Great Scot - The Scotch Family Magazine - Issue 149 December 2016 Great Scot - The Scotch Family magazine issue 149 | Page 16

Junior School

Staff in profile

Junior School News

ABOVE: HENRY ROGERS AND CHRISTOPHER O'CONNELL

Parliamentary insights
for two Year 5 boys
As I walked up the grand stone steps to Victoria’s
Parliament House, my heart was hammering in my
chest with excitement. I was about to have a valuable
insight into the parliamentary system and process
– and an opportunity to give input on an important
question that affects young people’s lives: this is
what participating in the 2016 Parliamentary Program
meant to me.
As the two delegates from Scotch Junior School,
Henry Rogers (Year 5) and I attended the Victorian
Students’ Parliamentary Convention, held at
Parliament House, Melbourne, on 8 September 2016,
accompanied by Senior School Extension Studies
Coordinator, Ms Michele Linossier. Delegates from
primary schools all over the state attended, to hear
from leading politicians and to discuss the proposal
that ‘All social media should be banned for children
under 12’.
The convention was held inside the very grand
Legislative Assembly Hall at Parliament House, which
was huge and ringed with green-coloured seats.
Massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Every seat
was equipped with a microphone so each student
delegate could be heard clearly.
The convention opened with a welcome to
country from Aboriginal elder, Aunty Di Kerr from the
Wurundjeri Council. Then the Deputy Premier and
Minister for Education, the Hon James Merlino MP,
introduced the topic. Mr Greg Gebhart, the Office
of Children’s eSafety Commissioner, gave a keynote

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address explaining why the government thought this
issue was so important.
After morning tea, we broke into smaller groups
of about 15 students to discuss a particular issue
allocated to us. It was really interesting to meet
and talk with boys and girls from many different
independent and state schools. A number of the
other delegates were Year 6 students, and many also
were head students at their schools, so we felt very
proud to be there, too.
My group discussed and agreed that learning
about social media should be a compulsory subject
taught in all schools. Other groups discussed issues
like privacy, cyber bullying, addiction to technology,
and sharing personal information. It was good
practice to listen carefully to other’s opinions, to take
notes of all the important aspects of the argument, to
try to clearly communicate your own thoughts, and
then to agree as a group on a conclusion.
All groups then reconvened in the big Legislative
Assembly chamber to report back. My group chose
me as its speaker, and I presented our conclusions
to the whole convention, recommending that learning
about social media should be compulsory in all
schools.
Outside our window on the Parliament House
steps was a huge demonstration by a trade union
– it was very loud indeed and quite exciting to see
democracy in action!
At the end of the convention was a ‘soap box’,

where delegates could raise further issues,
followed by a group vote on whether social media
should be banned for children under 12. The official
closing speech was by the Shadow Minister for
Education, the Hon Nick Wakeling MP.
I was very interested in this particular issue
because social media has a huge impact on
children’s lives. I think the issue is not so much about
what types of social media kids can and can’t use,
but more about how they use it. Children under 12
should also use social media in a more restricted
way than adults. It is true that social media are
fundamental to problems such as device addiction,
destruction of social interaction, bullying, and
possibly exposing children to dangerous people. We
need to study this more, and make sure children are
informed about the dangers of social media.
I was also excited to attend because I am
fascinated by the parliamentary system and process.
I wonder about how governments make their
decisions about these very important matters that
affect whole countries and people’s lives. What do
members of parliament do to gather information?
How do they ensure multiple viewpoints are taken
into account? Attending this convention gave me an
inspiring insight into that process. Many thanks to Ms
Michele Linossier, Mrs Dinah Waldie, and the Scotch
College Junior School for organising this opportunity
for us.
CHRISTOPHER O’CONNELL — YEAR 5

ABOVE: JULIA PIGGIN WITH BOYS IN HER CLASS

Interview with Julia Piggin
The Scotch College Junior School classroom
program has been based on the Kodály music
philosophy for more than 20 years. This concept
was inspired by the ideas of the Hungarian
composer and educator, Zoltan Kodály
(1882-1967). Throughout Kodály’s writings are
the notions that a person cannot be complete
without music, and that music serves to develop
a person on all levels – emotionally, spiritually and
intellectually.
Our curriculum is a child-centred,
developmental and sequential program that
uses the singing voice as the foundation of good
musicianship and music literacy. Since 1999, we
have been fortunate to have experienced and
talented Kodály teacher, Julia Piggin, on our staff.
Julia was recently awarded a life membership of
the Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia,
and has been a tireless advocate for excellence
in music education, as a trainer of other
teachers, and through her work on the Victorian
committee. Julia has a particularly lovely bond
with younger students, who know her not only for
her fun lessons, but also for her reading of the

Great Scot Number 149 – December 2016

Australian children’s books, Grug by Ted
Prior.
Julia is also a skilful choral accompanist,
and over the years her musical piano playing
has inspired many boys’ singing. She is the
accompanist for the internationally renowned
Young Voices of Melbourne choir, conducted by
Mark O’Leary.
In her brief spare time, Julia is a doting
grandmother to gorgeous three-year-old,
Ella, and she relishes the fine things in life:
good writing, design, concerts and food. On
a personal note, it has been truly wonderf ul
to work so closely with Julia for 17 years. She
has been a fantastic mentor, colleague and
friend; and together we try to inspire the boys
to be the best musicians possible, and to
appreciate excellent musicianship in others.
Jenni Thom — Head of Junior School Music
What would you say if you were given no
questions to answer in an interview?
I’d begin by thanking my closest colleagues
for their wicked humour, their engaging insights,

and their shared professional wisdom. I’d single
out Jenni Thom. She makes each day new, fresh,
funny, exciting – and challenging.
I’d thank the boys. I’ve been stealing their
energy, ideas and talents for years. Recently, one
gently nudged my elbow and whispered, ‘Just tap
the space bar.’ I quietly asked, ‘How do you know
that?’. The kind-hearted response was ‘Because
I’m a child.’ The ‘child’ is considerably taller than I
am and at times, has a lot more to say during class
time than I do. He knows who he is.
What’s not to like about being one small link
in the superb chain of highly trained and talented
musicians and teachers at Scotch? For every gap
in one’s own knowledge and abilities, there’s a
brilliant expert to defer to!
What’s not to like about being asked while on
recess duty, ‘Do we have Music today?’ What’s
better than being able to reply, ‘I hope so!’?
Every rhythm clapped with articulation,
every song phrased and styled, every satisfying
musical moment, and every enervated and brave
performance … I’ve appreciated it all. Hail thou
best of schools and dearest.

www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot

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