Head of Secondary School

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Yr 11 Student Led Assemblies

As Yr 12 have been navigating their Trial Examinations, Yr 11 have eagerly stepped-up to plan, lead and facilitate the Week 3 and 4 Student Led Assemblies. In addition to the usual student announcements and updates, Yr 11 focused on key issues valued by the Redlands community.

Thanks to Indy Hindmarsh, Hugo Little, Antionia Morgan, Apoorv Pilani, Sophia Rolon, Alex Tanner and James Stuart for embracing their denim and promoting Jeans for Genes Day in Week 3; and to, Katie Baker, Isla Dawson-Damer, Annabelle Harman, Will Howard, Alfie Leach, Angela Monty, Chloe Moore and Eva Osborn for celebrating what they love about Redlands in a heartfelt video.

Young People and The Law

The NSW Police Force has a strong commitment to building trust with young people and empowering them with knowledge and skills to keep them safe in the community. This week, Senior Constable Lynda Hart was invited to educate Yr 8 on the pressing and topical issues of cyber safety and safe social media use; and, Yr 9 on drugs, alcohol and looking after your mates.

In her role as Police Liaison Officer, Lynda brought a unique insight and view of the subject matter. With a thirty-year career in the NSW Police Force Lynda grounded her messages with real life examples.

With Yr 8, Lynda spoke about online challenges, what the law says, getting help and staying safe. Key topics included:

• Privacy and the protection of identities (essential for personal safety – not everyone is who they say they are)
• Inappropriate images (nudes) of a person under the age of 18 is considered child abuse material and illegal
• Sextortion
• The laws of online interaction

The Yr 9 content explored:

• trends in vaping, alcohol and drug use
• being an upstander and supporting mates
• the relationship between choices and consequences
• the legalities of being in possession of drugs and alcohol when underage; and, the legalities of supplying alcohol (including parents) to those underage

The following resources can support your conversations at home:

• Redlands School TV Special Reports on sextortion, safe partying, vaping and alcohol consumption. There is also a great series on CyberSafety.
• eSafety Commissioner: Parents provides advice for parents and carers to help keep kids safe online. Processes for reporting online harm are also available.
• Police NSW have great information and support for any issue on online safety, alcohol and drugs.
• Reach Out Parents and Raising Children Network address common and shared parent questions.

Yr 8 Drama Performance Evening

Yr 8 Drama Performance Evening, Australian Landscapes took place on Monday and Tuesday evenings this week. Yr 8 students delighted their audience of parents and teachers with endearing renditions from their favourite Australian plays, including Hating Alison Ashley, Two Weeks with the Queen, Lockie Leonard, Slam Dunk and Burnt. All students showed tremendous talent and agility, stepping into characters, manipulating costumes and props and using stage and positioning with great success! It was a highly enjoyable event, and we look forward to seeing how far their skills progress when they hit the stage again in Yr 9! A special congratulations to Rupert Perry and Aurora Crennan who stepped in and performed in scenes at short notice.

Yr 8 and 9 Analytical Writing Bootcamp

Over the past three weeks, the Analytical Writing Bootcamp, run by the Dean of Studies (7-10) has been well-attended by students in Years 8 and 9. Students are quickly gaining confidence in their writing skills as they consolidate and practise the important skills of annotating, understanding texts on both literal and conceptual levels, ascertaining the purposes and functions of different texts and forming well-crafted and controlled paragraphs. The first session will conclude this Monday. A reminder to students who have signed up to the second session, that this commences on Monday 21 August at 3:30pm in LH2.9. Session 2 is now full. A special thank you to our Yr 11 coaches who have attended one or more sessions to assist Years 8 and 9 students: Anneke Steele, Heidi Colleran, Antonia Morgan, Conor Petersen, Sophia Rolon, Scarlet Thorp, Jocelyn Wang, Daisy Thomas, Anderson Boris, Ruby Voyce, Isla Wickham, Indi Hindmarsh, Hamish Campbell, Grace Durrant, Freddie Yates and Mikaela Sanger-Larsson.

Jeans for Genes Day

The Dumolo House charity event, held on Jeans for Genes Day, once again showcased our community’s generosity. The event featured a sausage sizzle, a blue-themed bake sale, and the sale of blue ribbons, all directed towards supporting the Children’s Medical Research Institute.

Our accomplishment in raising a substantial sum for Jeans for Genes Day, benefiting the Children’s Medical Research Institute, is further amplified by our connection to Katie Zyner. As a 2005 graduate and now Senior Research Officer in the Computational Systems Biology Team at CMRI, Katie shared her valuable insights with Dumolo House students about her work and the importance of fundraising for CMRI yesterday – despite pledging her allegiance to Cowper!

Katie’s team combines computational analysis and lab work to understand stem cell development, uncovering how cells diversify despite sharing the same DNA blueprint. Katie’s insightful presentation celebrated our fundraising and shed light on how our funds will be used. Her ability to simplify complex ideas left students impressed, inspiring them as National Science Week approaches.

We’re eager to maintain our reputation as top contributors for the next Jeans for Genes Day. Congratulations to Dumolo House, and heartfelt thanks to Katie for her contributions.

Overall, the total raised this year was $6591 for the entire Redlands community K-12. Redlands came 1st in School fundraising, which is the 3^rd year in a row!

Next week is Science Week 2023

Coinciding with National Science Week 14– 18 August (Week 5A) the Redlands Science team will be holding a number of special Science events.

A Winter Wonderland Online Auction Will Close on Saturday 11pm!

Thank you all families and friends who already registered for our online auction and purchased tickets for the Bali raffle.

BID HERE

Winter Uniform Clearance – 30% Off Selected Items

As we will be introducing our new Redlands uniform in 2024, we are having a Winter Uniform clearance sale with 30% off the following range, whist stocks last:

• Blazers
• Knitted Jumpers
• Girls Skirts
• Girls Blouses
• Boys Long Sleeve Shirts

Uniform Shop Opening Hours

The Uniform Shop will be closing at 4pm on Thursdays until further notice. 

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