Prep School

Prep value of the week: honesty

Honesty is being truthful and sincere. It is important because it builds trust. When people are honest, they can be relied on not to lie, cheat or steal. Being honest means that you accept yourself as you are. When you are open and trustworthy, others can believe in you.

Truthfulness is being honest in your words and actions. You don’t tell lies even to defend yourself. You don’t listen to gossip or prejudice, and you see the truth for yourself. Don’t try to be more than you are to impress others. Be yourself, your true self.

Attribute of the week: principled

When you are principled you act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. You take responsibility for your own actions and the consequences that accompany them.

Trauma recovery

Trauma in children significantly disturbs their sense of safety and normalcy, leading to substantial emotional and behavioural changes. Such disturbances often result from exposure to traumatic events, which may be exacerbated by continuous media coverage. This exposure can trigger stress, anxiety and trauma, with varying recovery timelines due to the unpredictable nature of trauma’s impact. Observing young people grappling with these effects can be highly distressing for parents and caregivers.

It’s important to establish a nurturing environment to help restore a child’s sense of security and help promote resilience. Active involvement in their recovery is essential, as is recognising the unique, personalised needs of each child in responding to trauma. Depending on their age, children may present with different symptoms, such as regressive behaviours in younger ones or withdrawal and agitation in older children and teens. It is important to monitor and manage the type of information children may access to reduce their emotional distress.

The brain stores traumatic events as powerful emotional memories, influencing behaviour through mechanisms beyond a child’s conscious awareness. By providing young people with support and equipping them with coping mechanisms to handle uncertainty, parents and carers can greatly enhance a child’s capacity to recover and build long-term emotional resilience.

This special report will help you identify a child experiencing trauma and how you can support them to overcome it.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Year 3 excursion

On Tuesday 17 April, Year 3 visited Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary as part of our provocation into our new ‘Sharing the planet’ unit of inquiry. The boys took part in the Discovery Workshop ‘All bout biomes’ to unpack our central idea that ‘Earth’s patterns dictate the behaviour of living things’.

With wildlife ranger Anna as our game show host, the boys took part in a quiz to build on their knowledge of biomes. In groups, they were given a set of photographs of different biomes to provoke their thinking. They worked collaboratively in groups to decipher the flora, fauna and animal features that could be found in their habitat to help answer questions and gain points for their team. Anna posed interesting questions that got the boys thinking about how and why animals are adapted to various biomes through the lens of form, function and causation.

One of the highlights of our workshops was meeting some beautiful creatures. Hamlet the koala, a shingle back lizard and a black headed python. The Year 3 boys had an awesome day!

Year 4 provocation

This term, under the transdisciplinary theme ‘How We Express Ourselves’, Year 4 will explore the central idea,  ‘Creative designs solve problems’.

On the first day of term, students were challenged to put their creative problem-solving skills to the test by constructing a sturdy shelter to house an army man figurine in the Reception and Year 1 play area. In groups of three, they were provided with a limited number of resources and given 45 minutes to design and build their structure. The integrity of each design was tested as teachers simulated rain and wind to see if the boys’ creations could withstand the elements!

Not only did this task get the boys thinking about how creative designs solve problems, but it also got them to start thinking about the purpose of structures and the properties of different materials and how these properties impact their use in designs. This provocation leads perfectly into what is affectionately known as the Year 4 ‘Tiny homes’ unit.

Nicole Baker
Year 4 Teacher

Year 6

Year 6 had a wonderful start to Term 2. On Friday the boys welcomed the Year 6 girls from St Margaret’s to participate in a half-day incursion with ‘Aspire higher,’ an interactive and transformative student leadership workshop. The aim of the workshop was to support positive peer relationships, build resilience and understanding and develop leadership skills in the students. The students participated in a range of activities to support their social interactions, team building and collaborative skills. It was a hugely successful day and we are very proud of the way the boys welcomed their guests from St Margaret’s.

Year 5 Football

The Churchie roar was heard all over Brisbane as the mighty 5C team was victorious over Brisbane Grammar School on Saturday morning. The boys worked as a team to create space and kick goals. They used communication skills to direct play and found great rhythm. We eagerly anticipate the remainder of the season.

Shay Thomas
Year 2 Teacher and 5C Football coach

Year 5 Science Incursion 

Written by Year 5C student Tom Duke.

Last week, all Year 5 students attended a science incursion hosted in the Nichols Theatre. On the way, there was a lot of buzz as we didn’t know what to expect. We were greeted by a table with beakers filled with three types of matter (solid, liquid and gas), a tray of chocolate covered marshmallows (yum!), a bowl of chocolate over a metal melting plate, and a computer with who knows what type of science information. As Year 5 filled the seats of the theatre, there were three teachers who introduced themselves, Head of Physics Mr Wise, Head of Chemistry Dr Mikhail and Head of Science Mr Martin.  

Mr Wise spoke to us about light and how it reflects and refracts according to the different surfaces it shines on. He explained how different angles can create different focus points among three light beams. To show us these things he used several transparent objects and a few different shaped mirrors. All of Year 5 was amazed!  

Dr Mikhail was up next, and she talked to us about matter and how physical and chemical changes occur. She showed us several experiments, but I will tell you about the coolest! One of the experiments was how sugar changes the colour with permanganate. She showed us this several times with a MASSIVE lolly stick. This experiment was cool because the colour kept changing, like a chameleon!

The final experiment was obviously the coolest: making blue fire! To do this, the head of chemistry put vinegar into a beaker, then she put a piece of square tin foil into the vinegar and, finally, she started blowtorching the top of the beaker to heat up the gas inside. We all looked on in anticipation and the lights dimmed … then suddenly, a blue flame was born! It only lasted a few seconds but all of Year Five loved it! She then explained how the chemical and physical changes to matter are different and that these experiments show that perfectly.  

The final part of the lecture was all about our Solar System. Mr Wise presented about the orbits of planets, asteroids, comets, moons, and even celestial bodies that are outside of the Milky Way! This showed us how gravity works even out in space. He also showed us a website called ‘The Scale of the Universe 2’, which demonstrated the comparative size of things, ranging from an atom all the way to some of the biggest galaxies in the known universe. Believe it or not, we learned that a Minecraft world is just as big as Neptune!  

Year 5 loved the entirety of the science incursion. At the conclusion of the lecture, we applauded so loudly, that people might have been able to hear us from the other side of a Minecraft word!

Billy Cart Grand Prix

(Applicable to Year 4 to 6 families only)

As we enter Week 2 of Term 2, it’s important to ensure that all carts/teams/drivers/pushers are entered into this year’s Billy Cart Grand Prix team register.

For registration and payment, please see below:

All teams are entered into their year levels and require a team name along with an alternate team name is required, along with payment, please.

The end of term and race day will be upon us before we know it!

All teams must be entered no later than Friday 31 May. After this, we will not be able to accept registrations. Many thanks and enjoy the preparations.

Gavin Darwin
Deputy Head of Preparatory School

Prep Support Group executive and class parents meeting

The next Prep Support Group meeting will be held on Thursday 2 May commencing at 8:30 am in the Brenan Pavilion, and all parents are welcome.

Mark Wyer
Head of Preparatory School