Head of Junior School

Staffing News

This week we say farewell to our Dean of Teaching and Learning, Mrs Stacey Smith, who leaves us to take up a curriculum role withing the Department of Education. We thank Mrs Smith for her work and leadership this past 3½ years and will announce her replacement once finalised shortly.

Next week, we welcome Mr Jeff Mesina who takes over teaching Class 5W as Mrs Smith commences her parental leave. Mr Mesina and Mrs Smith will work alongside one another for a few days as part of the transition process and we wish Mrs Smith all the very best ahead of the impending arrival of her first child.

Also connected to this, I am delighted to confirm the appointment of Ms Kate Osborn as our Yr 5 Assistant Coordinator taking over from Mrs Smith,

Mother’s Day Celebration

It was a joy to start the week by welcoming parents in for a Mother’s Day celebration and the buzz of having a significant number of parents and students together was palpable. My thanks to the many staff involved in organising such an important community event for us again.

Child Safeguarding Statement

Also, in our assembly this week, I had the opportunity to share and explain the School’s Child Safeguarding Statement in language that the students were able to understand. Our Yr 6 student leaders were part of the group of students and staff who worked on this statement in Term 1 to ensure student voice was captured in this important aim. The statement is currently on our digital signage and many students have spent time looking at this again.

Wear A Splash of Pink – Friday 26 May

In support of The National Breast Cancer Foundation, we are encouraging every student to add a splash of pink to their uniform next Friday 26 May and make a gold coin donation to the Foundation. We know that this is a poignant charity for so many people in our community and look forward to seeing a pink thread of colour across the campus next Friday.

Year 9 Experiential Learning Program

In our assembly this week, our Principal, Mr Corcoran, spoke to the students about the newly-announced Yr 9 Experiential Learning Program which commences in 2025. Our current Yr 6 students will be the second Year Group to be part of this exciting new experience for Redlands students and to help outline the program, the students enjoyed watching this video, which I encourage families to watch if they have not already.

Open Morning

On Tuesday, we welcomed over 200 people to our Junior Campus Open Morning for prospective families.

As well as hearing from our Principal, Mr Corcoran, Mrs Breckenridge (Head of Prep) and me, our visitors thoroughly enjoyed hearing from two Yr 11 students, Emma Noes and Will Algar. Emma and Will eloquently and passionately shared some of their fondest memories and experiences from their time at Redlands from Preschool until now and how they have lived life to the full in their journey through Redlands.

Having known Emma and Will from an early age, it filled me with immense pride to listen to them address the audience as young adults and share their Redlands story thus far. Following on from this, our guests were taken on student-led tours with many of our Yr 2 and Yr 6 students involved in this part of the morning. As I commented to parents, an important aspect of these types of events is that we choose different students each time to afford as many students as possible with these types of leadership opportunities and I congratulate the students involved in these tours; we have already received numerous complimentary messages on both their confidence and openness as they led groups around the School as well as the authentic feel of the school, which cannot be simply manufactured.

Final Places: Term 2 Student Wellbeing Parent Presentation

We have a few places left for next Tuesday’s Term 2 parent presentation session, led by our resident experts of counsellors. I encourage all families to consider joining us and bookings are essential and close at 5pm on Friday afternoon.

Yr 6 Parent Secondary School Transition Session – Friday 26 May, 8.45am

All Year 6 parents are invited to attend this Secondary School Transition Session and Senior Campus Tour. To attend, please RSVP with any questions you may have about Secondary School via the following invitation.

House Cross Country Carnival

Congratulations to very student involved in this week’s annual House Cross Country Carnival. There was a terrific sense of school spirit on show as well as visible evidence of the supportive way in which many students helped each other around the course which can provide an aspect of challenge. Congratulations to McDouall House who were victorious overall and we wish our Redlands team all the very best now as they compete at the HICES Cross Country event next Tuesday in Bathurst.

OOSH Information

Vacation Care bookings are now open and the clubs offered during the three week midyear break have limited spaces. Families who are interested are asked to add their child(ren)’s names down here.

Recycling News

In our assembly this week, our Environment Captains shared some current initiatives with the students as outlined below and hope that our community can support these. We had great results from last term’s Earth Hour (money and electricity saved) and will also be looking to have another one this term.

In terms of collectable recyclables, students can help in the following ways:

Nespresso pods – students can bring these in from home and hand in to their teacher to put in the box in the staff room
Take away coffee cups – place in the container near the canteen
Old batteries can be placed in the box by the IT help desk near the office
Old toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes and electric toothbrush heads can be handed in to class environment reps as we have a collection point at Redlands House.

Mini-Mos Community Fun Run – Sunday 18 June

For those interested, I also share information about this year’s Mini-Mos Community Fun Run, which is a local community event supporting Mosman Public School and the Be Centre Foundation.

The 2km, 5km and 10km races will take place around the streets of Mosman on Sunday 18 June followed by a fun fair at the school.

Approved by Mosman Council and now in its 41^st year, some of the key information is listed below for you:

The 2km run is an event for the whole family. Children can race on their own or with an accompanying adult. Entry is $40. An accompanying adult costs $25.
The 5km run is open to all participants over eight years of age and costs $60.
The 10km run is open to all participants over ten years of age and costs $70.
Enter as an individual, a parent/child combined team or register three or more individuals in a single transaction and get 10% off your registration fees.
Pre-purchase wristbands for the fair can be purchased in advance when you register for the race or buy them HERE

Should you have any questions about the event please contact event@mini-mos.com.

Redlands Gala Ball – Early Bird Tickets Available Now

A Message from the School Chaplains

View Here

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