Head of Junior School

Head of Junior School

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. 

TEDx Talk Opportunity

In our assembly on Monday, we were delighted to welcome Junior School parent, Kat Collins, who presented a unique and exciting opportunity to our Junior School students.

In her role as a speaker coach, Kat has been fortunate enough to work with various TEDx events over the years. At the moment she is currently helping with one that will take place in February 2020 called TEDxBlighStreet. Kat and her team are currently curating the speaker list and with the theme of Interconnection, they thought it would be excellent to be able to involve the younger generation in some way.

Whilst not having to present a full TED talk, our Junior School students have been asked to consider submitting a one minute video which will be interspersed between the speakers under the theme of Interconnection.

The opportunity has already sparked a lot of excited conversation amongst the students and the key information for students and parents is below for your reference. At least one Redlands Junior School video will be showcased at this event, which is very exciting for the School and more importantly, the students.

Key Information

  • One minute video.
  • Theme of ‘interconnection’.
  • Students can produce individually, as a pair, small group or as a class.
  • Submissions are due no later than 4.00pm on Friday 25 October (Week 2, Term 4) on a USB to Junior School Reception (this allows for holiday time thinking and creating).
  • A panel of our teachers will shortlist ten videos which will then be sent to Kat Collins and her team at TEDx to select from.

STEAM ‘Big Day In’

Last Friday, we were thrilled to again host the STEAM ‘Big Day In’ for the third successive year in partnership with, and supported by, the Australian Computer Society Foundation. An event for Stage 3 students (Yrs 5 and 6), all of our Redlands students in Yrs 5 and 6 were highly engaged in a range of fantastic experiential learning opportunities with various STEAM industry organisations in hands-on workshops throughout the day. We were also delighted to invite and welcome visiting students and teachers from Manly Village Public School, Neutral Bay Public School, Riverview, Sacred Heart and St Aloysius, who also enjoyed the learning opportunities this exciting day afforded.

Some of the activities that students were engaged with included coding with drones, LEGO Mindstorm challenges, computer science activities, App design, computational thinking without technology, engineering tasks, augmented reality, brain activity using an EEG and game design.

In seeing the range of activities first-hand and talking with many of the students, one particular activity led by Solar Buddy and sponsored by WiseTech, left a lasting impression on a number of students as they assembled solar-powered lights in this session by way of building a simple solution for communities suffering from the effects of energy poverty. Students learnt about the notion of energy poverty, watching a video presentation and then once they had built their light, they wrote some heartfelt and meaningful letters to students who will shortly receive these lights in Papua New Guinea.

On behalf of the students, I am indebted to our eLearning Coordinator, Mrs Winrow, for her leadership of this memorable day. In turn, I know she will also join me in acknowledging the outstanding support of our Redlands ICT Team, who were on hand to assist and support students, teachers and presenters throughout the day. We have already been asked to host this event again next year which we have enthusiastically accepted to do.

Father’s Day Breakfast

Despite the heavy rainfall last Friday morning, we were delighted to welcome over 300 parents for our Father’s Day Breakfast. Our Plan B location of Dunnet Hall was perfect and with some wonderful musical accompaniment from Mr Damon Wade and some of our Secondary students, alongside a scrumptious menu put together by our wonderful Junior Canteen team, the breakfast was a delightful way to start both the day and the weekend for our special guests.

Maths Cup

Yesterday, nine students from Yr 6 participated in the annual Maths Cup held at Amity College. This is the tenth year of this competition designed for Yr 6 students and as the inaugural winners, Redlands has always enjoyed competing at this ever-increasing academic competition. This year, there were 100 teams from 42 schools competing in teams of three, and participating in a variety of mathematically-minded activities ranging from hands-on team events to individual Maths papers. Two of our teams consisting of JJ Black, Piper Bradley, Jesse Forrest, Tabitha Galvin, Nathan Lu and Hugo Ward made it into the top 12 and competed in the semi-finals. Our third team of Thomas Dewar, Kiana Gapaillard and Mrs Ling Liam Petersen cheered them on from the audience and although neither of the Redlands teams made it into the final, the students enjoyed a fabulous day of mathematical thinking, collaboration and challenge. My thanks are extended to Mrs Ling for looking after the group who all had a great day and to the group of students who took part in every event with real enthusiasm and were great ambassadors for Redlands.

