Reddam House Primary School Newsletter Vol 23 Issue 1

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back to another exciting year at Reddam House Primary School. If the animated and enthusiastic chatter among the students this week was anything to go by, it is going to be an energised year indeed! The staff and I trust that you and your family had an enjoyable break, with plenty of time to put your feet up and to celebrate special moments with those closest to you.

I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to all those families who join us for the first time. It was wonderful to see the anticipation in the eyes of our Kindergarten students as they explored their new environment this week. We are sure that they will soon feel part of the Primary community and we know that their presence will add much to the school. Although there might be some initial nervousness, which is to be expected, we know that they will soon settle, especially as they become more familiar with their surroundings, routines and teachers.

There are also other families who join our school for the first time, and we trust that those students will also soon feel part of the community. I am sure that the students who have been part of the school for some time will come alongside the new arrivals, show them around, and welcome them into their friendship circles.

We love our families to be involved in the life of the school and we look forward to meeting you at future events, whether on the side of the sports fields, at cultural events or at parent/teacher meetings. Please do involve yourself wholeheartedly in the school, as the students really do enjoy being able to show off all that they do.

In this edition

• Welcome

• Year 4, 5 & 6 Camp

• News from the Classrooms

• 7 February Year K Parent Cocktail Evening

Ours is a school which values a broad-based, holistic approach to education. While academics remain at the heart of the school, we know that most students will truly find their voices and explore their talents through the many other activities on offer. It has been a joy over the years to see their confidence flourish while performing on stage, or in a music recital, or when scoring a goal after countless hours spent honing their skills.

We encourage students to make the most of the many opportunities on offer at Reddam. It is all too easy to coast along below the radar, avoiding involvement and not taking any risks. Rather, we hope that each student will have a go at some of the exciting opportunities this term, and in the terms to come. Life will be so much richer if the most is made of these opportunities, and especially if the students challenge themselves to try something they have not done before.

Our senior students were certainly taken out of their comfort zones for the first week of the term, as they headed off for their camps. The Year 4s enjoyed their time at the Sydney Academy of Sport and Recreation Centre, while the Year 5s and 6s had a thoroughly good time building cohesion among their year groups at Kincumber and Tea Gardens respectively. The teachers returned with excellent reports of how our students conducted themselves and of how they really excelled at all the challenges they faced.

Not to be outdone by their older peers, the Year 3s also spent some time off campus on Tuesday, as they immersed themselves in the history of The Rocks. They apparently had their learning ears wide open and returned to school full of new information.

Yesterday evening’s Year 5 Parent Information/ Cocktail evening was well attended and we trust that all parents found the information and guidance useful. Maintaining close cooperation between parents and the school is a significant contributor to student success and we look forward to continuing the discussions as the year progresses.

Some good news from the with which to start off the term is that Sarella Symonds did excellently at Nippers to come 2nd in the Iron, 2nd in her swim and 2nd in the Board rescue last weekend. She has now qualified for all events to compete at the State Championships at the end of the month. Well done and all the best, Sarella!

Have a great term with us!

Dee Pitcairn Principal

Year 4 Camp Report

Year 4 started off the year with a fantastic camp to Narrabeen. This was the first time away from home for many of our students, but it was a brilliant occasion to learn outside the classroom. For two days, the children had the opportunity to develop their soft skills of teamwork, resilience and negotiation through games and activities.

The first activity was kayaking. Kayaking helped to develop strength and stamina. Children got to paddle across a lake and learn about the location of Narrabeen. They also took part in games which helped students face some fears of water. It was a brilliant way to cool off!

The next activity was raft building. This activity mainly focussed on teamwork. This year, as the students transitioned into Year 4, they were introduced into a new class and a new teacher. Is there a better way to get to know your class, than to build a raft? Although there were some questionable flotation devices made, the creativity was outstanding to witness.

Finally, the students participated in archery. The skills involved in archery, helped guide the students with their coordination and accuracy. There was a formidable buzz in the air as you heard students cheering on their peers. You may have thought that Robin Hood had joined Year 4 with the number of arrows that hit the bullseye! Well done year 4 on such a fantastic week!

Year 4 Camp Report

Year 5 Camp Report

This week Year 5 travelled to the 'Great Aussie Bush Camp, Kincumber' to kick off what is to be an awesome 2023.

With many new faces being added to the group, students were given the opportunity to develop and strengthen friendships whilst participating in a variety of challenging experiences.

Over the three jam-packed days, students participated in activities including archery, canoeing, rock climbing, the famous Giant Swing, and the challenging but very enjoyable Lost Island.

Reddam students displayed themselves as mature and responsible, earning compliments from our camp instructors, who were thoroughly impressed with their enthusiasm and resilience.

The transferable skills developed at this year’s camp will provide a firm foundation for a successful 2023 for our Year 5 students.

Year 5 Camp Report

Year 6 Camp Report

The Year 6 students recently returned from their first school camp of the year, and what a trip it was! Despite the wet weather, the students braved the elements and had an incredible time at the Great Aussie Bush Camp in Tea Gardens.

