Outstanding, impressive, amazing and brilliant all describes the energetic displays by each House during this year’s Inter House Choir performances.
My face is still aching from smiling so much. The energy from the girls and support they gave one another was infectious. For months I have been hearing about the iconic event and for the past few weeks, students and staff have been asking me if I was ready for my first ever Inter House Choir experience. I can honestly say that nothing could have prepared me for it!
The spectacle of performances was a true testament to the Girls Grammar motto, ‘Clever, Confident and Connected’. Clever in the creativity, thoughts and ideas that went in to planning, organising and choreographing all the girls from Prep to Year 12 in dancing and singing. Confident in performing a medley of songs in front of the whole school as well as dancing (even for those who may not have been the most coordinated). Connected, in the way that all year levels from Prep through to Year 12 were included in each House performance. This will be just one of the many memorable experiences the girls in the younger year levels will look back with fondness on over their years as a Girls Grammar Girl.
This is what makes our school so special and unique, by placing such an importance on inclusion, encouragement and allowing each and every girl to be themselves while being supported by one another.
This week we have been celebrating the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book Week. This is a special event each year where we get to celebrate our love of reading, characters, authors and illustrators. This year we commemorate the 75th year of Book Week in Australia which began in 1946. Each year the Children’s Book Council of Australia votes on the best books in the categories for Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Book of the year, the Eve Pownall award and the award for New Illustrator. During Primary Assembly this week I shared the winning books from each category with the girls along with the two other books in each category that received an Honour award. There was a lot of excitement from the younger girls when they saw No! Never! On the screen. It seems the winner from the Early Childhood category was a very popular choice and had been thoroughly enjoyed in class already. The Primary students looked great in their costumes with their books and the staff did a wonderful job dressed as a band of Alpacas with Maracas.
The reasons behind celebrating Book Week across the country are so important and there is a great deal of research that supports how reading everyday can help us in all aspects of our lives.
We’ve all heard the saying “practice makes perfect”. That’s the same with reading. The more we read, the better we get at it.
Reading exercise our brains. Reading is a much more complex task for our brain than watching TV or iPads. The connections in our brain are strengthened and our brain builds new connections each time we read.
Reading improves concentration. When we read or are listening to a book being read to us, we are sitting still and quietly which helps us focus on the story. The more we read, the more we can develop our ability to focus and concentrate.
Reading teaches us about the world around us.
Reading improves our vocabulary and language skills. When we read, we learn new words and this helps us structure our sentences when we are writing and speaking.
Reading helps develop our imaginations. When we are engaged in a story we are imagining how a character is feeling.
Reading is fun.
Reading is a great way to spend time together. Whether this is with classmates when reading with a teacher, with a friend, at the library at lunch time or at home with siblings, parents or grandparents.
When we read often, we achieve better in school.
At Girls Grammar we foster a love of reading with many activities throughout the year revolving around books with Book Week being just one of these. Earlier this term our girls were involved in a whole school Inter-House Reading competition. The results have just been tallied by our House Prefects for the most number of books read by our girls. In fourth place was Williams House, third place Smith House, second place Downs House and Paterson House taking out first place.
I’m sure everyone is eagerly awaiting the announcement of overall House winner from all of the Inter House competitions. Stay tuned and keep up the enthusiasm!
Kara Krehlik
Acting Principal