Head of Preparatory School
2020 Draws to a Close and Thank You
Reflecting on Redlands Prep in 2020, resilience, pride, challenging and fun learning, happy students, dedicated staff and supportive parent body all come to mind. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for supporting and encouraging the Prep School throughout such an unusual year.
I would like to formally thank Mrs Bree Stephens for all her hard work this year as Coordinator of the Prep School Parent Group Association. Bree has not only been an incredible support to me as a new Head of Prep School but has done an immeasurable job of keeping the School and the community connected this year. All our parent representatives have worked tirelessly and my heartfelt thanks go to all of you. Thank you, Bree and team. We welcome Mrs Jen Mast to this position in 2021. I look forward to working closely with her and the new class parent representatives as we welcome in a new year and new families.
I wish all our Prep families a very Merry Christmas and an enjoyable break. I look forward to seeing you all in the new year. Please be assured that any changing COVID guidelines will be communicated to all families before the commencement of Term 1.
Presentation Day
Please click on this link to find the Preparatory School Presentation Day invitation to the live stream event. As you will notice, the program is shared digitally but if you would like a paper copy to keep, please let Claire or Wendy know and they will send a copy home with your child.
We are very excited about sharing grade items with you next Tuesday. As previously mentioned in Note Day, students will stay at school for the duration of the day this year BUT if you have a child is in Transition or 3-6 who has a half day, you are welcome to come and pick them up at the duration of Presentation Day from outside Prep Reception. Please let either Claire Hunt or your class teacher know that you will be picking up your child. OOSH will be available as normal at the conclusion of the school day on Tuesday.
2021 Start Dates
Please note the 2021 dates below for future planning. There will be further information sent out to all families during the break time. This communication will outline details of times, car line pick up times and other logistics. For our Kindergarten families, communication will come to you next week outlining final details for your start to school.
2021 Term Dates
Term 1
Wednesday 27 January – New students
Thursday 28 January – All students commence
Thursday 1 April – End of Term 1
Term 2
Tuesday 20 April – Friday 18 June
Term 3
Tuesday 13 July – Friday 17 September
Term 4
Tuesday 5 October – Wednesday 1 December
Staffing and Classes 2021
Next week we say goodbye to two of our highly valued and dedicated staff members. Ms Jacqui Lofgren has been a much-loved member of the Redlands staff for six years. She has accepted a position at The McDonalds College, Strathfield. McDonald’s College is an independent, coeducational school and is the only one of its kind that provides specialists training in the Performing Arts. We wish Jacqui well as she starts up the newly created Kindergarten class there.
We also farewell Mrs Nicola Sharp next week. After 13 years at Redlands as a highly professional classroom teacher and Coordinator, Nicola has accepted the Year 6 Team Leader position at Knox Grammar Preparatory School where she will teach within and lead seven classes. We wish her all the best as she continues on her journey.
We also say goodbye to Mrs Rachel Haines. Over the last 12 months, Rachel has stepped into the Kindergarten Yellow role with ease and has engaged, challenged, guided and supported all her students with a high standard of teaching. Rachel will be a missed in the Kindergarten rooms but we will see her around the Junior Campus as she continues to teach on a casual basis with us.
As we approach the end of the school year, we say farewell to Mr Hemopo, thank you for your service to our School community.
For Term 1, 2021, our Junior Campus Chaplain, Ms McKenzie takes some much-deserved Long Service Leave and we welcome the very familiar face of Ms Julia Michaels to take on her Christian Studies teaching and our Senior Campus Chaplain, Ms Bronwyn Lihou, is looking forward to leading our Junior Campus Chapel services in Ms McKenzie’s absence.
Important Seesaw Information
We hope that you have enjoyed seeing your child’s work on Seesaw while they have been in the Preparatory School. From 1 January 2021, we will be archiving the student work in Seesaw for all Yr 2 students progressing to Yr 3 and for any student who is leaving the Preparatory School at the end of this year. This means that parents of current Yr 2 students will no longer be able to view their child’s content on Seesaw in 2021.
If your child is currently in Yr 2 or leaving the Preparatory School at the end of this year, follow the instructions below on how to download your child’s work from Seesaw and save it on a personal computer. Link to instructions here
If your child is currently in Kindergarten or Yr 1 and continuing at Redlands next year, you do not need to take any further action. You will be able to continue to access your child’s work on Seesaw.
Mrs Ainslie Breckenridge
Head of Preparatory School
abreckenridge@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9848