Week 3, Term 2, 2025 | Friday 9 May

The Importance of Mother’s in a School Community – Engagement and Influence

At Canterbury College, we love giving our mums the opportunity to meet other mums, take a moment for themselves, and simply sit, connect, and relax. This year, our reimagined Mother’s Day morning was thoughtfully designed to support that very concept. We wanted to create a space where our mums could slow down, feel celebrated, and enjoy the company of one another because we know how rarely those moments come in the busyness of life. We understand that some of our families fondly remember sharing breakfast with their children, and we know that connection matters deeply. While the event has evolved, please remember that our College Yalburru Café is open every morning and we’d love to see you there. Pop in for a coffee or a chat on a day that suits you and feel that same sense of welcome and community.

We also recognise that many of our mums juggle demanding work schedules. That’s why this year’s event included multiple drop-in options to visit classrooms, allowing more flexibility for our busy mums to participate. Whether you were able to join us in the morning or connect with your child’s learning in a different way, we hope you felt the genuine appreciation we hold for all you do. There are always ways we can improve, and I truly valued the opportunity to speak with many of you throughout the morning. Your feedback and reflections are important, and they help us continue to shape experiences that honour and support our parent community.

From one Canterbury mum (me) to each and every one of you, I want to wish you a beautiful, joy-filled Mother’s Day this Sunday. I hope your children shower you with love, appreciation, and maybe even a few quiet moments to yourself, not just on Sunday, but for all 365 days of the year.

Mothers play an irreplaceable role in the emotional, social, and academic growth of their children. From the earliest years, a mother’s nurturing presence helps shape a child’s sense of security, confidence, and resilience. As children grow, mothers remain vital guides to support learning, encourage ambition, and be that consistent, loving presence through every up and down. At Canterbury, we deeply value the connection between home and school, knowing that raising strong, compassionate, and capable young people takes a village. Our annual Mother’s Day celebration is one way we honour this partnership recognising the profound and lasting impact of the mothers in our community. Through events like this and our ongoing collaboration, we aim to build a supportive, inclusive environment where all students can thrive. We are privileged to walk alongside our Canterbury families as we nurture the next generation with heart, hope, and shared purpose.

Supporting Student Learning Through the Science of Learning and The Learner’s Toolkit

In 2020, Canterbury partnered with the University of Queensland to delve into the Science of Learning and develop key strategies to enhance student learning. The Science of Learning highlights that effective learning involves techniques such as retrieval practice, making connections, spaced practice, and visualisation. These strategies aim to transfer knowledge from short-term (working) memory to long-term memory, ensuring it can be recalled later. This is particularly crucial for Year 12 students in science and mathematics courses, who need to remember a year’s worth of material for their external exams.

Retrieval Practice: A Key Strategy

Retrieval practice involves recalling information from long-term memory into working memory. This can be challenging if the information hasn’t been retrieved for some time. At Canterbury, our lesson structure from Prep to Year 12 begins with a quick review, where students are asked to recall something they learned last lesson, last week and/or last month. This practice not only reinforces their learning but also prepares them for future assessments.

Practical Strategies for Home

The same retrieval techniques used in the classroom can be effectively utilised at home for revision and study. Here are a few tools you can encourage your children to use to enhance their long-term memory of current schoolwork:

Brain Dump

Students recall everything they can about a particular topic within 1-3 minutes, depending on their age. This uninterrupted time is used to write down what they recall they have learned about that topic. They can use a graphic organiser like a spider chart or mind map, or simply a list to record the key terms, definitions, diagrams they have been able to recall.

Flash Cards

Students write a term or phrase on one side of a card, with the definition, example, and context on the other side. As students progress through the years, the detail on the flash cards will increase. Flash cards provide an excellent opportunity for parents and carers to engage with their children’s learning by testing their recall of the topics studied in class. Students can also use the flash cards to test themselves.

I plan to share additional strategies throughout the year to help you engage with your child’s daily learning. These strategies not only supports their learning experience but also allows you to witness firsthand how much they have learned and grown.

