Head of Secondary School
Student Highlights
The Senior Music Festival, held last Friday night at The Concourse, Chatswood, was an extraordinary evening of talent and joy. It may have even been ‘The Greatest of All Time’! A huge congratulations to the students and staff involved – it was an amazing experience for the students and a pleasure to watch.
On Monday morning I spent time with students engaged in Master Planning consultation. Students explored maps of the Senior Campus and the High Country Campus and shared their ideas and feelings about what works well for their learning and wellbeing. The students in Year 7 to 9 led the Project managers from EPM on a tour of their favourite and least favourite sites of the School. It was a positive experience for them and one they embraced with vigour and energy.
2022 Athletics Carnival
The Athletics Carnival was a great day on Tuesday. Thankfully we had sunny weather and students were engaged, participating in a range of track and field events throughout the day. Personally, I enjoyed watching the High Jump (and so did year 7, some of whom are pictured below) and I also enjoyed the Students vs Staff Relay – mostly because the teachers won!
The week doesn’t end there! We also introduced the Student Leadership program to our Year 11 cohort, met with Year 12 about their Formal on Friday night and planned two large assemblies to conclude the term. On Friday Year 10 to 12 will engage in their Term 3 Assembly in the morning and Year 7-9 in the afternoon. At both events students will receive a range of merits and awards for academic, sporting and cocurricular pursuits.
It’s been an extraordinary term. The teachers and support staff have worked tirelessly in support of students and I’d like to acknowledge their sustained care and professionalism. My experience this term tells me that everyone is in need of a break these holidays – I do hope it is restful and restorative. A Parent Holiday Guide from our Secondary School Counselling Team can be found below for your benefit.
Bonjour from France!
Lucile Thompson (Year 9) has spent this term in France living with a local family and studying at a French school. Her mum, Anne Moal, has been keeping us updated with her adventures and we look forward to hearing about them from her, in person, when she returns in Term 3.
Here is a recent message from Lucile:
Bonjour from France!
I hope that you’re all going well – so the term is nearly finished and I am so happy that I got this opportunity to study in another country. Right now, I am preparing for the Brevet which is a test done by all 3èmes (Yr 9s), it covers Maths, History, French and Science as well as an oral presentation. I’m only going to do the oral presentation because it’s too late for me to do the other parts, but it’s been really interesting to go to a new school and see how the system works there. There are a few differences though – they don’t have uniforms or many computers, apart from some in the library. The school is also much smaller, and when a teacher is absent you can leave school early or come to school later depending on when they are absent. It’s been really interesting to learn something new about a different school system and I can’t believe it’s nearly over. I hope you are all enjoying the end of term and hope you have fantastic holidays!
Lucile
Exciting CAT Results
We are excited to share with you the overall results of our inaugural entry for Years 7 to 12 in the Australian Maths Trust Computational and Algorithmic Thinking Competition (CAT) and the Oxford University Computational Challenge (OUCC).
A total of 62 Year 7-12 students participated in the CAT Competition with 32 of these students choosing to also compete in Round 1 of the OUCC, and 2 of our Senior School Students invited to participate in Round 2.
In the CAT Challenge, students are awarded certificates in the following categories: Participation, Credit, Distinction or High Distinction.
Redlands students achieved 3 High Distinctions, 11 Distinctions, 23 Credit results with the remaining students obtaining certificates of participation.
In the OUCC, students are awarded certificates in the following categories: Participation, a Merit award for achieving in the top 50% of their division, a Distinction for achieving in the top 25% of their division with outstanding students achieving in the top 5% invited to participate in Round 2.
Redlands students achieved 8 Merit awards and 5 Distinctions, with the remaining students obtaining certificates of participation.
Toby Priestly (Yr 8) achieved an overall 17th Place (equal) in the OUCC Round 2 Junior Division and Dasha Sychova (Yr 12) achieved an overall 12th Place in the OUCC Round 2 Senior Division.
Congratulations to all students who participated in the CAT and OUCC. Certificates will be presented to all students during Assembly in Term 3.
A sincere thank you to Ms Wendy Duckworth who organised and supported the students through this experience.
Representative Sport Pockets
This week we distributed certificates recognising students’ ongoing commitment to Representative Sport both for last year’s Winter season and the recent Summer season which concluded last term.
Students for whom this is the first full season participating received a Merit Certificate. Those who have completed two or more years will have received Pocket, Half Colour or Full Colour authorisations depending on the number of years completed. Full Colours require a minimum of 4 years and are only awarded in Year 12.
Awards for non-sporting cocurricular activities are presented at the end of Semester 2, except for Year 12 who have just all received their final set of awards.
Students wishing to have awards embroidered on their blazers should drop the blazer and certificate with the Uniform Shop staff in Liggins Quad either after the final assemblies, at lunch or after school tomorrow. Unfortunately, we can’t send the blazer off without the certificate, nor can we print replacement certificates before the end of term.
All students receiving these awards are congratulated on their commitment to the school community and their peers by letting their light shine, and in living out the school values such as Respect and Responsibility through their actions in our varied sporting arenas.
Sailor Requesting Support!
Year 10 student Alissandra Braden heads off to the Youth World Championships in August held in Portugal.
Alissandra is a talented sailor. Some recent results this season include: 7th place (ILCA 4) at the 2020 NSW/ACT State Championships, 1st Female (ILCA 4) 2021 East Coast Championships, 11th place (ILCA 4) at 2022 VIC Youth Championships, 4th place (ILCA 4) at the 2022 NSW/ACT Metropolitan Championships, 5th place (ILCA 4) at the 2022 East Coast Championships, and 1st Female, and 1st in the RSYS Summer Racing Series. Ali is currently ranked 4th youth girl in Australia, 1st youth girl in NSW, and 3rd youth in NSW.
You can find out more about Ali and her sailing here.
Staycationing in Sydney these holidays? Check out Arts Captains top picks of Sydney offerings…
Mia and Callum have complied a glossy and informative document of all the available Arts offerings these holidays…. If you are staying in Sydney, find something interesting and head along!
Term 3/4 Departure Notice
As we are approaching the mid-point of the year, this is a reminder that those families who are planning on leaving the School during or at the end of Terms 3 or 4 are required to give notice to the Principal via an email to registrar@redlands.nsw.edu.au by the following dates:
Term 3 Departure: Friday 24 June 2022 (tomorrow)
Term 4 Departure: Friday 22 July 2022
As per the 2022 Schedule of Fees emailed to all families in December last year, there will be fees in lieu payable for any notices of departure received after these dates.
Ms Gemma Van de Peer
Head of Secondary School
gvandepeer@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9811