Head of Junior School

How Can We Foster a Culture of Personal Accountability in Our Schools?

This was the topic of one of the sessions I was involved in last Thursday as I spent a day of learning at UTS as part of an educational summit the university was hosting. The session was led by Julie Inman Grant, the Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner who shared the government’s focus on their four R’s of the digital age: Respect, Responsibility, Reasoning and Resilience, the first two of which also form part of our School Values. Some interesting points and provocations that Inman made included:

Do we, as adults, model respectful use of technology? Most adults are online every day so we need to embrace this norm and provide students with instruction for the safe and balanced use of technology.
Are parents mirroring addicted behaviour with technology use? What would your children say about your use of technology?
Parents need to be an online presence in their child’s life too. Just as we would not leave our young children alone in an unfamiliar playground, the digital playground is also a space that we need to look after our children.
Game addiction comes up as the main concern for parents and teachers and has been defined as a mental disease by World Health Organisation.

Earlier this term, Mr Corcoran (Head of Secondary School), shared five key principles to stay safe online in Note Day from a presentation to our Secondary students and parents which I thought would be useful to share with Junior School parents too, some of whom I know may be wrestling with similar concerns. Whilst our older students may think that they can navigate the online space themselves, the vast majority don’t have the emotional awareness and knowledge to do so, so I encourage parents to take on board these recommendations.

Set rules and boundaries – just like other areas of life, there should be clear rules associated with technology use. Rules are not meant to stop children having fun, they are to protect them. Some useful rules should focus on time limits and curfews, an understanding of what language is acceptable, guidelines of where in the home technology can and can’t be used, what websites, games and apps can be used, and what to do if something of concern happens or a mistake is made.
Stay current – this involves parents being across what children generally do on the internet, when children are going online, what programs/software/games they are using. You can stay current by talking to their children and other adults, seek advice or contact the school for guidance.
Take charge – ensure technology is not taking charge. Be aware of what technology is used, where and when. What sites are being accessed and where these are occurring. Remove technology from bedrooms – this should be a safe space.
Use management controls – parents have a right to know where their children go and whom they communicate with.
Communicate – create an environment of openness about technology and talk about it with your children.

As I have discovered, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner’s iParent section is a treasure-trove of information, which I would highly recommend parents to spend some time exploring as we all learn and work together to support and guide our students to make positive choices to harness the power of technology, something that is and will continue to be an integral part of their lives, both now and in the future.

Redlands Spring Fair

We are looking forward to the official launch of the Redlands Spring Fair next week as we countdown the final month. Junior School students and families will already have seen the prominent banners on both campuses and on Monday, the students will be given some information to excite them in our assembly from a special guest.

Early next week, Spring Fair raffle tickets will also be distributed to the eldest family member in the Junior School so please look out for them in your child’s bag. Both sold and unsold raffle tickets should be returned back to Junior School Reception no later than 3 September. We appreciate your support.

Grandparents and Special Friends’ Day

We are looking forward to welcoming the children’s grandparents or special friends tomorrow on this annual special community day for our Junior Campus.

Unless guests are here for the early part of the morning during the Prep part of this day, please can I ask that guests are asked to arrive as close to the scheduled 11am start as possible. This timing is planned to allow our Prep guests to depart at around 10.30am which should then free up parking spaces around the Campus for Junior School guests.

Whooping Cough Alert

We have had a notification of Whooping Cough in Yr 5. Please see this link for information relating to this infectious disease to assess any risk. Should you suspect your child of having Whooping Cough, and they are tested for same, they should remain at home until the results have been relayed back to you. If the result is positive, please notify us immediately, and keep your child at home until the first five full days of the antibiotic has been taken and they feel well enough to return to school.

Supporting our Farmers (Friday 24 August)

Like many, I have been saddened to read and hear of the plight of Australia’s farming community whose plight has been highlighted with the extreme droughts. As a School, Redlands will hold a collection next week on both campuses and the Junior School will tie in our collection with ‘Dress Up as a Book Character Day’ next Friday 24 August. Some of our Yr 11 students have also prepared a short informative video about the extremities of the impacts this drought is having on rural communities, which we will share with students in assembly next week to raise their awareness. I know that many in our Redlands community have connections in the farming community and I was so encouraged to have received a number of compassionate student requests to help the farmers too, as we help to mitigate against the effects of the drought and bring hope to hurting communities.

Mr Ari Guha
Head of Junior School
aguha@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022