Head of Secondary School

Winter School

Last week I was fortunate enough to spend three days down at Winter School at our High Country Campus just outside of Jindabyne. This year we have approximately 70 students attending Winter School for the duration of Term 3 where they can continue their academic studies while also developing their snowsports skills in a supportive residential school environment. It is an intense program as each week students have two long academic school days, three days split between school and the snow and two days on the snow. In addition to developing their skills of independence, teamwork and responsibility through the many and varied activities provided for them at Winter School, students also spend two hours of focused, supervised study and revision each evening. (A number of current and former Winter School students have commented about the excellent study habits they develop at Winter School.) This year I was particularly struck by the special environment created at Winter School and the wonderful opportunity it provides for our students. Winter School and our High Country Campus, certainly make Redlands that “little bit more special” and allow students to develop skills which will assist them in developing life-readiness. 

Science Week  

This week we have been celebrating National Science Week in the Secondary School with a number of different activities to promote science in the community, as well as stimulate and ignite student interest in science. The theme of the week was Game Changers and Change Makers and some of the activities have included a range of guest speakers, an oobleck pool, a paper airplane competition, a planetarium in the gym and Breakfast with a Scientist. I would like to thank the Science Department for organising this week and providing all of these wonderful opportunities for our students. 

Tanzania Service Learning Trip 

In the recent holidays, 24 Yr 11 students and three teachers spent two and half weeks on a Service learning trip to Tanzania. After months of preparation for this trip (including training treks around Sydney) the group embarked on their travels with both excitement and a bit of trepidation when they arrived at the airport on 6 July. Early in the trip the group spent time with a Maasai community outside of Arusha and assisted them in building classrooms and other infrastructure at a local school. Later in the trip the group embarked on a very challenging trek to the summit of Mount Meru where they were able to see the sun rise over Mount Kilimanjaro. In addition, towards the end of the trip the group experienced an African safari in Tarangire National Park. In addition to the important Service Learning components of the trip, the students also developed important leadership and collaboration skills which will hopefully assist them for years to come. We are very fortunate to have so many domestic and overseas Service Learning and language immersion trips available for our students each year. I would like to especially thank Ms Coleman, Ms Shorter and Mr Ellis for their efforts in leading this trip for our students.

Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Secondary School
scorcoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9870