Head of Secondary School

Head of Secondary School

Technology Addiction and Sleep Presentation

Last Wednesday 14 August, over 120 parents and staff attended a presentation from child psychiatrist Dr Philip Tam and sleep expert Lisa Maltman discussing how we can assist students to create good sleep habits and avoid the pitfalls of too much technology. They discussed how sleep is vital to mental and physical health; however, unfortunately, many adolescents and adults are still not getting enough sleep. (It was recommended that adolescents get between 8-10 hours of sleep each night.) With busy schedules and many different commitments and distractions, getting this amount of “good” sleep can be challenging for young people. Some of the “Smart Sleep” tips that Lisa Maltman shared were:

  • Ensure there is no “technology” (including phones) in the bedroom (most important)
  • Use an alarm clock instead of a phone if needed for waking up in the morning
  • Have a break between screen time and bedtime (ideally one hour)
  • Create a regular sleep/wake routine
  • Implement wind down and stress reduction strategies before going to sleep
  • Expose yourself to bright, natural light in the morning and dim light in the evening
  • Exercise daily (but not too close to bedtime)
  • Improve time management skills to ensure adequate sleep

We look forward to continuing to work with the Secondary School Parent Representatives in identifying other popular topics for future parent presentations.

Winter Sports Update

Last weekend many of our Winter Sports teams competed in the ISA Semi Finals or last regular season round of the NSNA Netball competition. There were many excellent results with the following teams winning and progressing to the ISA Grand Final: Girls’ Football 1sts, 2nds and Intermediate A teams; Girls’ 2nds and 3rds Hockey teams; the 4ths Netball team; and the 9A, 9C, 8B and 7D Netball teams making it to the NSNA Netball Semi Finals. We wish all of these teams good luck this weekend.

I would like to extend a special congratulations to our Tennis teams who were competing in the ISA Finals of their competition. This year we had all six of our Tennis teams playing in the Finals – a great achievement. It was wonderful to see the positive spirit and supportive atmosphere amongst our tennis players throughout the day. Boys and girls across Yrs 7-12 played in mixed teams and cheered on each other when they were not competing. It was an illustration of Redlands at its best! I would like to congratulate the 3rds, 4ths and 6ths Tennis teams for winning their Grand Finals, and the 1sts team for winning the ISA Tennis Premiership in a thrilling match against rival, Oakhill. The four 1sts players competing on the day, Philip Hilble, Sebastian Dobson, Aymon Holth and James Robinson, split their doubles and singles matches four sets all with Oakhill so they had to go to a count back of games and Redlands won by just two games. I would like to congratulate all players and coaches in the Tennis program and recognise our Captain of Tennis, Freddie McKewen, for the excellent leadership he displayed not just on Saturday, but throughout the season.

Greenlands Week: 2040 Screening

In Week 7, the Secondary School will be celebrating Greenlands Week, where we will be focusing on the many and varied issues facing our environment and some of the strategies we can enact to make a difference. There will be a number of activities here at school led by our Environment Captains, Alice MacDonald and Ben Piro, and their “Green Team” of students. This year, we are also hosting a special screening of the film, 2040. The film explores what the world could look like by the year 2040 if we embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet. Students and families across both campuses of the school are invited to this special community screening on Thursday 5 September at 6.00pm at the Orpheum Theatre. You can book your tickets here and all proceeds will go towards environmental initiatives at Redlands.  

Gala Ball

It was great to see many of you at the Redlands Gala Ball on Saturday evening. I would like to thank Dana Casimaty and the Foundations team for all of their efforts in organising this event, as well as to the many of you have contributed to our Scholarship Fund – a worthy cause which will provide opportunities for students to attend Redlands in the future who otherwise might not be able to do so.

Photos can be found on Redlands Pulse. 

Campus Security

Please note that after school hours, we do not provide organised supervision for students on Campus outside the Library (unless there is an after school cocurricular or curricular activity taking place). Furthermore, the school gates are locked from 8.00pm (unless there is a function occurring) and students and parents are not permitted to enter the school grounds after this time for security reasons.

Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Secondary School
scorcoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9870