Head of Secondary School
Yesterday we welcomed approximately 300 visitors onto the Senior Campus for our Secondary School Open Morning Tour. It was hectic but enjoyable and I really enjoyed spending time with some of our Year 9 students who were Tour Guides, leading our visitors around the School to share their experiences and what makes us special.
Each pair of Year 9 Tour Guides had their own special route through the School, and detailed information about the Redlands journey to share with their guests. They were incredibly personable and caring and wonderful student ambassadors. From Ethan James’ firm welcoming handshake to Eva Fitzhenry’s warm ‘hello’ to Dian Wicher’s explanation of the mixed ability classroom and to Lachlan and Zara’s unpacking of all things cocurricular, all of the Year 9 Tour Guides engaged willingly, openly and with energy.
As the year comes to a close, I am hearing Christmas carols in the Maths classrooms, the tree is going up in the Student Services Centre and plans for the final assemblies of Term 4 are being made. Our Year 10 students have been trained to act as Peer Support for our incoming Year 7 students and our newly inducted Year 12 students are navigating their first round of ‘assessment stress’ (nothing they are not ready for and cannot manage!).
We were delighted by Rock in the Quad today, just like we were awed by the Ballet and Dance students last week. Our students are showcasing their skills and talent across a wide array of areas and genuinely enjoying each other’s company.
We move towards a close to the year that is positive and thoughtful. At the start of the term, I challenged students to remember that ‘other people matter’. We are asking families to support this Christmas via financial donations.
Yr 9 Christmas Challenge
In Week 5, Yr 9 participated in an experience project where we were challenged to improve the Christmas experience for people who struggle to enjoy the holiday season. One of the student-devised pitches was around the concept of gift boxes for women at Bayside Women’s Shelter. While children are typically the sole focus at Christmas time, we wanted to let women know that we see them and that they too are deserving of some luxuries.
We have been confronted by the recent stories and shocking statistics in the media about the number of women who experience domestic violence and abuse. This is an issue that impacts everyone, from every socio-economic background, every cultural and linguistic group and every age. We want to play some small part in acknowledging the situation and turn feeling helpless about it into feeling empowered to act.
To deliver on this project, we are asking for help from the Redlands community. We are asking you to donate so we can create our carefully curated gift boxes and deliver them to women at Bayside. Our boxes will include some of the essentials and some special items to make these women feel valued and provide them with gifts that they most likely wouldn’t be able to buy for themselves.
Redlands will collect the funds on our behalf and then we will use the money to create the gift boxes we have devised. We will then personally deliver the boxes to Bayside.
With thanks,
Yr 9 Redlands students
Ms Gemma Van de Peer
Head of Secondary School
gvandepeer@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9811