Head of Junior School

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Soak It All In 

I recently had a conversation with a good friend whose daughter was leaving home to move to university and the emotions that this milestone was stirring for him and his wife as parents. It reminded me of an article I had read by Misty Brewer Lee on how she was learning to cope with the transition of parenting a young adult daughter and teenage son and trying to hold on, whilst also learning to let go.

I have shared the article below because, whilst she talks about this particular transitional time, the focus of the message is about the times when our children are much younger and how we should embrace these times and truly aim to ‘soak it all in’. I read quite widely but sometimes books or articles resonate or strike a deeper chord so in sharing this, I hope this might do the same for someone else too.

When you first have children, they talk about the challenges of parenting…. the struggles of a baby waking in the night, the toddler who won’t stay in their bed, the cost of childcare, injuries from sports…Having to take time off work to pick them up from school when they don’t feel well, helping them with homework, a messy house, the never-ending laundry, the cost to buy school clothes, packing their lunches…. 

You watch their eyes light up on Christmas morning…. and try to soak in the  magic of those moments. You coach them in sports, rushing to practices and ballgames… and drive them all over the country to let them play the game they love… no matter how exhausting or expensive it becomes.  

Life is just so busy that you rarely even stop to think what the end of those days looks like. In fact, it’s not really even something you can wrap your mind around. You go into it thinking that 18-20 years sounds like a long time…. 

Then suddenly hours turn into days…days into months…and months into years. 

That little person that used to crawl up next to you in bed and cuddled up to watch cartoons suddenly becomes this young adult who hugs you in the hallway as they come and go. And the chaos and laughter that used to echo throughout your home gets filled with silence and solitude.  

You’ve learned how to parent a child who needs you to care for and protect them but have no clue how the whole ‘letting go’ thing is supposed to work. So, you hold on as tight as you can wondering how time passed so quickly…feeling guilty that you missed something…. 

Because even though you had 20 years…..it just somehow doesn’t seem like it was enough. 

You ask yourself so many questions… 

Did you teach them the right lessons?
Did you read them enough books as a child?
Spend enough time playing with them?
How many school parties did you have to miss?
Do they really know how much you love them?
What could I have done better as a parent?  

…..When it’s time for them to go, it all hits you like a ton of bricks. 

And all you can do is pray….hope….and trust that God will protect them as they start to make their way into the world alone. 

Parenting is by far the most amazing experience of your life….that at times leaves you exhilarated…. while others leave you heartbroken. But one thing is certain….. it’s never enough time… 

So, for all the parents with young children…whose days are spent trying to figure out how to make it through the madness…exhausted day in and day out… 

Soak. It. All. In.

Because one day…. all those crazy days full of cartoons, snuggles, sleepovers, Christmas morning magic, ballgames, practices and late-night dinners…

All come to an end.

And you’re left hoping that you did enough right, so that when they spread their wings….they’ll fly.

V.M Medway Award for Outstanding Girl – Primary Sport

I was thrilled to hear that our 2018 Junior School female Sports Captain, Jasmine Black, was presented with the highly prestigious V.M Medway Award for Outstanding Girl – Primary Sport, in New South Wales for 2018.

At the 2018 School Sport Australia Championships, Jasmine was a standout performer as the goalkeeper for New South Wales and conceded only three goals during the week-long National Tournament, helping her team to the silver medal. Mr Carter and I were able to cheer her on in her match against Queensland as the tournament was held in Sydney so were also able to witness both her play and her leadership within that team.

Jasmine attended the presentation dinner with her family and this recognition was a complete surprise to her and she was also presented with a Red Award on the evening, an award for primary students that perform at an exceptional level at the National Championships.

Alongside her sporting achievements, Jasmine’s ever-cheerful demeanour, humility and personal qualities stood out in her time in the Junior School. I bumped into Jasmine just this week and was able to congratulate her in person and she is already looking forward to continuing her enjoyment and development in Sport in the Secondary School. Congratulations, Jasmine.

Junior School Learning Review Meetings    

Junior School families should have received communication this week about the upcoming Learning Review meetings between parents and teachers and the online booking process. Bookings open at 8.00pm next Monday 11 March and close at 8.00pm on Tuesday 19 March and the letter has also been placed on the Junior School Redlands Pulse page.

Dates:
Thursday 21 March – Yrs 3- 6
Tuesday 26 March – Yrs 3, 4 and 6 (Yr 5 on camp)
Tuesday 2 April – Yr 5 

Parent Seminar: Positive Behaviour Support for Learning 

It was wonderful again to welcome a large number of Junior Campus parents as we continued our parent seminar series. Led most ably by our Dean of Teaching and Learning, Mr Coutts, and our Dean of Students, Mrs Kourakis, Tuesday’s session presented parents with information on some of our contemporary and innovative teaching and learning pedagogy, as well as how we support student wellbeing at Redlands. As I shared in my closing comments, it is always wonderful to have parents actively involved in their child’s learning journey but we are also mindful that not every parent is able to get to every seminar so the information slides are on Redlands Pulse for your access and any follow up comments or questions can be directed via email to Mr Coutts or Mrs Kourakis.

