Year 12

Chookas to The Addams Family Musical Cast and Crew!

Chookas to all the Yr 12 students who were part of the phenomenal Addams Family Musical. The production was witty, entertaining and visually and musically outstanding. Congratulations to the following Yr 12 students for their involvement with the Musical and for balancing the Musical with their Yr 12 studies: 

Principals

Claudia Lalich – Morticia Addams
Sabrina Blasco – Fester
Eve Phillips – Grandma
Sebastian Tang – Lurch

Dance Ensembles

Poppy justice
Phoebe Barnett
Alyssa Tinetti
Aurora Golowenko
Jenna O’Reilly
Marli Prado

The Ancestors

Lilly Hobbs
Jo Irvine
Maya Little
Ash Mitchell
Marcus Ogden

Student Orchestra

Jamison Houchell – Trombone
Jack Lazzarotto – Reed 2 
Lachlan Scott – Trombone
Hadley Wintle – Reed 1 

Student Production and Props Crew

Liam Franklin
Jamie Gold
Grace Matthews
Oliver Noakes
Elena Parker
Angus Ryan
Charlotte Scamps
Alex Tully
Harry Wilkes
Bella Zeppel 

National Schools Constitutional Convention Reflection – Lucy Horton

The National Schools Constitutional Convention was hosted in Canberra on Ngunnawal country from 21 to 23 March, bringing together 120 students, including myself, across Australia. The 28th of its kind, the convention aims to foster political awareness in youth who may be interested in social or political science in their post-school studies, and also to empower every Australian student with the skill of political literacy, which, in an age of polarisation and misinformation, is more important than ever (Only 38% of Yr 10 students in Australia meet the satisfactory threshold for general knowledge of civics and citizenship!). The topic was: Is section 128 still a necessary requirement to change such an important document as the Australian Constitution?. This question harboured particular pertinence in light of calls for a constitutional amendment regarding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament and the inclusion of First Peoples in the text. 

Representing NSW Parliament, I attended Parliament House, Government House, the High Court of Australia, and the Old Parliament House, as well as the Museum of Australian Democracy. My favourite experience was sitting in on Question Time in the House of Representatives, which was, if not professional, very compelling. I saw a few familiar faces from my area such as Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender (and one very familiar face on the backbench!). Topics covered included the rising cost of living, methane emissions control, early education support frameworks, and the potential litigation of Nazi and extremist iconography. Even if at times very juvenile in its conduct, the sitting of Parliament was a meaningful reminder to me that diversity of belief, background and perspective in Parliament is key to the sustenance of a healthy, receptive democracy.

 In Keynote Speaker sessions and working groups, we analysed the practice and implications of section 128 of the Australian Constitution, which stipulates that constitutional change can only come about from a positive double majority referendum result (a majority of voters nationwide and a majority of voters in a majority of Australian states). Owing to the difficulty of getting such a result, it isn’t surprising that only 8 out of 44 proposed laws (via referenda) have passed in Australia’s history. Moreover, excluded from the state counts are the Northern Territory and the ACT; a topic that spurred much debate amongst our cohort. Is this fair? When the near-30% First Nations population in the Northern Territory is contextualised within the scope of the upcoming Voice Referendum, it doesn’t appear to be. This led us to consider how traditional federalism might clash with the autonomy and individual interest of states, both through a purely constitutional analytical lens (we looked at Sections 117, 121, and 122), an educational lens – thanks to speaker Professor Peter Anderson, who specialises in Indigenous and traditionally-oriented peoples’ education – and an historical lens. We delved into the rich history of constitutional law in post-Federation Australia and discussed how we could balance the need for a trusty and steadfast rule of law with evolving social and cultural values. We interacted with this dilemma via a series of comparative analyses to constitutional amendment processes of Canada, New Zealand, and the USA, which I found fascinating because of my passion for political science and international relations.

