Head of Preparatory School

Please note that all Upcoming Events for Prep are on their own Note Day article/page.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier’s Reading Challenge opened on Monday for teachers, students and parents and concludes Friday 28 August.

The PRC was instigated to encourage wide reading in schools. The student website is a place where students can record their reading, browse the booklists to earmark further reading and explore information about authors. For continuing students, the username and passwords remain the same. For new students, the Lucy Hill Library will apply for usernames and passwords and these will be disseminated in due course. Students who have completed the PRC at their previous school need to carefully link their new account in the opening questionnaire so that their previous reading counts towards future certificates. It is very special to receive Gold and Platinum awards which are handed out by the Principal.

Toys/Watches at School

Could you please be advised that watches with camera, video and call functions are not permitted at school. These include Spacetalk, Vtech Kidizoom and Apple watches. Thank you for your close attention to this.

Parent Teacher Learning Meetings

As per the letter sent to all parents on Wednesday 26 February, Parent Teacher Learning Meetings will be held for the Preparatory School in Week 8, between Monday 16 and Friday 20 March. Bookings are open and close at 9.00am on Wednesday 11 March. These meetings are a wonderful opportunity for collaboration between parent and teacher and I therefore urge you to take up this important time with your child’s teacher. You are able to book meeting times that suit you by following the steps below:

The website is www.schoolinterviews.com.au
The event code is sb29f
Enter your details
Select the appropriate teacher(s)
Choose your time(s) (interviews will be conducted in your child’s classroom. Please ensure you leave enough time to move from one interview to another if you have more than one child)
You will receive a confirmation email with your appointment time

Teaching, Learning and Wellbeing – P-6 Parent and Carer Information Session

Tuesday 17 March from 8.30-9.30am
Arnold Library, Junior School
RSVP here

Parents and carers are warmly invited to an information session focusing on how we support our children’s learning and wellbeing across our Junior Campus. More information can be found on the Upcoming Events page.

Please register your attendance here and let us know if you have any specific information or questions that you would like addressed during the presentation.

April Vacation Care

If you would like your child to attend the April Vacation Care program, please visit Redlands Pulse to preview the activity plan. The Flexischools website will be open on Monday 9 March at 12.00pm to make your bookings. Please contact the OOSH Coordinator, Trinetta Newbond, with any Vacation Care or After School Care queries.

Connection, Community and Chapel

This term in our Junior Campus chapels we have been considering the theme of connection. We have been looking at this concept in a number of ways. From God’s connection to people, people’s connection to God and people’s connection with each other. The Bible shares the value that is placed on connection, highlighting God’s love and care for people and the lengths He went to connect with people. It also gives direction to how people might connect in a positive way. In the Preparatory School we love to find ways for families and students to be connected as a community and one way to do that is to share experiences together. To this end our inaugural Welcome to Kindy Chapel was created to give Kindergarten families an opportunity to share in our Chapel services and gain an understanding of what happens at Chapel. Thank you to those of you who were able to join us on Monday and we look forward to seeing families as they are able to share these special times with us throughout the year. In our Chapel service this week we reviewed our connection theme and began our investigation of how people connect with each other. We considered the value of connecting with people who are different to ourselves and God’s love for all people. We told a story Jesus first told, The Good Samaritan, which we will consider in class in a deeper way. Ms Moses, one of our Music teachers, led our singing with a few favourites and taught us a new song for our Easter Service. Mrs Kourakis, Dean of Students joined us to lead our thanksgiving gratitude prayer where we had a chance to reflect on the many things in our lives we are grateful for. Asking children what they are grateful for is often a beautiful and surprising process.

We will have the opportunity to connect as a community in our Chapel services throughout the year and those dates will be shared in upcoming Note Days. In Term 2 and 3 each Kindergarten, Yr 1 and 2 class will lead Chapel for the Year Group.

Families are also welcome to join us for our Easter and Christmas celebrations later in the school year.

Mrs Audrey Fellowes
Head of Preparatory School
afellowes@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9848