Head of Preparatory School

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Further Information For Week 5

I trust that all parents have read the information letter that was sent to all families this morning. It is important to read this document as it outlines times and logistics for drop off and pick up as well as informing the community ongoing health and safety guidelines.

In addition to this information, I wanted to remind all Prep parents to please display their car name tag on the passenger side of the car for staff to be able to read it clearly and quickly. I want to thank all our parents this week who have been patient in our car line pick up times. This patience will be greatly appreciated as we move into an even busier space next week.

The timetable will return to its normal structure next week, so we will be having Chapel via Zoom on Mondays in classrooms and Prep Assembly on Thursdays.

Please don’t hesitate to ask myself or your class teacher any questions you may have regarding the return to face to face learning next week.

Drop Off Arrangements and Schedule – PLEASE adhere to the listed times:

Mrs Stacey Smith, Dean of Teaching and Learning, will be writing a weekly reflection in Note Day. The communication between school and home is an important one, especially when it comes to sharing what your child is learning in the classroom and also sharing 21st century trends in education. Stacey will be outlining learning experiences that our students are engaging in and also use the forum to share information about certain skill development and programs in Prep. This information will not only keep our school to not only keep you informed but provide you with a conversation piece for you and your child.

Reflections from Dean of Teaching and Learning

As we look forward to the children returning to school next week, it’s important that we stop and reflect on the outstanding job that everyone has done to continue learning at home. Although it has been a difficult time, it has allowed us to pause and learn many new things. How many of you took time to bake and without realising it were applying the skills of measurement that are an important part of our Maths curriculum? Many of you would have spent time in the garden and discovered all sorts of ecosystems at work. I saw many more children out learning to ride a bike and watched as many families cycled around my neighbourhood. All small things that don’t generally occur in the daily rush of our busy lives. Teaching has always relied on important partnership between the staff and families, but never to the extent that we have seen over these past months, so a big thank you from us to you.

Skills We Didn’t Know We Had

This week in Prep Chapel, we reminded our young learners about the skills that they have acquired throughout the Remote Learning experience. Resilience, risk taking, problem solving, independence and deeper thinking were all discussed. I know how hard it has been for some of our families to juggle working from home, home learning for multiple siblings in some situations and the exhaustion on some days of keeping everyone entertained and busy. As we work through these challenges, we also celebrate new skills and work to maintain them as we return to face to face learning next week. A few ways to help families achieve this is to make sure your child packs their own bag in the mornings, dress themselves and encourage them to do their homework tasks independently. Learning through making mistakes is a wonderful way to develop essential life-long skills. Below are some pictures of some of the rich learning experiences that we have observed this week in Prep.

chaplain

Uniform shop

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