22 March 2024

Well, at RJ we strive to be that place for our families and their children where they can feel like they can belong, serve and succeed. Right now we are processing and finalising applications for 2025 entry into Year 7 and Kindergarten. If you have a sibling of a student at school or know of family or friends who want to enrol at RJ, then please let them know time is running out for 2025. Have them head to our website and click on the links to apply. We are also accepting applications for students in Years 8-12.

Speaking of a good education, some of the key aspects we like to think about in this regard at RJ are first and foremost, a safe environment. We want children to know that they can come to school and enjoy time with friends both inside and outside the classroom. As a College, we are not perfect, I don’t think any school is, but the care of our students is paramount and our teachers do care.

We work hard to identify students who make this difficult for others and rely on students to let us know if something isn’t going right with them socially at school. Sometimes, our students need responsible adults to help them with social concerns and so we instruct our students to let teachers know when things aren’t well socially. All of our students are taught about how to handle other students who might be rude or mean to them, or worse still, those who engage in bullying antics. There is no place for that at RJ and we want to know about it if you think this is happening.

We also place a strong emphasis on the character development of your child. We believe that character traits of being courteous and kind, courageous, empathetic, resilient, self-controlled, honest and wise in the decisions they make are important. We want them to learn to understand others and be able to contribute positively to the world in which they live by reaching out and serving others. Our service opportunities and outdoor education program endeavour to develop and draw out these traits in our students.

Of course, learning is our core business at RJ. Our community have expectations around learning and how this prepares our students for their life post-school. As such, our Learning Power Approach delivers on teaching students about how they learn, how they can face challenge in their learning and helps grow a sense of resilience and resourcefulness in the approach to being willing learners. Next month we will host a Parent Forum on Wednesday 10 April at 6:30pm to help our families understand our learning framework here at RJ. Please look out for the registration as we look forward to you attending.

Lastly, but in no way the least, we want our students and families at RJ to have the opportunity to come to know and understand what it means to live their lives in honour of a Saviour who gave His life for us. In John 3:16, God reveals to us His plan for us all. 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

He wants us to live the life He has destined for us to live. He never promised it would be easy, but He did promise that He would walk through life with us; through the ups and downs, through the struggles and the triumphs. 

If you would like to know more about this good news, we would love to let you know more.

God Bless...
Mr Alan Dawson | Principal 

The Hakuna Matata Children’s Choir put on a spirited performance at our Junior School Assembly involving dance, song, drums and audience participation! Their dynamic, engaging and uplifting performance had everyone involved in call and response to singing and lots of smiles and laughter as RJ was engaged in a wonderful African experience. Not only were the Hakuna Matata Children’s Choir wonderful performers, but they shared a great message and came with a strong purpose: to raise awareness and financial support for a school they are building in Kenya to support the education of children from Kenya’s slums. What a wonderful opportunity we all had in sharing the joy and the positive message of God’s goodness.

This week RJ is hosting students and staff from Okinawa Kaiho High School in Japan. This unique experience is a great opportunity for our Year 10 and Year 11 students to host a Japanese student between the ages of 12-15 and to show them what school is like in Australia. Students adopt a Japanese buddy and take them to all their classes. The week concludes with a Japanese Cultural program put on by Okinawa Kaiho High School where students get a small taste of what Japanese culture is like. It has been wonderful to open up RJ again for these unique experiences after a difficult few years where students became used to isolation and putting up “boundaries”. Engaging in schooling and with the opportunities that present themselves at RJ is one of our key messages as we increasingly see students remind themselves of what is available to them with a broader mindset reminding them of one of our RJ Student Attributes: Connected.

