Head of Junior School

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For a long time now, Redlands has had a fascination with cultivating students who are inquisitive and curious. It is commonly thought that curiosity is an essential element for learning and recent research confirms this. Research by Gruber, Gelman & Ranganath reveals the power of curiosity for learning in the moment and its benefits to learning in other contexts as reported by Jackie Gerstein of User Generated Education:

First, as expected, when people were highly curious to find out the answer to a question, they were better at learning that information. More surprising, however, was that once their curiosity was aroused, they showed better learning of entirely unrelated information that they encountered but were not necessarily curious about. Third, when curiosity motivated learning, there was increased activity in the hippocampus, a brain region that is important for forming new memories.

So, curiosity drives us to learn, enhances our ability to learn even unrelated content and allows us to form long lasting memories. This reminds me of an idea I read in 21 lessons for the 21^st Century by Yuval Noah Harari. “Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question”. In 2016 the Oxford Dictionary declared post-truth as the word of the year. In such times, dispositions of curiosity and inquisitiveness seem to be essential survival skills.

Environmental Action at Redlands

Mufti Day Friday 28 June

Throughout Term 2, the Student Representative Council (Yrs 3-6) has been focusing on environmentally friendly strategies to help Redlands become eco-friendlier. In an effort to help our Australian community, students have come up with the idea of raising funds for farmers experiencing the detrimental effects of drought. To help raise awareness for Australian farmers, the Student Representative Council will be hosting a mufti day on the last day of Term 2, Friday 28 June. Students from Preschool to Yr 6 are invited to dress in earthy colours and to bring a gold coin donation for farmers in need. All funds will be donated to Rural Aid Australia. Rural Aid Australia strives to provide support to farmers and rural communities in times of need.  

The Student Representative Council is also in the midst of planning projects to reduce single-use plastic items and to help reduce waste at our school. Please be on the lookout for upcoming waste wise initiatives. Thank you for your support.

International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) 2019

For over 30 years International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS), have taken place in schools throughout Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Pacific region and South Africa.

ICAS is an initiative of Educational Assessment Australia (EAA), a not for profit organisation owned by the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

ICAS provides an opportunity for all students to gain a measure of their own achievement in an external assessment situation. All students receive a certificate and an individual student report indicating which questions they answered correctly, their total score as well as their average compared with the rest of the students in the state/region. The student report is also useful for highlighting student strengths and weaknesses in the skills and processes in the ICAS they participate in.

Certificates are awarded for each year level as follows:

• High Distinction to the top 1% of entrants
• Distinction to the next 10% of entrants
• Credit to the next 25% of entrants
• Merit to the next 10% of entrants
• Participation to all other participating students.

A UNSW medal is awarded when the highest score in each year level in each state is judged to be sufficiently meritorious. Students must sit the official sitting dates to be eligible for a UNSW medal.

For more information please visit the UNSW Global website www.unswglobal.unsw.edu.au

At Redlands, the Junior School students sit these tests by choice. Assessments occur during class time within a supervised area of the Junior School. No particular preparation is required.

Changes This Year

The Assessments

ICAS assessments have moved to online this year, with the exception of writing for Yrs 3 and 4, which will remain paper based. Students in Yrs 4, 5 and 6 will complete the assessments using their own iPads; the school will supply iPads to any Yr 3 students sitting the tests

Timing

All assessments will occur within a three weekly period in September (see table below).

Ordering and Parent Billing

Parents will directly access the UNSW Global website to order the assessments for their child and to pay online. All orders and payments need to be completed by 31 July. No orders or payments will be taken after this date. All tests will cost $14.50.

Currently we are awaiting login details for orders and payments. This information will be published next week in Note Day. The information for 2019 is as follows:

Should you have any inquiries about the ICAS assessments, please email Leonie Atkins, Dean of Administration Junior Campus.

Preparatory School

Please note that the title “Head of Early Childhood” (Mrs Fellowes) has changed to “Head of Preparatory School”. ‘Early Childhood’ actually refers to the years prior to formal schooling, Preschool and Transition. Mrs Fellowes is our Head of Section for Years K-2 and our Early Childhood program.

Mr Nigel Coutts and Ms Leonie Atkins on behalf of

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