Some of the highlights of the trip were the flying fox, giant swing, and mud run. These adventurous activities provided the students with a thrilling experience and allowed them to test their limits. The raft building activity was also a great success, with the students working together to build and navigate their rafts.

In the evenings, the students gathered around a warm bonfire and roasted marshmallows while the camp leaders regaled them with captivating stories. This was a great opportunity for the students to bond and make new friends.

The trip was a wonderful success, and the Year 6 students should be proud of their resilience and positive attitude in the face of the wet weather. We look forward to seeing more of these amazing experiences from our students as the year progresses.

Year 6 Camp Report

Would like to wish a very

Happy Birthday

to

Marco Ip, Matilda Lehrer, Jayden Cao, Addison Keen, Hannah Jaque, Hanxin Gong, Leon Canturi, Isabelle Liu, Thomas Lechem, Ivy Zagora, Abigail Desouza, Vikram Katdare, Erinn Wong, William Dery, Harper Wolrige, Alexander Scardilli, Hayley Xue, Hugo Bassil, Poppy Chong-Briand, Dylan Du, Veronica Rodov, Alessia Maksimovich, Noah Mtanios

Who celebrated their special day this week and over the weekend

Sport Fixtures

4th

Basketball Semi Finals

Reddam ROCKETS vs Reddam Jazz 7.30pm MPCYC Ct 3

U16s Reddam JAZZ vs Reddam Rockets 7.30pm MPCYC Ct 3

U16s Reddam WARRIORS vs MPB 16 3.30 Comets Stadium

U16s Reddam THUNDER v Newtown Blazers 5.15pm MPCYC Ct 3

U18s Reddam HEAT vs BYE

U18s Reddam GRIZZLIES vsWhite Eagles A 3.00pm MPCYC Ct 1

U18s Reddam MAGIC vs Newtown Krakens 7.30pm MPCYC Ct 2

BOYS

Opens v Scots, Riverview Pool 9:20am

16s v Scots, Riverview Pool 11.35am

13s v Bye

GIRLS

Start on February 11th

Water Polo Netball

Netball – Tuesday 7th February

Reddam v The Monkeys Multi Court No.1, 5.15pm

Sport Fixtures

Cricket

Reddam Rabbits V Sydney Coastal 8.00am Lower Cooper 2

Reddam Roos V RJCC Crushers 8.00am Lower Cooper 1

Reddam Rhinos V RJCC Daredevils 3.00pm Lough Field 1 North

e

Touch Football

Start on February 11th

Tennis

Start on February 11th

Kindergarten

What a beautiful start to Kindergarten we had this week! We spent the first few days settling into our new routines, exploring our diverse surroundings and getting to know each other with games, stories and activities. We were overwhelmed with the enthusiasm and readiness to learn that the students showed from day one. Thank you for all the support you have provided to your children at home to get them ready and excited for Kindergarten. We can’t wait for the year ahead.

This week during our English lessons, we practised writing our names and introduced the ‘s’ sound. We read the book ‘The Library Lion’ and talked about how it is so brave to be starting Kindergarten and coming to school every day. We made lion masks to take home and show our families how brave we are.

Year 1

We had a fantastic start to the year. The classrooms were brimming with excitement and energy as the students settled quickly into new routines and friendships were forged.

We shared interesting facts about one another, wrote fabulous holiday recounts and created colourful and expressive self-portraits using oil pastels and water colour paints.

The students were introduced to our Science unit of work ‘Light and Sound’ which lends itself to a number of investigative and collaborative activities as well as our Geography and History unit ‘Identifying Us’, in which we will be exploring family, religious, cultural and sporting groups to which we belong within our community.

The independent and positive attitude displayed by the students this week was remarkable and we are all looking forward to this busy term unfolding.

Year 2

The Year 2 students returned to Reddam House with an abundance of energy, enthusiasm and curiosity for the year ahead. The teachers and students enjoyed listening to the exciting adventures and amazing locations their friends have visited over the summer holidays. The children engaged in creative activities that encouraged them to build new friendships and make connections with their new teachers. The students are very happy to be with back at school and look forward to an awesome journey in Year 2.

In English we impressed our teachers and friends with our creative ideas in writing. We delighted in sharing our thoughts about commencing a new school year and highlighted many important events from the holiday period. During Mathematics lessons, we were kept busy collating birthday data and look forward to measuring, estimating and comparing our height in the coming days. Later we will monitor and observe these changes throughout the year. Our focus in History was on learning about celebrations in our community. We explored the origins of Australia Day and Chinese New Year and the different ways these events are observed in the community. Year 2 students particularly enjoyed sharing their goals for 2023.

Year 3

The Year 3 corridors were a buzz of excitement this week as our new Year 3 students eagerly returned to school to meet their new teachers and interact with friends, both old and new. The students filled each classroom with smiles and laughter, as they shared tales of their holiday activities and their learning goals and dreams for the year ahead.

