Head of Secondary School

2024 – What an Extraordinary Year!

My heartfelt thanks go out to all students and parents for another outstanding year of learning and growth in the Secondary School at Redlands. There have been so many individual and collective achievements this year and the vibe on the Senior Campus has been one of positivity, joy, togetherness and purpose. A standout this year for me has been working with a broad and committed range of Redlands staff on key projects such as Moonbah, Study Centre and the Library transformation. Our students are so fortunate to have such dedicated and diverse teachers and it has been a joy to see the wonderful relationships between students and staff flourish over the year. The School community began the year by ‘stepping beyond’ and concluded the year ‘with heart’. Nothing sums it up quite so effectively as our outgoing and incoming Year 12 slogos.

And Merry Christmas!

We experienced our first taste of Christmas this week with Carols, an opportunity to reflect spiritually on the birth of Jesus and by bearing witness to the benefits of a giving mindset.

Our performers sang beautifully, our Music teachers encouraged everyone to join in, our Chaplain led the Service and our tree was surrounded by student and family generosity, for the Share the Dignity ‘It’s in the bag’ campaign. On behalf of the Secondary School staff I want to wish all students and parents are joy-filled and peaceful Christmas.

Save the Date – Day of Growth Tuesday 28 January 2025

On Tuesday the 28 January, when new students commence at the School, all students in Year 8 to 12 will be engaging in a 20-minute Coaching Conversation with a teacher as part of our Day of Growth. This will take place on site at the Cremorne Campus.

What you need to know about these Coaching Conversations on the Day of Growth

All Year 8 to Year 12 students are required to attend in person in their School uniform on this day
All Year 8 to Year 12 students will meet for a 1:1 with their Tutor or a Middle, Senior or Executive member for a Coaching Conversation
The Coaching Conversation will be supported by iGrow data and the focus will be on looking back to look forward
All students will set goals which will be shared with parents and carers
Details and specific times will be shared in January with parents and students – please look out for updates to ensure your child/ren attends their scheduled appointment
Year 7 students will engage in this process later in Term 1, once they are settled

Why make this adjustment?

This approach is a slight adjustment to previous years and marks our ongoing commitment to strengthening our feedback processes. Instead of meeting via Zoom, we look forward to connecting with students in person. As part of our wellbeing framework to develop each young person’s independence and confidence, the student will engage in this coaching conversation independent of their parents. In recognition of the wealth of data we have on each student, we anticipate rich data-informed conversations that get to the heart of each young person’s educational journey. Out of respect for the valuable partnership we hold with parents and carers, we will share key details so you can powerfully support your child/ren’s experience at Redlands.

Staffing Updates

After a thorough recruitment search for our new Dean of HSC which involved a significant number of external and internal candidates, I am pleased to announce Ms Sarah Matthews as the Dean of HSC from 2025.

Having prior curriculum leadership as a Subject Coordinator at her previous school and pastoral experience as a Year Advisor, Assistant Dean of Students and now Acting Dean of Students where she has illustrated her expertise in managing and supporting students and their parents, Sarah offered a strong and compelling vision for the next iteration of Stage 6 development at Redlands.

Ms Lucienne Willis will step into the Acting Dean of Students role for Term 1 2025, while Ms Marita Jansons remains on Long Service Leave.

Furthermore, I’d also like to extend my congratulations to members of the Mathematics department. Ms Libby Busch will be the Mathematics SCO from 2025 and Ms Gordana Prodanovic will be the Mathematics Assistant SCO from 2025. In 2025 Ms Karen Pittard, our current Mathematics Subject Coordinator, will be moving to a newly formed strategic role supporting Mathematics Assessment and Feedback from Stages 3-6. Given our strategic priority to develop student excellence via pathways and programs, we look forward to Karen working with a team she knows well, and across into the Junior School, in support of truly innovative, rigorous and differentiated Mathematics assessment and feedback methods. Karen has been instrumental in developing and supporting the Mathematics faculty at Redlands over many years and we are grateful for her ongoing service to the students and staff.