Senior School Parent Teacher Interviews

Thank you to all the families who joined us during Weeks 1 and 2 for progress conversations with your children’s teachers. We deeply value the strong partnership we share with our families and are always grateful for the opportunity to work together in support of each child’s learning journey.

For those who were unable to attend, we’re pleased to offer another opportunity for interviews via Teams on Friday, 5 September 2025. If this date suits your schedule, we invite you to book an appointment.

We understand that circumstances can change, and sometimes it’s not possible to attend a scheduled meeting. However, we did notice a higher number of missed appointments this time without prior notice. As this round was particularly busy, some families unfortunately missed the chance to connect with teachers. We kindly ask that, where possible, you let us know in advance if you’re unable to attend so we can offer the time to another family.

Thank you for your understanding and for your continued support of our school community.

Open Conversations and True Puberty

Open conversations with kids are vital for their emotional and intellectual development. They create a safe space for children to express their thoughts, feelings, and concerns, fostering trust and understanding. When kids feel heard and valued, their self-esteem and confidence grow.

To begin the term all our students from years 4 – 6 engaged in True Puberty sessions. These sessions allowed students to identify how the human body develops and changes and provided a safe space for them to clarify or ask questions about the topic.

As adults, there is a great importance in providing students with a safe and supportive environment where they can ask questions and receive appropriate and factual responses. In the modern world, children have so much access to information and can have any question answered in a matter of seconds using the internet. The conversations between children and their parents also help guide the children through challenges, providing support and advice. Open communication encourages curiosity and learning, as kids feel comfortable asking questions and exploring new ideas.

So, whilst it can be confronting, the next time your child comes to you with a ‘tricky’ question, feel reassured that the appropriate and technical response you give, is far more beneficial than them attempting to comprehend everything the internet has to offer.

Term 2 is well underway. It was great to see so many students engaged in cocurricular sport against JPC on Saturday. I am always in awe of the way our students compete and present themselves.

Our house spirit breakfasts continue to be well attended and to provide an opportunity for strong house connections. On Tuesday 29 April, Ramsey had their breakfast, many families enjoyed the freshly cooked breakfast on offer and took this as a great opportunity to build connections. Goldsworthy is the next house to celebrate their spirit breakfast on 22 May. I hope to see as many Griffins and their families as possible.

Last week on Friday 2 May, we hosted Adair Donaldson to our school, and he spoke to our Year 10,11 and 12 cohorts. Adair is an experienced solicitor, and he covered the legalities of some tough topics in a very interactive and engaging, yet informative manner. He focussed largely on the impact of student choices outside of school hours in relation to social media, parties and consent. The students left with a little more knowledge and hopefully this opportunity will be a part of the mosaic of education that helps to guide them to make safe decisions in the future.

This weekend we celebrate Mother’s Day. Our mums are such important and influential people in our lives. We hope your children all take the opportunity to share their gratitude for all that you do to support them. Happy Mother’s Day to all our wonderful mums, grandmothers, and carers! Thank you for your endless love, support, and care. You make our school community stronger every day.

Adair Donaldson Presentation to Year 10 – 12 Students

As Mr Mills mentioned, last Friday students in Years 10 – 12 were led by Mr Adair Donaldson in an engaging and interactive session educating our senior students about the legal ramifications regarding the decisions students and young adults make in relation to various issues in society. Adair Donaldson has extensive experience in this area through his extensive legal career as a director and partner of various law firms and has now turned his attention to educating students on the law and the consequences around poor decision making.

Canterbury students were taken through various scenarios and had to vote on what they believed the ramifications to be relating to underage parties, Codes of Conduct extending to behaviour outside of school, social media and mobile phones, sexual harassment, consent, and racism. Topics were tailored to each individual year level with students leaving with a better understanding of the law and how it can be applied. If you are a parent and/or carer of a student in Year 10 – 12, I encourage you to have a conversation around what was the most thought-provoking element from Adair’s presentation.

