Head of Junior School

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Debating Team Reaches National Semi-Finals!

Earlier this week, our Yr 6 Debating team were victorious in the quarter-final of this year’s National Independent Schools Virtual Debating competition. With a number of previous debates against schools from different States, Monday’s quarter-final debate was against Macarthur Anglican School from NSW and the students excelled again in collaboratively developing their opinions and successfully challenging those of their opposition. The team now progress to the national semi-final stage against previous winners, Northside Montessori School (NSW), and we wish them all the very best in this upcoming debate.

Team: Caroline Brown,  Alex Heller, George McIntosh, Rafael Rolon
Reserves: Sam Ashby , Kai Feldman, Chloe Petering

Student Leadership 2022

Yesterday, our Yr 6 2022 student leadership nomination process commenced for our current Yr 5 cohort ahead of their transition into Yr 6 and the student leadership role that come with this move. I am grateful to Mr Brakell and his team for the meticulous planning and organisation of the session, which it was a pleasure to be part of.

On Friday, the students will now be presented the opportunity to self-nominate for any of the sixteen formal leadership positions listed below and the students were encouraged to consider putting themselves forward for at least one of the roles.

• Junior School Captains (one girl and one boy)
• Arts Captains (one girl and one boy)
• Sports Captains (one girl and one boy)
• Environmental Captains (one girl and one boy)
• House Captains (one girl and one boy per House – 8 in total)

We are delighted to introduce two Environmental Captains to this group from 2022 as new roles aligning with both the Secondary School student leadership group and our School’s strategic direction in sustainability. These students will be part of the School’s Sustainability Working Group of students, staff and community members and lead student voice and action in this important future-focused area.

Once in Yr 6, students not elected to these leadership positions will be invited to consider student leadership involvement in a range of groups including technology, community, library and service to provide each student with an experience to lead in some form or another.

As I said to the Yr 5 cohort, I know that we have no shortage of potential school leaders who would be very capable representatives of the student body in 2022. Yr 5 students, as well as teachers who know them, will have the opportunity to confidentially vote next week and then the captains will be announced for the first time at Speech Day on the last day of this term and presented with their leadership badges by our Principal, Mr Webber.

Speech Day – Wednesday 1 December 

As you would have seen in the calendar, our Junior School Speech Day is scheduled to takes place at 11am on Wednesday 1 December. All students are expected to attend this final formal occasion of the year. While it is currently booked for Luna Park, we are assessing the feasibility of holding it offsite in light of the current NSW Health restrictions and are exploring holding it on campus. We will keep our community informed, regarding parental attendance and other aspects of the events, as we work through the ever-changing requirements.

Each year, class teachers choose six students to receive class prizes with input from specialist teachers as well. These prizes are based on observations over the whole year and awarded as outlined below:

• 2 x Academic Effort and Achievement 
• 2 x Outstanding Approach to Learning 
• 2 x Citizenship 

In addition, there are some major prizes awarded in Year 6 only and these will be announced to the cohort in Week 8. All of these prizes will be presented on Speech Day which will also be the occasion for the announcement of our 2022 Student Leaders as mentioned in the paragraph above.

Year 6 Graduation Assembly

Another important event at the end of this term will be our Year 6 Graduation Assembly on Tuesday 30 November. With restrictions in place for all on-campus school events, this will be a student only event with Year 6 and some teachers in the hall and all other Junior School students and staff watching on livestream, which we have set up for all Year 6 family members to also enjoy as well. The link and passcode are embedded in the flyer but are also below. A reminder will be sent closer to the time.

Webinar link: click HERE
Passcode: 011006

Call to Earth Day

Despite the rain, our students embraced ‘Call to Earth Day’ as a new initiative which started with Class 5W being part of a waste audit the day before. ‘Waste Free Wednesday’ was a valuable learning experience for many students who have been encourage to adopt this mindset every day in how they can assist with packing their lunches using containers and not plastic wraps.

Each class were also involved in capturing their thoughts on the question ‘How Can Redlands Become More Sustainable?’ which will help to inform our Redlands Sustainability Action Plan moving forward.

My thanks to Mrs Chipper and Ms Tobiansky for their involvement in the group and the day.

House Football Competition

It was wonderful to see over 200 girls and boys take part in Saturday’s House football competition and my thanks are extended to the Junior Sports team for organising this event as well as this Saturday’s optional Year Group based Ninja Warrior challenge to reengage our students with sport. A highlight for me was seeing many girls and boys not only playing Football for the very first time but having great fun and enjoying the chance to connect with schoolfriends in a different space.

