Abby Brooker’s journey at Cobram Anglican Grammar School started when she was a Prep student.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
From her first day at Cobram Anglican Grammar School, Abby Brooker has always looked up to her older schoolmates.
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Now a school captain and a Year 12 student in her own right, Abby’s time at CAGS has come full circle.
“When you’re little, and you’re in Prep and Year 1, you look up, and you see the older kids who are trying their best and getting involved,” she said.
“Now that’s me, cheering on the younger kids.”
The sense of connection between students of all ages, afforded by the school’s Prep to Year 12 intake, is something she loves most about CAGS.
“I think our closeness — like the fact that we are a small school but with so many year levels, it’s so easy to know so many people,” said Abby, who plans to follow her dreams and study criminology or agricultural science at university.
With whole school assemblies and athletics carnivals, students as young as five years old spend time with their senior counterparts — just like Abby remembered herself doing not too long ago.
And it’s no accident, as Prep teacher Dakota Cox and head of junior school Fiona Clark explained.
“The transition from kindergarten to Cobram AGS is excellent because the school is small enough that all the students are really well known,” Mrs Cox said.
“But it’s also big enough that students are able to expand their social circles.
“It really means that your child is part of an excellent community, and knowing that when your child starts here in Foundation, the faces are going to be familiar for the majority of your child’s learning journey.”
Thanks to a six-week transition program at the end of the year, Mrs Clark said all the teachers knew your child by the beginning of their first school term.
“The six-week transition program at the end of the year also allows the children to lessen their anxiety and be more knowledgeable about the school when they start in the following January,” she said.
Head of junior school Fiona Clark and Prep teacher Dakota Cox.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
“We’ve always got two adults in the classroom, we have a welfare officer for social and emotional issues, as well as a well-co-ordinated education support team.”
From day one, Prep students are also paired up with a senior student in a buddy program.
Young students are exposed to a range of hands-on activities from an early age to give them a taste of the subjects they can pursue later in senior school.
In a step towards providing further opportunities to its junior students, the school has also recently expanded its specialist art program to all year levels, including Prep.
Meanwhile, a lunchtime break between classes afforded Abby some time to reflect on her 13 years at CAGS.
She had no regrets, and had only one suggestion for parents considering enrolling their child at the school.
“Do it,” she said.
“You never know if you don’t try, and I’m so glad my parents did.
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