Head of Junior School
National Reconciliation Week
This week, our assembly focus was National Reconciliation Week. We discussed that this special week is dedicated to fostering respect and understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We spoke about reconciliation as being an ongoing commitment to improving relationships by acknowledging past injustices, promoting mutual respect, and by working together towards equality and unity. The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2024, Now More Than Ever, is a reminder that the focus on justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must continue. It is our very strong hope that by learning about and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories, we build a more inclusive, empathic and harmonious community.
Greenlands Week
A Message from Redlands Sustainability Manager, Kimberley Chipper
Redlands will be celebrating Greenlands week next week to promote environmental awareness and sustainable practices. A wide variety of activities will be occurring throughout the week and during lunch time for students.
If your child is interested in the below workshops during lunchtime, please ensure they have any required items with them:
- Swap shop: Thursday 6 June (please bring in a book or game to swap)
- Sow and grow: Friday 7 June (please bring in a plastic bottle)
As part of the Banish recycling program, Redlands will also be taking collections of the following hard-to-recycle items in Week 6:
Old phones
- Plastic bottle top lids
- Writing utensils (pens/textas/markers)
- Toothpaste tubes/toothbrushes
- Empty makeup containers/tubes
These items can be dropped into the containers at Prep/Junior reception in Week 6.
We will also be having a ‘touch of green’ mufi on Tuesday 4 June, where students can add a small touch of green to their school uniform (eg. green socks, green hair ties/ribbons).
Sydney Writers Festival
A message from Mrs Susan Moore-Patel (Year 6 Teacher)
A merry little band of writers from the Junior School writers’ workshop club, along with the Junior School library leaders, were delighted to be able to attend the Sydney Writers’ Festival last Thursday 23 May, at the Town Hall. Designed to inspire the next generation of readers and storytellers, the day included:
- an interactive and amusing “evil masterminds convention” from the creative duo behind the popular Frog Squad series among others, Kate and Jol Temple
- a trip through Deep Time as actor and author Tasma Walton took us through the process of creating her Nerra series
- a talk packed with tips from the legendary Nova Weetman, author of books such as Sick Bay, as well as “articles, TV shows and the odd shopping list”
- a hilarious insight into the real-life inspiration (think four naughty brothers) behind Nathan Luff’s many works, including Chicken Stu, Bad Grammar, and the Nerd Herd series
The students came away from the day enriched and inspired and ready to write their own truths.
Results of Year 3 and 4 Bebras Computational Challenge
A group of 43 students in Years 3 and 4 recently participated in the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge. Congratulations to all students who took part in this inaugural event. We are thrilled to announce that three of our Redlands’ students, Millie Barnes, Leanne Liang and Yuxin Wang, achieved the highest possible award of Excellence by earning a perfect score for their team entry. Bebras is an interactive, international challenge that promotes and develops students’ critical, creative, and computational thinking, as well as problem-solving skills. This international competition is run by the Australian Mathematics Trust (AMT) in cooperation with CSIRO in Australia. Well done to all our participants for their outstanding efforts and achievements.
Parent Presentation: Setting Boundaries
Thursday 6 June, 8.30am
All K-6 parents and carers are invited to attend the Term 3 Parent Presentation – Setting Boundaries, The Foundation of Healthy Childhood Development. Please book via the link in the following invitation.
Junior School Semester 1 Report Information Webinar
Thursday 13 June, 6pm
Bookings are open for the webinar on Thursday 13 June. Join us as we share with parents the small but important changes to our student reports in line with the new curriculum. This webinar will provide an overview of the updated reporting format, explain how to interpret the updated achievement section, and answer any questions you may have. We believe this session will ensure that all parents are well-informed about the report format updates. Please save the date for this informative event.
- Date: Thursday 13 June
- Time: 6pm
- Format: Webinar
Parents Circles: Responsive Parenting and Raising Healthy Children
Wednesday 12 June, 8.30am
A message from our Junior Campus Counsellor, Silvia Roberts
In recognising that the essential condition for a healthy child’s development is the child’s relationship with nurturing adults, I have been facilitating regular Parents Circles throughout Term 2. Our next and last Parents Circle for Term 2 is on Wednesday 12 June. Please see the details below.
The Parents Circles draw on specific topics and are centred on providing a space for open discussions and questions. The sessions are also aimed to equip parents with a wide range of essential practical and emotional regulation skills and guide parents through the art of fulfilling their children’s needs which are the essence of healthy positive parenting.
The sessions take place in Lucy Hill Library, after school drop-off. We welcome our Prep and Junior School parents to attend. Please feel free to bring your own coffee or tea. As this is a parenting circle of support, numbers are limited to 20 to keep it small enough for interactive discussion so please book your space here.
The topic for Week 7 (Wednesday 12 June 8.30 am – 9.30 am) is:
Building Healthy Self-Esteem in Children
- Negative core beliefs in children can lead to them developing depression, anxiety, codependency, relationship issues or addictions later in life.
- How can parents prevent the onset of negative core beliefs?
- Exploring a core natural attribute of children – “being valuable” and guiding parents to attend to this attribute functionally and effectively. This will help their children develop an appropriate levels of self-esteem.
Entries open for Year 5 and Year 6 OUCC 2024
Redlands is excited to offer the opportunity for Year 5 and Year 6 students who are experienced with Blockly coding, computational thinking and problem-solving, to enter Round One of the Oxford University Computational Challenge (OUCC) to be held on Tuesday 18 June at Redlands. The competition will be run in the morning from 8:30am to 9:30am. Entry to Round 2 is by OUCC invitation only and qualifying students will sit the second round on Thursday 1st August.
The OUCC helps students develop skills to produce programmed solutions to computational thinking problems. Each round consists of three sections. The first two sections comprise of five tasks each and the last of two tasks, with the complexity increasing with each section. Students have one hour to complete all tasks within sections one and two and attempt the tasks in section three. Students will tackle problems using the Blockly programming language. The cost of the competition is $5.00. This cost will be added to your subsequent Term Fee Statement.
Please note that registrations close at 5pm on Friday 7 June. You can enter your child at this link here.
Grandparents and Special Friends Day
From the Chaplain
All welcome to attend the Redlands Parent Prayer Meeting on Tuesday 18 June at 5.30-6.30pm in the Junior Campus-Arnold Library.
Mr Ian Holden
Head of Junior School
iholden@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022