Foundation

Legacy Gift of Class of 2021

The Class of 2021 proudly continues the Legacy of previous Yr 12 cohorts, and through their efforts have been supporting the Belinda Oxley Scholarship Appeal and sustainability initiatives of the School.

Students have raised over $3,000 through their fundraising initiatives – Yr 7 Movie Night and Spirit Fair. They have also received support from direct donations from our community. A special thank you to Dr Lennox, retired Principal who launched the Scholarship Trust in 2010, for his very generous contribution towards this Year 12 gift.

Their final fundraising initiative is a memorable Yr 12 Tea Towel, featuring students’ hand-drawn faces. Pre-order of these wonderful gifts and memorabilia will be available from next week. Stay tuned!

A BIG thank you to Ms Sarah Matthews and Dr Meta Regis, Yr 12 Advisor and Assistant Advisor, for all their efforts to support the students.

Alumni Postcard from Lili Price, Class of 2019

During the recent break, I enjoyed reconnecting with our recent graduates to find out how their journeys evolved after Redlands. This week’s story is from Lili Price who shared with me how she moved to London to study Law and how she dealt with challenging situations, her connections with Redlands and ability to stay calm and focused.

“After graduating from Redlands in 2019, I moved to the United Kingdom to study law at University College London (UCL) in September 2020. The thought of moving away was initially daunting, primarily because the UK had been overwhelmed by COVID-19 throughout the year; I deliberated spending the first year at home and studying remotely. Nevertheless, I filed for a travel exemption, reserved accommodation at an intercollegiate university hall, and booked my flight.

Even though there were sad moments, such as missing my parents’ birthdays for the first time, I also got to celebrate my birthday, prepare Christmas lunch, and spend New Year’s Eve with my new friends. Despite everything I experienced outside of university, I actually only stepped foot on the main campus once but was still able to attend tutorials at the Faculty of Laws once a week (however, we all had to wear masks and sit 1.5m away from each other).

After Christmas, when most people went home, COVID-19 in the UK worsened, and UCL made a university-wide decision to suspend all in-person teaching for the first five weeks of the second term. Consequently, since most people were already home, many decided to stay put, leaving their college rooms vacant. London suddenly felt very empty, so I decided to come home towards the end of January, and somehow, I was never bumped off my flight. I completed my two weeks quarantine at the Park Royal Darling Harbour and finished the rest of the term online (which was probably the best decision as in-person teaching never resumed). Nonetheless, the university recently sent out an email stating that they expect all students to return for the 2021-2022 academic year, and the Faculty of Laws has informed us that they will attempt to run in-person lectures for certain modules, although I’m not sure of the likelihood of this happening.

Since returning to Sydney, I have found a part-time job at a jewellery store I used to work at, but now this has clearly changed due to the current lockdown situation (it’s my fifth lockdown!). Despite this free time, I am still quite busy as a finance intern at The Keith & Even Group. I’m virtually working for the company’s London office, but the time zones are thankfully not an issue as they don’t mind when I work, as long as I hand everything in on time.

I’ve really enjoyed seeing my friends from Redlands, as I missed some of those friendships while I was away. The day after I was released from quarantine, we had a picnic and my legs turned bright red – clearly my time in London was enough to make me more susceptible to burning. I’ve really enjoyed catching up with my friends over the past few months and seeing the different directions everyone has gone in since leaving Redlands.” Lili Price, Class of 2019

Mrs Dana Casimaty
Director of Development
dcasimaty@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9858