Head of Secondary School
Covid-19 Arrangements and Updates
As communicated by Mr Webber in his letter to parents yesterday, we have recently received advice from the NSW Chief Health Officer in regard to further restrictions on school activities and programs for the remainder of this term in order to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in the community. Unfortunately, this advice has forced us to have to cancel or postpone a number of events scheduled for this term, including the remainder of many interschool winter sports seasons, as well as a number of different music ensembles and performing arts groups. More specific information about the status of these and other activities can be found in the individual sections of Note Day. We are of course disappointed that students will not be able to fully participate in these cocurricular activities which bring them (and those of us who get to see them flourish in these events) so much joy. However, we are working hard to alter as many scheduled events as possible to still be able to run them in a modified and safe form. For example, we now plan to conclude many of our winter sports seasons this Saturday with internal fixtures within the same Year Group and opportunities to celebrate the contributions of our Yr 12 students. As we work through events scheduled for the rest of this term and the remainder of the year, we will update parents about any altered arrangements, including in regard to any scheduled or rescheduled camps for Term 4. Our priority will be to ensure that our Yr 12 students still enjoy a fitting farewell and celebration of the culmination of their Redlands journey over these coming weeks. We thank you again for your continued patience and support.
Science Week
It has been great to see Science Week celebrated in the Secondary School this week, even if some of the planned activities have had to be altered or modified. This year’s Science Week theme is Deep Blue: Innovations for the Future of Our Oceans. Students across the Year Groups have been partaking in a number of different activities exploring the issues affecting our oceans. Our online Science Week Assembly on Tuesday allowed students and staff the opportunity to hear from current students, teachers, alumni and scientists in the wider community about their experiences in Science and what they have learned from their studies. We heard from Associate Professor Michael Bowen who is currently researching pharmacotherapies for brain disorders at the University of Sydney, as well as Dr Charlie Veron, a marine scientist who has been called the “Godfather of Coral” for his research into coral on the Great Barrier Reef. (An interview with Dr Veron was also aired this week on the ABC television series, The Fight for Planet A: Our Climate Challenge.) In addition, we heard from two of last year’s graduates, Isabel Binnekamp and Chloe Church, about their current studies in Science at university. It is wonderful to see Science studied in so many different ways around the Campus – last week I got to see multiple watermelons explode outside of my office as part of Yr 8 Science experiments! Click image to view video.
I would like to thank the Yr 11 students who put together the assembly, as well as the Science staff, who have organised activities for this week.
Student Feedback Surveys
This week we have asked students across Yrs 7-12 to complete anonymous student feedback surveys in each of their classes as part of our quest for continuous improvement of our teaching practice. We hope that this data will provide us with a rich opportunity to reflect on our practice both individually and collectively, as well as to better support the learning needs of our students.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Secondary School
scorcoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9870