10 May 2024

Well, the start of the Term has certainly sped along as we find ourselves at the end of the second week already. So much has already taken place with much more to come.

Last week we saw our Years 8, 9 and 10 Camps done and dusted. From all reports the Canberra trip was another fantastic success though a little cold, Year 9 went well as they hiked into the bush at Somerset and our Year 10 students interrogated life in the big city from Bondi to the CBD. 

This week our College Photo Days for both Senior and Junior School went well. With a focus on our commitment to our College values of late, particularly of excellence, and wanting to improve our processes across the College, we engaged a new school photographer for this year’s photo day events. We believe that the photo service that will be provided to our community will be of a much higher quality this year. If you have any queries about photo orders, please call one of our receptions. 

Now today saw us celebrating the marvellous ladies in our lives, our mothers, at the Mother’s Day Breakfast in the Junior School. It was absolutely wonderful to see a great turn out of mothers who came to be honoured and celebrated at this RJ event. Similarly, we have encouraged our students to reach out over the weekend to honour their mothers or female caregivers in their lives and shower them with love. The emphasis being not on gifts or the amount of money we spend on someone, but about the quality of time and appreciation we can offer to the mother figures in our lives. I trust your family takes time this weekend to honour the women in your life.

May Term 2 be an excellent opportunity to live out our faith in God with rejoicing, prayer and gratitude. 

God Bless...
Mr Alan Dawson | Principal 

Whilst welcoming people into our community is a wonderful thing, this has also brought about the need for timetable change to accommodate the competing demands. This can be a challenge for students and staff as they adjust to new routines and getting used to when they need specific equipment and uniforms. However hard this can be at times, predominately our community demonstrates resilience and the ability to persevere through some of the frustrating aspects of such changes. This highlights one of the 5 Rs of Learning Power that we focus on at RJ: Resilience. 

Learning Power describes resilience as “being ready, willing and able to lock onto learning”. This is broken up further into: 

• Absorption - Flow, the pleasure of being rapt in learning  
• Managing distractions - Recognising and reducing interruptions  
• Noticing- Really sensing what is out there  
• Perseverance - ‘Stickability’; tolerating the feelings of learning 

It is not hard to see how each of these elements of resilience will significantly aid students in making progress. But it is also important to note that these elements are not merely switched on or off, but rather operate on a continuum. Like a sound mixing desk, all of us at times are fading in and out of focus on the task at hand. Even when we are in ‘flow’, external events can pull us out of this heightened state of focus. None more so for our students, and if we’re honest as adults also, than smartphones. Literally designed to get our attention, they are the height of disruption and we need to ensure we work with our students towards good “digital health”. Knowing when to intentionally set technology aside to heighten our focus or stay present in a conversation is what then allows us to enact the third element of resilience: noticing. We’ve all seen the person who can’t effectively avoid other people in a shopping centre because they are walking while staring intently at their phone. Observation of what is taking place in the lesson, engaging with the nuance of learning and interacting with the teacher and their peers are all crucial ingredients for a student who wants to access deep learning. 

As parents too, we need to challenge ourselves to set great standards at home. Perhaps your family can start at the dinner table. At our home any phone that gets looked at during dinner is taken until the meal is over. This is a clear reminder that there are times to be connected with others online and there are times to block out all of that and be present with the people who are in front of you. Keeping time with family ‘sacred’ is a great cue for our students that learning time should also be ‘sacred’. Like many aspects of parenting and teaching, having our students regulate their own interaction with technology can only occur after we first help them realise that separation from devices and focus during important times is not only helpful, it is a clear expectation that is unacceptable to breach. 

So let’s work together this Term to help our students reach new levels of focus and resilience. Having high expectations of them will continue to set the tone of what we expect in learning, behaviour, uniform and help them set challenging, but realistic expectations of themselves.  

Mr Scott Roby
Deputy Principal

WHICH UNIFORM?

Students were permitted to wear Summer or Winter Uniform for the first week of this Term. We are now in Winter Uniform from the Monday of Week 2. The mornings have become quite chilly so please send your child/ren with their jackets to school. The College beanie is only to be worn to and from school and does not take the place of a sunhat. Please check that all clothing items are clearly labelled – especially jackets.

