Mr Wight, Head of the Preparatory School, has a special message for all Preparatory School students:
I hope that you are well and getting excited for the start of the school year. I know it can be a nervous time as you start in a new year level or new school, so please remember the 2-Day Theory. This theory is that you will feel much less nervous and comfortable after just two days of school. But it may take your parents at least two weeks before they are less nervous. Please look after them.

We have some wonderful new opportunities this coming year. We are rethinking what we do in the Library, even how we check out books. Hopefully you can help us, as we rename our Library, as it becomes a hub for reading, research, computer science, investigation and discovery.. We are going to read, read, read, read this year and in doing so track how many books we can read (or have read to us) and document this on our Reading Mountain Challenge. More to follow on this.

Science is an enormous focus for us this year as we welcome not one, but two scientists, into our Preparatory School each week. Watch for their experiments and chances for us all to explore science and discovery.

Tai Chi is back. Drama is on again. Dance continues. Our Spelling Bees, Maths Challenges (definitely get ready for the multiplication tables challenge), speeches, debating, play, and some serious discovery and challenges in the class, at the river, duck pond and all around our campus are ready and waiting for you!

I want us to focus on two words this year and, in order to do so, I need something from you as we start the school year.

Our two words are: Growth and Kindness

Your first challenge for the year: Growth. Before school starts in the first week, I would like you to record several things or come up with your own idea for growth. The goal is to measure a few things now and do it again in December, to show yourself and others just how much you have grown. A few ideas:

• Mark your height on a wall or door frame and write the date. Use a pencil please.
• Record yourself reading, riding your bike, singing, playing an instrument, surfing or any other activity. Save this video and date it.
• Record something else about yourself - draw a picture, write a story or something else you enjoy doing. Remember to put the date on it.

That is the start of our Growth Challenge.

Now to Kindness. The start to this challenge is to please write down or draw for me your definition or example of kindness. Drop it into my office anytime in the first few weeks. This will help us to define what kindness looks like at GGS and in our community. From there we will have an excellent opportunity to practice our kindness and build this into a theme for the year. We will work together towards a very cool Kindness project to coincide with Harmony Day in March.

Thanks for your help on these challenges.

We are excited to see you on Monday. Please come up and have a handshake and pledge to keep telling me your name until I get it. I am old and need to be reminded a few times and then I get it! (Mrs Wilmot says that she is even older and may need several reminders)

Looking forward to a great year!

We are GGS!

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