Head of Preparatory School

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Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events

Book Week (21 – 25 August)

Tuesday 22 Dress Up day

Read Grow, Inspire is the 2023 them for Book Week. Each year since 1945 the CBCA has brought children and books together across Australia through Children’s Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend one glorious week celebrating books and Australian children’s authors and illustrators. Classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians create colourful displays, develop activities, run competitions, and tell stories relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading. This year our Lucy Hill Librarian, Mrs Stokes along with Mrs Bertinshaw will be holding all sorts of fun challenges and games in class time and at lunchtime to celebrate reading.

Our students this year are welcome to come dressed up in their favourite book character or a costume that reflects the 2023 theme on Tuesday 22 August. This will be a P-6 day of celebration. There will be no parades nor is there any expectation, it is merely a fun day for the children. Simple is best! Can I quietly encourage that Marvel characters or Disney outfits are not worn as we would love to celebrate the beauty of literature.

STEAM Week

Our Prep STEAM week launched with a visit from Sydney Water’s WOW van, Science experiments at lunch with parent volunteers and lots more to come with STEAM inquiry-learning projects and our talk by our visiting scientist Dr Pirotta. TG, Kindy and Year 1 students explored the science of what can dissolve in water, what happens to matter we flush and why it’s important to take care of our water.  Students were fascinated to see how our Sydney rainfall is captured, stored in dams, filtered, and then transported to our homes via a network of pipes.  A fun Pacman style game led students through a wondering of how our water is treated and an interactive wonder wheel helped them explore how other places in the world get their water. During lunchtime our Year 2 students had the opportunity to take part in science experiments run by two Prep Parent volunteers. We would like to thank Catherine Grinham and Jennifer Mast for organising and running these engaging experiments. They will be visiting again early next week to run a session with our Year 1s.  We look forward to welcoming you to our Prep classrooms on Friday 18 August to share in your child’s STEAM learning and to celebrate National Science Week. 

STEAM learning is designed to provide children with learning opportunities that combine fun hands-on activities with experiences that aid in their fundamental development. This balance of education and play naturally encourages young minds to ask questions, try new things, engage with their peers and explore the world around them. Some of the main benefits of STEAM experiences are;

• Establishing a lifelong love of learning! The projects are designed to get the children excited about developing new skills by presenting these opportunities through fun and valuable experiences.
• Building confidence and self-esteem. Many STEAM activities help kids learn how to use specific tools to achieve different tasks — like learning to use scissors to cut paper, or a mixing spoon to stir up ingredients. As young learners interact with simpler tools, they start to learn how to accomplish tasks on their own, improving their motor skills and supporting their self-esteem and confidence. This can also help them better assess situations and determine when they need to ask for help.
• Developing critical thinking skills where learning goes beyond simply memorising facts and details. STEAM helps students to how to process information effectively. They learn how to hone their observational skills, find patterns, analyse results, and predict outcomes.
• Nurturing creativity providing opportunities for children to be creative and encouraging them to use their imaginations can benefit every aspect of their development. They are encouraged to think outside of the box and see things from a different perspective.

We Love the Matildas!

What an exciting week to cheer on the Matildas and to support an Australian team making the semi-finals to a World Cup event in our very own city. Wednesday was a fun day to celebrate and support with all students from P-12 wearing supporter colours of green and gold, with a few brave red, white and blue flags flying proudly too! Such excitement beamed from the little Prep faces with a wonderful sense of pride and belonging. Coach Carter, Ms Longworth and Mr Price had super fun holding penalty shoot-out competitions at break time as well. Thanks to all our families for having fun with this day and encouraging the supporter spirit.

Today we had a few sad faces come through the door, but we were all so proud of the resilience the team demonstrated and as many Kindy students told me, ‘They were so brave’. Our Prep students are now getting excited to cheer the Matildas on for third place this weekend.

