Head of Preparatory School

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Welcome back to all our prep families and to our young learners!  I trust you all had a wonderful break from school routine. The staff and I are super excited with all the academic and pastoral learning experiences planned for this term for both inside and outside of the classroom. At the start of next week, you will receive a term overview from your grade teachers outlining focus areas for English, Mathematics and Units of Inquiry. This will provide families with a big picture look at what knowledge and skills your child will be learning.

Please note that a week-by-week overview is not supplied as the learning direction can shift at times based on pre-assessment information and a child’s grasp of the expected knowledge and specific skill being taught.

I look forward to sharing another fabulous term with everyone and as always, please come and talk with me if there are any questions you may have or if you need further clarification around any of our processes.

ANZAC Day 2024

At 4.30am on ANZAC Day, my brother and I attended the Sydney Dawn Service held at the Cenotaph, Martin Place. As always, the sights and sounds provide such a moving experience for everyone and as the sun started to rise at the conclusion to the service, we reflected with gratitude of sacrifices made and of freedoms we at times can take for granted.

Prep students had their own ANZAC Day service on Tuesday where we stopped and reflected together on the sacrifices made by Australian and New Zealand men and women in past wars. We listened to the stories and learnt about the importance of ANZAC Day symbols such as wearing rosemary, the meaning of red poppies and why we lay wreaths. I was very proud to listen to Year 2 children speak so confidently in front of everyone to help remember and to reflect on all the Australian and New Zealand men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

I sat and reflected this week how hard it is to explain what ANZAC Day is to our youngest of learners. In this day and age, we try too hard to avoid exposing young minds to war and the destruction that it can cause, but it is important to help our students come to understand and appreciate what has happened in history that has helped shape our country today. We want to tell our children the truth, but we don’t want to take away their sense of safety about the world.

Term 2 Staffing News

We welcome Ms Jemimah Cosme who joins our Junior Campus counselling team 3 days/week. Jemimah has extensive experience helping children and young adults with a variety of mental health needs. She has worked alongside educators and other medical professionals to provide both one on one support and group situations. Jemimah is looking forward to working with our students and with the wider community to support and guide.

Janice Hui joins our Redlands family as the Lucy Hill Library assistant while Mrs Bertinshaw takes long service leave. Janice has a real love for books and is keen to support the students, staff and families of Redlands House and the Prep School. Please drop in to say hello to Janice.

In Term 3, our Year 1 Coordinator and One Yellow teacher, Mrs Trudi Hepers will be taking long service leave for the term. I am communicating this early to our families and to our students for everyone to get used to the idea and to know that all will be fine while she is away. Mrs Hepers will be returning to her class in Term 4. I am currently working on her replacement as classroom teacher and as Year 1 Coordinator with our People and Culture team. When I have confirmation as to who this will be, I will certainly let our community know.

Keeping our students safe and feeling positive in the Prep School

Emmy and Friends protective behaviour program

Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our youngest learners in Prep is essential for their holistic development and educational success at Redlands and beyond. By prioritising safety measures not only protects physical health but also nurtures mental resilience, laying the foundation for their learning and achievement. With this said, please find information below that outlines the child safety programs that we have coming up this term. 

The Protective Behaviours program for our Kindergarten students starts on Thursday 2 May. Our Year 1 students will also participate in this program from Week 6. Please read the Emmy and Friends Parent Carer information letter here which outlines the content of the lessons that will be taught to our Kindy and Year 1 students in Term 2.

The resources provided by Act For Kids here will support our Kindy and Year 1 parents to talk confidently to your children about the importance of feeling safe at school and home. We encourage you to read these resources and continue to have the protective ‘safety’ conversations at home and use the familiar “Emmy and Friends” language. The focus of the lessons for our students will be based on:

• • Feeling safe: identifying how we feel
  • Making choices: recognising the difference between safe and unsafe situations
  • Body safety: personal safety rules and consent
  • People and safety: recognising and naming the trusted adults who support and help us problem solve any worries we may have.

How do we celebrate growth in learning and living the school values?

In Prep we continue to utilise our Positive Behaviour for Learning Framework (PBL) which assists us to create a positive, safe and supportive school climate where our students can learn, develop and thrive. Please see below for an overview of the award system we currently use in the Prep school.

• Positive behaviour for Learning awards – PBL’s are presented in class to students who are living our School Values and demonstrating: Respectful Relationships, Learning, Safety & Organisation. These awards are celebrated and shared with parents via seesaw photos or diary entries. Each classroom has the visual cue system outlining how the students can receive these. Collecting three or more of these will result in an Assembly award which is very special!
• Assembly Awards are received when a student has collected 3 x PBL awards, Mrs Breckenridge and Mr Corcoran present these Awards to our Prep students at Assembly.
• “Let Your Light Shine” awards will be given out to all K-2 students on a regular basis to reinforce positive behaviour in the classroom. This form of recognition is immediate and will often take place in classrooms with class teachers and specialists.
• House points are awarded in class to reinforce the importance of working collaboratively in teams. Students are encouraged to communicate, share and problem solve together. House Points are a visible and timely reward used to promote and motivate ongoing team effort both in class and out on the playground. In some cases, House Points can be taken away in certain contexts. Students are taught that this is not a punishment, it is merely an opportunity for a teachable moment. At the end of the year the Redlands Shield will be presented to the winning house with the largest point score. The Shield can be seen behind Ms Pontes at Prep Reception.
• Prep Class Mascots will be introduced this term to reinforce our School Values and each class will have their own individual mascot. Each class teacher will use the mascot in a way that suits the needs in their class. The mascots can also be given by specialists or playground duty teachers. You just never know where one will pop up!