CHILD SAFE STANDARD 4 – Equity is upheld and diverse needs are taken into account

Continuing with our exploration of the Child Safe Standards, there is an obvious connection between the diverse experiences our RJ students have had over the last few weeks and Child Safe Standard 4. The aim of this standard is to ensure all students have the opportunity to participate to their full potential and the guide to the Child Safe Standards describes it as:

A child safe organisation provides culturally safe and child-friendly services. It pays attention to equity by taking into account children’s diverse circumstances. It recognises all children are vulnerable but some are more vulnerable to abuse than others, or find it difficult to reveal or be understood when communicating they have been abused. Organisations should try to protect and support all children equitably.

One of the greatest challenges we face as a diverse community is not confusing equity with equality. Whilst equality is important for our community in a number of situations, particularly when it means closing the gap for disadvantaged people groups, there are many situations where equality is insufficient in properly caring for people. Paula Dressel from the Race Matters Institute outlines this idea beautifully “The route to achieving equity will not be accomplished through treating everyone equally. It will be achieved by treating everyone justly according to their circumstances.

At RJ we are always mindful of the stories that students bring to school with them every day. Many of us are not aware of the chapters that have already been written and the context or “setting” that students are experiencing. As we manage the many facets of educating students, we are passionate about understanding how to best support the whole student. This is described as holistic education and considers emotional, social, ethical, physical, spiritual, moral and psychological needs of students. All of these dimensions play a crucial role in student progress and ought to be considered when seeking equity for our students. Crucially at RJ we are always seeking to consider these factors when we support students across all aspects of their schooling.

Every student has a story and families play a key role in this narrative. As we continue to support our students across all aspects of their schooling, RJ seeks to be a safe place for students to share their story. We pray that we are also a positive chapter in their greater narrative as they continue to navigate learning. Learning about subjects, learning about themselves, learning about life and through our BLP learning framework, learning about learning.

Mr Scott Roby
Deputy Principal

LEARNING SUPPORT IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

Mrs Sarah Pinney, our Learning Support Leader has put together a helpful outline of the important role Learning Support plays in the Junior School.

We are truly blessed with a dedicated team in Learning Support here in the Junior School. This team consists of Miss Christie Godwin, Mr Joshua Robertson, Mrs Michelle Arundel and Mrs Vanessa Smith. We have also had the opportunity for some people completing their work placement hours to join us for a short time at the beginning of this year, thank you Mrs Chand and Mrs Mills for your commitment and support. 

Our role is to assist students with disabilities and those who may have learning difficulties. We work collaboratively with teachers, parents and external specialists to support students with their learning and to provide the most appropriate learning experiences and environment. In supporting a student to achieve their best potential we also may work collaboratively with the Wellbeing team. The result of this collaboration is often the writing of Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) and Positive Behaviour Support Plans (PBS).

While we observe and assist teachers in accommodating individual student needs, Learning Support does not usually provide one-to-one support for students. Learning Support Staff are timetabled into different classes to support students in various subjects, such as English-Initialit, Mathematics, Reading, and Responding and Composing. Some small withdrawal groups occur for subjects such as Spelling and for reading intervention programs such as MiniLit and MacqLit.   

As part of understanding our students better we conduct testing in areas of reading and Mathematics. We also support teachers in adjusting assessments for students. We are involved in classroom observations and provide feedback to teachers on how to best support students. 

We are involved in creating visuals, social stories and other resources to help support student engagement and participation in learning both within and outside the classroom. A new program we began implementing last year was our Fun Zone program for students who may be finding the playground difficult to navigate for a variety of reasons. This provides students the opportunity of a quiet lunch time spent with friends. 

As we provide adjustments for students with disabilities, we are also collating data for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) for students with Disability as we provide adjustments for individual students. 

We truly are excited to see the growth of individual students in their learning journey as we support them in the process.

Mrs Sarah Pinney
Junior School Learning Support Leader 

RESPECT AND CARE DAY 

Last Friday was Respect and Care Day with funds raised going towards the sponsorship of our four Compassion children in Indonesia. Thank you to our Student Forum for promoting this day. The students looked amazing in their various grades’ rainbow-coloured mufti. Teachers organised activities to promote care and inclusion such as card writing and chalk pavement art. The playground has never looked so good! As we strive to be more like Jesus, we work daily with students to ensure respectful and caring relationships are established across our College.

