Year 7

Welcome back Yr 7 Students and Parents to Term 2!

Term 2 Pastoral Care: Hitting Our Stride

This term students will focus on refining their habits, study skills and other tools for success by revisiting many ideas introduced to them in Term 1 and adding a few new ones to their repertoire.  The Yr 7 Pastoral Program has been designed to include strategies and ideas from: Burn Bright Program, Pru Salter’s Study Skills, 7 Habits of  Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey and feedback from our wonderful Yr 7 cohort.  A snapshot of our program each week includes:

Monday Chapel
Tuesday Tools for Success
Wednesday Student Tutorials
Thursday Year Meetings
Friday Community Days and Peer Support

Pru Salter’s Weekly Tip for Parent Conversations With Their Teens

Negative Mindset / Attitude

Henry Ford once famously said, “whether you believe you can, or you can’t, you are right”. This refers to your mindset or mental attitude, and the concept that your mind is powerful enough to enable your thoughts to create your reality. If you have a negative attitude to your memory, it will likely reduce your chance of developing and maintaining a good memory. There are some simple steps you can take to start making changes to negative thoughts. Be aware that negative thoughts are just a habit, and habits can be changed with a little effort. Awareness is the key to changing a habit, as you need to consciously be aware of the current habit before you can change it – so start catching yourself in the act of making negative statements. Affirm your intention to improve the way you think. Then correct the negative statement you just made, and make it into a more positive one. Learn more at the Brain and Memory unit of www.studyskillshandbook.com.au. Our school’s subscription details are Username: redlands, Password: 68results

NAPLAN

Yr 7 Students are expected to participate in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) to assess literacy and numeracy skills. Testing will take place on Tuesday 14 May (Language Conventions and Writing), Wednesday 15 May (Reading), and Thursday 16 May (Numeracy) from 8.20am to 11.05am. Students need to bring a school calculator on Thursday 16 May for the Numeracy Test part A that requires a calculator. Students will be provided a pencil to complete all tests. Further information about NAPLAN can be found in the NAPLAN parent information brochure. Following the tests, all parents across Australia will receive results in a common reporting format. It is important for you and your child to know that NAPLAN is not a pass/fail test. It simply looks at what level students are achieving in literacy and numeracy against National Standards and compared with student peers throughout Australia. More information is available on the National Assessment Program website.

Announcements and Upcoming Events
  • We are incorporating a lot of conversations around students taking pride in their own appearance and their belongings. Students are reminded to revisit the guidelines for proper uniform on pages 19 and 20 of the Student Planner. There are also many belongings being left around the student lockers, in common areas at recess and lunch and in the restrooms.  Students should be locking all personal items in their lockers throughout the day. Lockers can hold a backpack and students should be locking their bags inside their locker. Students are encouraged to ask a teacher for assistance if they are needing support with their physical organisation.   
  • Students have completed a Term Wall Planner this week. Students may access their Yr 7 Assessment Booklet through iLearn for guidance and this same document is available to parents through the Parent Portal Redlands Pulse. Please look out for this wall planner and encourage your child to refer to it and use it throughout the term for successful preparation and planning.   
  • The Redlands Konica Minolta Art Prize Collection can be viewed for the first time at Redlands. The Collection, created as a direct result of the acquisitive Prize over 22 years, is a remarkable collection of artworks which provides a unique and valuable teaching tool and includes pieces from Imants Tillers, Ben Quilty, Lindy Lee amongst others. Parents will also have an opportunity to meet Cameron Robbins, the contemporary artist, who is leading the 2019 Redlands Konica Minolta Artist in Residence (RKMAIR) program. Cameron will be at Redlands 6-17 May working with students and staff creating a site responsive artwork on the Senior Campus. Tickets available here. Drinks and canapés will be served during the evening. This is a parent only event. For more information, please visit our website.
  • Yr 7 Naplan Literacy and Numeracy tests will occur 13, 14 and 15 May.  Students will discuss further details regarding the content of these tests in their respective classes
  • To help reduce the weight of backpacks, students are encouraged to go to their lockers after Periods 2, 4 and 6. They are encouraged to determine what needs to go home at those times to avoid the mad rush at the end of the day and then resort to taking more items than necessary home with them. Students will most likely be using the electronic version of textbooks at home and keeping their hard copy at school to use in classes. 
  • Learning Management Alerts on Fridays – these emails are sent to parents, students and Tutors to identify any outstanding work that may be completed over the weekend to help students stay on top of their learning.  These alerts are issued after a discussion and reminder from the classroom teacher has already been attempted. These are initiated by the classroom teachers yet sent through the Year Advisor. Please contact the issuing teacher for any subjects specific clarification. 
  • Other upcoming key dates:
    • 6 June – Winter Sport Photos
    • 12 June – Yr 10 Vaccinations, catch ups for Yr 7
    • 12 Sept – Athletics and Water polo photos

Ms Alissa Ynson
Yr 7 Advisor (Acting)
9968 9863
aynson@redlands.nsw.edu.au