Finally, we examined the rare precedents of constitutional amendment; for example, the 1967 Referendum to omit section 127 of the Constitution that prohibited Indigenous Australians from citizenship and electoral rights passed with a 90.77% majority. In this spirit, the culmination of the Convention was a mock Referendum in which the cohort voted whether we should amend section 128 to allow a single majority/national total instead of the existing double majority system as a means to change the Constitution. The outcome, perhaps surprisingly, was a resounding ‘NO’; 35-80. 

There was also a Communique drafted by the convenors, which will, excitingly, be relayed to the Senate in the coming weeks.

I extend my thanks to NSW Parliament for facilitating this experience, and urge all Australians to, in times of potentially great change like The Voice, platform and listen to the desires and concerns of people most affected – First Nations people – and commit ourselves to building a stable and inclusive democracy by actively engaging with our communities and parliamentary representatives. 

Yr 12 Study Skills

Last Friday, all Yr 12 students gathered to discuss productive strategies to assist them with studying for their upcoming assessments which will be during the 1st and 2nd week of Term 2. 

The general framework for effective study and revision included:

• Build a core set of notes/drafts covering each subject’s syllabus.

• Complete hand-written cheat sheets for each subject topic including mindmaps, flash cards, and trigger words (80/20 approach)

• Complete Practice questions for every subject (using a cheat sheet)

• Follow up with feedback from teachers and peers (study groups) prior to an assessment, if the clarity is needed on any topic areas. 

• Identify weaker areas (80/20 approach) in the different subject topics, revise and redo. 

• Complete practice questions (without a cheat sheet) for every subject.

Redlands Cross Country Carnival 

Well done to all the Yr 12 students who participated in the Secondary School Cross Country Carnival at Macquarie University Playing Fields on Monday. Our boys and girls slogged out 4.5k and 6k on a wet course. Well done also to our House Captains for all their support throughout the carnival, as students ran up heartbreak hill! The ISA Cross Country Carnival will be coming up on Wednesday the 24 May at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre. 

Below are the Top 3 results from the Carnival in the 18 years boys and girls 6k. Well done to these students. 

CIS Cup Win tor the Boys 1sts Football team.

Congratulations to the Boys 1sts Football team for their strong 5-0 win against All Saints Grammar on Tuesday. The team has now qualified for Round 3 of the CIS Cup. 

Congratulations to the following Yr 12 students:

Matt Fry
Nui Currie
Lachlan Binnekamp
Finn Woodward
Doug Mantell
Oliver Chambers Lee
Mark Danse
Keian Murphy
Corey Twining
Jo Irvine
Xavier Reid
Ethan McFarlane
Hugo McKay 

Week 10 Events

Tuesday Tutor Time – Respectful Relationships workshop – Tutor Time

ManCave – Wednesday Morning – Periods 1 – 4
Next Wednesday, Our Yr 12 Boys will participate in Man Cave. ManCave aims to provide boys with a safe, healthy and contained Rite of Passage into manhood. The workshop presented by ManCave is designed to be transformational, and will be used to support the psychological and emotional development of our Yr 12 boys, so they can become self-aware, socially aware and healthy young men. ManCave will redefine the journey for our Yr 12 boys to manhood. The topics explored throughout ManCave will include the following:

• What defines a respectful relationship, especially with women
• Consider the quality of their own relationships
• Take responsibility for the impact of their words or actions on other
• Learn to empathise with each others personal stories
• Learn to manage and resolve conflict without violence
• Improve the quality of their relationships with each other

Girls Workshop – Wednesday Morning – Period 1
On Wednesday morning, our Yr 12 girls will gather to discuss, how they as a cohort of young women, can be empowered, connected and supportive of each other. The morning will also be used as a forum to discuss some of the key issues they are facing at school, and outside of school in a safe, calm and nurturing environment with key members of staff. 

Thursday – Last Day of School 

Mr Nicholas Walker
Yr 12 Year Advisor
nwalker@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9909 3133