Head of Secondary School

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Readying ourselves for Christmas

The tree is up, and although there are no gifts underneath it, the Anglicare Christmas Toys ‘n’ Tucker drive has raised $1,535 so far, but we still need your help! Service Captains, Charlie and Alex are hoping to raise $5000 by Speech Day on the 1^st of December, and if every family in the Secondary School donated just $10, we’d be well over that goal! Please dig deep to share a little joy this Christmas! https://www.gofundme.com/f/redlands-toys-and-tucker

Engaging with self and others in Yr 9

Over the past week we have really been focused on engaging with self and others. Our Yr 9 students enjoyed their day of reflection facilitated by Burn Bright. The Ignite group focused on boys’ development, exploring healthy male role models and definitions of masculinity. The Spark group of girls focused on breaking down social barriers and enhancing emotional intelligence. I was lucky enough to visit both groups during the day and can attest to the range of emotions experienced by each group – there were some tears shed, but I was assured they were happy tears! Even though this year has been challenging, it was great to be able to set aside this time, at the end of Term 4, for the students to work together on self-development and engaging with others.

STEAMing on with Yr 8

The Yr 8 STEAM program commenced today. The focus of the two days explores what can we do to save our coral reefs? Today I co-judged the STEAM presentations, with Ms Vale, Iris Buisman and Jacob Gold, our Environment Captains. We all sat in my office watching the Year 8 presentations on Zoom, and were stunned by the inventiveness and collaboration which characterised them. All four groups, across the four Houses, offered strong presentations, with effective visuals. All presentations were beautifully and articulately explained, with some offering astounding ideas for improving the Great Barrier Reef. Today’s winner went to Dumolo Red who skilfully unpacked the damage caused by the Crown of Thorn Starfish, and offered a complex and well-considered solution. Brilliant work! Huge thanks go to Mrs Wendy Duckworth who has tirelessly planned and executed two STEAM programs in the past two weeks, with Yr 7 and 8, and all of the Science teachers and tutors who have supported the students along the way.

Science Symposium Yr 10

Over the past few weeks, Year 10 students have been engaged in a Student research Project (SRP) for Science. The Science class teachers have chosen the three top projects from their class, and today I was privileged to be able to judge a selection of SRPs from Yr 10. The judging was based on the following criteria:

• Best communication/presentation
• Most impressive scientific methodology
• Most original idea

It was inspiring to be able to hear how the students undertook their scientific research and the interesting insights which emerged for them. I also found it really interesting how each student’s idea emerged for them. For some it was personal experience, personal interest or simply a curiosity that they wanted to explore further. I would like to congratulate the following students, whose projects really impressed me today.

Student Leaders Town Hall

The Yr 12 Student Leadership team held their first Town Hall this week, where they met with students of Year 10 to explore student-wellbeing and the pastoral care program. The forum provided an opportunity for students to relay their largely positive feedback on the return to campus and for them to share new ideas and initiatives for the year ahead. The Year 12s are looking forward to continuing these meetings with students in other year groups over the course of the next week.

Yr 12 2021 Early Entry

To date, 77 students have received early offers for university courses for 2022. This is a wonderful tribute to our students, their parents and the support of the Careers and University Advisors, Ms Hurst and Ms Fowler.

Yr 12 (2021) Valedictory is taking place on 1 February at The Big Top Luna Park.

We are so excited to be able to reconnect with our Yr 12 cohort and their parents early next year to celebrate their many achievements. Please purchase your tickets this week through TryBooking.

BYOD Parent Purchasing Portal

Redlands has negotiated a special education deal for parents purchasing their child’s new digital device, through one of its partners, JB Hi-Fi. Parents have the option to purchase from any retailer of their choice however we have selected JB HiFi as they provide sound warranty and servicing options. The JB Hi-Fi Parent Purchasing Portal and further information can be accessed here.

Communicating your child’s absence with the Secondary School Office

Please be specific if your child is unwell. When emailing to inform us of a student absence, please clearly outline your child’s symptoms. If you tell us that your child is ‘unwell’, with no explanation of symptoms, we will assume a Covid-19 test is required. Additionally, we kindly ask that you are vigilant about sharing the negative Covid-19 test with ssabsence@redlands.nsw.edu.au before your child is returned to school. Unfortunately, if this does not happen, parents will be contacted and asked to collect their child from school. Our priority is our community’s safety and our capacity to enable our Year 12 students to sit their examinations. Currently we have students sitting IB examinations and from next Tuesday, the HSC examinations begin. We sincerely appreciate the cooperation of parents in following safe practices as we move through this next stage of the pandemic.

Twilight in the Garden – Save the Date: 25 February 2022

Ms Gemma Van de Peer
Head of Secondary School
gvandepeer@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9811