Head of Secondary School

The first day back for Term 2 was one of commemoration and community. The Secondary School gathered for the Anzac Assembly in Dunnet Hall. A range of Yr 10 and 11 students were directly involved in the assembly, whilst many others, from across Yr 7 to 12, participated in the Advanced Concert Band. We were all privileged to be able to engage with a performance item called The Light Eternal (composed by James Swearingen) and conducted by Mr Mathew Owen. The Light Eternal is a ‘programmatic’ piece, written to honour the legacy of four naval chaplains on the USS Dorchester, docked off the coast of Greenland during WWII. The ship was attacked by a German U-boat. In a tale of heroism and sacrifice, the piece tells the story of the chaplains on board who bravely gave up their life jackets so that others aboard might survive. The Band was outstanding. Our young musicians brought to life the story of the naval chaplains in a moving and compelling performance.

Reflections and stories complemented the musical items, offered by visiting guest speakers and Redlands students. Students and staff were once more engaged by Reverend Timothy St Quintin from St Peter’s Anglican Church, Cremorne welcomed back Major Jean Marc Grant (Redlands 2002) and were inspired by the words of Lieutenant William Samios (2016).

William Samios graduated from ADFA in 2019 and obtained a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science through the UNSW Canberra Campus. In 2020 he Graduated from Royal Military College – Duntroon, and was Awarded first choice of corps and became a Signals Officer. William has an enormous amount of passion for what he does, and follows a strong legacy as both his grandfathers were also in the military – one fought in Vietnam and the other in WW2. William was in Cowper House, played Basketball and Football and has fond memories of his time at Redlands. William shared three key learnings with the students.

Things rarely go as planned, but that isn’t a bad thing – rather it defines your adaptability and resilience.
You cannot overcome life’s challenges alone and the mates that help you along the way are your mates forever.
Being a good leader means never asking people to do something you are not willing to do yourself.

For William Anzac Day is about reflection and the comfort of knowing he can call Australia his home. He concluded his message to the students with the following inspirational words, ‘It is intensely human to fail, all you have to decide is whether you’ll stay down when you do, or if you’ll pick yourself up and crack on afterwards’.

Yr 10 students Olivia Salmond & Celine Patel also shared their own reflections for our Anzac assembly. The girls anchored their reflection in the life and service of Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel who was an inspiring leader, a heroic woman and a proud nurse. She served with the Australian Army and was the sole survivor of the 1942 Banka Island massacre. This horrific event saw Vivian and 20 of her nursing colleagues forced into the sea and shot at by soldiers. To survive, Vivian feigned death after being struck by a bullet. Finding her way to the shore, Bullwinkel came across a wounded British soldier. Together, they fled to the jungle for 12 days while Vivian, although injured herself, cared for him before he passed away. After eventually surrendering to the Japanese, she endured three years of hardship as a prisoner of war and nursed others through disease and malnutrition before her release. With her tremendous endurance and ingenuity, she embodied the Anzac spirit during the war. However, Vivian Bullwinkel did more than just survive. She expressed remarkable traits and values, portraying everything about the Anzacs that we commemorate on this day beyond 1945, after all the guns had fallen silent. After the war, she co-founded the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre in Melbourne which honours all nurses from World War II who lost their lives and serves for the welfare and advancement of the nursing profession to this day.

Below are some photos of the students who supported the Anzac assembly this year.

Sailing Youth Championships

During the school holidays, Yr 12 student Benjamin Harrington (29ers) and Yr 10 student Ali Braden (Laser 4.7) competed in the Victorian Youth Champs in Williamstown. This particular regatta was being used as the selection event for the Australian Youth Team being sent to the World Youth Championships in July, so was attended by all of the best sailors in the country. Ben and his skipper Tom spent the first week training, and then racing in the regatta over the Easter weekend. The conditions were fickle as they always are in the Port of Melbourne, with winds so light some days that racing was not possible, followed by 25 knot winds and massive swells. They finished 6th in the youth teams out of a fleet of 36, with a best finish of 1st. Sailing in some very challenging conditions, Ali Braden scored 3 top 10 race finishes, leaving her in 11th place at the end of racing. Her fleet, ILCA 4’s consisted of 4 fellow world championship campaigners and 1 previous world champion. In a fleet of 25, 11th is an impressive result, leaving room for improvement yet signs of success throughout difficult, physically and mentally challenging conditions.

Key Messages from the Secondary School

Subject Selection Yr 10

Yr 10 met this morning to formally commence the subject selection process for Term 2. The Secondary Academic Deans spoke with students, outlining the schedule for the term and answering initial questions. Parents and carers will receive further information in the coming days.

Want to learn Hip-Hop Dance?

The Ballet and Dance Academy is offering free trial dance classes in Hip Hop for the next two Fridays at 3.30pm in the Adams Centre, open to boys and girls from Years 7-12. Students simply need to turn up in comfortable clothes and shoes. Following the trial, enrolment for further classes will be available via the Ballet and Dance Academy Pulse page. For more information email dance@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Mother’s Day Classic

On Sunday 8th May, Redlands will be participating at the Mother’s Day Classic to honour and support the 1 in 7 women diagnosed with breast cancer. This year is an extra special year for the Mother’s Day Classic community as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of getting active for breast cancer research. Please tell your friends, recruit your siblings, enlist your family and join us for a special day out! Register for Team Redlands here.

2022 Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) Competition

Redlands is excited to offer students across Yr 7-12 the opportunity to participate in the 2022 Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition. This will be held on Friday 6 May at Redlands and the closing date for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 27th April 2022.

The CAT competition is a one-hour problem solving competition designed to encourage student curiosity and promote multiple modes of thinking, as well as solving real-world problems. Interested students are welcome to enter this competition and previous computer programming experience is not needed. For more information and register your child, please click this link. Please forward any questions to wduckworth@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Science and Innovation Luncheon – Book Now!

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