Head of Preparatory School

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Harmony Week

Monday 18 – Sunday 24 March

A Message from Miss McKenzie

Harmony Week is next week! Thursday 21 March we will celebrate Harmony Day on the Junior Campus.  Harmony Day is an Australian government initiative that is designed to help us celebrate our culturally diverse nation beginning with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples who have called this land home from the beginning. We are asking students and staff to wear a touch of orange as the official Harmony Day colour. This includes normal school uniform and a touch of orange, like shoelaces, sneakers, hair ribbon, socks, tie or handmade harmony day badges and bracelets. Consider it “accessorising” with orange. Anyone who forgets can come and make a wrist hand out of paper at the tables outside the canteen from 8am. No hair or face paint is to be worn or orange-coloured clothes please. There will be an opportunity on International Day to wear traditional or other culturally appropriate clothes.  

One of the special things about Redlands is that we are a culturally diverse community. We have much to celebrate, learn and take pride in. Harmony Day is an opportunity to open up conversations at home and school where we choose to share our cultural heritage and identity by listening with respect and interest to the stories of others. We can share songs, photos, stories, language and hospitality. Harmony Week might look like sharing food with another family one evening that is indicative of your cultural heritage. Teaching a friend a greeting in your home language or having a conversation about how we speak about others from cultures different to your own. Whatever it is we look forward to help students grow in their appreciation of our diverse and unique community.

Calling Parent Volunteers!

International Day 9 April 

The wonderful Redlands International Day will be held on 9 April. This is a day for us to celebrate the rich international flavour that makes Redlands the diverse and inclusive community that it is.

As always, we would love to welcome parents into our classrooms who would like to share their own unique culture with our students. This may take the shape of storytelling, books, costumes, music. dancing or art and craft experiences.

If you would like to come in and share with your child’s class and grade between 11am-1pm, please get in touch with your specific Year Group coordinator (Ms Knox, Mrs Hepers or Mrs Eggleton) and they will be able to coordinate the activities and volunteers.

We are also hoping that some our families will once again share special food with the children at lunchtime. Last year this was a big hit and the students loved experiencing different tastes from around the globe. Please get in touch with me directly if you would like to be share in our lunchtime global feast.

Upcoming Events

Prep School Learning Conversation Week

Monday 18 March – Friday 22 March

Earlier this week all prep families were provided with information regarding times and booking instructions for Prep Learning Conversations. This 15-minute face-to-face conversation with your child’s class teacher will be an opportunity for you to discuss where your child is at currently in their learning and where to next in their 2024 journey, both academically and pastorally. It is a ‘snapshot in time’ discussion and we call it a ‘conversation’ for that reason! Can I please encourage you to reach out to any specialist teachers or myself directly if you would like a 15 minute catch up.

Raise Dough: Bake a Difference 

What: A bake sale for Raise Foundation
When: Monday 25 March lunchtime (classes will be staged)

How can we be involved: Get together and spend Sunday Funday baking your favourite treats!

• Please label any Tupperware containers so they can come back to you. 
• Drop off on Monday morning in the Prep Meeting Room. 
• No nuts or nut products to be used and label any Dairy of Gluten Free options.
• Bring gold coins in if you would like to buy any cakes!

Junior Campus families and students are encouraged to support this Year 10 student initiative to raise awareness and donations for Raise Foundation.

Raise provides youth mentoring to 13–15-year-old students around Australia. These young people are grappling with issues like anxiety, depression, loneliness and bullying. With 1 in 4 young people saying they feel lonely all or most of the time, there’s never been a better time to support the work of Raise Foundation.

Not only are we providing access to a trained mentor, we are supporting our Year 10 Redlands students who devised this fundraising initiative in their Commerce group project last year. Raise Foundation loved the concept so much they wanted to use it immediately. We have just heard word that one of their corporate partners utilised our students’ concept and raised $3000 in a single event! That’s enough to sponsor 1.5 entire mentor/mentee programs. Let’s see if we can do better!

Uniform Recycling

Textile Recyclers Australia (TRA) has been selected as our uniform recycling partner following a comprehensive review of available options in 2023. TRA will commence the collection of unwanted Redlands uniforms in Week 7 of Term 1, with each year level having a specific day to bring in their unwanted uniforms. Bin collections will be monitored, so please ensure only requested items are brought it, or they will be sent back home. Any non-Redlands branded uniforms can be taken to your local charity bin for reuse, or to H&M and Zara (who offer used clothing recycling).

Term 1 Parent Topic Talk

Equipping your child to navigate anxiety and distress.

8.30am Tuesday 26 March

In recognising the vital role parents play in equipping their children with essential life skills to face challenging situations and emotions, we invite you to join us for a talk facilitated by the school counsellors. This session will focus on equipping your child to navigate challenges associated with anxiety and distress. Delve into the fundamentals of understanding distress and anxiety as we explore what these emotions might look like in your child. Discover the importance of building distress tolerance and learn to identify different manifestations of anxiety. We will provide valuable insights into practical strategies to help your child work through distressing situations. From distinguishing between hypo and hyper reactions to implementing effective coping mechanisms, you’ll gain actionable tools to support your child’s emotional well-being. Additionally, we’ll address separation anxiety and its impact across different age groups. Empower yourself with effective parenting concepts and practical tools to guide your child through challenging times.

For seating arrangements, please click the link to RSVP.

Grandparents Day

Tuesday 11 June 

Please note that this year Grandparents Day will be held on Tuesday 11 June. This hopefully gives families ample time to book those flights and get spare rooms ready.

Easter Break Dates

Good Friday 29 March – Easter Monday 1 April

Students return to school on Tuesday 2 April.

Last day of Term 1

Thursday Friday 12 April

OOSH

School Holidays Program

Bookings are now open for the April holidays and parents are invited to book via HubHello for the activities or email ooshbookings@redlands.nsw.edu.au to book their children for the Arts Club. 

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