Head of Junior School

Welcome to 2022

It has been a joy to have welcomed our students back on campus this week as we start the 2022 school year full of hope and excitement. Last Friday’s orientation session for our 65 new students allowed them to feel much more settled as they began this first week and it has been heart-warming to see our current students taking care of them during breaks and in the classrooms as I have observed in my daily walks around the campus.

There has been a palpable energy and I acknowledge the preparative work of our teachers, leaders, support staff and facilities team over the holidays to allow us to hit the ground running.

In our first assembly on Monday, we welcomed our new staff and our new students and the students also heard from our Principal, Mr Webber, setting the tone for a great year ahead.

During this assembly, I shared three key messages for the students for the year ahead and I encourage you to engage in conversations with your child on the topics, just as I will also do over the year.

The first was about the significance of our School Values, which Mr Webber also spoke about. Respect, Honesty, Fairness, Compassion, Responsibility and Moral Courage are personal qualities that we hope become part of who our students are. As I explained to the students, an important role of the School is to grow them as people as well as skilled thinkers and learners and I asked the students to strive to aim to live these values, both at school and at home, and not just when someone else is watching.

My second message highlighted goal setting and us all focusing on just one word that we hope might inspire, centre and define us in 2022. This has been a theme for the Junior School for the last few years where instead of having longer-worded goals, each student and teacher has chosen to focus on just one word for the year.

Students have already discussed this idea and a number of students have shared their #oneword2022 with me already in passing, which I have loved hearing about; but more importantly, why the word is poignant for them. I encourage you to ask your child what their one word for 2022 might be and ask them to explain why they have chosen this word. And you may even like to consider a word yourself and share it with your child?

My third and final message was more of a challenge centred around kindness and I asked the children how they might make someone smile each day. Sometimes it can be the small gestures that make the most difference to others and helps to nurture our supportive, diverse and inclusive community.

The staff and I look forward to supporting each and every child this year as we aim to provide experiences and opportunities to enable each student’s light to shine and to illuminate the light in others around them.

2022 Junior School Captains

After the formal announcement of our new Junior School Leaders for 2022 at last year’s Speech Day, I was delighted to re-introduce these students to the Junior School in our assembly, where they were duly recognised. As I shared with the students, I have every confidence that they, alongside every one of their peers in Year 6, will set a wonderful example to the rest of the Junior School in the year ahead and we wish them all the best in their student leadership roles.

Junior School Captains Seren Guha and Fergus Kerr

Arts Captains Ina Guan and Leo Campbell

Sports Captains Olivia Law and Mackenzie Willis

Environment Captains Lauren Rolfe and Otis Gait

Cowper House Captains Georgia Grace and Joshua Svensson

Dumolo House Captains Catherine Andrews and Thomas Bentley

McDouall House Captains Tahlia Stone and Alexander Taylor

Roseby House Captains Saskia Jelley and Zac Holgate

‘Meet the Teacher’ Information Evening (Zoom)

A letter will be sent tomorrow with the Zoom links to next week’s ‘Meet the Teacher’ information evening. The letter will also be on Redlands Pulse for your reference.

Years 3 & 4 Tuesday 8 February 5.00pm – 5.45pm

Years 5 & 6 Wednesday 9 February 5.00pm – 5.45pm

COVID-safe Reminders

Please can I ask parents to ensure students arrive each day with a mask (a spare one is useful to have too). Equally, with our bubblers closed at present, a water bottle is required so students can use the many chilled, filtered water bottle fillers around the campus.

Drop off, Parking and Pick-up

The safe arrival and departure of our students remains of the highest priority and I thank parents as we have returned to school and the different options available to do this safely.

Please be mindful that many families are new to Redlands and getting to grips with new parking and pick-up arrangements. For families using the car line process, please remind your child to wait with the duty teacher at the Junior School gate and follow the guidelines clarified in the letter sent before term.

Please do not arrive early and as close to 3.20pm as possible to avoid additional congestion to our younger Prep School students’ departure times. We have duty staff looking after the children at all gates and bus stops until 3.45pm so do not worry if you are held up in traffic or a little late. Thank you, in advance, for your cooperation and support.

Year 7 2023 Scholarships

Closing next Monday 7 February.

Applications for Year 7 2023 Scholarships in Academic, Merit, Music and Ballet close next Monday 7 February.

