Head of Junior School

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Please note that all Upcoming Events for the Junior School are now on their own Note Day article/page.  

This Head of Junior School page will consist of general information from the Head of Junior School. 

Science Technology Engineering Arts Maths (STEAM) Big Day In

This Friday, sees the Junior School host the STEAM Big Day In for the third successive year in partnership with and supported by Australian Computer Society Foundation. This event is for Stage 3 students (Yrs 5 and 6) and by hosting this event, we are delighted that 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 summarised below.

As well as our upper primary students, we are delighted to welcome Manly Village School, Neutral Bay Public School, St Ignatius, Riverview, Sacred Heart and St Aloysius who will each bring a group of students.

Whilst we host the Big Day In,  our Yr 3 students will be on their own STEAM Big Day Out at the Powerhouse Museum and Mrs Winrow is in the process of finalising a similar event for Yr 4 soon as well so stay tuned!

Book Week

Thank you to Junior School students and staff for embracing Book Character Day last Thursday. We raised $415.80 on Book Character Day, which will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

Following the wonderful author visit from Jack Heath the previous week for Yrs 5 and 6, the culmination of Book Week saw acclaimed author, Jacqueline Harvey, entertain Yrs 3 and 4 with some wonderful stories. As a former primary school teacher, Jacqueline had no trouble engaging the students and their roars of laughter could be heard down the corridors of the Campus.

My thanks are extended to Mrs Wiebe for organising these guest author visits, which the students (and teachers) loved.

Snowsports Success

Last week, a number of Junior School students were involved in the NSW State Interschools Snowsports Championships. The commitment from the students, their families and staff involved is considerable and much appreciated and acknowledged. Mr Carter will speak of their achievements in our assembly next Monday but I extend my congratulations to the Junior School students involved in this high level of competition: Toby Anderson, Isabelle Bannon, Nicholas Benz, Oliver Benz, Lachlan Bourne, Sam Bourne, Hugo Burton, Julianna Harrington, Avie Keller, Hamish Kennedy, Saffron McVeigh, Ryan O’Connell, Beau Potter, Arkie Riches, Robbie Smith, Alex To and Eloise To.

Monty Pryor Visit

On Monday, our Yr 6 students were guided and entertained by a visit from Monty Pryor whose annual day with Yr 6 is a highlight in the Year Group’s calendar. Some of the students have shared their experience below alongside some of the images of the day.

Aneke Golowenko – “Our painting is really unique. It represents us as we have incorporated our handprints as butterflies. I have learned that even with the diversity of our group we can still work together to create something amazing.”

Sofia Vincent – “It was great learning about how the aboriginal people grew up. We incorporated different skin colours into our painting.”

Charlie Gordon – “It is amazing that the stories can be passed down from so long ago. The story we painted is 30, 000 years old, but we are painting it today.”

Oliver Cooke – “It was interesting to hear aboriginal stores that are so old, but have been passed onto us in 2019.

Yrs 3-12 Visual Arts Exhibition

Last night, I joined families from Junior and Secondary School at the wonderful opening of the Yrs 3-12 Visual Arts Exhibition, which showcased the 2019 Yr 12 HSC Bodies of Work. This is always a wonderful opportunity to see student artwork from Yr 3 upwards and it was lovely to see and enjoy both the range and progressive quality of art on show. My thanks are extended to Junior School Visual Arts teacher, Ms Reinhold, for her passionate teaching and support in exhibiting some wonderful Junior School art at this exhibition.

Positive Behaviour for Learning

This year, we have been embedding the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) approach across our Junior Campus. PBL supports the creation of safe, respectful and engaged learning environments in which behavioural expectations are clearly outlined for students and hinge on a range of supportive classroom strategies. You may have noticed our Classroom and Playground Behavioural Expectation posters on display. An aspect of this approach includes ensuring effective partnerships with parents. If a student’s behaviour disrupts the teaching and learning experience for themselves, or others, a series of holistic interventions will be implemented by teachers.

However, should these strategies not produce an improvement, the student may be directed to a re-focus space to reflect on their behaviour and re-set with further teacher support. Should your child require time in the re-focus space during their learning, teachers will communicate this to parents in the form of a small note or reflection template attached within your child’s student planner. This gives parents the opportunity to talk with children about their behavioural choices and support positive behavioural development. Mrs Kourakis, our Dean of Students, has presented information sessions over the year and the slides from these presentations can be found on Redlands Pulse. In addition, a summary of our PBL processes will be included in next year’s student planners for parents to reference. If you would like to know more about PBL please contact our Dean of Students, Mrs Kourakis.

Spanish News

The Education Perfect Language World Championships commenced on Tuesday 27 August and will run until 4.00pm, Tuesday 3 September. During this time, students from all around the world will learn Spanish and other languages, while earning points towards awards and maybe even prizes. 

All students in the Junior School are registered to participate. To compete, all students need to do is answer Spanish language questions on Education Perfect. Points are awarded for all questions except self-marked questions.

As an added incentive for Redlands Junior School students, a pizza or churros party will take place for the ten highest scoring students in each Year Group from Yrs 3 to 6. Education Perfect have also provided iTunes vouchers for the top scoring student in each of these years.

I encourage all students to participate to improve their Spanish skills and have fun in this exciting and motivating competition. ¡Buena Suerte!

Vacation Care

If you would like your child to attend the October Vacation Care program, please visit the Flexischools website and make a booking using the Prep and Junior Vacation Care icon. All calendars, information pertaining to activities and requirements can be found on the Flexischools website. The site will remain open until 5.00pm on Tuesday 24 September, after which time no further bookings can be placed. Please contact the OOSH Coordinator, Trinetta Newbond, with any Vacation Care or After School Care queries.

Mosman Youth Awards in Literature 2019 Success

We thrilled to hear that two of our Junior School students, Georgia Slack (Yr 4) and Rory Hobbs (Yr 5) were shortlisted in this year’s Mosman Youth Awards in Literature competition, a wonderful achievement in itself. The annual contest, now in its 27th year, has been one where many Redlands students have been shortlisted in previous years and at last night’s awards presentation, Georgia’s written piece was placed 1st in her age group.

School Zones

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