Head of Secondary School

Head of Secondary School

Acknowledging Country – Now We Know What It Really Means To Us…

Millie Winton (Yr 10) and Sholto Mirrlees-Black (Yr 11) share their recent experience of staying with the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land.


Respectful Relationships Program

“sex positive, evidence-based and harm reduction focused” 

Thank you for talking to your teens about their experiences of the Respectful Relationships Program they engaged with this week at school. Care of InYourSkin, below you can find a range of resources gathered to support teenagers.

Scarleteen – inclusive, comprehensive, supportive sexuality and relationships information for teenagers and emerging adults

Amaze – affirming and honest sexuality education for young adolescents

Best in Sexual Health UK – A guide to sex, love and you. For everyone over 14 years of age

QLife – support and resources for LGBTIQA+ individuals, including QLives which explores LGBTIQA+ people’s perspectives and lived experiences: 1800 RESPECT – support for anyone affected by sexual assault, domestic and/or family violence

10 ways to get through image-based abuse. eSafety Commissioner: 10 ways to get through image-based abuse | eSafety Commissioner


Drug and Alcohol Education

Presentations to Year 10, 11 and 12, delivered by Paul Dillon, were well received by students. His direct and humorous style enabled him to speak to students candidly about the dangers of drug and alcohol use. Parents who attended the evening session were provided with a great deal of data and were most interested in the illegality of vapes – they require a GP prescription in Australia and illegal use can result in a very steep fine and in some other states in Australia, a prison sentence. Paul Dillon lamented that there was limited policing of these laws and this aspect of tackling vaping needs diligent attention. Paul Dillon also provided recommendations for what parents can do to keep their teens as safe as possible.

Theatre Collaboration

On Monday evening our IB Theatre students engaged in their Collaborative Project Examination offering us a wonderful display of student talent and creativity. Held in the Drama Theatre, our Year 12 IB students delivered strong performances which were then discussed and critiqued by the audience of Year 12 HSC Drama students, staff and parents. In three groups, the students used the psychological disorder of Munchausens by Proxy, disability rights activist Helen Keller and Mexican painter Frida Khalo, to dramatically explore complex concepts centred around relationships, entrapment, freedom, resilience and creativity.

Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) Competition

Last week, 55 Year 7-11 students participated in the Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition, a one-hour problem solving competition designed to encourage student curiosity and promote multiple modes of thinking as well as solving real-world problems. It proved to be quite a difficult competition and put the students’ knowledge of Mathematics and Algorithmic problem solving to the test. Congratulations to those students who opted to participate in the competition. Students will be notified via email of the results and solutions.

Oxford University Computing Challenge (OUCC)

Students are invited to participate in the Oxford University Computing Challenge (OUCC). The OUCC builds on the principles used in the Computational and Thinking Competition and helps students to further develop their skills to produce programmed solutions to computational thinking problems. The OUCC is a two-round online challenge. The first round of the OUCC will be held on Thursday 25 May at Redlands. The competition will run in the morning with arrival at 6:50am for a 7:00am start. Students who qualify after the first round will be invited to the second round, held on Thursday 8 June.

For Year 7 and 8 students, all tasks are Blockly and for Year 9-11 students, all tasks are code submissions. For more information, please click here.

International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination (IDAHOBIT) Wednesday May 17

Next Wednesday we will celebrate the diversity of our school community and mark IDAHOBIT Day. Our Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) will be selling rainbow lapel ribbons at the gates and will hold a bake sale on the Fahl Garden at lunchtime. Monies raised will go to organisations working against discrimination and celebrating diversity.

While the day remains normal school uniform, students are invited to make visible their allyship with LGBTQIA+ people by adding a splash of colour to their uniform (such as socks, ribbon, scarf, bandana etc).

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