The Resilience Project Webinar – Connected Parenting

On Monday 12 May, The Resilience Project is running a free webinar for parents and carers on connected parenting. This session will be run by Lael Stone who is a counsellor and parenting educator. The webinar will start at 6:30pm and run for 75 minutes. The topics it will cover are listed below

• Practical strategies to foster cooperation and deepen connections with students
• Ideas to support students when facing adversity
• Ways to assist in developing emotional resilience with students
• Helpful tips for supporting parents and carers in managing ‘triggers’

It is still not too late to sign up. Please click here should you wish to take sign up.

Goldsworthy Article

My name is Ruby, and I’m proud to be your 2025 Goldsworthy House Captain.

This year, our theme is “Stand Together, Shine Together” — a reminder of the power of unity, collaboration, and support within our house. It’s a message we see reflected in events like the Griffin Goblet, where teamwork, encouragement, and collective spirit shine just as brightly as competition. Whether in sport, the arts, academics, or leadership, we achieve more when we stand together.

A highlight this year has been our House Reading Initiative. In Term 1, Goldsworthy students visited the Early Learning Centre and Years Prep–3 to read and connect with our youngest learners. The impact was clear: laughter, shared stories, and heartfelt appreciation from both teachers and students. Our students led with kindness and made a real difference through something as simple as reading a story.

Now, we’re excited to extend this initiative across all Senior School Houses — Becket, Cranmer, Temple, Ramsey, and Kime. Next Thursday, during the second half of House Assembly, we’ll hold a mass reading session. Senior students, bring your favourite childhood book to share — ELC to Year 3 students will be doing the same.

We’re also launching a weekly Reading Club, starting next Tuesday at lunch. Senior School students can join us in the new Junior School Library to read with Prep to Year 3 students. It’s a great way to give back and earn service hours — just remember to log your sessions in the digital service log.

If you’d like to get involved, see Mrs McPherson in the Junior School Library on Tuesdays at 1:40pm.

Let’s keep shining together — one story at a time.

“Celebrations”

In an integrated unit on Celebrations, Prep students explore various cultural celebrations, linking the English and Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) curriculum. This unit aims to broaden students’ understanding of different traditions and the significance of commemorations in Australia, such as ANZAC Day.

In English, students engage with a variety of texts, including stories about celebrations. In HASS, students explore various celebrations around the world, including national holidays and religious festivals.

The unit culminates in a presentation where each student chooses a personal celebration to present to the class. This activity provides their first experience in public speaking, allowing them to share personal reflections. Through this integrated approach, students not only gain knowledge about celebrations but also develop essential literacy and social skills.

The Preps are excited to celebrate Mother’s Day this week at school and on Sunday. They will then engage in group discussions and share to their peers how they celebrated Mother’s Day through spoken and written reflections.

Written by the Prep Team

Katia Buckley

Meghann Pruss

Olivia Dytor

Ashleigh Aquilina

The English faculty is committed to developing students who are critical thinkers and confident communicators so that they are world-ready! Here are some of the ways we are fostering this in our classrooms this term:

Year 8s – Engage in Collaborative Character Study Through “The Giver”

Year 8 students have been immersed in a creative and collaborative character analysis project based on Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Working in small groups, students created large “body biographies” of key characters from the novel, synthesising their understanding of character traits, motivations, values, and relationships. Each section of the poster required students to find textual evidence, discuss symbolism, and reflect on a character’s development throughout the story. The activity not only strengthened their analytical skills, but also fostered teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity – culminating in visually striking and thoughtful posters now proudly displayed in our classrooms!

Year 9s – What Matters to You?

This term, every Year 9 student is invited to ‘deliver’ a TEDxYouth speech about an issue that matters in today’s world. As students select an issue they are passionate about, and one that demands attention and action, they will develop a sense of agency about the role they play in shaping their future. We want our students to understand that they have the capacity to make a tangible difference. This task develops their research, persuasive and oracy skills, and we cannot wait to hear their speeches soon!

Written by the Head of Faculty – English

Nikki Bazaine

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