As you can see, all management tools promote an environment for positive learning and they all have the school values of honesty, respect, responsibility, compassion, fairness and moral courage as their anchor points. Unfortunately, at times, there are circumstances where we do need to refer to and use the Redlands Student Code of Conduct to ensure that the students and members of the school community understand student behaviour that is expected at the school.

I trust that the above information gives families a clear picture of what tools staff across the prep use to not only create a safe environment for your child but also how we promote a positive learning environment. I encourage families to get involved! Ask your child about house points, did they receive a PB4L and if so which one? have a look at the House Shield in prep reception.

Parents Circles: Responsive Parenting and Raising Healthy Children

A message from our Junior Campus Counsellor, Silvia Roberts

Being a responsive parent sounds simple enough, but living high stress lives, often in isolation, lots of us know how nearly impossible it can be. Recognising that the essential condition for a healthy child’s development is the child’s relationship with nurturing adults, we invite you to join us for regular Parents Circles facilitated by the school counsellor, Silvia Roberts.  

The Parents Circles will draw on specific topics and will be centred on providing a space for open discussions and questions. The sessions will also equip parents with a wide range of essential practical and emotional regulation skills, and guide parents through the art of fulfilling their children’s needs which are the essence of healthy positive parenting. 

The Parents Circles will take place every three weeks (commencing next week) in the Prep Library, after school drop off. As this stage we are extending a welcome to our prep parents to attend. You are welcome to bring your own coffee or tea. As this is a parenting circle of support, numbers are limited to 20 to keep it small enough for interactive discussion so please use this link to register your attendance.

The topics that will be discussed this term will be:  

1. Building Emotional Intelligence in Children. This would increase the resilience in children.

• Resilience, a component of emotional intelligence, can foster good mental health. Resilience is the capacity we all possess to rebound from stress and feelings of fear, helplessness and being overwhelmed.
• As children grow, it is important to teach them that it is just as important to take care of their mental health as it is to take care of their physical health. 
• Discussion will include projection of feelings and the practical tools will include regulation of anger and dealing with shame.

2. Boundary Systems – Boundaries Must Be Taught

• Small children have no boundaries and develop whatever the boundary system parents have. 
• What happens when parents either wall up or lack boundaries? Or what happens when each parent has a different boundary system?  
• Exploring different possibilities of families’ boundary systems and family roles. Guiding parents to help children set up functional healthy boundaries, which in turn will help children to create healthy friendships.  

3. Negative Core Beliefs in Children – Positive Parenting

• Negative core beliefs in children can lead to them developing depression, anxiety, co-dependency, relationship issues or addictions later in life.
• How can parents prevent the onset of negative core beliefs? 
• Exploring five core natural attributes of children and guiding parents to attend to those in a functional and effective way. 
• This will help their children develop each separate characteristic properly which will lead to functional teens and adults who feel good about themselves rather than develop dysfunctional survival traits. 

Wayside Mufti

Wayside collection: – A message from the Junior School Captains.

A reminder that all Junior Campus students will be having a Mufti Day this Friday. Donations are to be handed in to class teachers. To help Wayside make a positive difference in the lives of people who are experiencing homelessness in Sydney, we aim to raise the most funds that any school has ever raised for Wayside Chapel in a year.

Thank you for your support.

Amelie and Pax.

Term 2 Dates for the Diary!

Term 2 Clubs

Prep wellbeing lunchtime clubs are up and running. Please use the flyer to have a chat with your child about which club they might like to try. Please note that there is no Pokémon club this term, so we ask our students to keep their Pokémon cards at home this term.

Wet Weather Ahead!

One of my fondest memories as a child at school was getting out in the playground and jumping in puddles after it had rained! I would love our Redlands learners to also indulge in this fun activity this year without worrying about getting their shoes or socks wet. For this fun to occur, we need the children to have a pair of gumboots and a raincoat that they can access at school. This is not compulsory but if you would like to, please send a labelled pair of simple gumboots and a raincoat to school with your child that they can put on themselves. These will be sent home at the end of the term.

Prep Mosman Youth Writing Competition Opportunity 

The Mosman Youth Awards in Literature offers an opportunity for our Redlands primary school writers (K-6) to enter a story in an online competition. All interested  students are encouraged to enter. The closing date for this competition is 31 May.  Information about the competition and the entry submission portal is available on the Mosman Library Services link here. 

Mother’s Day

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