Head of Junior School

Vale Belinda Oxley

By now, you would all be aware of the extremely sad news of the passing of Miss Belinda Oxley, Dean of Early Childhood, who many of our Junior School community will have known. Miss Oxley has been at Redlands for 23 years so leaves a significant legacy behind and has taught generations of students in her time here, many of whom would recall her with great fondness. Her dedication and service to Redlands was exemplary and on a personal level, I particularly enjoyed getting to know her and her great sense of humour in the two terms she served as Acting Head of Early Childhood in 2016 and through her role on our Junior Campus leadership team. If Redlands families wish to, Miss Oxley’s family has suggested a donation to the Cancer Council in lieu of flowers would be most appreciated. For families that may have known Miss Oxley well, the funeral will take place at 10.30am next Monday 22 October in the Camellia Room at Macquarie Park Northern Cemetery (corner of Delhi Rd and Plassey Rd, Macquarie Park). I know you will join me in keeping the many members of our community who have been impacted by this news in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days and weeks.

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Opportunities

With one of our continued focus being on exposing students to a multi-disciplinary approach to the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM), Redlands Junior School will be hosting two significant STEAM events this term which will also welcome students, teachers and families from other local schools,

After our success of hosting last year’s event for 400 students, Redlands has again been selected to host the Sydney STEAM Big Day In Junior event. For students in Stage 3, all Redlands students in Yrs 5 and 6 will have the opportunity to interact with a range of STEAM industry professionals in hands-on workshops throughout the day as we also welcome 150 students from other local schools. Listed below are some of the hands-on workshops that have been organised and I thank Mrs Winrow and Mr Coutts for helping to arrange this experience for students, which we hope will also be a continued partnership in future years.

Later this term, we are also delighted to host the inaugural Lower North Shore Eye Heart Science STEM competition for primary-aged students from a range of local schools. As well as Redlands students, this competition has been extended to over 25 local schools who have been invited to enter and present a STEM experiment that they have completed. At the event, the young scientists will be provided with a small desk to present their entry and attendees will be able to engage with the entrants and view their submissions. At the close of the event, prizes are awarded and all participants will be acknowledged for their submissions. Our Dean of Teaching and Learning, Mr Coutts, presented this opportunity to all Junior School students in our assembly this week and class teachers will also encourage students to consider entries to this opportunity.

Eye Heart Science was set up by Dr Alana Wylie, who has been our Junior School scientist-in-residence since 2012. After starting this volunteering role with us, Dr Wylie has found great inspiration and passion in her work with students, so much so that she has given up her role as a medical researcher to help inspire and motivate the next generation of critical thinkers from primary and secondary students, to educators alike. Through her experiences and industry relationships, she also aims to increase awareness of the careers that exist in STEM-related fields and ignite young minds to think critically, equip them with a problem-solving mindset, and foster an inquiry-based learning culture where asking why is encouraged.

I look forward to sharing additional information closer to the time of these events.

Heart Foundation

As we come to the end of our fundraising for the Heart Foundation, students were rewarded on Monday with a special guest at assembly. Chloe Hosking, a gold medal winner at the Commonwealth Games, shared stories of her journey as a road cyclist. The students were very engaged in Chloe’s talk, which reflected on the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle by staying active and having a passion for what you do in life. Students relished in the opportunity to hold her medals! Redlands has currently raised $46,076 through the Jump Rope for Heart program and is the highest fundraising school in the country over the 35 years of the program. I acknowledge the leadership of Yr 1 teacher, Mrs Chipper, who coordinated the whole effort for the Junior Campus this year and thank the students involved for their active participation.

School Bus Pass Applications 2019

We have been advised that School student applications for 2019 have now opened from Monday 15 October.

Students progressing to Yr 3 and Yr 7 do not need to re-apply if they:

• are continuing at the same school
• are residing at the same address
• have not been sent an expiry notification from Transport for NSW.

Where a student meets the new distance eligibility, the system will automatically update their entitlement. If they do not meet the new eligibility, they will receive an expiry notification.

Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition which is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.

Term Bus Pass holders will receive a notification to re-apply.

If students need to update their information or re-apply, they should go online to https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updateDetails

Applications need to be submitted before 31 December 2018 to ensure student entitlements are updated and their current entitlement/card is not cancelled. If their application is submitted after  31 December 2018, the system will automatically cancel a card and a new one will need to be issued.

Students in the Opal network applying for a SSTS or Term Bus Pass entitlement for the first time will receive their card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out during December 2018 and January 2019. For further information visit https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts

e-Safety Forum

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