Finally, there are a number of new staff commencing at Redlands in 2025. You will have lots of opportunities to form relationships with them in the new year and I am deeply appreciative of the students and parents who will provide them with a warm welcome to Redlands.

Given he is commencing with us on a casual basis from this week, I did want to introduce you to one new staff member, our new Head of Drama and Theatre, Mr Steven Fry, who will formally commence this role in 2025. A huge thank you to Ms Kathryn Smith who stepped into the Acting role of Subject Coordinator for 2024. We are indeed lucky to have so many talented and committed staff across the Drama and Theatre spaces at Redlands.

Year 10 Rock their Commercialisation Challenge Week at Macquarie Uni

This week our Year 10 cohort have been on site at Macquarie University for a Commercialisation Challenge. The one-week program uses data collected on student motivations to place them in ‘founder’ teams with their classmates – each is allocated either CEO, COO, CTO, CMO, CFO or Head of Product. Throughout the week they’ve engaged in learning sessions with entrepreneurs and experts about what it takes to bring a product to life and make it successful in the market. Our key supporters are Uncle Toby’s, Australian Payments Plus product Beem, UTS startup gathera and Macquarie University Incubator SoCreative.

By the end of the week, students will have gained new knowledge about the commercialisation processes, experienced market analysis, mastered Business Model Blueprint (BMBP), and crafted compelling presentations. Students enjoyed sessions with subject matter experts representing their allocated founder ‘role’. It was a stellar line up! Thank you – Jaid Hulsbosch (Redlands parent) for the marketing insights, Redlander Charlie Marriott from Atlassian for explaining just what a Head of Product does, Polina Nesterova for a hands on explanation of COO (spoiler, it encompasses everything), Daniella Aburto Valle (Redlands parent) for her data insights as CTO, our very own Pete Matruglio for his in depth analysis of the many hats a CFO wears and to top it all off we had the yellow Wiggle, otherwise known as Sam Moran, detailing his pivot to founding a startup.

Year 10 are incredible. On the first day they found out about their strengths and areas for development, based on a Marlee assessment, which might have been confronting for some – however, they leant into the discomfort, have worked collaboratively in teams and are beginning to resemble Stage 6 students, which has been one of the core aims of the program. A sincere thank you to Ms Liz Green, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Learning Strategist, all the staff who have supported Year 10 this week and our fabulous parents who have offered their services, shared their wisdom and expanded Year 10’s world. We are looking forward to each group’s final pitches on Friday this week.

UN Youth Voice Competition

Sophie Wong (Y7) received a Highly Commended award at the State final of the UN Youth Voice competition, held at NSW Parliament last Friday.

As one of the youngest students, Sophie courageously took the stage as the first speaker, presenting her ideas on improving large-scale industrial agricultural practices. Not only that, despite intense pressure, she also delivered an impressive impromptu speech on how trade agreements can incentivise sustainable agricultural practices worldwide.

Special thanks to all of Sophie’s public speaking teachers who guided her journey. A heartfelt thanks to our Geography expert, Mr Millham for his invaluable support throughout Sophie’s preparation stage.

Pockets – End of 2024 Update

Students in Year 9 and 10 will be receiving their 2024 Pocket Authorisations for blazer embroidery via direct email to their Redlands email address tomorrow. The paper certificate is no longer required and the Uniform Shop has a list of the Authorisations to confirm eligibility when the blazer is dropped off for embroidery. All students must be in full uniform, including blazers, for Speech Night. Students requiring embroidery on their blazers may take them to the Uniform Shop on Thursday 5 to Friday 6 of December. If you believe there has been an error or an award is missing, please fill out this Form to request a review.

Students in Years 7 and 8 will be awarded Merit Certificates for their cocurricular participation at the start of next year, and students in Years 11 were sent their Authorisations in Term 3.

Community Christmas Carols – Sunday 1 December, 5pm

Families are invited to join in Community Carols at St Peter’s Church on Sunday 1 December. We look forward to seeing you there.

Learning Plus 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.

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