From the Principal
‘Be Brave – Make Change’ is the theme for Reconciliation Week this year and it was enriching to attend several Junior School Year Group assemblies this week, during which students discussed the importance of reconciliation in Australia. It was pleasing to note that a number of Year 6 students were already aware that the week commemorates two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision.
We often focus on the School Value of Respect, which informs our expectations of how we treat each individual in our school community, valuing them for their unique characteristics. The Reconciliation Australia website states powerfully that ‘reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures.’
Students at Redlands don’t see this as anything unusual and in my experience in listening to their discussions, they naturally start from a position of respect for First Nations culture. Education is assisting progress on the path to true reconciliation; however, the theme this year calls us all to be bolder and braver in our approach and to embrace the truth, even when this can be confronting and challenging to hear.
It was fantastic to see staff taking part in a series of ‘Learning Walks’ this week, to provide insight, connection and collaboration across the Junior and Senior campuses. Teachers and leaders from the Junior School visited Secondary School classrooms and vice versa. Evidently the Junior School staff were welcomed like rock stars by the Year 7 students, demonstrating the strong relationships formed in prior years.
I sincerely thank the RPFA who generously provided a lovely morning tea this week as a gesture of thanks to staff on both campuses, on behalf of all Redlands parents. Their following kind words were very much appreciated by staff:
We appreciate your efforts to hold a safe and welcoming learning environment for all of our young people and at the same time challenge and stimulate their minds.
We value how much you believe in them for who they are today and see their potential, nudge them to dig deeper, dream big and hold a growth mindset.
We are grateful for the care, the role modelling, the fun, the shared wisdom and the wonder you bring every day.
And for all the things we know you do that we can never directly witness, we do see it shine through in the way our young people step into the world and thrive.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all!
Thank you RPFA and Redlands parents!
Mr Stephen Webber
Photo Caption: The whole Prep School celebrating Reconciliation Week on the Junior Campus Oval this afternoon.