Yr 5 and Yr 7 2022 BYOD Device Requirements and JB Hi-Fi Purchase Portal on Redlands Pulse

As parents with students entering Yr 5 and Yr 7 in 2022 at Redlands consider Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) requirements for next year, please note the links to our updated BYOD requirements on Redlands Pulse. 

Redlands has negotiated a special education deal for parents purchasing their child’s new device, through one of its partners, JB Hi-Fi, which includes warranty and servicing options. Parents of course still have the option to purchase their device from any vendor.

Our suppliers are encouraging parents to make device decisions as early as possible due to COVID-related supply shortages and shipping delays. 

1. Junior School BYOD link (going into Yr 5 or Yr 6)
2. Secondary School BYOD link (going into Yr 7)

For any queries, please do contact our iSupport team who will be only too happy to assist.

COVID-Safe Environment

In order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all of our students and staff in this COVID environment, we remind all parents and carers to keep their children at home and not send them to school if they have coughs, sore throats, runny noses or any other potential COVID symptoms. Please ensure students remain at home until they are well or have received a negative COVID test. Thank you for your support and understanding.

December-January Vacation Care 2021-2022

If you would like your child to attend the December 2021 – January 2022 Vacation Care program, please visit our OOSH page on Redlands Pulse from Friday 12 November in order to preview all information pertaining to the holiday activity schedule and daily requirements.

The Flexischools website will be open on Monday 15 November 12pm to make any bookings. Please use the Prep and Junior Vacation Care icon for children in K-6.

Please contact the Acting OOSH Coordinator, Trishna Rai,  with any Vacation Care or After School Care queries. 

Remembrance Day

Today, our students and staff marked Remembrance Day with a minute’s silence at 11am, an important date to reflect and recognise many who have served and died in conflict. A number of classes enjoyed open discussion about war and the significance of this day in our history afterwards.

Dealing with The Explosive Child

This week’s information from our counselling team looks at managing particular behaviours in a child. From the outside, a youngster who throws a tantrum in response to a simple request appears stubborn and misbehaving. While conventional wisdom may advise parents to be firm and to punish in order to improve their children’s behaviour, Dr. Ross W. Greene Ph.D. offers an alternative approach in his book, The Explosive Child, through the philosophy: kids do well if they can. 

Please note that while this collaborative approach may appear to be “giving in” to undesirable behaviour or losing parental power at first glance, Dr. Greene contends that this isn’t the case. It’s all about taking proactive measures to address issues that aren’t being resolved through more traditional means. Years of research with behaviourally problematic youngsters have led to this problem-focused approach. 

Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems

Dr. Greene wisely advises parents to begin by identifying the difficulties their children are facing. On a cognitive level, “lagging skills” are those that make it difficult for children to adapt to life’s daily obstacles. When a parent can recognise when their child is having difficulties, they can begin to understand why.

Reframing “problems”

A fresh image of the situation can begin to emerge after noting when problematic behaviours begin to occur. Dr. Greene encourages parents to get to the heart of issues, phrasing them in such a way that the child is more likely to participate. Rather than focusing on “screaming and wailing when asked to come inside and finish her homework”, parents can focus on “difficulty making transitions”. 

The Empathy Step

Temper outbursts are virtually guaranteed under old approaches when decision-making is unilateral. Dr. Greene’s approach, on the other hand, is proactive and compassionate. The empathy stage, where parents gain information and comprehension of their child’s situation, is the first step in this technique. Taking a sincere, nonjudgmental approach helps parents and children work together as partners rather than opponents.

The Invitation Step

The invitation stage is where the parent and child brainstorm to find a solution after each sharing their worries about the topic in question. The goal is that both the parent and the child will be concerned (“I don’t want to do my schoolwork right now,” “Yes, I understand,” “But I’m worried that if we don’t do it now, we won’t have time later”). This is where teamwork takes place. Working together, you strive to come up with a reasonable and mutually acceptable solution. It’s possible that this will not happen on the first try! The important thing is to keep working together to overcome these obstacles.

If you’d like to read more about this approach, you can have a look Dr Ross Greene’s book, The Explosive Child.

Car Line Pick Up

Junior School parents are asked not to arrive before 3.15pm for car line pick up as cars arriving as early as 2.45pm are causing a significant issue for our Prep School car line. We have also fielded a number of complaints from local residents due to the traffic around the bottom or Allister St on to Rangers Rd.

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