Head of Junior School

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International Women’s Day

This week, I share my respect and appreciation to all of our female staff and students as we acknowledge International Women’s Day and the significant impact and influence they, and others before you them, have had on our Redlands community right from its foundation in 1884, when the School was founded by Miss Arnold and Miss Liggins.

This year’s theme of #embraceequity was front and centre in our assembly and we were delighted to have Deputy Principal, Ms Partington, speak to students and staff about her own experiences growing up and in her first career in banking related to this theme.

As well as sharing some alarming inequitable statistics, Ms Partington also talked about the difference between equality and equity to the students.

As we work towards a world free of stereotypes and discrimination that is diverse, equitable and inclusive, where difference is valued and celebrated, I know that one of our true strengths as a school is our diversity in every sense of the word and we all value the strong, diverse, talented and compassionate women here at Redlands.

Junior Campus NAPLAN Timetable

Next week sees the start of NAPLAN assessments across Australian schools in Yrs 3, 5, 7 and 9. The timetable above allows you to see what days our Junior School students will sit these assessments, which will always be in the morning.

Excessive preparation for NAPLAN is not recommended and our students have been appropriately prepared for the types of questions that they might face and guidance on how best to manage their time in a timed situation. Students can use the public demonstration site to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and tools available in NAPLAN.

As parents, some of the ways you can support your child include ensuring that your child has a good night’s sleep before each day and a good breakfast each morning. If your child is showing signs of anxiety, do try to reassure them but also let their class teacher know too.

Athletics Carnival – Return Time Update

We are looking forward to our Junior School Athletics Carnival next Thursday 16 March out at Homebush, which promises to be another whole of Junior School event filled with House spirit and enjoyment.

Please note that our intended finish time has been brought forward to approximately 1pm with presentations at this time. We expect to be on buses by 1.30pm and back at school by 2.15pm to allow all of the buses to be available for Secondary School sport at 2.30pm.

Parents can sign students out and take them home from the track at 1.30pm if they wish to and all students who come back to school will be with teachers until the normal end of the school day.

Car line will operate as normal on Thursday as will scheduled after school clubs and activities on this day.

Student Recognition – Kids Giving Back

I was proud to receive an email from Kids Giving Back, sharing how a number of our Junior School students and their families spent time volunteering over the summer holidays to help others through this organisation.

Kids Giving Back is a charity whose mission is to create the next generation of generosity through meaningful, hands-on experiences for young people to give back to others. Through charity partners, they arrange opportunities for children aged 6-18 years old and their families to help and support for people experiencing food scarcity or hardship.

Our students were among 980 young people who assisted in providing over 12,500 hot and cold meals, breakfast boxes, snack packs, care packs, writing empathetic, positive messages to 13 charities around Sydney.

These students demonstrated leadership qualities, compassion, and a strong sense of civic responsibility. To hear of our Redlands students embracing the concept of contributing back into the community is heart-warming and a wonderful example of our students living our School Values whilst making a difference to the lives of others.  

I will duly acknowledge these students in our next assembly but I wanted to also do so through this wider community communication as well. Thank you to the following students who participated in one or more of the programs during the summer break: 

Charlie Elworthy (Yr 3), Oliver Elworthy (Yr 6), Ripley Jackson (Yr 4), Zoe Stevens (Yr 3), Leo Stevens (Yr 5), Freya Stevens (Yr 7), Hayden Thomas (Yr 6)

HICES Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to our Junior School Swimming team as they competed in this year’s HICES Swimming Carnival. We are very proud of the team’s efforts to come 2^nd Overall with a number of personal bests achieved and a plethora of podium finishes for our Redlands swimmers. It was also great to see many parents there to support the team and from this, many of our swimmers have been selected in the HICES swimming team to compete at the next level; the NSWCIS Swimming Carnival.

Student Health Matters

To continue to help protect our community, each student will be given a box of 5 Rapid Antigen Test kits this week. We encourage the use of these kits and most importantly, please remember to keep your child at home if they are unwell, regardless of the test result, as this only spreads illness in classes.

2023 Mosman Youth Awards in Literature

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The Mosman Youth Awards in Literature competition, organised by Mosman Library Service and sponsored by local organisations, has been developed to encourage students to write their own original stories or poems on their chosen topics.

Over many years, Redlands students have enjoyed participation and success in this annual literary challenge, a competition in prose and poetry writing.

Now in its 31^st year, I share this year’s details for parents and students to consider and class teachers will also encouraging student involvement with this literary opportunity ahead of the closing date of 31 May. Please note that entry forms must be signed by a parent or guardian and not a teacher if the entrant is under 18 years of age.

For an entry form or more information, please click here or call Barry O’Keefe Library in Mosman on 9978 4091.

OOSH Autumn Vacation Care

Our Vacation Care program opened this week for all families to book via HubHello. Parents will be able to download the weekly activities and book their children on the days they would like to attend. 

Our Autumn Holidays will focus on cultural experiences from different countries and backgrounds and families will be welcome to join in some of the activities with us. More information coming soon!

Uniform Shop Holiday Opening Hours

The Uniform Shop will close at 4pm on Thursday 6 April and reopen on Thursday 20 April.  All students must return in full winter uniform (including blazers) for Term 2.  To make an appointment for a winter uniform fitting, please click HERE ​​​​​​or visit Pulse for further details.

If you have any queries, please call 9968 9850 or email uniformorders@redlands.nsw.edu.au

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