MOTHERS’ DAY

We enjoyed two Mothers’ Day events this week – the stall and the breakfast. Thank you to all who assisted to make these events so special. I would like to wish all the RJ Mums a really happy Mothers’ Day this Sunday 🌺

MORNING DROP OFF

A reminder to please drop students off in Pioneers Way rather than walking them down to the Courtyard area. Parents are welcome to sit for a brief time at the tables in Pioneers Way however, please encourage your child to meet up with their friends to play before school. Using this area as a ‘kiss and drop’ space is recommended.

HAIRSTYLES AND RJ UNIFORM

We are still seeing some boys coming to School with hairstyles that are not in line with our Uniform policy. These include very short, shaved sides with a distinctly longer section on top. ‘Lines’ shaved into the hair are also not permitted. Uniform infringement notes will be issued to these students.

Our College Uniform policy states – 

Hair must be clean, kept tidy and well‐groomed. Hair should not hang/fall across the face or eyes. 

• No radical hair styles are acceptable (e.g. no undercut, mohawk, or shaved hair or below size 2 clippers). Also, no styles involving significant differences between the length of hair are acceptable.    
• In regard to hairstyles for all students, it should be recognised that due to the subjective nature of ‘styles’ it is difficult to describe exactly the College requirements. Any changes to a student’s hair must be subtle. Significant changes are not acceptable. For the smooth‐running of the College, the Principal’s decision is final in all matters pertaining to this Policy and the appearance of each student.

In light of this, we ask that if you are taking your son to the Barber or Hairdresser, please say something before they begin to cut. A size 2 blade and a size 4 blade combination is acceptable – a size 1 blade is too short.

In terms of ‘lines’ a thin line in the natural part section is permissible, thicker and/or designed lines are not.

We do not want any of our boys sporting inappropriate hairstyles. If your son has recently had one of these differentiated cuts, please allow the short section to grow longer than a number 1 blade and have any long top sections trimmed.

CROSS COUNTRY EVENTS

Cross Country for Years K-2 will be held next Friday 17 May from 2:15pm. Parents are welcome to come and watch our littlest athletes go through their paces. Please assemble in Pioneers Way from 2:10pm. Students will still finish school at 3:20pm on this day, no early leavers. 

Years 3-12 will hold their Cross Country races on Thursday 23 May. This event is for students only. All students are to wear their Sports uniform with House shirts on their respective Cross Country days (Year 6 helpers for K-2 event also in House shirts).

NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME

This will occur on Wednesday 22 May during a special Assembly in the College Hall featuring this year’s book – 'Bowerbird Blues' by Aura Parker. Mr Dawson and I have our costumes ready so check out the next edition of the RJ Review!  

EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Please make sure that if our Reception/First Aid staff need to phone for your child to be picked up due to injury or illness, the emergency contacts on Edumate are up to date and available. As we head into the cooler months, the rate of contagious disease does rise and more students sent to the Junior School sick bay are required to go home. It is vital that when these calls are made someone is available to pick up your child promptly.

Enjoy your weekend, 

Mrs Karen Shannon-Duhigg
Head of Junior School

We concluded the day at Sydney Observatory Hill to view Sydney Harbour and complete a sketching activity to compare Sydney in 1788 and now in 2024. Thank you to our parent helpers for helping to facilitate an exciting day of learning and exploring. 

Mrs Emily Smith
Junior School Teacher

Looking over the next few weeks there are many events taking place, including House Meetings on Friday 17 May followed by the Cross Country on Thursday 23 May.

YEARS 11 & 12 LEARNING CONFERENCE

The Learning Conferences for Years 11 and 12 are being held on Wednesday 20 May, an invitation will be emailed to parents/carers that will allow them to book appointments with their child's subject teachers. It is important to note that the Learning Conferences are for parents/carers, teachers and students. Students are to wear the College winter uniform to the conferences.

YEAR 11 SUBJECT SELECTION 

Students in Year 10 will be attending Year 11 Subject Information Sessions over the next two weeks to provide details about the subjects that they may select for next year. The 2025 Year 11 Subject Selection Conferences take place from 4pm on Wednesday 29 May, which is an opportunity for parents/carers and Year 10 students to meet with a member of staff to discuss the subjects the student has chosen for 2025. An email will be sent to parents/carers with an invitation for them to book an appointment for the subject selection conferences.