HAKUNA MATATA CHOIR VISIT

During our Assembly last Friday we were treated to a performance from a visiting children’s choir from Kenya – the Hakuna Matata Children’s Choir. These boys and girls gave a vibrant and wonderful display of African singing, percussion and dancing. Even some of the teachers and students were brought out to join in! Our Junior School students really enjoyed this live cultural and creative experience.

NAPLAN

Our Year 3 and 5 students commenced NAPLAN last week and will continue this week with catch-up days for students who have been absent. We encourage parents not to add undue stress to students sitting these assessments. Keep a solid routine happening at home - make sure your child gets to bed early, has a good breakfast, gets to school on time and stays relaxed and positive.

HOUSE MEETINGS 

In preparation for our upcoming Cross Country days next Term and the Eagles House Assembly, House meetings will occur this Friday 22 March. Students are to wear their House shirts with sports uniform shorts.

DOGS ON CAMPUS

The College has reviewed its policy on allowing pets onto the site. Families will no longer be permitted to bring a pet onto the College grounds even if on a leash and supervised by its owner. This change optimises the safety of staff and students and is consistent with the Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW), Section 14, noting that the Principal may grant permission e.g. Assistance or Service Dogs on a case by case basis.

UPCOMING GP DAY – PARENT HELPERS NEEDED

We have the first of our Grandparents Days coming up for Stage 2 (Years 3-4) on Thursday 4 April and require some parents to assist with the setting up and serving of the morning tea. This would mean arriving for 9am to start prepping scones and staying through until morning tea is done around 11am.  Please email me if you would like to assist. kshannonduhigg@rj.nsw.edu.au

DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE LUNCH?

We seem to have an increasing number of students coming to school with no lunch. This does put pressure on the Canteen to make up basic sandwiches so these students have something to eat. Please check each morning that your child has their lunch or that an order has been placed for that day.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• March 22: House Meetings – students wear House shirts.
• March 26: GRIP Leadership Day – Year 6 leaders attend this day with Mr Reed.
• March 28: Easter Assembly with Rev. Jason Ramsey 9:10am.                                                  
• March 28: Easter Hat Parade for Years K-2. 2pm start in the Courtyard. Parents may take children home at the conclusion of the event. 
• April 4: Grandparents’ Welcome Day for Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) 9:30am start in the Courtyard. Morning tea provided for Grandparents. Concludes 11am.

Enjoy the rest of your week, 

Mrs Karen Shannon-Duhigg
Head of Junior School

HOUSE MEETINGS

Senior School students have the opportunity to get involved in their House today. Friday 22 March during the House Meetings in Period Four. Thank you to the House Captains and House Patrons in making these times a great success.

USE OF EMAILS

Students have been reminded to ensure that their use of the College email is linked to their learning and other College activities. It is disappointing to see some students sending and or adding to chain emails and also using their emails as a personal chat or messaging service. 

IMPORTANCE OF OUR WORDS

Over the last two weeks, I have spoken with several students across a range of year groups concerning the words they are using when communicating with their peers. The main focus of my discussion with students was the need to show respect and care in what they say, even in what they perceive to be a joke.

It was made clear that any statements or 'jokes' that refer to someone's heritage, gender or appearance are not acceptable in any setting. I alluded to Proverbs 21:23 which encourages us to guard what we say and it will keep us out of trouble and also Proverbs 16:24 which states that our words, kind words, are sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.

I do hope that our students continue to grow into students who are consistently respectful and demonstrate care to their peers in what they say. This will go a long way to ensure that all our students feel that they belong at RJ and that it is indeed a place for them to succeed.

