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.
Yr 4 STEAM Day
Last Friday, our Yr 4 cohort enjoyed some rich experiential learning as they were fully engaged in a range of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) activities, brilliantly organised by our eLearning Coordinator, Mrs Winrow.
I was able to spend some time with the classes and with a range of external and internal facilitators, the obvious excitement and engagement of the students was plain to see as they rotated through each session as outlined below:
- Students had the opportunity to see how drones are used to detect sharks in Australian waters and then learnt how to code and fly drones themselves on a much smaller scale.
- Students also took part in an exploratory hands-on Earth Science workshop investigating geological processes and land forms. During this session, the students explored earthquakes and volcanoes, plate tectonics and faultlines, rock types, erosion and soil classification.
- Mrs Winrow led the next session connecting Engineering and Maths as the students had to design and create a mechanical arm and develop their sense of the impact of mechanical engineering in our world. Using littleBits technology to build the arm, the students then practised throwing a ball at a target using the mechanical arm they had built.
- The final session was led by our Visual Arts teacher, Ms Reinhold, where the students created shoe designs with the theme of Take the Coast Inland. These shoes have now been donated to Warlawurru Catholic School, an Indigenous school who Mrs Winrow had connected us to partner with. There has also been a second hand sports shoe drive that this project worked alongside and we thank parents who have been able to support this opportunity.
Thank you to our many teachers and facilitators who made the day one that enabled the students to also see the real-world applicability of the STEAM subjects and their interconnectedness. I know our Yr 4 teachers also valued this time to further learn and connect with and see their students’ thinking through the day.
Vacation Care December/January
If you would like your child to attend the December/January Vacation Care program, please visit the Flexischools website and make a booking using the Prep and Junior Vacation Care icon.
Bookings will go live from Friday 8 November 5.00pm. All calendars, information pertaining to activities and requirements can be found on the Flexischools website and Redlands Pulse.
Please contact OOSH coordinator, Trinetta Newbond with any Vacation Care or After School Care queries.
Yr 6 Car Wash Fundraiser
Our Yr 6 students have planned a car washing fundraiser towards buying some outdoor storage and seating for the playground areas as well as a contribution towards the Redlands Peter Lennox Scholarship. More details can be found on the Upcoming Events page.
2020 Student Leadership Nominations
This week, our Yr 6 2020 student leadership nominations commenced for our current Yr 5 cohort, ahead of their transition into Yr 6 and the Junior School student leadership roles that come with this move. I am grateful to Ms Francis and her team for the meticulous planning and organisation of the day which it was a pleasure to witness and be part of.
With candidates encouraging and supporting one another, I was both heartened and proud to hear that more than 82% of the cohort self-nominated for at least one of the fourteen leadership positions (listed below); a reflection of the safe, encouraging and supportive environment created by the Yr 5 teachers and the group as a whole.
- Junior School Captains (one boy and one girl)
- Arts Captains (one boy and one girl)
- Sports Captains (one boy and one girl)
- House Captains (one boy and one girl per House – 8 in total)
As part of the process, students articulately heard from some of the present Junior School student leaders who were able to share their experiences as well as another student in Yr 6 who has shown great leadership this year without necessarily having a badge; an important message for all students to hear too. Yr 5 also had a chance to ask them questions, which was clearly a helpful exercise.
Cameron Brown from Explore, Discover Act, who has led student leadership development workshops with Yr 5 over the year, also sent a video to the group summarising the learning he has done with them throughout the year on leadership and wished them well on the next step in their leadership journey.
The Yr 5 teachers and I then provided the students with more specific information about the requirements of each role and the School’s expectations of its leaders.
Looking around at the students, we have no shortage of potential school leaders who I know would be very capable representatives of the student body in 2020. Yr 5 students, as well as teachers who know them, will now have the opportunity to vote and then these captains will be formally announced for the first time at Speech Day on the last day of this term by Dr Lennox and myself.
Junior Campus Bush Dance
Last Saturday, I joined nearly 500 members of our community at our biennial Bush Dance, superbly organised by Prep parent, Danielle Bird, and her team of volunteers. Supported also by the RPFA, the event was a wonderful wholesome family fun event and our returning visitors, The Outback Band, did another exceptional job of calling all the dances for everyone to enjoy.
As Danielle also mentioned to me, the event “simply couldn’t have happened without our fabulous Redlands community and parent volunteers”. This is so true and I extend my warm appreciation and gratitude to parent volunteers who set up, packed away, ran the barbecue, ran drinks stalls and collected tickets to name but a few of the many roles. I also thank our Redlands Facilities team for their often hidden work behind the scenes.
2020 Junior School Student Class Placements
Junior School staffing for 2020 will be finalised shortly and will be communicated in Note Day towards the end of term. We continue to have the same number of classes in each Year Group as listed below:
Yr 3: 4 classes
Yr 4: 4 classes
Yr 5: 5 classes
Yr 6: 5 classes
Class teachers will undertake the process of class formations for 2020 towards the end of this term once we have finalised the composition and balance of each Year Group team of teachers. Past experience has shown that the meticulous and professional approach we take ensures the optimum learning environment for each student.
Class placements are organised by the teaching staff who see and teach these students each and every day and hence, know the students best in the context of the classroom learning environment, taking particular account of the following factors:
- the individual learning, social and emotional needs of each child
- knowledge of the different teaching styles of teachers in the next year group
- friendships of students where this has a positive impact on their learning (students are also involved in this step)
- ability levels to ensure an even spread of ability levels across each class
- an aim to balance gender in each class, as best possible
Please understand that it is not possible to request a specific teacher for your child as this would set a precedence that is neither sustainable nor fair to all families. Please also note that younger siblings will not necessarily be placed with the same class teacher as older siblings as invariably, siblings can be very different in both their learning preference and their personal traits.
A significant amount of time, professional dialogue and thought goes into this important operational process to aim to match each individual student with the right teacher and peers and our Dean of Students, Counsellors and I also take part in this process with our additional knowledge of students.
Once Year Groups have finalised these, there will be a comprehensive face-to-face handover of knowledge between teaching staff before the start of Term 1, 2020, to ensure that teachers have as much information as possible ahead of next year. These class lists are then prominently displayed on the first day of the new school year but we also have individual student timetables up on the portal a day or two before the start of term so that parents have access to see who their child’s class teacher will be before the start of the 2020 academic year.
I hope this summary clarifies the detailed process that will take place later this term in this very important part of our preparation for 2020.
Mr Ari Guha
Head of Junior School
aguha@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022