HOUSE KEEPING/REMINDERS

Both parents and students are reminded of the following:

• Students are to write in their diaries each lesson every day.
• Diaries are to be read and signed by parents each week.
• Students are to use the lockers allocated to them and the combination lock supplied by the College.
• Students are only to use RJ bags as outlined in the College Uniform and Presentation Policy, which is found in the Student Diary and on the College Website. Students who bring the incorrect bag will see that bag confiscated as per any other non-uniform item. It will be returned to the student provided they can replace it with the appropriate RJ bag.

Across the College, we have high expectations of our students and staff with a particular focus being consistency in upholding the College Uniform and Presentation Policy. We do expect our students to wear the correct Uniform well and consistently.

Several students have had to remove jewellery such as necklaces/chains and bracelets, and the need to wear a tie/scarf for our Stage Six students. Some of the male students have been reminded to wear a belt, wear grey socks with the winter uniform and change their hairstyle to comply with the College's expectations. Female students have been reminded to wear their skirts mid-knee length and to only wear one set of plain earrings - sleeper or stud, as well as keeping their hair up and back with a hair elastic. We do want our Uniform to be consistent across Years 7-12 that is worn correctly by all our students. Thank you for your support in this area.

I am looking forward to seeing our students engage well in their learning this Term both in the classroom, during sporting activities and also the broad range of co-curricular activities that are taking place. If parents/carers or students have any questions regarding our co-curricular activities, including the annual Heritage Day Festival, please contact Mr Steve Millard, the Director of Student Engagement. Please watch out for updates and permission requirements for all activities at the College via the RJ App.

As always it is pleasing to see students making significant contributions to the Senior School community through their acts of service. Thank you to the Service Team for all they do in supporting events such as Assemblies, Chapels and Open Mornings. Additionally thank you to the students who when they see a need, offer help to their peers and RJ staff. I do hope this selfless attitude and the value of service remains a key part of our community.

Remember if you any questions please contact your child's Home Group teacher as soon as possible.

Looking forward to a great Term 2 at RJ.

Mr Brad Maxwell
Head of Senior School

FOOTBALL CLINIC CATCH UP TERM 1

The Football Clinic catch up session from Term 1 is scheduled for this Friday afternoon. If the expected wet weather eventuates, it will be pushed back to the following Friday.

STAGE 1 FOOTBALL CLINIC

The Term 2 Football Clinic registration period is now open. It is scheduled to commence on Thursday 16 May. Places are limited so ensure you book early to avoid disappointment.

https://www.trybooking.com/CRMYR

STAGE 2 AND 3 FOOTBALL CLINIC

The Term 2 Football Clinic registration period is now open. It is scheduled to commence on Friday 17 May. Places are limited so ensure you book early to avoid disappointment. 

https://www.trybooking.com/CRMYU

FOOTBALL GALA DAYS

We have some upcoming Football Gala Days at Mamre Anglican School. Teams will be announced shortly. These events will occur on Monday and Tuesday of Week 4 for our Stage 2 and 3 boys and girls Football teams.

WSCS

Unfortunately, the first round of WSCS was cancelled due to ground closures by Blacktown Council. We will endeavour to commence round 1 next week.

SKIPPING CLUB

Our Skipping Club had its first session last week under the guidance of our champion skipper, Mrs Evans. The aim of the club is for skippers who love Jump Rope for Heart to keep progressing their skills all year round.

Mr Gavin Mitchell
Junior School Sports Leader

Tuesday Representative Sport, girls will be competing in the Netball Competition, and boys will be competing in Soccer. Congratulations to those students who were courageous to nominate and trial for these teams, and again to those who were successful in being selected to represent our College. We look forward to hearing about your achievements throughout the coming weeks.

In Week 4, on Thursday 23 May we have our annual Cross Country Carnival. We are looking forward to seeing our long distance runners in their element, and we pray for God’s kindness with the weather, and protection of our staff and students on this day. 

Save the date for Monday 17 June (Week 8) as we have our annual Athletics Carnival. 

Please send through all sporting achievements to [email protected] so we can celebrate your success.

Mrs Trish Millard
Faculty Leader PDHPE & Sport