Head of Secondary School

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Art With Heart

This week’s With Heart Award went to Iona Gait because she is a student who has truly seized the day with her incredible commitment and contributions to the Visual Arts program. Our Art Captains Louis and Millie describe her work as ‘art with heart’.

This Christmas the Secondary School will Share the Dignity by contributing to making Christmas brighter for someone in need by filling a bag with essential items. Each bag will be packed full of essentials for either an adult, teen or mum and bub, helping someone in need for Christmas. Each It’s In The Bag has a different list of essentials and each Tutor Group in the Secondary School will commit to providing one of these bags for someone this Christmas. Information has been provided to all students and we appreciate parents and carers’ support. These bags will be collated and presented prior to the Secondary School Carols Service in the penultimate week of Term 4.

Redlands Domestic and International Trips 2025-2027

Experiencing learning outside of the School context by engaging in domestic and international trips provides students with rich opportunities to develop their life-readiness and helps them to let their light shine. These trips challenge students to develop their unique potential and provide opportunities for personal growth, learning and living out Redlands’ values nationally and globally. As a Round Square school, these trips also help develop the IDEALS of Internationalism, Democracy, Environmentalism, Adventure, Leadership and Service. 

The trips have been selected to cater to students from Year 8 upwards and cover various interests across curriculum and co-curricular areas. Trips may be focused on specific objectives or have a range of aims. The proposals are current as of October 2024 and may change based on circumstances or interest levels. 

Below is an overview of the Trip Categories. More specific details will be shared by the Trip Supervisor in due course. Please also take the time to peruse the 3-year Trip Schedule.   

Exchanges: Extended student exchanges through Round Square or partner schools, where students travel unaccompanied by Redlands staff and stay with host families, in a reciprocal arrangement. 

Organised Tours: Tours across culture, curriculum, languages, service and sport, conducted during term breaks in partnership with external providers and accompanied by Redlands staff.  

• trips have a 12-18 month lead time 

• all standard safeguarding procedures apply 

• trips are supervised by a minimum two staff, maintaining a ratio of 1:9 

• eligibility criteria will vary depending on the nature of the trip, underpinned by fairness 

• price will vary between approximately $5,000-10,000 

• Redlands International Travel Policy on Pulse provides further details  

Round Square Conferences: Local and global conferences are available for students to share perspectives, debate issues, forge friendships, support communities and develop international understanding, with limited numbers and accompanied by Redlands staff. These opportunities are released annually and as such, the program only indicates the 2025 opportunities Redlands is engaging in formally. Numbers are very limited, and these opportunities will be by application only. 

House Spirit (it’s getting pretty competitive!) and all the Activities

This week our House Captains and Activities Captains shared promotional videos at their Student-Led Assembly. They look forward to introducing themselves to Year 7 and 8 next Tuesday and generating further support and spirit for their wonderful future endeavours.

Watch the House Captains film here and watch the Activities Captains film here.

Flag Introduction Video

Student SEED Success

Two Year 9 Redlands teams received news while they were on camp that they have been selected as finalists in the SEED Program. Both teams will pitch their conservation ideas at Taronga Zoo to an audience of leading environmental experts and industry leaders in the hope of taking home some impressive prizes and potentially making their idea a reality.

The SEED program is a collaboration between Taronga Zoo, Future Anything and Loreto Kirribilli. Students have been participating in online classes each fortnight over several months, they have also visited the zoo to spend the day learning more about conservation issues plaguing wildlife and more recently for a validation session gaining feedback to help refine their product, service or idea. As part of the validation session, students pressure tested whether their solutions would meet the needs of the organisations they’re seeking to partner with, whether they’ve been tried before and whether they have potential for significant impact.

We wish Orla Collins, Georgia Cavric, Melissa Franco and Charlie Willson as they represent Redlands next week.

The Redlands 141^st Secondary School Speech Night 2024

We look forward to celebrating with you the achievements of our students and staff at the 141^st Speech Night on Wednesday 4 December 2024 commencing at 5.pm in The Star Event Centre.  A letter with more detailed information was published to parents on Tuesday and can be found on the Pulse Secondary School Page HERE.  Please note that this compulsory student event means that all students across Year 7 to 12 should be in attendance on the evening, in their full School Uniform.

Whooping Cough Alert

Across Sydney right now there are many cases of Whooping Cough and we have seen further cases within our Secondary School community in the past week.  Please refer to the Pulse Notification issued on 5 November which can be accessed HERE.

The key messages from NSW Health are:

• Recognise the signs and symptoms.
• Get tested and stay at home while awaiting results.
• If prescribed antibiotic treatment stay at home until course is completed.
• Stay at home. People with whooping cough should stay at home until 5 days after starting antibiotics. Those not taking antibiotics should stay home for 21 days from the beginning of your cough.

If you suspect your child may have whooping cough, please keep them home from school whilst awaiting test results.

Please refer to the following NSW Health website for further information:

2024 Mathematics Competition Awards

Learning Plus are Looking for Volunteers

Learning Plus (support) are looking for volunteers with weekday availability and a desire to contribute regularly to the Redlands student community working with Y7-12.

We need calm and confident community members who understand confidentiality. We need writers (scribes) and readers. You need to have legible handwriting and the ability to communicate in English.

Our volunteers find this a rewarding activity and a fantastic way to support students at Redlands.

We need volunteers to start training now! 

Contact sprovisions@redlands.nsw.edu.au to express your interest or request more information. 

Community Christmas Carols – Sunday 1 December, 5pm

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