A Message from OOSH

We hope you and your children are excited for the upcoming Vacation Care program! Our next amazing Vacation Care program is just around the corner, and we can’t wait to create unforgettable and meaningful experiences for your children.

As part of our commitment to making this Vacation Care program truly special, we want to involve our families and children in the process of choosing our exciting incursions and excursions. After all, it’s the collective spirit that makes these adventures so memorable.

Your Voice Matters!

We invite you to actively participate in selecting the events that your children will embark upon during the vacation care program. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to have a direct influence on the experiences your children will have, ensuring they’re engaged, entertained, and educated in a way that aligns with your preferences.

How to Vote or Suggest:

Voting: Please review the list of proposed activities on this link and vote for your favourite program. 

Suggestions: If you have exciting ideas that you believe would be perfect for the Vacation Care program, we’d love to hear them! Feel free to send us an email with your suggestions, and we’ll consider each one with great enthusiasm.

Big Hearts

Nurturing Emotional Well-being: Insights from the Counsellors

We’re excited to share with you the wonderful progress that’s been made in the second session of the Big Hearts Project, aimed at nurturing emotional wellbeing. During this session, the students actively engaged in enriching discussions and participated in engaging activities, all designed to support their growth and resilience: 

Embracing Calmness with “The Candle and the Rose” Exercise

We kicked off the session with a soothing breathing exercise known as “The Candle and the Rose.” This exercise encourages children to imagine smelling a fragrant rose and then gently blowing out an imaginary candle. This simple practice helps them connect with their inner calm, fostering emotional balance.

Open Dialogue on Feelings and Strategies

The students had the opportunity to openly express their worries, sadness, or anger in a safe and supportive environment. Not only did they share their concerns, but they also offered valuable strategies they find helpful in navigating these emotions. This promotes healthy emotional expression and equips them with practical tools to manage challenging situations.

Unveiling the “Worry Brain” and the “Calm Brain”

Understanding their emotions is an essential part of a child’s growth journey. In this session, they learned about the differences between their “worry brain” and their “calm brain.” This awareness empowers them to recognise when their worries might be taking over and how to steer themselves back towards a state of calm.

Learning through Stories: “Nixie and Nimbo” Series

To illustrate the impact of excessive worry, the students watched a story from the “Nixie and Nimbo” series. This video highlighted a character whose worries became overwhelming. You can watch the story here: Link to the video. We highly recommend exploring this series with your child as it provides a fantastic foundation for meaningful conversations about emotions and coping strategies.

Afternoon Car Line

 Prep parents are asked again to please join your Year Group car line at the appropriate time only.

• Kindergarten -2.45pm
• Year 1 – 3pm
• Year 2 – 3.10pm

Sadly, some parents have returned to double parking, doing U-turns in front of children crossing the road, parking, and leaving cars in the no parking zones, parking over driveways, joining the car line from the wrong side of the road or pushing in at the driveway entrance. All these actions put our children, our community, and our staff at risk every day. It also is not fair for the many parents who adhere to the road rules and the structured pick-up system that is in place to help with traffic congestion.

A reminder that the car drop off time is from 8am only. The garage door is open for staff only to enter before 8am.

Thank you once again for your help with this.

Wayside Chapel  

Thank you to those families who have already donated to our winter appeal for Wayside. We still need more donations as the need is great – if you are able to help please send your donations to Prep or Junior School Reception. Look here for a list of items needed. 

Winter Uniform Clearance – 30% Off Selected Items

As we will be introducing our new Redlands uniform in 2024, we are having a Winter Uniform clearance sale with 30% off the following range, whist stocks last:

• Blazers
• Knitted Jumpers
• Girls Skirts
• Girls Blouses
• Boys Long Sleeve Shirts

Uniform Shop Opening Hours

The Uniform Shop will be closing at 4pm on Thursdays until further notice. 

Mrs Ainslie Breckenridge
Head of Preparatory School
abreckenridge@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9848