From the Principal

From the Principal

One of our five key Strategic Drivers at Redlands is to ‘Integrate and Advocate Sustainable Best Practices’ and it is wonderful to see so many sustainability initiatives taking place across the School this year.

Earlier this week, Redlands hosted two events as part of the Round Square Network of schools to celebrate World Ocean Day. On Tuesday, over 200 students and staff from Round Square network schools in Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle and Coffs Harbour came together on our campus to hear from guest speakers Zali Steggal OAM (federal member for Warringah), Sarah-Jo Lobwein, Kal Glanznig and Tim Johnston. Later the students had the opportunity to share their views and ideas in breakout sessions led by Redlands students.

On Wednesday, as a follow up to this event, Redlands students led a Zoom ‘Online Postcard’ World Oceans Day event where they connected with over 80 students from around the world, including India, China, Kenya, South Africa and Australia, to further discuss and share sustainability ideas and initiatives.

I believe it was fitting that our first Redlands-run Round Square events, after joining the network earlier this year, were focusing on sustainability, as the feedback from the Round Square panel when reviewing our application for membership was that we are an educational leader in this space – not just nationally but internationally, as well.

Our leadership in sustainability was further highlighted in late May when we hosted the Zero Emissions Network Meeting of local schools and our Year 6 and Year 12 Environment Captains, as well as key staff, were able to share our sustainability journey at Redlands.

Our commitment to sustainability is strengthened by the support and direction of the Sustainability Working Group and the Sustainability Community Advisory Group, comprised of Board Directors, parents, staff and students from across the school.

Already, the School has installed solar panels on the Junior Campus and switched to LED lights and Energy Monitoring Systems across all three campuses as part of our ongoing focus on how we can reduce our carbon footprint. While the development of our Sustainability Strategy will shape how we further reduce our environmental impact moving forward, there are many current student driven sustainability initiatives that have already been implemented this year, such as:

  • Sustainability School Gardens across all the campuses (Prep pollinator beds, the Junior vegetable garden and the Senior Campus rooftop garden)
  • Installation of compost bins and worm bins
  • Enhanced recycling initiatives, including coffee cup and coffee pod recycling, the installation of Return and Earn bins, battery recycling, e-waste recycling and toothbrush/toothpaste recycling
  • Quarterly waste audits across Junior and Senior campuses
  • Further sustainability initiatives in the canteens, including the usage of paper water bottles, compostable packaging, a cutlery library and the move to plastic free canteens

Most pleasingly, it is our students who are shaping our journey towards a more sustainable school, community and future through their passion, initiative and drive.

Expanding the High Country Campus

Originally developed by the School in partnership with the Redlands Parents and Friends Association, High Country Campus was opened in 1996 with two accommodation buildings. Two more buildings have been added since, but to accommodate the whole of Year 9 split over two terms, we need capacity to house approximately 20 more students and 12 more staff. An expansion of our High Country Campus facilities will also provide the opportunity for more students to experience our Winter School program.

Your support of this year’s Foundation Appeal will help prepare this facility for the introduction of our Experiential Learning Program in 2025 and the potential future expansion of our Winter School.

For further information please visit Foundation section.

Mr Sean Corcoran

Photo Caption: As part of the Round Square network of schools, we welcomed various schools from Sydney and abroad who make up a part of the Round Square network to join us for extremely engaging and eye opening talks as part of the World Ocean Day event.