Head of Junior School
2021 Student Exercise Books
As some parents would have noticed, from next year, the School will source a consistent set of School learning books for each subject as shown in the photo. The individual book packs will be delivered to us here and class teachers will pass them on to each student. The packs will cost between $16-$30, depending on the required books for each Year Group, and include transferable plastic covers. This one-off cost will be for all books for the whole academic year.
Yr 6 Legacy Fair – Friday 13 November
This Friday (tomorrow), our Yr 6 will host the annual Yr 6 Legacy Fair. This annual event has been a wonderful way in which the Yr 6 cohort combine to organise a range of fun activities for the rest of the Junior School to enjoy and monies raised help towards a legacy gift from the group to the Junior Campus. The main ideas that the students are considering are an indoor green feature wall in the atrium and a time capsule that they will fill with artefacts and information to capture the unique year of 2020 to be opened in 2050!
Due to current restrictions, the Fair will be run slightly differently with allocated times for each Year Group to attend but will still be an exciting morning for our Yr 6 students who take ownership of the organisation and running of stalls and activities.
It will also be a mufti day for a gold coin donation and all stalls and treats will require a gold coin donation too. To limit the handling of money, our preference is for gold coins rather than notes and students interested in taking part should bring between $5-$10 in gold coins.
Music Filming – Full School Uniform Required
In lieu of us not being able to have large-scale live music events on Speech Day, we are excited to be able to create some video footage for all families to enjoy.
As per the detailed letter sent out by our Music team, please be reminded of the following requirements for next week:
Monday 16 November: All students to come in full school uniform (including blazers)
Wednesday 18 November*: All students to come in full school uniform (including blazers)
*As Wednesday is a Sports Day, all students will need to arrive at school in their full school uniform and bring sports kit to change into after filming.
Melanoma Awareness Day – Thursday 19 November
You may recall that back in February, I was pleased to share and promote the planned Melanoma March in Manly, an annual event to raise awareness and funds for Melanoma Institute Australia. Sadly, this event was not able to take place but we are excited to have our own Melanoma Awareness Day on campus next Thursday 19 November during National Skin Cancer Action Week.
Particularly in Australia and leading into the summer, the chance to reinforce sun safety in our school community is an important message as well as raise awareness about melanoma amongst the students and to raise money to support Melanoma Institute Australia.
On this day, students are asked to bring in a gold coin donation and to wear a ‘crazy hat’. There will be some merchandise on sale for students to buy on the day such as slap bands, UV wristbands and bandannas which will range between $1-$5 in price.
We will also have a sun cream (and zinc) stand for students to ‘slip slop slap’ at recess and lunch and hope the sun will shine down on us for the event.
New Student Orientation and ‘Move Up’ Day
Last Friday saw us welcome over 40 new students who will join the Junior School in 2021 as part of their process of orientation into Redlands. Our students welcomed their soon-to-be peers with warmth and friendship, as many of the new students commented to me in the final session we had with just them. All of them left having made a new friend or two which was wonderful too. As part of the day, we also moved Kindy to Yr 5 up a year to the Year Groups that they will be in next year. This allowed them some time with different teachers and begin to get a feel of new learning spaces and expectations. Students rotated around each classroom doing a series of fun activities and I know that this was also hugely beneficial for many of our students.
Yr 7 2021 ‘Connect and Chat’ Session
This week, our Yr 6 students found the time they spent with students from Yr 7 and Yr 11, along with Student Leaders from the Secondary School, of immense value as another aspect of the important transition to Secondary School. The Yr 6 students were able to ask any questions they had to students and staff and it was also wonderful to see many former Junior School students share their personal stories about what worked well for them in the transition and some top tips. I am grateful to Mrs Clinton (Dean of Students) and her Secondary School counterpart, Ms Jansons, for their planning of this opportunity and also thank a number of Secondary School leaders: Mr Webber (Principal), Mr Corcoran (Head of Secondary School), Mr Atkins (Yr 7 2021 Year Advisor), Mrs Willis (Yr 7 Assistant Yr Advisor), Mrs Rolon (Head of English), Mrs Pittard (Head of Maths), Mr Kindred (Head of Secondary School Sport) and Mrs Abe (Assistant Coordinator of Languages), for their time with the students.
Remembrance Day
Our students and staff marked Remembrance Day with respect and solemnity, an important date to reflect and recognise many who have served and died in conflict. I joined Class 6 Green at 11.00am for their service of remembrance and also appreciated the open discussion that the class has afterwards about war and the significance of this day in our history.
Connected to this, Yr 5 groups also enjoyed reflecting on Remembrance Day and linking it into a current study of poetry, using Harvard’s Project Zero thinking routine, See Think Wonder for poems about Remembrance Day before writing their own poems.
NAIDOC Week
During class this week, our students have spent time this week recognising and learning more about NAIDOC Week. This year’s theme, Always was, always will be recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years, and First Nations people were Australia’s first engineers, farmers, scientists, diplomats and artists. Our Arnold Library provided our students and staff with a wealth of resources.
Some Year Groups were also able to make connections to the curriculum such as Yr 6 drawing upon the natural link with Indigenous history and their ‘Food and Fibre’ Unit of Inquiry. The Aboriginal seasonal calendars and the Aboriginal Astronomy lessons both have links to traditional Indigenous food sources and students utilised this information along with their industry of study.
December 2020 and January 2021 Vacation Care
If you would like your child to attend the December/January Vacation Care program, please visit Redlands Pulse to preview the activity plan from next Monday 9 November.
Flexischools will be open on at midday next Monday 16 November for all bookings. Please use the Prep and Junior Vacation Care icon.
If you have any Vacation Care or After School Care queries, you can contact the OOSH K- 6 Coordinator, Ms Trinetta Newbond on 0413 764 443.
Mr Ari Guha
Head of Junior School
aguha@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022