Head of Secondary School

Head of Secondary School

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day was held across Australia on Tuesday this week. #play it fair online was the catchphrase and this year’s focus was on parents.  This article, Mind the Gap: Parental awareness of children’s exposure to risks online posted by our Director of Digital Innovation, Mary-Lou O’Brien, reminds us that despite an increase in parent awareness and digital involvement since 2016 there are still some significant gaps. The research explores the opportunities and risks that the internet presents for children in Australia. More than 3,500 young people aged 8 to 17, and their parents, were surveyed during August and September 2021.

A summary of the key Findings:

  • Young people engage in a wide range of online activities and experience many benefits from using the internet:
    • Many children have gone online for health information, searching for material about mental, physical and sexual health.  
    • A third of children looked for emotional support online from friends and/or mental health support services.
  • Significant numbers of children have had negative online experiences: 
    • Close to half of the children surveyed were treated in a hurtful or nasty way online in the past year. 
    • A quarter of the children had themselves treated someone in a hurtful or nasty way online. 
    • One in ten children have been the target of hate speech online.
  • Almost all children did something in response to a negative online experience – most commonly telling their parents. 
  • Exposure to negative online content and sexual content is prevalent among young people aged 14 to 17 years.
  • Many parents underestimate the prevalence of children’s negative online experiences, and many are not aware of their teens’ exposure to negative content or sexual material online.
  • Children with restrictive parents are less likely to be exposed to harmful content, but they are also much less likely to engage in supportive and protective online activities.

A reminder that students and parents can report online harm here.

RATs for Week 3 and 4

We expect delivery of the next round of Rapid Antigen Tests today and will distribute them to students on Friday. Yr 7 and new students in Yr 8-11 will receive five RATs and all other students will receive four RATs. At this stage the plan is to sustain testing on Monday and Wednesday morning before school (or training).

Are you a Yr 12 Parent or Carer?

Yr 12 have made a stunning start to 2022. Both Dean of HSC, Ms Lucy Benjamin and Dean of IB, Mr Darren Taylor have been impressed with their academic commitment and capacity to work together, which has also been recognised by Year Advisor Ms Rebecca Mountain.  

We look forward to supporting Parents and Carers of Yr 12 students next Wednesday afternoon for our Yr 12 HSC/IB Information Webinar. Please make the time to join us next Wednesday afternoon, with your Year 12 student/s, where you will meet the core team supporting Yr 12 and hear from:

  • Deans of HSC and IB
  • Year Advisor and Assistant Year Advisor
  • Redlands Careers and University Advisors
  • Redlands Executive

The Webinar Link is below in the flyer, and a recording of the Webinar, with accompanying slide pack, will be available on Pulse later next week.

Yr 12 Out and About

Last week our Yr 12 IB Geography students travelled to the upper reaches of the Thredbo River and began studying downstream changes in the river in accordance with the Bradshaw and Shumm Models as part of their IB Geography Internal Assessment. This involved wetsuits and life jackets in the deeper and faster flowing areas of the river as students measured river slope, velocity, particle characteristics, wetted perimeter, cross-sectional area and discharge. It was certainly beneficial for students to be able to collect primary data and see physical processes playing out in front of them and we sincerely hope they all enjoyed the experience whilst gaining valuable practical experience. A huge thank you to Mr Darren Taylor and Mr Richard Millham who accompanied the students.

Winter School Information Session and Application Process

The Winter School Information Session will be help via Zoom at 6pm on Tuesday 22 Feb 2022 via this link.

Attendance at the Information Session is strongly recommended so students and parents are fully informed as to the nature of the program and application process before registering interest.

Families will be able to register their interest for Winter School from Wed 23 Feb via a TryBooking link.

In a change to previous years, students will then be required to submit a multimodal application via iLearn following the expression of interest.

After the initial application, prospective students and parents may be invited to interview, to be conducted in Week 7 (14-18 Mar). 

Places at Winter School are limited and due to the high volume of applicants, not all students will be offered an interview. Criteria on which applications will be assessed will be communicated at the Information Session, and found in the Terms and Conditions of the registration link.

Cocurricular Activities

At lunchtime this Friday we hold our annual Activities Fair to showcase the variety of extracurricular and cocurricular activities we have on offer to students.

Some extra classes in the Performing and Visual Arts have already started, with all other activities and clubs due to start from next week.

A timetable of activities for 2022 is available on Redlands Pulse, along with details of the best staff contact should your child wish to find out more. For lunchtime clubs students don’t need to pre-register and can just go along on the day.

We’re very excited to be able to offer our full suite of activities in a COVID-safe manner after all the disruption of recent years.

Study Centre

The aim of the Study Centre is to provide students from Years 7-12 with the opportunity to receive shoulder-to-shoulder support or assistance in specific disciplines from Secondary School teachers.

Teachers from a variety of subjects are available before and after school Mon-Wed each week in the breakout spaces of the New Learning Hub.

The full timetable will be available on the Secondary School Redlands Pulse page and is shared with students via Year Group Pastoral pages.

Supporting Students to be Life Ready

The Redlands Careers and University Advisors, Ms Clare Hurst and Ms Justine Fowler, regularly meet with Yr 11 and 12 students, and have meetings scheduled well into March this year already. As well as providing personalised support to students and families, they also work with Year Advisors and Deans of HSC and IB, to provide whole cohort education. It is a Secondary School goal this year to support all of our senior students to become familiar with the Careers and University Advisors – scheduling a meeting or two, even if they do not yet know what they intend to pursue post-school.

Our Yr 12 students this term will benefit from information sessions held during tutor time to deepen their understanding of

  • the post-school application processes
  • Important timelines
  • UAC
  • early entry into university
  • interstate and international university applications

Our Yr 10 students will be emailed their Career Avenues Profile reports today. We strongly encourage Parents and Carers to take the time to read and discuss the report with their child. The purpose of the Career Avenues profiling is to support career exploration in Yr 10, prior to making subject preferences for Years 11 and 12.  The email from Career Avenues will also include instructions on how to book in for the highly popular interview with a Career Avenues Counsellor. Students will attend these interviews during school time in a Library meeting room with the Career Avenues Counsellor via Zoom. Students can share their zoom link with Parents and Carers, so you can join the session. Please take the weekend to ascertain a time suitable for this interview, before booking in. We know from previous experience that Year 10 students who were joined by their parents for this interview were able to make more confidently make subject preferences in Term 2, and so we really appreciate parents who get involved.

Secondary School Individual Portraits and Sibling Photos – Friday 4 March.

On Friday 4 March, Yr 7 to 12 students will be accompanied by their Year Advisors to Redlands Hall for portrait photos after 8.20am. If your child is unable to have their portrait taken on 4 March, please inform the Year Advisor.  A catch-up date for missed portraits will be offered on 18 March at school, or by appointment with Melba Studios, located in Artarmon.

Secondary School Sibling Photos will take place on 4 March from 7.15am-8.20am in Redlands Hall. If you would like to order Sibling Photos, please click here, enter the password ‘ALLISTER’ and select Siblings Order Form, before 23 February.

All students are required to wear their full school uniform, including blazers. Boys must be clean shaven with hair that has been cut so that it is away from eyes, ears and collar. Girls with hair touching the collar should tie it back with navy accessories (elastics, ribbon, scrunchies). No hair dye, make-up or nail polish is permitted. No jewellery is to be worn other than one pair of plain gold or silver studs/sleepers in ear lobes.

If you have any questions, alterations or additional orders, please contact Melba Studios directly on (02) 9438 4566 or email sales@melbastudios.com.au.

Ms Gemma Van de Peer
Head of Secondary School
gvandepeer@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9811