Yr 6 Netball Grand Final

Good luck to our Yr 6A Netball Team who take on Roseville in this Saturday morning’s Grand Final. The team have had an exceptional season and are hoping to add to the silverware they won to become HICES Champions earlier this year. I am looking forward to joining other teachers in cheering them on at 8am at Willoughby Leisure Centre, should other families be able to also be able to attend and support the girls.

National eSmart Week

This week is National eSmart Week, an important opportunity for our school community to reinforce our commitment to cyber safety and promote the smart, safe and responsible use of digital technologies. During Monday’s Junior School assembly, Dean of Students, Mrs Kourakis, reminded students of these values and shared this short video produced by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner promoting cyber safety and online wellbeing. Parents are also encouraged to view this short video and engage in conversation with your child, if you feel appropriate.

For further tips and advice on helping your child have safe online experiences the eSafety Commissioner website has a wealth of information for parents and carers.

Yr 5 Leadership Day

As part of an ongoing program of student leadership development and awareness for our Yr 5 students, the students were again engaged, challenged and inspired in a morning of leadership-focused learning and practical activities by external facilitator, Cameron Brown, from Explore, Discover, Act. Part of this deliberate focus with Yr 5 is to help them prepare and think about the student leadership opportunities that comes with them moving up into Yr 6 next year as a cohort. In talking to the Yr 5 teachers, I know that this group is already demonstrating some wonderful qualities of collaborative and collective leadership which augurs well for this group.

Bake Sale for Operation Christmas Child – Monday 9 September

At recess next Monday, Year 4 student, Alexis Mar, will be joined by friends in organising a bake sale to raise money for Operation Christmas Child which she presented in assembly and has been communicated in Note Day.

Kids’ Cancer Project Fundraiser – Friday 13 September

In our assembly this week, students were also informed of our fundraising for the Kids’ Cancer Project Fundraiser next Friday 13 September. Yr 5 student, Stella Cunningham, shared the opportunity for students to purchase handballs ($2), ribbons ($2) or wristbands ($1) in aid of this poignant charity for both Stella and our School community. Students are also encouraged to bring a gold coin for any additional donations for this charity.

Sleep for Improved Health, Resilience and Academic Performance

The importance of a good night’s sleep is well established; however, over 30% of primary school children and 70% of teenagers are sleep deprived. This has significant consequences on many areas of their lives including learning and academic performance, as well as emotional and mental health.

You are invited to attend a parent workshop with Lisa Maltman, Director of The Sleep Connection. The aim of the evening is to share knowledge, practical strategies and tools to support sleep health. Ms Maltman recently addressed our Secondary School parents and was well received. This workshop will focus on building good sleep habits in our Preparatory and Junior School age groups. Parents will be given a questionnaire which will become a resource to support and guide family conversations at home. 

The workshop will take place in the Arnold Library, Junior School, on Wednesday 18 September from 4.30pm-6.00pm. Please click here to register your attendance.

This workshop is provided by Redlands to support our focus on student wellbeing. If you would like to know more about the presentation, or have any questions, please do feel welcome to contact our Dean of Students, Mrs Samantha Kourakis.

Uniform Shop

A reminder to parents to check their children’s summer uniform for Term 4.  We now have stock of summer dresses, grey shorts and short sleeve shirts, so come and see us before the rush! 

Don’t forget you can order uniforms online from Flexischools by visiting Flexischools. Orders can be delivered to the Prep/Junior School http://Flexischoolsor you can collect from the Uniform Shop.

Please note the Uniform Shop will be closed for Stocktake on Wednesday 18 September.

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