From the Principal
Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
The above statement is an objective that I and others at the School have been increasingly sharing with our community over the first part of the year. However, as parents it is sometimes hard for us to allow our children to be in a state of discomfort (trust me, as a parent myself, I know). When we see our children worried, anxious, uneasy or uncomfortable, our natural parenting instincts kick in and we want to protect, soothe, support and comfort them.
Despite these best intentions, we also know deep down that it is through their moments of failure and in their times of challenge when they learn and grow the most. I love that at Redlands we have a culture where it is safe for students and staff to try something and fail. This type of culture doesn’t exist at many schools.
The Class of 2023 motto of “Fall Forward” encapsulates this aim, and the captains have been regularly reminding students in assemblies that they should dream big, set goals, try hard and not be afraid to “fall” as they will move “forward” from their failures.
Similarly, in our opening staff meeting at the beginning of the year, I showed staff a “Permission to Innovate” card which states, “This card entitles me to try something new. If it doesn’t work as well as I wanted, I will be free of criticism for my efforts. But I’ll continue to pursue new ways to help my students be successful.” A few staff have told me they have been metaphorically punching their ticket over the first five weeks of the term which is great to hear. I also assured staff that during my time as Principal, I will fail and mistakes; however, I also promised the them that I will reflect, learn and grow from these mistakes.
Recently, many in our community have been stepping out of their comfort zones to try new and different things. Last week our Year 7 students experienced their first Secondary School camp at our High Country Campus in Jindabyne and the surrounding alpine environment. I heard numerous stories of students enjoying their camp experience, but I also know that other students might have found it challenging being away from families, sleeping in tents, climbing Mt Kosciuszko or hanging out with different students from their immediate friendship group. However, I believe the following slogan from one of the camp groups best summarises their spirit, “If you think you can’t, you can’t. If you think you can, you can”.
I also saw Year 2 students stepping out of their comfort zones to ably lead the Prep Assembly this week; Year 11 students being challenged and stretched to step up to the increased academic expectations of Stage 6 at their HSC and IB Information Session on Wednesday evening; or Subject Coordinators stress testing new and innovative assessment tasks at their recent meeting.
I look forward to seeing us increasingly becoming more comfortable being uncomfortable as the result will be continued progress and improvement both individually and collectively at Redlands.
Last weekend was the final regular season round of the Secondary School ISA summer sports season, and I would like to especially acknowledge our Year 12 students who played their last competitive summer sports fixture for Redlands. Their contributions to their various sports, especially during the last few disrupted COVID-19 years, are greatly appreciated. I would also like to wish our rowers who are competing at the Head of the Lake in Canberra this weekend and all ISA summer sports teams who are competing in semi-finals and finals over the next two weeks the very best.
I would like to especially acknowledge Isaac Brooks (Yr 11) who placed second in the U18 Boys 800m event and won the U18 Boys 1500m event at the NSW Junior Athletics Championships last weekend. His 1500m time of 4:01.61 was a personal best and was also a national qualifying time. Isaac certainly stepped out of his comfort zone to achieve an amazing result. Well done, Isaac.
I also congratulate George Murphy, Captain of Skiing, Class of 2021, who represented Australia in the 2023 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in Bakuriani, Georgia last weekend. George placed 14th in the Dual Moguls and 26th in the Single Moguls. In the lead up to the event, George represented Australia in eight Freestyle Mogul World Cup events, where he placed 20th at Deer Valley Utah. We wish George all the best for his next competition, the Junior World Championships in Switzerland on 23-26 March.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Photo Caption: Our Yr 7 students taking in the view during their week at Camp at our High Country Campus in Jindabyne.