Head of Junior School

Mother’s Day Breakfast

On Monday morning, we were thrilled to host our Junior Campus mums for a special Mother’s Day celebration and I hope that those present enjoyed this wonderful start to their week. In particular, I must thank our Catering team who started at 6am to prepare and set up for this important event in our calendar, the genuine warmth of which could be felt above Monday’s cooler weather.

Yr 4 Camp Visit

Yesterday, I enjoyed a wonderful day with Yr 4 who are currently enjoying the stunning weather and scenery in the Shoalhaven region whilst on Curriculum Camp. For new families, as part of my role, I have the privilege of enjoying time at every Junior School Camp, where I get to spend time with the students in an environment outside of our School grounds. These purposeful visits are always amongst the highlights of my year, and it was wonderful to observe the way in which the students were making new friendships and seeing where they could challenge themselves. It was also very visible to me how the students were taking care of one another; a value that is always so important to us. As always, I thank the teachers who have looked after and cared for the needs of each and every student and I look forward to joining Yr 4 families in welcoming the group back to Redlands at 2.30pm this Friday on the Murdoch Street side of the Campus.

NAPLAN – Yrs 3 and 5

This week saw students across Australia in Yrs 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy, or NAPLAN, as it is more commonly known. Our students can take pride in the way in which they approached these formal assessments and our starting point in Yrs 3 and 5 is always to ensure that the students do not feel any undue pressure, that they are appropriately prepared for the format of the tests, and that they were provided the conditions to do their very best, all that we can ever ask of them. My thanks are extended to Ms Atkins (Junior Campus Dean of Administration) for her considerable work behind the scenes to ensure that everything ran smoothly and to class and Learning Plus teachers for looking after the academic and pastoral needs of their students, both before and during these tests. We look forward to receiving the results in August, at which point parents will also receive a detailed breakdown of their child’s assessments.

State Tennis Champion

We were thrilled to hear that Yr 5 student, Stella Simpson-Morgan, was part of the successful Combined Independent Schools of NSW team that emerged victorious at last week’s State Championships in Albury. Competing alongside and against players a year older than her, Stella played some great tennis all week winning nearly all of her singles and doubles matches. We are all very proud of her success but I also acknowledge her humility, a quality that belies her young age. Well done, Stella.

Debating

Our Debating program has been one of our largest extra-curricular opportunities for Junior School students this year and alongside the weekly sessions for interested students in Yrs 4, 5 and 6, we have also had two teams competing in an Interschool Friday evening Debating competition. Our Yr 6 team has been successful in three out of seven debates whilst our Yr 5 team have gone one better, reaching the Semi Finals this Friday by winning five of their seven debates. We wish them all the very best and look forward to sharing news of this Semi Final next week.

House Cross Country Carnival

Congratulations to all of our students who took part in last Friday’s annual House Cross Country Carnival. In beautiful weather, it was inspiring to see students challenge themselves and earn House points in competitive races, fun runs, class relays and House relays or a combination of these different events. There were some wonderful personal bests for many students but of equal note, I was delighted to see the students having fun and showing great sportsmanship.

My thanks are extended to our Sports Department, this Carnival led by Ms Dongas, and our team of teachers and parent helpers who helped to ensure that the day was a success. Well done to Cowper House who emulated their success in the pool last term with another overall success and we also congratulate the runners selected for the Redlands Cross Country team who will compete in the HICES Carnival in Orange later this month.

Art Prize Parent Evening

It was delightful to enjoy the company of parents and colleagues at last Thursday evening’s Redlands Art Prize Parent Evening at the National Art School. For many I spoke with, this was their first experience of the event but I know it will not be their last. Photos can be viewed here.

Mother’s Day Classic

Congratulations and thank you to the many students, staff and families involved in last Sunday’s Mother’s Day Classic run, an event that brings together all sections of our school. This has always been an important date in our community’s calendar and this year was certainly no different and I have enjoyed hearing how the event went from all three groups, despite the weather.

Year 7 2019 Transition Session

On Monday, our Yr 6 students and parents enjoyed another opportunity to spend time on the Senior Campus as another step in their transition to secondary schooling. The students and parents were able to hear from Senior leaders, Ms McGarry, Deputy Principal, Mr Corcoran, Head of Secondary School, and Miss Shaw, Dean of Students, on a range of matters that will be increasingly relevant in the coming months. The presentation is now on the Yr 6 page of Redlands Pulse for your reference and please don’t hesitate to contact me if there are things that need clarification.

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