Head of Secondary School

Week 2 – Key Highlights!

Students

Yr 10 student Sophie Yu has won the North Sydney local finals of the Plain English Speaking Award, held on 28 April at the Northern Beaches Secondary School! She will now proceed to the regional final at the Arts Unit in Lewisham in late May. Her remarkable achievement deserves our full congratulations. We also express our appreciation to the coaches and teachers who have provided unwavering support throughout the journey, including Ms Vyvian Kang.

Staff

Mr Cameron Ellis has now been formally appointed the Secondary School Head of Sport, moving from an Acting to a permanent role. Cameron has established strong connections throughout the Redlands community and congratulate him on this appointment.

Parents

Our second Wellbeing Support Session for parents and carers was well attended on Tuesday night this week, led by Ms Lara Luitingh and Ms Shannon Pearce. It was affirming and helpful to hear a range of supportive techniques on managing teen stress, anxiety and other big emotions. Key topics included:

How a teen’s emotional development influences a once peaceful home
How parents can adjust their everyday parenting approach to encourage their teen to express their emotions
Helping teens regain emotional control when it seems like their emotions are overwhelming them
Recognising harmful emotional control and when/how to seek help

A range of resources were shared with attendees which can be found here.

Looking Ahead to Week 3

Next week, Ms Jana Gomes who works alongside Dr Tessa Opie, from ‘In Your Skin: Relationships and Sexuality Education’, will return to Redlands to continue to partner with us as we further develop and implement our relationships, consent and sexuality education programs.

The content of these sessions will be age appropriate and tailored specifically for each year group in line with our relationships, consent and sexuality education curriculum. Students in Years 8, 10 and 12 will engage via half day workshops led by In Your Skin with breakout sessions facilitated by Redlands staff who have undertaken training.

In addition, students in Years 7, 9 and 11 will each have one-hour presentations led by In your Skin. As a school, we are committed to ensuring our students continue to receive appropriate education on these critical topics, and we are pleased that our engagement with In Your Skin will continue to enhance our relationships, consent and sexuality education programs already taught through our PDHPE and pastoral care curricula.

At our Secondary School Parent Contact Group Meeting held this afternoon, our Dean of Students, Ms Marita Jansons and our Assistant Dean of Students, Ms Sarah Matthews, will talk parents through how we ready students for these sessions. Marita has found great success and buy-in from students via valuable Student Focus Groups, held in the weeks preceding the training. This practice enables the students to share issues which are currently surfacing for them and means that in consultation with In Your Skin, we can contemporaneously tailor our programs to our students specific needs and interests.

Parent Presentation
‘Teens, Parties, Gatherings & Alcohol: What Do Parents Need to Know?’

Next week, Redlands is pleased to welcome back Mr Paul Dillon (DARTA) to present to parents. Using the most current data this presentation will examine the use of alcohol and other drugs by school-based young people. Some simple strategies will be provided to help ensure teens are able to interact with friends on a Saturday night and, at the same time, reduce the risk of underage drinking and the potential dangers associated with such behaviour. It aims to empower parents with a positive message and assist them in having open and honest family discussions in this complex area. Paul will also be presenting to Yr 10-12 during the day. The parent presentation will be hosted on Wednesday 10 May, 6.00pm – 7.30pm in Redlands Hall. This will be a parent only event. Registration is via Redlands Pulse.

Looking Ahead to Important Presentations for Yr 10, 9 and Yr 8 Parents/Carers and Students

Yr 10 Senior Pathways and Subject Expo Evening

Yr 9 Experience to Extend Evening

Yr 8 The Building Blocks for Success in Secondary School

2023 Requests for Leave

In order to minimise the disruption of students’ learning, Redlands does not endorse requests for leave of absence during term time, particularly at the end or beginning of term. Each case will be judged on an individual basis before permission is granted in these exceptional circumstances.

Requests for leave and notification of intention to take leave should be directed to the Head of Secondary School, well in advance, by a formal email to gvandepeer@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Taking leave during term time for family holidays is generally not endorsed and will require the student to submit any ‘hand-in’ assessments prior to the leave being taken. Additionally, students who miss a test or exam whilst on leave may find that given the inability for a ‘catch-up test’ the marks for this assessment are not counted in the student’s summative report total.

To The Rescue: Dropping The Drop Off Routine

Over the past two weeks, there has been a steady stream of parents dropping forgotten items off in the Student Services Centre or delivering food to the gates during breaks.

Forgetfulness is part of human nature. When we forget something, we often beat ourselves up about it.

Normally when students forget their home learning, presentation cards, sports equipment, lunches, etc., calling or texting their parent/s and asking them to bring these items is a quick problem solve.

Whilst forgetting a needed item can evoke heightened emotions in teens, it can also present an opportunity for teens to develop their self-management and problem-solving abilities.

After high school students will be responsible for themselves and their mistakes. Some of their mistakes won’t be fixed as easily as sending a text. Practising that responsibility now prepares teens for life beyond school.

Teenagers use their phones for everything. Next time your teen reaches out asking for you to drop something off at school, help them to consider how they can independently problem-solve at school. Remind them that the discomfort of forgetfulness (and sometimes subsequent consequences) can encourage them to stay organised at home, prompt them to seek the assistance of an appropriate staff member, and help them to place reminders on their phones.

Looking for some advice on helping your child get organised? Dr Judith Locke offers insights into dropping the drop off routine, providing some ‘top tips’ to help your child become better organised.

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