Clean Up Australia Day

A sincere thank you for the service of many Redlands students, teachers and families who participated in last Sunday’s Clean Up Australia Day community event, an event initiated to help make a positive contribution in the local community. The location of Spit West Reserve was particularly significant as it is right beside our Redlands Rowing Boatshed and the group worked tirelessly in the afternoon sunshine to make a difference to the local environment.

Yr 6 Camp (11-15 March)  

Next week sees the first of our 2019 Junior School camps as Yr 6 set off for Canberra. The children and staff are excited about the week and our Dean of Students, Mrs Kourakis, and I am are also looking forward to spending time with them next week, just as we will visit every Year Group on their respective camps in the first semester. I will send parents an email update from Canberra to give you a sense of how the trip is faring and we will endeavour to put some photos up in the Yr 6 section of Redlands Pulse during the week. These special opportunities for teachers and students to observe and interact with one another in an environment outside of the classroom often builds a platform for developing increased connections and insights upon returning to School, not to mention fostering potential new student friendships along the way. I am sure that the trip will provide some wonderful opportunities and memories for students and staff alike and I will share my observations and experiences through Note Day too.

Drone view of Camp Cottermouth

Redlands Inaugural Sports Luncheon

The Redlands Inaugural Sports Luncheon, celebrating 120 years of Redlands Sport, will be held towards the end of this term on Friday 5 April between 12.00 – 4.00pm at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Kirribilli.

This Luncheon is open to all Redlands parents and alumni and provides a great opportunity to celebrate the integral value of sport to the Redlands community and its students of the past, present and future. We are delighted to announce our guest speakers, all past Redlands students, who will share their very inspiring journey during this Luncheon:

• Karyn Gojnich (née Davis), Class of 1978 (Olympic Sailor, Redlander and former Redlands parent)
• Janusz Hooker, Class of 1987 (Olympic Rower)
• Lachlan Mackay, Class of 2000 (Rugby: Australian Wallaby)
• Holly Crawford, Class of 2001 (Olympic Snowboarder)

Tickets are $130 per person and include a gourmet two course meal and beverages. Limited spaces are available and bookings can be made here. I hope to see many of you there as we recognise this milestone in the history of Redlands Sport.

2019 Premier’s Reading Challenge

The NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely.

The Premier’s Reading Challenge has begun for 2019 and Junior School students will receive information this week from their class teachers with both their username and password on it to put it into their Planners. Parents should go to the online link to start entering books and students have until the last day of August to have all their books entered.

Students will be required to read twenty quality books at their appropriate reading level. Fifteen of these books will need to be PRC books with a further five listed as free choice (do keep an eye out for the stickers in the Library at their year level or above). Please note that no more than two books from any series of books can be counted as PRC. After four years of involvement, students receive a Gold PRC certificate and after seven years, a prestigious platinum certificate is awarded in Junior School assembly.

The Arnold Library team and class teachers look forward to promoting and supporting students with this reading challenge for 2019.

The 2019 Mosman Youth Awards in Literature Competition

The entries for the annual Mosman Youth Awards in Literature competition are now open. Since the competition was first held in 1993 as part of the Centenary of Mosman celebrations, over 9000 stories and pieces of poetry have been entered in the competition and Redlands students have had a long history of both participation and success in these awards.

The competition awards prizes for both prose and poetry and is open to primary and secondary students. As in previous years, entries are expected from across New South Wales as well as from local students. The prizes are sponsored by The Lions Club of Mosman, Rotary Club of Mosman, Mosman Community College, Mosman Zu Café and Oracle Books, Mosman.

Entries close on Friday 31 May and the winners will be announced at a special ceremony on Wednesday 28 August at Barry O’Keefe Library. We have a few entry forms in the Library but these are also available online. Class teachers will also encourage students to be involved again in this literary opportunity.

Combined Independent Schools of NSW Sports Selection  

Congratulations to our Junior School Sports Captains, Stella Simpson Morgan and Lachlan Carmichael, who have been selected in the NSW Combined Independent Schools teams for Tennis and Basketball respectively. This level of selection is extremely competitive with over 350 independent schools in the State and we wish them well in their upcoming competitions.

Tuesday Cocurricular Clubs

With upcoming camps and Learning Review meetings, please note the following cancellations of Clubs in the coming weeks as listed below due to teacher unavailability:

Easter Working Bee

Opal Cards

Please read this important letter regarding Opal cards.

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