Head of Junior School
I hope that this message continues to find our community safe and well with increased measures now in place to protect our local and global community. There are some challenges that come with being at home on a more permanent basis, particularly where parents are working, but there may also be opportunities that have arisen out of this challenge. Each year, my family plays more board games over the Christmas holiday period than we do for the rest of the year and despite our best intentions, we never seem to find the time to continue this activity we all enjoy. This enforced quality time together has allowed us to continue this activity on a more regular basis and there has also been more baking than normal as my girls have sought to break up their daily routine at home. I’ve also enjoyed seeing them being more creative in both games that they are playing and also to simply while away the time. They have also found that, at times, it is fine to be bored, often the catylst for a spark of creativity.
Likewise, as my wife and I enjoyed the new-found experience of virtually catching up with friends last weekend via FaceTime, our children did likewise in another room and explored and creatively problem-solved ways in which they could play a range of games via a connection through a screen.
In this second week of remote and online learning, it has been great to see all of the Junior School classes now connecting via the live platform of Zoom enabling students to connect with both their teacher and each other. A number of specialist teachers, our Dean of Teaching and Learning, Mrs Smith, and I have also joined a number of these small group and class sessions and it has been great to see the way in which the children have adapted very quickly to this online learning space. These sessions will increase in frequency moving into next week and our survey at the end of the week will also provide us with additional feedback on how to maximise the best use of this technology looking into next term.
As well as being part of small group or whole class instructional sessions, it was wonderful for me to also be part of a Yr 6 group as we celebrated two students’ birthdays through Zoom, a new experience for Zoe Hicks and Isobel Campbell, but one that I know they enjoyed. It is just these types of new ways of creating lasting memories for special events that have forced us to look at creative ways of doing things which can only be a positive outcome.
I continue to thank the teachers for their reflective practice and openness to refinement and change to meet the needs of their students. We have spent a number of after-hours online meetings sharing practices as we seek to engage our students with their learning and create meaningful online but also offline activities for the students.
I also acknowledge and express my gratitude to all Redlands parents for your continued messages of support and helpful feedback and we appreciate your supportive role with your children now in their home learning environments.
Parent Webinars
Following on from similar sessions in the Secondary School, we look forward to hosting Zoom webinars next week for the Junior Campus which will be at the following dates and times:
Yrs 5 and 6: Monday 6 April at 5.00pm
Yrs 3 and 4: Monday 6 April at 5.30pm
Kindy – Yr 2: Tuesday 7 April at 5.00pm
Preschool: Tuesday 7 April at 5.30pm
Zoom invitations will be sent to families at the end of the week and each family is asked to only log on to one device to allow all families to have access with the fixed numbers permitted on Zoom.
These sessions will allow some of the Junior Campus leaders to connect with parents (something I have missed) and also share aspects of our remote teaching and learning and wellbeing.
Student Wellbeing Matters
The wellbeing of our students remains a priority for us and this week our students have been provided a Daily Wellbeing Grid suggesting a range of activities based on Five Ways To Wellbeing: Being Active, Keeping Connected, Learning Something New, Being Aware and Helping Others.
Students have been encouraged to choose an activity from the grid that they think will support their wellbeing and we hope that by prompting children to choose their preferred wellbeing activity, their sense of efficacy, mental-health agency and resourcefulness will be developed.
Do ask your child about these and some of the activities may need some guidance from parents which could lead to an enjoyable shared experience.
Parents can find a selection of wellbeing resources such as mindful colouring pages, mindfulness meditations and dance and exercise videos in our COVID-19 Parent Resources on Redlands Pulse.
We are very proud of our students’ transition to home learning over the first week. It’s been heartening to see their enthusiasm and capacity to adapt to the online learning environment.
However it is important to continue to maintain a healthy balance of screen time with other activities. Our children’s devices connect them to their learning, their teachers, their friends and extended family so it is understandable that screen time may have markedly increased for some families. Below are some parenting tips for setting some screen-time boundaries at home:
- Create screen-free spaces and times at home. Help kids to take breaks from technology and model this yourself.
- Engage your children in other activities such as helping you cook, household chores or playing a game.
- Encourage your children to choose a screen free wellbeing activity from their grid.
- Pause and talk. Have quality conversations in your family, focussing on feelings about being away from school, missing friends, or about worries or fears regarding COVID-19.
- Talk with your children to create a ‘screen-time plan’ outlining when and how technology will be used and setting time limits on specific apps, shows and games.
- Ensure screens are switched off at least one hour before bedtime and not allowed in bedrooms.
An easy parenting strategy to further support positivity at home is to create a ‘Brag Book’ for each of your children. Purchase a special note book and each day write some positive observations, eg. great listening today, helped with packing up, shared a funny joke that made us smile. Finish the day by focusing on these positive affirmations at bedtime, re-read the ‘Brag Book’ and reinforce how much you notice and appreciate these behaviours.
With our April school holidays approaching, we will create some further resources for next week’s final Note Day of the term in our aim to support family wellbeing over the break, which for many will be very different to what you may have had planned.
Our Dean of Students, Ms Kourakis, our School Counsellors and our Chaplain, Ms McKenzie continue to be available if you would like further support.
Performing Arts
After getting our learning platform up and running, this week I spent time with our Performing Arts leaders across Music, Dance and Drama planning online versions of their programs. There will be a separate letter sent to Junior School families with details of this overview which will be fully operational from the start of Term 2.
School Assemblies
Assemblies without the students are clearly not as much fun but I hope that the satirical assembly that we filmed here last week which I uploaded to each class’ Google Classroom page brought a smile and a chuckle to them and I know to many of you. If you have not had a chance to view this, maybe ask your child to show it to you and it might be a fun shared experience together. Just between us, and assuming none of the students read Note Day (!), there will be another video for them (and you) to enjoy on Friday as an end-of-week treat!
Next week, I have organised two assemblies next Monday to gather students by Stages as we approach the end of another busy term.
Monday 6 April at 8.30am: Yrs 3 and 4 Assembly
Monday 6 April at 9.00am: Yrs 5 and 6 Assembly
Staying Connected as Parents
This week, I met with our Junior School Parent Group Coordinators, Jay Cunningham and Rebecca James, who had collated some feedback and questions through the class parent group. The role of our class parent group might look slightly different in the current climate but in some ways, the overarching goal to build connection and relationships within our community will never be as important. I was heartened to hear of stories of support for individual families and we were also mindful that many of our families are here from interstate or overseas and may have loved ones far away. Please don’t hesitate to contact your class parent if you need any support or information or simply someone to chat to; I know that the Redlands Parents and Friends Association and class parents will be only too happy to be there for you.
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop is closed to customers until further notice. Parents may continue to place orders online through Flexischools or via email to uniformorders@redlands.nsw.edu.au.
Further information can be found on Redlands Pulse or by calling the Uniform Shop on 9968 9850.
Chaplain
Please visit the Chaplain article for information about Easter.
Online Reading Resources
It was lovely to receive details from two of our parents that Audible has launched a new service through which the company will be providing free audiobooks for children and teens for the duration of the coronavirus. These audiobooks are available in six languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese.
International Day Postponement
We have decided to postpone next week’s scheduled International Day and will look to find an alternative date when the students return to School.
Baby Ryan Coman
We were thrilled to hear of the safe arrival of baby Ryan Coman, a second child for Junior School teacher, Kristie Coman, who is on maternity leave this year. Kristie and Ryan are both happy and well and whilst it may be a while before they visit us, I know that Mrs Coman is looking forward to showing Ryan off to her former students and to colleagues.
Mr Ari Guha
Head of Junior School
aguha@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022