Head of Preparatory 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 catalyst 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.
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.
Remote and Online Learning Update – Zoom
In this second week of remote and online learning, all Prep School classes continue to support students and families in their learning and our next phase of Prep student and teacher engagement will see the introduction next week of Zoom as a live online classroom learning space for the class to connect. A separate letter will be sent explaining how this will work for families and students.
Zoom was introduced in the Junior School this week and we have had conversations between Prep and Junior School teachers on how best to utilise this platform for our youngest students for students to connect with both their teacher and each other.
Next Steps for Prep:
- Monday – each class teacher will create schedules for their live sessions with their classes and provide a timetable overview for each class on Redlands Pulse and as an announcement to parents and to students in Seesaw.
- Tuesday – each class teacher will host a live Zoom session to connect with students and start to discuss the guidelines of online video classrooms and let students see one another and help parents and students get acquainted with Zoom.
- Wednesday – each class teacher will host another live Zoom for connection with the students before the holidays.
The pre-recorded video messages in the morning will continue to be about what they are to complete and instructions on how to do this.
Parent Webinars
Following on from similar sessions in the Secondary School, we look forward to hosting Zoom webinars next week for Prep which will be at the following dates and times:
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 on our COVID-19 Parent Resources information page 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 bedtimeand 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
Our Performing Arts leaders across Music, Dance and Drama have spent time planning online versions of their programs for Prep students from Term 2. There will be a separate letter sent to Prep School families with details of this overview which will be fully operational from the start of Term 2.
Easter Hat Parade – It’s On!
Look out for communication and information from your child’s class teacher about the traditional Easter Hat parade which will be on the last day of this term, next Wednesday 7 April. Teachers are encouraging students to look to reuse and recycle things in your own home and there is definitely no need to go out to purchase anything! Likewise, we understand that you may not have anything to hand so students could wear any hat or draw an Easter picture. The plan would be for students to share these via Zoom in a live classroom catch up next week and separate information will be sent about this.
Staying Connected as Parents
This week, I met with our Prep School Parent Group Coordinators, Bree Stevens and Lucienne Willis, 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 in our community will never be as important. I am 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 they 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.
Staying Fit and Healthy at Home
Please continue to visit the Junior School Redlands HomeFit page located on Redlands Pulse. This page has been updated again with some great core exercises from one of our Junior School Sports Captains, Stella Cunningham, understanding that we may be less active and sitting more than normal in our current lives.
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.
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.
Mr Ari Guha
Head of Junior School (covering Head of Preparartory School)
aguha@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022