From the Deputy Principal
The Redlands Academic Journey
Last Friday was the Academic Achievement Assembly where we honoured and celebrated the academic high achievers from both the Higher School Certificate and the International Baccalaureate cohorts from 2020. This assembly has been an annual highlight for me over the past fours as it has not only provided the opportunity to catch up with our most recent alumni as they return to the Campus, but also to hear their reflections on their educational journey after they have just crossed the proverbial finish line.
In my new role as Deputy Principal, I have been spending as much time as possible on the Junior Campus this year and after peeking into some of the Kindergarten classes earlier this week, it has been a wonderful opportunity to see some of our students at the earliest stages of their Redlands journey and imagine what their reflections will be in 13 years’ time. As many of you know, these years fly by and I am personally starting to become increasingly nostalgic as my youngest child completes Yr 12 this year.
At last week’s Academic Achievement Assembly, recent graduates Alexandra York and Leopold Colin (who were both Prefects and Athletics Captains last year) shared some of their reflections, as well as some advice for our current Yr 11 students who were in attendance. Alex spoke about the motivation and support she found from her peers throughout the year, as well as feelings of doubt and uncertainty that she had at certain times – in particular after a very difficult HSC Chemistry paper! However, she challenged our Yr 11 students to not look for excuses, but instead stay committed because the rewards are that much more fulfilling when you feel you have given it your best shot. Leo shared how he was never in a top Maths class nor had he ever received a Scholastic Button until Yr 12. However, it was his effort, persistence and support from family, friends and teachers, which allowed him to overcome various challenges (including having surgery for appendicitis the day before his IB Examinations commenced) to reach his potential and earn a score of 44/45 (99.75 ATAR) for his IB Diploma.
In my speech to the Academic Achievers from 2020, I paid respect to Alex and Leo’s Athletics Captaincy by reflecting on my father who, as a high school Athletics coach in the United States for over 30 years, judged the success of an Athletics Invitational not by how many races were won, points were accumulated or the final placing of the team, but by how many personal bests were achieved on that day.
When measuring academic success, we are often so consumed by marks, rankings, ATARs and league tables, that we lose sight of the “personal bests” achieved by individual students. And while we celebrated the Academic High Achievers from 2020 because of their exceptional results last year, we also extend our congratulations to all graduates from the Class of 2020 for achieving academic personal bests in the face of the unprecedented challenges they faced last year.
eSmart School
As a school, we are committed to ensuring the smart, safe and responsible use of technology by all of our students. Having already been accredited as an eSmart school, towards the end of last year Redlands completed the application process to receive eSmart Membership, providing us with an ongoing guide to review our school policies and procedures so that we can actively maintain, enrich and enhance eSmart practices at Redlands. Throughout this year we will be sharing resources with parents and students, while also providing professional learning for our staff to help all members of our community embrace the benefits of technology while reducing the inherent risks. This year we are also forming an eSafety Committee across the Junior and Senior Campuses and will be asking for parent and student input into this very important and topical area.
Parent Welcome Events
Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 restrictions placed upon schools, we are unable to hold our RPFA Twilight Cocktail Evening on Friday 19 February, as well as some of the other usual welcome events for parents held at the beginning of the year. However, the School is working with the RPFA to offer alternative events so that we can bring our parent community together in the coming months. Further information will be forthcoming from the RPFA, as well as specific sections of the School, in the coming weeks.
Congratulations
Our summer sports seasons are recommencing and last weekend our Rowing crews competed at the NSW Rowing Championships at the Sydney International Regatta Centre. Over the first part of January when school was still on summer break and only a handful of staff were on campus, our rowers were here on most mornings continuing their dedicated training regime. It was wonderful that they finally had an opportunity to race on the weekend after their many hours of training, and they produced some excellent results. Some of the highlights were our Boys 1st crew winning a Bronze medal in the Championship Schoolboy Coxed Quad (Alexander Holtheuer Yr 12, Alexander Verschoor Yr 12, Matthew Fry Yr 10, Finn Woodward Yr 10 and Charlotte Morrison Yr 10); Finn Woodward (Yr 10) winning a Bronze medal in the Mens Under 17 Single Scull; our Captain of Boys Rowing, Alexander Holtheuer (Yr 12) winning a Silver medal in the Schoolboy Single Scull; and Alexander Holtheur and Alexander Verschoor (Yr 12) winning a Gold medal in the Schoolboy Double Scull. In addition, Captain of Girls Rowing, Emily Barelle (Yr 12) and Trinity Hoffman (Yr 10) qualified for the A Finals of the Schoolgirl Single Scull and Women’s Under 17 Single Scull respectively; and the Girls Yr 10 2nd Crew (Briar Carter, Yasmin Coletran, Charlotte Scamps, Phoebe Cunningham and Hannah Mitchell) progressed to the A Final in the Womens Under 17 Coxed Quad event. Congratulations to all of our rowers for their performances on the weekend and good luck to all of our students for the remainder of the summer sports season.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Deputy Principal
Photo caption: Celebrating the Class of 2020’s top HSC and IB achievers at their Academic Achievement Assembly.