From the Principal
On Wednesday we celebrated International Women’s Day with splashes of purple visible around the School. Over the course of this week, it has been wonderful to see the various events and assemblies across both campuses where students and staff have had the opportunity to reflect upon and discuss the significance of this day.
The International Women’s Day 2023 Campaign Theme is #EmbraceEquity and it is a call for all of us to challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias and seek out inclusion. These aims not only go to the heart of our Redlands Mission which espouses diversity and inclusivity, but have also been a part of our DNA throughout our 139 year history, stretching all the way back to the founding of the school in 1884 by Miss Clara Arnold and Miss Elizabeth Liggins.
In the Preparatory School, Mrs Breckenridge encouraged teachers this week to have discussions with students about important women in their lives. In the Junior School Assembly on Tuesday, our Deputy Principal, Ms Partington, spoke to the students about the differences between “equality” and “equity”, and she challenged them to continue to be curious and ask questions to gain a deeper understanding of the different issues people face.
In Tuesday’s Secondary School Assembly, a panel of student and staff speakers shared some their reflections on the significance of the day. Mr Thomas and Yr 12 students, Seb Tang and Trinity Hoffman, spoke about the important female role models in their lives and how they have inspired them; Yr 11 student, Grace Durrant, shared examples of some of the discrimination she has faced as a female surfer; Director of Basketball, Ms Renae Camino, reflected upon the movement toward gender equity in sport; and Ms Martin spoke about the advantages of attending a coeducational school to broaden our understanding of feminism and counteract negative stereotypes.
In the assembly one of our two Secondary School Captains, Josie Simpson, best summed up the importance of the day as follows, “This day allows us to recognise how far we have come, and how far we still have to go to accomplish complete gender equity, because the reality is that we are not there yet. On this day, we acknowledge the inequalities that women face each day, but we also celebrate the contributions of women in all areas of life. We celebrate those who came before us, those who stand beside us now and those who will come after.”
Hopefully, these events have been a further impetus for our community to continue to actively support and “embrace equity”, not just this week, but throughout the year, both here at Redlands and outside of the school gates, as well.
I congratulate our Rowing teams which won a total of 29 medals last weekend at the ACT Junior Rowing Championships on Saturday and the ACT Head of the Lake Regatta on Sunday, including 9 Gold, 8 Silver and 12 Bronze. Please see the Secondary School Sport section of Note Day for further details on the success of our 130 rowers from Yrs 8-12 at these two events in Canberra.
I would like to extend my best wishes to all Secondary School summer sports teams competing in their respective ISA Grand Finals this weekend, and in particular the 1st Girls Basketball and 1st Girls Touch Football teams. I hope to see many Redlands supporters out at Penrith Basketball Stadium or Macquarie University cheering on our teams.
The countdown is on for our Redlands Autumn Fair on Saturday 18 March and I am very much looking forward to connecting with our entire Redlands community for a day of fun, food and entertainment for the whole family.
To enjoy the rides, games and food at the Autumn Fair, you can prepurchase wristbands and coupons HERE to receive a special discount; and you can volunteer a few hours of your time to help make this event a success HERE.
Please see the RPFA section of Note Day for full details of this exciting Redlands community event.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Photo Caption: Yr 12 students representing Redlands at the Mosman International Women’s Day Breakfast, held at the Mosman Art Gallery yesterday.