From the Principal
This morning I spent time out at the Junior School Athletics Carnival at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre and it was wonderful to see the high levels of participation and strong sense of camaraderie on display from the students. Yesterday, I was also out at Sydney Olympic Park watching our Secondary School swimmers compete in the ISA Swimming Championships. There were a number of excellent individual and relay results. Overall, our girls finished 1st in Division 2 and our boys finished 9th in Division 1. Well done to all competitors for their efforts on the day.
On Saturday a number of our Secondary School Basketball and Touch Football teams competed in their respective ISA Grand Finals. There were many outstanding results on the day, including our Girls 1sts Touch Football team winning their first ISA Championship and, despite our 1sts Girls Basketball team losing a tough Grand Final, our Girls Basketball program winning the Overall Shield for the most successful ISA school. Even more pleasing than the results were the high levels of support and school spirit shown by the many students who came out to cheer on their peers across both venues.
Our current Head of Human Resources, Erin Hetherington, will be leaving us at the end of this week after over four years of dedicated service to Redlands. We are pleased to announce that Victoria Cook will be joining Redlands and the Executive team as our new Head of Human Resources. Victoria is a strategic, values-driven People and Culture leader with extensive Human Resources and Executive experience in both the public and private sectors, and we look forward to welcoming her to Redlands.
After a six month delay, we are excited to finally be able to hold our Spring, now Autumn, Fair this Saturday on the Senior Campus. Pleasingly, the weather forecast looks great, and we are confident it will be a wonderful community building day. I would like to thank all of the RPFA members, school staff and parent volunteers who have worked for months in preparation for this event. I look forward to seeing many of you out at the Fair on Saturday, and yes, the rumours our true – I will be having stint in the Dunk Tank!
Uniform Redevelopment Update
Our Uniform Redevelopment Committee, comprising parent, staff and Board representatives from across the School, as well as having regular student feedback and input, has been working with leading Australian designer Jonathan Ward on developing a uniform that reflects the contemporary culture of the School. As advised in our initial uniform redevelopment update within Note Day at the end of Term 4 last year, the new uniform will be introduced in Term 1 2024 and during a two year transition period, current students will have the option of wearing either the existing or new uniform.
At this week’s Uniform Redevelopment Committee meeting, initial samples were modelled by students from across the School, and final refinements were agreed. After these refinements are completed, we look forward to sharing the new uniform designs, in addition to further transition details, with parents and carers in Term 3.
Value, cost and sustainability along with easy-care properties have been a central focus of the Uniform Committee. These have been addressed through the development of a trans-seasonal uniform with gender neutral options; the use of newly developed fabrics that are lightweight, durable and comfortable; and a uniform implementation through a long transition period.
This exciting project sees the first holistic review of our uniform in over 25 years and will culminate in a new era of school attire that is comfortable, contemporary and provides students with personal choice, while also honouring the heritage of Redlands uniforms throughout our history.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Photo Caption: Well done to our Girls First VI Touch Football team for winning their ISA Grand Final on Saturday.