As an added bonus, the Year 3s attended their first excursion of the year in the hustle and bustle of the city. What awaited them was a fun-filled day of exploring the streets and houses of The Rocks to introduce them to the Stage 2 History topic, ‘First Contact’.

The day started with an introductory presentation to discuss famous explorers and their journeys to Australia. The students were given outfits for the day, dressing up as migrants, soldiers and convicts, with two lucky students even dressed as Captain Arthur Philip and James Cook.

Following this, our Year 3s were split into groups to participate in two walking tours which focused on migrants, settlers and convicts. The ‘Red Walk’ looked at all of the buildings and architecture required to establish a colony, allowing students to visit the old bank, hospital, police station and sewer canal. The ‘Blue Walk’ focused on housing, comparing the lives and living quarters of the affluent, wealthy and elite with those of the working class. The tour guides relayed fascinating stories from the past, including some ghost stories to raise the hairs on their heads.

For lunch, the students were taken to Observatory Hill where they could delight in a stunning view of the Harbour. Here, they participated in a creative arts activity entitled, ‘Colonisation: Now vs Then’, sketching the view of present day and then sketching what they imagined the scene to look like in 1788.

Finally, to top off a fantastic day of learning and fun, the Year 3s took part in the First

Contacts Olympics, where they reinforced and demonstrated information which they had been taught throughout the day with running races.

All in all, the Year 3 students and teachers had a wonderful day, coming home with a mountain of new facts, and an eagerness to continue their learning about Australia’s rich history in the classroom. Way to go Year 3!

Year 3

Year 5 and 6 Science

A very warm welcome back to all Year 5 and 6 students. It is going to be a very busy year in Science, with students studying topics within chemistry, Earth and Space, biology and physics.

After an eventful start to the term at camp, students were straight into their learning on Thursday and Friday. All students are studying the topic of ‘scientific investigations’ for the first two weeks of term. This will set students up with a great foundation of knowledge for the rest of the year as they will be able to recall how to perform a scientific investigation, draw diagrams, tables and graphs correctly and use the correct terminology during lessons. All these skills will be used throughout the year.

We look forward to a busy year in Science and seeing students’ curiosity and scientific interests develop.

Year 5 and 6 English

The English Department would like to welcome all students in Years 5 and 6 to what is sure to be a fun-filled year.

This term, students in Year 5 will be exposed to the art of persuasive and narrative writing. Students began this week’s learning by reviewing the core elements needed to pen effective pieces.

This term, in Year 6 English, students will focus on Aboriginal literature through the 4Ps: poetry, prose, plays and pictures. The aim of this unit is to develop students’ awareness of and interest in the breadth and depth of Aboriginal Australian literature. They began this unit of study by reflecting on what it means to live in a multicultural society, as well as considering what our colonial history means to indigenous Australians. Year 6 students also began delving into the techniques that poets utilise to develop the themes of connection and identity in their poetry.

Well done to Years 5 and 6 for an exceptional start to the new year’s worth of work.

Year 5 and 6 Mathematics

After a few fulfilling days of reacquainting with new and old friends and working collaboratively, it was lovely to welcome the Year 5 and 6 Mathematics students back into the classroom for what promises to be an exciting and busy term.

In our Maths lessons, we explored good work habits, one of them being the importance of keeping material organised and, in so doing, improving efficiency and results. The other important topic addressed was the benefit of setting out work sequentially to ensure that mathematical thinking, intention, and understa are communicated and reflected. Students were given strategies and examples to practise these skills.

Year 5 mathematicians brainstormed and built on their current understanding and knowledge of mathematical concepts and the language used. Some concepts discussed were dimensions, composite, consecutive, quotient, integers and vertices.

Year 6 students learned about base ten and their powers, exponents, or indices. They wrote large numbers in expanded and exponential form.

This week in Music, the Year 3s were excited to return to the classroom! They warmed up their voices and then learnt an Orff piece called ‘Dinah’, which uses the solfa set of Do Re Mi and So. They sang the song, clapped the rhythms and then learnt to hand sign the pitches. Students also revised the expectations of the music classroom and how to use xylophones, and they began to learn the melody on xylophones.

‘No-one in the house but Dinah Dinah

No-one in the house but me I know

No-one in the house but Dinah Dinah

Playing on the old banjo’

Music Performance Music

Welcome back to all of our Music students. It's our pleasure to welcome new students to our programme this year, and also to welcome back those who have already started their music journey at Reddam. Individual music lessons are starting up over these first two weeks, and the music terrace is filled daily with excited students and equally happy music teachers! All of our ensembles begin in Week 3, and students are encouraged to join and participate in whichever groups interest them.

Ensembles

Please register your interest at the following link for our voluntary ensembles, and teachers will be in touch soon about start-up for the year:

Performance Opportunities: Welcome Recital

Please submit your videos via the following link to be considered for performances at our Welcome Recital or weekly assemblies: https://forms.gle/qUdZ7p5xcCNNcVnm6