A Day in the life – Prep
8.20am
Sienna arrives at Grange Hill with her mum, Victoria. Victoria also attended Genazzano from Prep to Year 12 and wanted the same diverse and rich learning experience for Sienna.
8.30am
Sienna begins her day with a visit to the Library before school. Some of her friends are already here and are excited to show her some new books that have just arrived. After some deliberation, she has finally chosen her favourite new book to borrow.
8.40am
Prep to Year 4 students start their day with Homeroom. Mornings are always a busy time in Prep as the girls check in with Miss Bimrose to chat about last night’s reading and review their word of the week.
Each morning begins with prayer, givings the girls time to gather together and reflect on the day ahead.
9.50am
Mornings start with a two-hour literacy block. To help her stay focused on her reading, writing, speaking and listening, Sienna enjoys her fruit snack and is now in one of the literacy rotations for today. Miss Bimrose works with each student during this time, and is amazed to look back at the girls progress in just 9 months!
10.55am
Sienna is looking forward to recess and heads outside with her friends. With so much space to explore, the girls love playing hide and seek in the fairy garden, running around and climbing on the play equipment.
11.20am
It is now time for the daily Maths block, Sienna’s favourite! Today she is exploring counting and place value. She shares her learning via an app called Seesaw with her mum and dad. Tonight they can look at her work and chat to her about her learning.
12.30pm
After Recess, Sienna has one of her specialist subjects, Mandarin. She has two Mandarin and two Italian lessons each week. She is looking forward to seeing Miss Wu.
2.00pm
After enjoying lunch on such a warm day today, Sienna and her friends play in the cubby. The Prep-4 playground has plenty of space for everyone!
2.20pm
A highlight of Sienna’s week is her Art class. After lunch, it’s all systems go with a heart artwork inspired by Burton Morris. Sienna loves the energy and colours of Pop Art.
3.25pm
After another great day, Sienna heads home. She takes her reader and Miss Bimrose has posted a video of a maths game to GenConnect that Sienna can play at home with her family.
Just like her mum before her, Sienna loves being a Gen girl!
The Junior School, Grange Hill, is home to students from Prep through to Year 6.
Genazzano FCJ College is a candidate school* for the PYP. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy – a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education – that we believe is important for our students.
* Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.
Why transition to Genazzano in Year 5?
A number of key Genazzano programs commence at Year 5, from our Co-curricular Program to our Year 5/6 Music and Sporting Programs. Having the opportunity to immerse themselves in these programs allows our students to settle into the life and routine of a Gen Girl, enabling a very smooth transition into Year 7 and the Genazzano Senior School.
Our Junior School – Quality Learning & Teaching
The Junior School at Genazzano encompasses ELC to Year 6.
Genazzano FCJ College is a Candidate School* for the Primary Years Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Genazzano FCJ College believes is important for our students.
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org
The student is at the centre of all our learning.
We want our students to become confident and open minded learners and communicators who are ready to take on the world whether that be in their local, national and global communities and to strive to make a better and more peaceful world, promoting intercultural understanding and respect.
At Genazzano our approach to Inquiry learning is about presenting the students with relevant and engaging learning experiences that go beyond their homeroom and connect with specialist classes to explore central ideas and develop positive learner attributes.
We align with the requirements of the Victorian Curriculum ensuring that learning is developmental, grounded in Ignatian pedagogy and students are guided by effective feedback and continuous assessment. We use digital technologies to enhance our learning and teaching.
At Genazzano we tailor support to meet the unique needs of our students. Our learning enhancement team offers expert assistance in literacy, numeracy, social development and English as an additional language. We use evidence based programs that are underpinned by contemporary research. We use talent identification methods for students requiring additional challenges in their learning. Our expert team of educators work collaboratively to ensure that our high quality teaching methods are rigorous and challenging as we strive to build a community of lifelong learners.
As a learning community we seek to work together with families as partners in the learning journey. We provide opportunities to engage with our families throughout the year including but not limited to: Information nights, Junior School Assemblies, Twilight events, Sports days, Webinars, Performances
Opportunities
The students in the Junior School are afforded many wonderful opportunities to add depth and breadth to their learning. Our camp program commences in Year 2 with CampGen, an ‘in house’ extended school day, all the way through to the girls heading to Canberra for immersion in the history and politics of our great nation.
Our Physical Education program is extensive and rigorous and features a fortnightly swimming lesson in our indoor 25m swimming pool for all students, tailored specifically to meet each student’s skills and experience. Our students have opportunities to participate in school based sport, district sport, and club netball at the Boroondara Netball Centre from Year 3.
Genazzano has a strong tradition of musical excellence. Through individual training and ensemble participation, students have been known to enjoy and excel not only in music but in many areas of College life. In the Junior School our students are fortunate enough to have classroom music and instrumental music as part of their core curriculum delivered by specialist music teachers. An integral part of our Junior School Music Program is the Strings Program that we offer from Years 1 – 4 and the Band and Strings Program in Years 5 and 6. Students also have the opportunity to take private instrumental music lessons on a variety of instruments and join one of the choirs and various String Ensembles and Bands in the Junior School.
The co-curricular program begins in Prep with offerings such as tennis lessons, music tuition, choir, ensembles, running club and more. We hold an annual art show, Les Jeunes Artistes, which showcases the beautiful and unique artworks each student has created through our Art Program and the Prep to Year 6 production is not to be missed.
Our Junior School girls interact with many wonderful role models in our Senior School. Interaction with many of our College Leaders brings an added dimension to the learning of our girls and involves them in the broader life of the College, through our Buddy program and events such as Sustainability and Social Justice weeks and Gen Day. College House events are a highlight on the calendar with the focus being on participation and having fun. Our very youngest students join with our oldest students in celebrating academic achievement across the College and see firsthand where aspiration, determination and commitment can lead.
Information & Communication Technologies (ICT)
Prep to Year 4 students each have an iPad for their exclusive use within the classroom. Classrooms are digitally rich learning environments, using interactive white boards, Apple TV and video streaming to engage and stimulate.
Students in Years 5 and 6 use Apple MacAir notebooks in the classrooms across all curriculum areas and are also able to engage in GenTech, the co-curricular program that enables students to explore digital technologies, programming, coding and problem solving.
We keep in touch
We understand the importance of communication with home and parents and seek to form a partnership with our families. We do this by providing regular contact between parents and teaching staff. All students and families have access to the College Learning Management System (GenLMS) which provides online access to all class and teaching materials. GenLMS also provides all students with extension work and extra resources to help support what is presented in class. Students can also view their timetable and receive automatic notifications about deadlines and review feedback online across multiple devices.
