From The Principal

From The Principal

It was wonderful to see students returning to school this week after what I hope was a relaxing break. Term 4 is always action-packed and we look forward to the many events and celebrations which will bring the year to a close.

We bid a fond farewell to the Class of 2023 in Term 3 with a number of celebratory events; however, we have seen many of them in at school over the holiday period preparing for their examinations. Yesterday, the Higher School Certificate (HSC) students commenced their examinations with the English paper and the International Baccalaureate (IB) students will start their examination period on Monday 21 October. We wish them all every success in these examinations.

While the HSC Examinations have only just commenced, we have already had a number of Year 12 students nominated for HSC Showcases for their Major Works. This is a wonderful accomplishment and a fitting tribute to their efforts in these practical HSC subjects over the past year. We congratulate the following students on these nominations to date:

  • Music (ENCORE): Lily Kneale, Jack Lazzarotto and Oscar Whatmough (Music Performance)
  • Dance (Callback): Josephine Simpson, Sebastian Tang and Avalon Thomas (Core Composition); Avalon Thomas (Core Performance and Major Study)
  • Drama (OnSTAGE): Keian Murphy, Sebastian Tang and Georgia Verschoor (Group Performance); Phoebe Barnett, Lachlan Dekker and Sebastian Tang (Individual Performances)

These HSC and IB examinations are the culmination of their schooling journey, and we know that our Year 12 students are working hard to achieve their personal bests. However, while there will be much discussion and reflection of results, scores and ATARs over the next few months, we also know that our Year 12 students (and the Class of 2023 as a whole) are far more than a “number” and should not be defined as such. As a proudly non-selective school with approximately half of our Year 12 students sitting the HSC and half sitting the IB, we have often seen simplistic and inaccurate assumptions made about a student or a cohort based on a “number”.

Our Vision is to inspire students to “achieve life-readiness and to let their light shine”, and while we have seen their lights shining brightly for a number of years, I also believe that our holistic Redlands education truly best prepares our graduating students for life after school. Some of our Year 12 students have already acquired important skills for their future careers; many of them have already received early offers to their universities of choice for next year; and all of them have developed sound values and invaluable dispositions to best prepare them for their journey after school.

So, while we wish our graduating Year 12 students all the best for the examinations over the next few weeks, we also know that their Redlands education cannot be just boiled down to a number and are confident that they leave school truly life-ready for the road ahead.

Over the course of this week our thoughts and prayers have been with the people of Israel and Palestine and also with any members of our community who are directly or indirectly affected by these recent events.

Photo Caption: Congratulations to our HSC students on their nominations for HSC Showcases for their major works. Drama Group Performance nominees pictured here.