From the Principal

Welcome back to a new school year. Notwithstanding some very hot weather this week, staff and students have quickly settled back and are busy getting themselves underway. Our Facilities team, with the help of some contractors, have attended to quite a number of important projects and most have been completed in readiness for the students’ return. On our Junior Campus, the extension of air-conditioning has made conditions more comfortable at Redlands House and in the Peter Cornish building and we are expecting that the Parkes building will be completed very shortly. The refurbishment of the Junior Campus oval is well underway. On the Senior Campus the water damage of late November in the Fitness Centre and the John Roberts Centre has been completed, while a new site for the Uniform Shop has been welcomed by staff and parents. A great deal of other regular maintenance has also been carried out.

The Executive team had a two day retreat two weeks ago to concentrate upon our major goals for 2019, followed by a day with the Deans of both campuses. Last week began with induction for new staff, where we had very few new teachers joining us this year to replace departed staff. A number of teachers have joined us to temporarily replace staff commencing maternity leave or taking Long Service Leave. Altogether only six teachers across the three sections left the school at the end of last year, two of whom retired. This is the lowest teacher turnover during the past decade. That was also reflected in a Staff Engagement Survey which was undertaken in the final term last year, where there was much positive feeling among staff about their work and support for it at Redlands.

From Tuesday to Friday last week the teaching staff engaged with great spirit in a series of professional learning. Some very high standard sessions were presented by our own teachers who are leaders in the Culture of Thinking and Learning which underpins our Redlands Learning Platform. This followed on from an exciting Learning Fair which was mounted on the final day for teachers last year, with initiatives on show from all sections of the School and with their colleagues moving around to see some of the ideas and activities which had been part of the teaching and learning processes during 2018.

I would like to share a very special and unusual invitation which was sent to one of our Subject Coordinators last week, which was warmly acclaimed by the entire teaching staff.

Redlander Samantha Robertson, 2014 Dux of IB and a Prefect, will be receiving the J. E. Wallace Sterling Award for Scholastic Achievement from Stanford University when she graduates in June with a major in Mathematical & Computational Science. This prize is awarded to the top 25 students in the graduating class who are majoring in a department or program in Stanford University’s School of Humanities & Sciences.

While at Redlands, Sam achieved a perfect 45/45 score in her International Baccalaureate exams, achieving an ATAR of 99.95. She also was one of the very few students globally to achieve a Grade 7 in Higher Level Mathematics. After leaving Redlands, Sam accepted a place at Stanford, one of the most highly selective top-tier universities in the USA. She is hoping to start a PhD program in September, and is currently in the interview stage of that application process.

As part of her award, Sam, along with the other 25 top students, was asked to invite the Secondary School teacher she feels most influenced her scholastic career to a special luncheon on 6 April at Stanford University, just outside San Francisco. We are delighted that Sam has invited Karen Pittard, her IB HL Maths teacher and our Coordinator of Mathematics, to celebrate this achievement with her.

In Sam’s words:

“I often think back to my time at Redlands, and think about how incredibly grateful I am to have had such inspiring and motivating teachers, especially in Maths. I would love to have you at the luncheon to help me celebrate the end of my undergraduate career and recognise the impact you had on my confidence and motivation as a Maths student. Most of all, I want to thank you for your support and hard work as my Maths teacher, and I would love for you to know what a positive and powerful influence you had.”

We are delighted with the number of exceptional students at Redlands who have achieved places studying Mathematics in world-leading universities in recent years. Heidi Fang was accepted to Oxford (Merton College) to study Mathematics and Philosophy this year, Alana Adamus (Dux of HSC 2016) followed her brother Luke to study Mathematics at Duke University, and Sonia Kalcina (highest HSC result in 2015) is now in her third year of Mathematics at Oxford (Christ Church College). We will be seeking to connect Heidi with Sonia as Redlanders so Sonia can support Heidi as she finds her feet in Oxford.

Redlands will be granting some study leave to Karen to allow her to attend the luncheon and spend some time at Stanford connecting with some of the Mathematics-related programs.

Special thanks to members of the RPFA who attended the orientation events on Tuesday morning this week when we welcomed new students and their parents. I wish all members of the Redlands community a year of much happiness, enjoyment and fulfilment, and I hope to see many of our parents at the Welcome by our Redlands Parents and Friends Association Committee to be held on Friday 22 February.

Dr Peter Lennox

Please see below important information from Deputy Principal, Ms Sarah McGarry about our Emergency procedures:

Emergency Procedures at Redlands

In the coming weeks we will be conducting Lockdown and Evacuation Drills on both Sydney campuses – Junior and Senior – as part of our ongoing Emergency Training procedures.

As a School we have an Emergency Planning Committee, we have extensive emergency management plans in place, we train our students and staff, we conduct planned drills periodically and reflect and analyse when unplanned evacuations occur. Our first priority is safety.

Our Plans

The School works with emergency management specialists to develop and implement safety procedures, and the goals of drills throughout the year are to improve our ability to protect students, save lives, and reduce injuries, in the event of an emergency situation. These practice drills allow us to evaluate our emergency response plans and improve our response skills.

We do not generally announce in advance whether a lockdown or an evacuation is a planned exercise. It is essential for the safety of our students, staff and any campus visitors, that they are very familiar with our processes and can perform the required steps to complete a safe lockdown or evacuation without forewarning. In the case of younger children, we practise these more frequently and in varying formats so that they are not unduly alarmed.

On both our Senior and Junior Campuses, students have been reminded about what to do in the case of a lockdown or an evacuation and all new students are provided with this information when they start at the School. This information is also contained in the front section of the Student Planner.

Communication

Students are not, under any circumstances, permitted to use their mobile phone during a lockdown or an evacuation.
We would usually not communicate to parents that we are undertaking a lockdown or evacuation unless it resulted in a serious emergency requiring a longer disruption to the School day.
If an emergency situation does continue to disrupt the day, the School will communicate to parents via SMS if it is safe to do so.
In the case of an emergency situation requiring parents to collect their children, the School will communicate to parents with specific details about pickup arrangements.

Site Access

No person may enter or leave the site during an evacuation or lockdown, including students, staff, parent visitors or helpers. If you are onsite during an evacuation or lockdown, you must follow the instructions of the staff, in particular the wardens (wearing coloured safety helmets). If you arrive whilst an evacuation or lockdown is in place, please wait patiently until it has concluded and it is deemed safe to enter the site.

Please talk with your child about the reason for these drills. Our goal, while practising important safety procedures, is to be sure all students feel safe and confident in how to respond. If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher (Junior Campus) or tutor (Senior Campus).

Photo caption: A very warm welcome to the 2019 school year to all families and especially to the youngest members of our Redlands community.