NT students head back to school for an action-packed term three

The school year’s third term is set to kick off, with Gray Primary School students Pania and Honey Reid excited to dive into their favourite classes.

Pania and Honey Reid are excited to start classes again at Gray Primary School. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Students across the Territory are ready to swap the casual clothes and sleep-ins for freshly-ironed uniforms and 8am school bells.

Pania and Honey Reid have enjoyed an action-packed school holiday program but are keen to reconnect with friends and turn a new page in their favourite classes at Gray Primary School.

School captain and year six student Pania said she and her family did lots of “fun stuff” during the three-week break from school.

“We went fish feeding and we also went to hang out with some friends and see friends that came up from different places,” she said.

Tamara Boyd is looking forward to seeing daughters Pania and Honey Reid start classes again but will miss spending time with her kids. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mum Tamara Boyd said she was both relieved and sad to send her kids off to school again.

“Three weeks is a long time having your kids all day, every day,” she joked.

“I can’t wait for someone else to do it for 10 weeks but at the same time it’s going to be boring.”

Ms Boyd’s school holiday highlight was the plethora of activities on offer for families over the June-July break.

“We usually travel but this time we stayed put and there was almost too much, where the kids were like ‘What’s today?’ and I’m like ‘Nothing, stay home’,” she said.

Gray Primary School principal Donna Westaway said she looked forward to watching the kids reconnect with their friends. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Gray Primary School principal Donna Westaway said term three was set to be jam-packed, with plenty of learning and engagement opportunities on offer for students.

“This is concert term so lot’s of practice will be happening over the next nine weeks and they’ll get into that pretty quickly,” she said.

“We have our NAIDOC celebrations at the end of this first week, a really exciting time for us because we’re 56 per cent Indigenous at Gray.

“This is big business for us, it’s about inclusivity for all our students.”

Ms Westaway said year six students like Pania would also get to attend “taster days” at Palmerston College, as well as prepare their midway NT Learning Commission pitch.

She said she was looking forward to seeing the kids start filtering through the school gates after the break.

“Gray is like a little community school – everyone is either related to each other or really great friends,” she said.

“It’s always exciting on that first day when they run in and see each other and catch up.

“I’ll probably find out how many times I went to Target or Coles over the holidays – it’s the only time I feel like a rock star.”