Head of Secondary School

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With the wonderful Senior Music Festival taking place last week, the end of Term 2 has been significant, full of activity and collaboration between students, staff and community members. It has certainly been a big term of academic learning for all of our students and the Semester One reports will be published to parents in the first week of the holidays. By all accounts the students excelled in their capacity to lead student conversations in the Student-Led Conferences this term, and we will be shifting into a higher gear when we return in Term 3 for the Yr 12 Trial Examinations, Yr 11 leadership interviews and the latter stages of learning for students in Yr 7, 8, 9 and 10. I trust you have some great plans for the holidays and the students are able to use the time to relax and replenish. 

Congratulations to Taylor Riddell (Yr 12)

Taylor has been announced as one of the five national winners in the Australian Economics Olympiad 2023. The level of competition this year was incredibly high, with students of Economics from all around Australia competing in the event, making this accomplishment even more remarkable.

As the national winner, Taylor is now invited to join the Australasian Economics Competition (AAEO), where she will compete with national economics Olympiad winners from other countries. This exciting event promises to bring together exceptional talents from across the region who will be participating in a range of different activities, including a visit to the Reserve Bank of Australia. This unique experience will allow Taylor to showcase her skills on an international stage while fostering cross-cultural exchange and collaboration.

The School That Hope Built

On Tuesday, Yr 8 had the privilege of hearing from Gemma Sisia who shared her experiences of supporting children in Tanzania through her leadership of St Jude’s school. She was travelling with Enock, a graduate of 2015, and Madeleine Kelly, who authored Gemma’s story in her recently published book The School that Hope Built.

Together the three shared stories about St Jude’s, the students who attend the school and the impact of education on individuals and the community. Our Yr 8 students were interested to hear that all students who attend St Jude’s do so under scholarship and must meet examination and poverty requirements in order to be eligible to attend. A water tap or electricity in the family home would make a student ineligible to attend. Yr 8 were also pleased to hear that in the first cohort of 60 students to graduate in 2015, 10 of these students went on to study medicine and become doctors. Perhaps most profound in terms of benefits to the community is the process of giving back. Each graduate of St Jude’s goes on to work as a teacher for one year in a local government school in Tanzania. After they graduate from high school, they get three weeks holiday before returning to engage with a two-week crash course in teaching. They are then posted to government schools where they often have to teach up to 80 students in a classroom. 

It was wonderful that the Chair of the Redlands Board, Mrs Glenda Mc Loughlin could join us for this presentation. Glenda sponsors a student at St Jude’s who will graduate in the coming three years. Gemma kindly invited Glenda to Tanzania for this student’s graduation and I am hoping that Mr Corcoran gives his approval for some of our current Yr 8 students to travel with her!

Yr 12 Give Back Day

The Yr 12 Give Back Day aims at promoting our Redlands values of empathy, compassion and kindness. Yr 12 will participate in a range of service activities, giving back and giving thanks to the Redlands and local Cremorne community who have supported Yr 12 over the last six years. The Give Back Day will allow Yr 12 to look beyond themselves; particularly on the day of their Yr 12 Formal (where it is all about them), and understand the meaning of servant leadership through helping others and being grateful for the support, connection and privileged life they have had throughout their six years at Redlands.

For the Give Back Service Activity, Yr 12 will be splitting up into mixed groups and will undertake one of the following activities:

• Vocal and Instrumental Performances at the Bougainvillea Retirement Village (11 – 12pm)
• French Speaking at the Neutral Bay Community Centre (10:30 – 12:30pm)
• Assisting the Property and Maintenance team with maintenance around the Secondary School (will assist with chair set up in the gym for the Give Back presentation (Period 1) and packing up of chairs in Redlands Hall and locker cleanout. (10:30 – 12:30pm)
• Learning and engagement with students at Redlands House, Prep and Junior School. (11:00am – 12:30pm)
• The Winter Woolies Appeal, a fundraising initiative which included a Hot Chocolate stand this morning with all proceeds going towards the organisation ‘Rough Edges’, as well as the sorting of donated blankets and winter items of clothing on Friday and distributed to St Vincent De Paul, The Salvation Army and Matthew Talbot. 

Gala Arts

Friday 21 July, 6.30pm

The Concourse 

Please join us at Gala Arts at the end of the first week of Term 3, an exceptional evening of entertainment where we celebrate the talents of our students, and book your tickets via the QR code in the following invitation.

This annual Creative and Performing Arts festival showcases the plethora of talents of the diverse Redlands student body from Year 7 to 12. The Festival was created to showcase the creative talents of Redlands students whilst at the same time promoting Inter-House competition and House spirit. Students perform in dance, instrumental, theatre and vocal categories. Visual Art photography work will be on display in the foyer and the winner will also be announced at the event.

Redlands Gala Ball – Early Bird Tickets Available Now

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