For any interested current Year 6 families who have not yet submitted their child’s application, further details are available HERE

If you know of any families currently not at Redlands who may be interested in applying for any of these scholarships or for the Belinda Oxley Means-tested Scholarship for their child for Year 7 2023, could you please let them know that the closing date for applications is this coming Monday.

Start of Term Tips from our Wellbeing Team

Over the course of the year, Mrs Clinton (Dean of Students) or Ms Clark and Mr Digiacomo (Junior Campus Counsellors) will write short pieces in Note Day on topics of interest for families. We will also have seminars (hopefully in person) on pertinent topics so do look out for these too. This week, Ms Clark has provided some tips to help your child as they start the new school year.

A fresh start to a fresh year, and a fresh class, no doubt brings lots of excitement, but some nerves and jitters are completely natural too. Here are 5 tips to help your child navigate the ups and downs that comes with transitioning back to school:

As much as we would like to live out the rest of 2022 in holiday mode, try to establish a solid back-to-school routine. Guided by your knowledge of what best supports your child, you could set up a practical chart of getting ready, including what needs to be done each day for school (such as waking up, eating breakfast, getting dressed), and brainstorm together what your child could do on their own. Don’t forget healthy habits around sleep (around 9-11 hours each night), exercise, and diet.
Let your child unwind after the school day. If your child is quite active, get them out and about to blow off some steam. If they respond better to quiet time, ensure they have a comfortable, relaxing space in the house where they can retreat to manage their thoughts and emotions at the end of the day.
After they have had the chance to decompress, make time to reconnect with them to debrief about the day, giving them your undivided attention. You could try saying something like, ‘Tell me one good thing about your day’, or ‘Is there anything that concerned you today?’ rather than asking a lot of questions.
It’s common for children to take some time to settle into a new class. Especially if your child is feeling apprehensive about this transition, encourage them to try to be patient and open-minded when spending time with their classmates, and perhaps offer to organise a play date to help facilitate new friendships.
Remind them of the names of people who can support them at school (their teacher, Mr Guha, Mrs Clinton, and our school counsellors), so they are aware of who to turn to if things get tricky. We are all here to help.

Junior School Debating

Debating is an optional cocurricular activity that is available to students in Yrs 4, 5 and 6 and takes place across the year. The Debating workshops are run by coaches who are experienced debaters and coaches. They prepare lessons and track progress of every student.

For more detailed information, please go to the Junior School Debating page on Redlands Pulse and follow this link to the sign-up form.

If you have any questions regarding the program, please get in contact with our Junior School Debating Coordinator, Mr Watkins.

Redlands ySafe Cyber Safety Hub

In 2021, in partnership with ySafe, Redlands launched our own Cyber Safety Hub specifically for our community; a treasure-trove of current, research-based information and assistance for our families and staff.

I encourage every family to take the time to explore this valuable resource to support you and your child, which includes a range of relevant topics such as:

Cyber safety guides
Managing screen time
Creating a safe home
Gaming
Setting up parental controls
App and Game reviews

Arnold Library Student Use Before and After School

We are pleased to confirm that Junior School students will be able to use the Arnold Library again before school each day from 8am until 8.20am and after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays until 4pm.

Class Parent Representatives

We are always fortunate to have parents volunteer for the role of Class Parent each year and class teachers will seek interest for this role at the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening next week. The role is not an onerous one but is one that makes such a huge difference for families in the class, particularly our newer families to Redlands. If you would like to nominate as the person for your child’s class or if you have any questions about the role, please do feel free to contact either of our new Junior School Parent Contact Group Coordinators, Catherine Grinham or Catherine Brown, who will be only too willing to assist.

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop is open on Monday, Wednesday, Friday 8am – 4pm and Thursdays 8am – 6pm.

We encourage parents to order online through Flexischools, where possible. Orders placed before 5pm will be available after 1pm the following day. Please note that orders placed on Monday will be available on Wednesdays as the shop is closed on Tuesdays.

Orders are now available to be delivered to Prep/Junior School classrooms. Any orders that have not been collected by Friday morning will be sent down to students in their classroom.

If you need an urgent item or need assistance with sizing, we are happy for you to come to the shop and purchase at the door.

A final reminder that students will need to be wearing the new sports polo from Week 4. These are available to purchase at the shop.

If you would like to speak to any of our Uniform Shop team, please call us on 9968 9850.

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