
Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School

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• LQD
• Building resilience

This week we kicked off our first ever Little Queenslea Drive (LQD) experience for the boys in 4SO. Little Queenslea Drive is the first overnight learning experience for boys at the Preparatory School and as such, there is a strong emphasis on the boys having a positive experience away from home. As we welcome new boys into the School at Year 4, LQD allows both existing and new boys to form friendships through a variety of activities and challenges set up by Christ Church staff. Socialisation between the boys amongst themselves as well as fellow classmates and staff on an informal basis has a major emphasis on this learning experience. The underlying philosophy of the LQD Program is interconnected with the Phases of Learning (Years 3 & 4) Learning to make choices – boys reason, make choices and apply fundamentals to their learning). The passage concept, with its inherent choices and decisions, will be experienced by all the boys in Year 4 over the course of the two days.

Building resilience for boys is vital when navigating through school and life. As parents we can reflect upon our time at school and apply what was most beneficial in terms of our own learning experiences and how it helped to prepare us for life. In Charles Fadel’s (2015) book titled, Four-dimensional education: The competencies learners need to succeed, Fadel discusses the notion of how to make sense of the complex educational needs, the variety and conditions of education today and the overabundance of theories and practices related to learning. Fadel suggests that for a curriculum to be holistic, balance is crucial when incorporating the various goals of education. This year, as outlined at the parent information evening and the parent forum, our staff continue to work together to ensure the focus on modern knowledge and traditional subjects continue to coexist with a focus on personalised learning for our boys.

Congratulations to the following Building Good Men recipients for this week.

Best wishes for the week ahead!

Steven Males
Head of Preparatory School