Head of Secondary School

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Yr 12 Farewell Assembly and Valedictory

Yesterday was a special day for our Yr 12 students and their parents as we were thrilled to finally be able to celebrate the Yr 12 Farewell Assembly at school and then the Yr 12 Annual Prize Giving and Valedictory at the Big Top in Luna Park. We hope that these special milestones for our Class of 2020 students provided a fitting and celebratory conclusion to what has certainly been a challenging year for them. Throughout both events, I was struck once again by the expressions of positivity and gratitude shared by our graduating students. In their final messages to the Secondary School community, our departing School Captains, Izzy and James, encouraged students in Yrs 7-11 to remember to be kind to themselves and others; to take every opportunity provided at school; and to grasp and appreciate the little moments. They, along with the rest of the Class of 2020, have been wonderful leaders for our school this year and have truly lived their 2020 values of positivity, courage and celebration.

In my address to the departing Yr 12 students, I shared with them some lines from Seamus Heaney’s, The Cure at Troy, which is a verse adaptation of Sophocles’ play, Philoctetes. Heaney wrote it in 1990 in response to the unrest and violence in Northern Ireland, as well as to the political situation in South Africa with the oppression of apartheid seemingly cured by the release of Nelson Mandela. (It was one of my father’s favourite poems, fusing together his love and admiration for Nelson Mandela, Seamus Heaney and Ireland. It is also a favourite poem of the new American President-elect, Joe Biden, and he has quoted it in speeches and campaign ads in recent months.)

Below is a little of what I shared with them:

Heaney writes:

“Human beings suffer
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.

History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave…
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
And cures and healing wells.

Call miracle self-healing:
The utter, self-revealing
Double-take of feeling.
If there’s fire on the mountain
Or lightning and storm
And a god speaks from the sky

That means someone is hearing
The outcry and the birth-cry
Of new life at its term.”

It means in your lifetime that justice will rise up, and hope and history will rhyme.

Class of 2020, I have said on numerous occasions that amidst all of the challenges, uncertainties and disappointment of this past year, you have given me and many of us present with you today, hope.

• You gave hope during remote learning when you were physically apart and still connected with each other through online messages and videos of support.
• You gave hope in the way you wanted to lift the spirits of our school community with your colourful display of Hawaiian shirts when you returned to campus.
• You gave hope in how you turned the negative of not being able to use your privileges to go off campus for lunch into a positive of having your whole cohort share your lunchtimes together in the top garden.
• You gave hope in living your 2020 values of positivity, courage and celebration.
• And you gave hope in the simple joy you shared skipping rope and singing John Denver’s Country Road in Liggins Courtyard.

Class of 2020, thank you for inspiring us and sharing your hope with us this year. We know it hasn’t always been easy. There have been doubts and fears and heartache. But you have endured and overcome every obstacle you have faced.

As you leave Redlands, may you go on to inspire tidal waves of justice. May you find your healing wells. And may you create a world where hope and history rhyme. 

We are so, so proud of you and wish you every joy and success in the years to come.

Yr 9 Midawarr Program

It has been a special week on the Senior Campus as our Yr 9 students have been partaking in their indigenous cultural immersion experience facilitated by Culture College. On Tuesday we were privileged to have a Welcome to Country and a Smoking Ceremony for our Yr 9 students and staff. It was a powerful and moving opening to the week. Students have been connecting with both the local Indigenous community, as well as the Yolngu community of Arnhem Land via Zoom, through a range of authentic activities including dancing, ochre painting and eating bush tucker along with gaining a deep understanding of the Yolngu language, Yolngu culture and learning about the Yolngu laws and customs. It has been wonderful to see true two-way learning taking place and we hope it will be a springboard for much deeper and more meaningful connections for our school community with Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land and locally. People who know far more about this space than I have reported back that this type of experience, in which our Yr 9 students are currently participating, is an Australian first and a number of other schools in the area have been visiting us this week to see how they might be able to run similar programs in the future.

Diversity in the Workplace Presentation

On Monday our Yr 10 students were privileged to hear a presentation on the importance of diversity and gender equity in the workplace from co-Founder and Principal of Buildcorp, Josephine Sukkar. As many of you are aware, we have contracted Buildcorp to complete the Learning Hub, and we have enjoyed a strong relationship with them over the past few years. Josephine shared her inspiring personal journey with our students and encouraged them to have an open mind when choosing jobs and career paths for the future.   

Science Symposiums

Today, students in Yrs 8 and 10 presented their final projects as part of their Science Symposiums. Over the past few weeks, they have been researching scientific areas of their choosing and today was a culmination of their efforts. It was great to see their creative and critical thinking skills on display and I would like to thank the Science Department for their efforts in organising these symposiums. In speaking to some of the finalists today, I was struck how some of them have taken the current concerns around COVID-19 and focused their research on contemporary issues such as the safety of masks and the impacts of vaccinations. After hearing from our students and some of their ideas, I believe the world will be in safe hands moving forward.

Winners were:

Yr 8
Best communication /presentation – ‘Bacteria be Gone!’ by Charlotte Waterland, Olivia Salmond and Emilie Leroux
Most impressive scientific methodology – ‘A Perfect Shot’ by Tom Jackson, Andrew Kinghorn, Johnny Wang and Jack Petering
Most original idea – ‘Naked Eggs’ by Jocyln Wang, Ahnu Guan and Mia Travers
Overall Winner – ‘Material Mask’ by Sholto Mirlees-Black and Sierra Allen

Yr 10
Best communication /presentation – ‘Going Bananas’ by Emma Canton
Most impressive scientific methodology – ‘It’s worth a shot’  by Jessica Wei
Most original idea- ‘An Ugly Finish’ by Michael Natilli
Overall Winner – ‘Brew-tiful Plants’ by Louise Colin

Innovative Design Exhibition

Over recent weeks we have had our Innovative Design Exhibition. Major Works from Yr 12 Design and Technology, Yrs 11 and 12 Textiles and Design and Yr 10 Textile Technology have been on display throughout the Learning Hub and a video montage of the Major Works can be found here. It is wonderful to see the creativity, design thinking and sheer talent of our students in this space, and I would like to thank the staff from the Innovative Design department for their continued support of our students.

Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Secondary School
scorcoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9870