Head of Junior School
Term 4 Off and Running
It has been wonderful to have felt the buzz of energy on the campus as we returned to Term 4 in what promises to be another action-packed term. We look forward to the return of summer representative sport this weekend with no less than seventeen teams competing for Redlands across three sports. There are also a number of exciting events across the term as you would have noted in my Term 4 Welcome Letter sent last week via Pulse and we look forward to our Yr 6 students having a memorable final term of primary schooling.
In our first assembly of the term, we reflected on our #oneword goals for the year as well as the midyear goals that students set to accomplish by the end of the year. Teachers will continue to guide students towards successfully achieving these but I encourage parents to also be part of these conversations.
Yr 6 Police Liaison Officer Talk
“People make mistakes from time to time and there is the opportunity to learn from them. But if it happens again, it has become a choice not a mistake”.
This was an important part of the message that Senior Constable Lynda Hart shared with Yr 6 this week in her role as a Community Liaison Officer as she talked about aspects of staying safe online and making positive choices. Building upon the workshop with ySafe earlier this year and others internally led by staff, this important session provided Yr 6 with some excellent practical strategies on how to stay safe and behave both respectfully and legally online.
In particular, Senior Constable Hart talked about her top three areas for Cybersafety: Privacy, Reputation and Relationships.
Privacy: Similar to stranger danger awareness for children, students were asked to not to chat to anyone that they did not know online, particularly in gaming stations where the students were amazed to hear that the average age of a gamer was 34 years old!
Reputation: the key message was to STOP and THINK before posting or sharing any images, content or comments including in private chat groups. She reiterated the fact that once posted, it never goes away and is part of your digital footprint.
Relationships: Similar to in-person connections, harassment and intimidation online are also against the law and shared that if students did feel bullied online, they should block the person, not reply, take relevant screenshots and then report it to a responsible adult. Senior Constable Hart also talked about having like-minded friendships as this would often align with personal values.
A final message for the students to take away was the notion of being a positive upstander online as well as face to face. Whilst potentially uncomfortable, stepping up and saying something is always a positive action and adults would always be supportive of this.
Whilst the recommended age for social media sites such as Instagram and Snapchat are 13 years and over, the reality is that we know that there are Junior School students who use these sites frequently. As a School, we will continue to guide students to make good choices in these virtual spaces too but I would encourage that parents also keep a watchful eye to support your child’s digital presence and interactions.
As shared many times before, Redlands has a long-standing partnership with industry leaders, ySafe, and I commend Redlands’ Cybersafety Hub which is a rich source of information and guidance for our families as we navigate this space.
ICAS Assessments – Student Achievements
In our assembly, we congratulated students involved in International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) assessments in Maths, English, Spelling, Digital Technologies and Science
last term. In particular, we recognised the students who received Distinctions (Top 10% in Australia) or High Distinctions (Top 1%). A number of Redlands students in Yrs 3 to 6 took part in this national competition and we received the results just before the end of term. Students received their certificates in class at the end of last term.
Maths
Distinctions: Kiana Shan (Yr 4); Sasha Grant, Stanley Huang (both Yr 5), Jennifer Todd (Yr 6)
High Distinctions: Nasir Huang (Yr 4); Angus Dudley (Yr 5)
English
Distinctions: Aria Amos, Yvette Egan, William Qing (all Yr 3); Oliver Whitelaw (Yr 4); Bertram Haines (Yr 5); Alexia Tsacalos (Yr 6)
High Distinctions: Sasha Grant (Yr 5)
Science
Distinctions: Aria Amos, Charlie Hsu, Thomas Hughes (all Yr 3); Zoe Todd (Yr 4); Stanley Huang (Yr 5); Jenna Forrest (Yr 6)
Digital Technologies
Distinctions: Aria Amos, Thomas Hughes, James Liao, William Qing (all Yr 3); Nasir Huang, Audrey Reynolds (both Yr 4); Bertram Haines (Yr 5); Feargal Lambert, Jennifer Todd (both Yr 6)
Spelling
Distinctions: Adyant Ashok, Charlie Hsu, Emmit Ker, Sienna Lepone (all Yr 3); Alexia Tsacalos (Yr 6)
High Distinctions: Nasir Huang (Yr 4)
Mr Ari Guha
Head of Junior School
aguha@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022