Head of Secondary School
Yr 12 Leadership Training
Last week our new Yr 12 student leaders were involved in two days of leadership training facilitated by Burn Bright, an organisation based in Sydney which facilitates student leadership and wellbeing programs. On the first day of the program, the ten school-wide leaders and the eight House Captains heard powerful reflections and ideas about leadership from our principal, Mr Webber, as well as Yr 12 parent, Sally Macdonald. The students spent the rest of the day working together as a team to develop focus areas for the year. On Friday all of the Captains of Activities and Sports were involved in the training and also had the opportunity to work with the staff in charge of their various activities in developing plans for the year. I was so impressed by the enthusiasm, creativity and collaboration the student leaders displayed during these sessions and am excited to see how they lead the school over the coming year. Specifically, I was struck how they wanted to focus on areas such as inclusivity and optimism over this next year to help to bring the school community together after a challenging year.
Yr 8 Inter-House Debating
Last week we held our Yr 8 Inter-House Debating Competition. This internal competition was led by our Coordinator of Debating, Ms Bryant; four Yr 8 debaters from each House competed over three days and were assisted by some of our senior debaters. The Yr 8 Inter-House Debating Competition is another example of the growth of Debating at the school over the past few years, and I would like to congratulate the Yr 8 Cowper team consisting of Cadence Austin, Connor Ikin, Jocelyn Wang and Charli Waterland (coached by senior students Ben Adamson and Sophia Maxwell) for winning the Grand Final debate against Roseby. (Parents, unfortunately they were able to successfully argue the negative side of the topic, “Household chores should be compulsory for all children 10 years and over”.)
Yr 12 HSC and IB Examinations
On Tuesday the HSC Examinations commenced and next Monday the IB Examinations will commence for our Yr 12 students. This year these examinations are being held on the 4th Floor of the Learning Hub and it is wonderful to have the students back on site for these examinations. We are asking all students to please be mindful of any noise around the Learning Hub during the duration of the examinations so as to not disturb our Yr 12 students. We wish them all the best on these examinations over the next few weeks.
Summer Sports Season
This Saturday the ISA Summer Sports season begins with our first round of representative fixtures. We are grateful as a country, state and school that we are able to safely hold these sporting fixtures against other schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Different venues and schools will have different restrictions in terms of parent attendance at these fixtures. The Sports Department will be communicating spectator information to families, and if you have any further questions, please direct them to the appropriate Sports Administrator or to Mr Kindred.
Redlands Parent Webinar
All parents are invited to a Zoom webinar on Tuesday 3 November, 7.00-8.00pm.
Principal Mr Stephen Webber will be presenting on feedback from the Strategic Plan survey and future direction and there will also be short presentations from all three Heads of Section. In addition, Mr Matthew Bentley, Head of Teaching and Learning will provide an update on the Redlands Learning Platform and the Student Voice survey.
Please reserve your virtual place by clicking here. The Zoom link will be sent prior to the event.
There will be an opportunity for speakers to answer your questions, so please forward any you may have by Thursday 29 October to events@redlands.nsw.edu.au. For families who are not able to attend, the event will be recorded and a link shared afterwards.
School Opal Cards
From January onwards, there will be a number of School Opal cards expiring, as the physical card has reached its lifespan.
These are cards for students who will be in Yrs 8 to 12 in 2021, and only those Opal cards which haven’t been replaced in the last five years.
Impacted students and/or their parent/guardian will be contacted directly by Transport for NSW via email or post. They will be asked to confirm their details online in order for a new School Opal card to be sent to the correct postal address in time for the new school year.
If contacted by Transport for NSW, details should be submitted online by 1 December 2020 at the latest. Affected students who do not confirm their details in time will have a new School Opal card posted to the address we currently have on file.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Secondary School
scorcoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9870