EASTER

Next week we will gather on Thursday for the Senior School Easter Assembly, which is a great opportunity to acknowledge the amazing expression of God's mercy and grace through Jesus' death on the cross and rising to life. I do hope that families within the RJ community enjoy the break through the four-day Easter weekend and have the opportunity to reflect on the Easter message.

THANK YOU

Thank you to the students who consistently serve our Senior School community in setting up chairs for both the Chapels and Senior School Assemblies throughout the Term. Thank you to the students who were willing to help in the canteen at lunchtime, it was great to have so many students offer to help.

Finally thank you to the students who are consistently meeting the College's expectations regarding wearing the uniform, being on time and prepared for their classes and being willing participants in their learning activities. Their positive contributions to the College community are highly valued.

Mr Brad Maxwell
Head of Senior School

It is with this research in mind that the Year 1 String Program has been expanded this year to include Year 2 students!  

It was a thrill to hand out one hundred and twenty violins to Stage 1 students over the last few weeks with Year 1 students excitedly taking them home for the first time to commence their home learning in Week 6.  

Year 2 students, having had the benefit of last year's program, are eager to start to learn first finger notes.  

Mrs Statheos and Mrs Duncan are excited to witness the growth and progress of our Stage 1 students throughout the year! 

Fine Arts Diary Dates Term 2: 

• JUNIOR SCHOOL: Exploration of an Instrument (Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone) - Week 2 
• JUNIOR SCHOOL: Soloist Concert – 25 June 2024 at 3:45pm 
• SENIOR SCHOOL: Soloist Concert – 27 June 2024 at 6:00pm 
• SENIOR SCHOOL: Heritage Day Performance Concert – 4 July 2024 

For any further information or enquiries please contact finearts@rj.nsw.edu.au

Mrs Inés Marrable
Director of Fine Arts

finearts@rj.nsw.edu.au 

CSSA STATE SWIMMING CARNIVAL

It was great to see our team compete to the best of their ability at the recent CSSA State Swimming Carnival at SOPAC, the home of the Sydney Olympics. Well done to Mark, Matthew, Elijah and Jakob for setting a new all time College record in the Senior Boys Relay.

NETBALL TRAINING

Netball Training has commenced for our WSCS teams at lunchtime on Thursday and Friday. 

WSCS TRIALS FOR TERM 3 SPORTS

Trials are continuing for the Term 3 WSCS sports. Just a reminder that your child needs to be at school on time each Wednesday as Years 3-6 go to Hanna Reserve in the morning session.

BASKETBALL CLINIC

We have commenced our Basketball Clinic for four weeks. The students have thoroughly enjoyed learning new skills.

CSSA GYMNASTICS

If your daughter competes in gymnastics and does the WAG Level 3 or higher, or if your son does any MAG level, please notify Mr Mitchell as there is a competition in Term 2 they can attend. gmitchell@rj.nsw.edu.au  

Mr Gavin Mitchell
Junior School Sports Leader

Kiara (Year 11) and Brigette (Year 9) recently trialled for the CIS Open Girls Football Team and were both successful in their selection for this team. Well done ladies! We look forward to hearing about your continued success.

Last week was the first week of the Inter House Sporting Competition. Despite difficult circumstances, the Captains and supporting Staff did a great job in getting this event off the ground. A good turn out by the Year 10-12 teams. We look forward to the Years 7-9 competition starting on Thursday. 

Congratulations to Alexis-Jae of Year 7 and her Gymnastics team for their score of 44.55 securing their place at the upcoming Nationals Competition. We can’t wear to hear about your achievements! 

Please send through all sporting achievements to tmillard@rj.nsw.edu.au so we can celebrate your success.

Mrs Trish Millard
Faculty Leader PDHPE & Sport

Please post any questions on the Kinder Facebook page. If you haven’t joined already, please click here and answer the membership questions.

Year 6 WhatsApp Group

For more information about WhatsApp please view this video.