Head of Junior School

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The festive spirit has continued this week and our K-6 Christmas Carol Service was a very special occasion gathering as a Junior Campus.

In this final Note Day of 2023, please take time to read through reminder information about the final events of the term and early information ahead of 2024.

Year 5 Shark Tank

This term, Yr 5 students have developed their entrepreneurial skills through their participation in an exciting Shark Tank unit of study. The cross-curricular learning experience challenged students to apply mathematical thinking, problem-solving and creativity to develop a product that addressed a need within their community. Students worked collaboratively to conduct market surveys, research material suppliers and design product prototypes. In preparing their product pitch, they also investigated market competitors, production costs and profit margins for their business.

Last Friday, one representative team from each class shared their pitch with the year group as part of the Shark Tank Showcase. The finalists were thrilled to receive feedback from special Shark Tank judges: Mr Guha, Ms Green (lnnovation and Entrepreneurial Learning Strategist) and Ms Soldo (Children’s Strategy Leader at UNICEF). The judges and Yr 5 teachers were so impressed with the sophisticated and passionate presentations. Congratulations to the finalists and all Year 5 students for their engagement in this unit of work. 

Staffing News

I am grateful for the dedication and expertise of our staff team and thank them for their collegiality and guidance of every student this year; we know the difference every interaction can make. As we approach the end of term, we say thank you and farewell to the following staff and thank them for their service to our Junior School community.

• Mr Adrian Carter leaves Redlands after thirteen years to take up the role of K-12 Head of PDHPE at Glenaeon School. ‘Coach’ Carter, as he is affectionately known by students and colleagues, will be greatly missed by our community and we have been grateful for his long and dedicated service as both a PDPHE teacher and previous Head of Junior School Sport. As a man of integrity and with a rare ability to teach and relate with equal capability with Preschoolers and Yr 12 students and every age group in between, this leadership opportunity is one that is perfect for Coach Carter and we wish him much happiness in this new challenge for him.
• Mrs Melanie Cleary leaves us after more than a decade as an inspiring Year Coordinator and teacher. As some may recall, Ms Cleary took 2023 off for personal health reasons and I am thrilled to confirm that she is very well but stepping back from full-time teaching. Ms Cleary will pop in next Monday to see students and colleagues which we look forward to.
• Ms Annabel Coome leaves us to return to Victoria and we are grateful for her work in Year 6 over the last two years and her wider contribution to the Junior School.
• Ms Vanessa Jones finishes with us after a year to explore opportunities that align with her passion for wellbeing and Positive Education and we thank her for her contributions this year.
• Ms Holly Farthing leaves our Learning Plus team after concluding her year contract to return to full-time classroom teaching closer to home.
• Ms Courtney Barker-Finegan leaves our Teacher Aide team to travel next year.

2024 staffing information and new appointments will be included in the 2024 start-of-year welcome letter.

Anglicare Toys and Tucker

Thank you to all of our community who have generously supported Anglicare Toys and Tucker campaign again. As was shared with the students this week, theirs and your care and compassion will make such a difference to the Christmas experience for so many children, who are much less fortunate.

Spreading Christmas Cheer in the Community

On Monday afternoon, over 35 students from Redlands House to Yr 6 performed a concert for the residents of Mackillop Grange Retirement Village in Mosman. With dance, violin and Christmas carols, the students created a wonderful sense of Christmas spirit which the residents loved and were greatly appreciative of and they have already put in a request for a return visit next year. At the end of the concert, 85 beautiful Christmas cards handmade by whole Yr 2 were handed out to the residents. 

One of the residents, Wilma Costello, expressed a moving note of gratitude at the end as follows: “It gives us great hope, because in this gloomy world of war, hate and greed, you have shown us – by giving us your time and your talent – your generous spirit of caring and sharing. You are tomorrow’s world, and our hopes for the future. “

My thanks are extended to all of the students involved, supported by their families and most ably coordinated by Prep and Junior School parent, Ms Bing Lin.

Year 6 Graduation Assembly

We are looking forward to welcoming Year 6 parents and carers to join us for our Yr 6 Graduation assembly next Tuesday 5 December, commencing at 2pm in Dunnet Hall.

Junior School Speech Day

A reminder below of the times and arrangements for this final compulsory event for each student with everyone involved in at least one aspect. School blazers are required to be worn by all students for this formal occasion.

Yr 5 and Yr 6 – Time to Save Student’s Learning on iPads

As the year draws to a close, we would like to remind families about assisting their children with managing content and files on their iPads. During the term break, Redlands ICT will recall all iOS Apps that are either deployed or managed by the School. While every effort is made to keep data from Apple Apps such as Pages, Keynote, iMovie etc, from time to time this may be deleted and not retrievable. Our strong recommendation is to back up and save any work students have done during the year to ensure no data is lost.

How can students save their work?

The safest way to protect any work on the iPad is to perform regular backups of your child’s device. Any work that is saved in the cloud will be safe when an App is removed. To mitigate the risk of losing any important work, Redlands ICT recommends performing a back of your child devices and that any particular special work is saved in a secondary location.

How do I complete a backup of our iPad?

Detailed instructions HERE

How do I share important documents via AirDrop?

Detailed instructions HERE

Looking Ahead to 2024

A detailed welcome letter will be sent to all families in the latter part of January outlining important information for the year head. For your reference, please note the term dates below assist you in your planning of any holidays.

2024 Term Dates

• Term 1
  • Monday 29 January (orientation session for new 2024 students only)
  • Tuesday 30 January – Friday 12 April
• Term 2:
  • Tuesday 30 April – Friday 28 June
• Term 3:
  • Tuesday 23 July – Thursday 26 September
• Term 4            
  • Monday 14 October – Wednesday 4 December

Year 5, 2024 BYOD Information

Yr 4 and new families will shortly receive a letter outlining the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) iPad program all Year 5 and Year 6 Redlands students.

It is expected that students will have their iPad ready at school for Redlands network configuration from the first day of term.

More detailed information can be found on the designated BYOD Program Years 5-6 on Pulse.

2024 Stationery Lists

These will be uploaded to Pulse before the end of term and we have considerably reduced the requirements and most stationery being centrally purchased by the School, thus supporting our sustainability drive and ensuring parents are not buying pre-packaged bulk stationery packs.

Thank You and Farewell

2006

2023

I have been humbled and immensely thankful for the various acknowledgments of my tenure at Redlands since 2006 and as Head of Junior School since 2009. I have loved my time here.

I have been grateful for the many personal messages from families, colleagues (past and present) and students, many of whom have long since passed through the Junior School gates and a number of former students now making waves in the world of work who have connected on LinkedIn to share a story and express gratitude.

And what has struck me most is the granular detail in which they can recall moments and interactions that I have had with them or their children in years gone by, many of which had slipped my own memory. It has only reinforced to me how significant every interaction we have with a student is, however small, and the power it has to make a difference in their future lives, without perhaps anyone knowing it in that moment.

In leaving, I carry with me a treasure trove of moments; moments that have defined and enriched my life in ways beyond measure and helped to shape the person I am. I leave with a heart full of memories and I look forward to being a strong supporter of the School’s bright future, wishing the staff and my replacement, Mr Ian Holden, all the very best as Redlands celebrates its 140^th year in 2024.

If I do not see you in person between now and the end of the term, I thank parents for your support of Redlands again over this year and wish you all a restorative and rejuvenating Christmas holiday break, hoping that you can enjoy time with loved ones, a true Christmas gift.

Thank you, Redlands.

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