Head of Secondary School

Head of Secondary School

Service Learning at Redlands

This week we had a wonderful assembly led by our Prefects, in particular our Service and Environment Prefects, focusing on Service Learning and the many and varied contributions our students make to both local and global communities. We heard from some of our Yr 12 students about their experiences in Cambodia at the end of last year, from Yr 9 students about their focus on inequality this year and from two Yr 11 students about both the upcoming Service Learning trip to Peru, as well as an opportunity for students to assist in fundraising efforts for a school in Nepal. Our Prefects also asked students to “do the little things”, such as supporting each other through acts of kindness or picking up rubbish around the Campus, to further support our community. I also encouraged all students to be inspired from the assembly and strive for “self-lessness” instead of “selfishness” for the betterment of the School community, as well as wider communities.

Clean Up Australia Day

A wonderful opportunity for students and families to display this “self-lessness” and contribute to the wider community this weekend is to participate in our Redlands Clean Up Australia Day initiative. Please join us from 1.00 – 3.00pm on Sunday 3 March at the Spit Reserve next to the Redlands Rowing sheds. There will be a briefing at 1.00pm before students clean up the area followed by a BYO “plastic free” picnic at 2.30pm. More information can be found in the Service section of Note Day.

Judith Locke Presentation

It was great to see so many of you attend Judith Locke’s presentation to Secondary School parents on Monday evening. From conversations with a number of you on the evening and since Monday, her talk seems to have been useful and informative and, like me, you went home with lots of “food for thought” in regards to our parenting. Judith also spoke to all staff on Monday afternoon and we look forward to having her back with teachers later in the semester for further follow up and the development of ongoing strategies for supporting students and families.

For those who were not able to attend, I thought I would share some of her strategies for how we can best support our children as they grow up.

  • Challenges, setbacks and failures should not be always seen in a negative light and instead seen as valuable opportunities for young people to develop resilience
  • As parents, we need to “step back for our children to step up” as they face increasingly challenging tasks so that they develop independence
  • Do not allow our children to have “adult rights and child responsibilities” – they should earn those adult rights
  • And by making things too easy for our children, they fail to learn the essential skills of:
    • Resilience – the ability to cope with difficulties
    • Self-Regulation – the ability to forego current pleasures for future gain
    • Resourcefulness – the ability to take initiative and improve a situation
    • Respect – both for others and for authority
    • Responsibility – the desire to make contributions to a community
  • And it is these skills that will truly make them “life-ready” when the leave School

We are very keen for feedback about this event to help us inform our planning for future events. We would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to answer some simple questions by clicking here (even if you were unable to attend).

Sports Update 

The summer sports season is quickly coming to a close with many of our ISA teams moving to Semi Finals this weekend while other sports are gearing up for end of season regattas or races. I congratulate all teams and competitors on their many and varied accomplishments this season, and particularly, how they have positively represented themselves and the School in a sporting context. I wish all teams competing in ISA Semi Finals, as well as our rowers competing in the Head of the Lake in Canberra, the best of luck this weekend.

I would like to make special mention of a team which will not be competing in the Semi Finals this weekend. This year our Boys’ Basketball program has moved up to ISA Division 1 and our 1sts team has come up against some of the best Boys’ Basketball teams in NSW. While the challenge of this higher level of competition has been rewarding, they were unfortunately out of Semi Final contention coming into their last game of the season on Saturday away at St Patrick’s. However, they still played their best game of the season in this last game, beating St Patrick’s (who will be in the Semi Finals) in an exciting 86-81 victory on Saturday. Most pleasing was to see the way some of the Yr 12 players stepped up in their last game for the School, whether it was defensively or offensively, to finish the season and their Basketball careers at Redlands, on a high note. 

Sports Luncheon

We are very excited to be holding our inaugural Redlands Sports Luncheon, celebrating 120 years of Redlands Sport, on Friday 5 April from 12.00 – 4.00pm at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Kirribilli.

This Luncheon is open to all Redlands parents and alumni and provides a great opportunity to celebrate the integral value of sport to the Redlands community and its students of the past, present and future.

We are delighted to announce our guest speakers, past Redlands students, who will share their very inspiring journey during this luncheon: Karyn Gojnich (Davis), Class of 1978 (Olympic Sailor, Redlander and former Redlands parent), Janusz Hooker, Class of 1987 (Olympic Rower), Lachlan Mackay, Class of 2000 (Rugby: Wallaby) and Holly Crawford, Class of 2001 (Olympic Snowboarder).

Tickets are $130 per person and include a gourmet two course meal and beverages.

Limited spaces are available so please book here so you do not miss out on a place. 

Note from the School Nurse

As we are about to move to a change of seasons, we are enlisting your help to encourage and enforce good hygiene etiquette with a view to minimising illness and infectious disease transmission in school this year.

School students are at increased risk of contracting transmittable conditions and infectious diseases because of the close proximity they share in their groups for learning and play. However, students contribute to this risk by sharing drinks, drink bottles and utensils (cutlery, toothbrushes and hair brushes).

There are simple things that everyone can do to help prevent the spread of common conditions such as colds, flu, glandular fever, conjunctivitis, head lice and so on. These include:

  • Hand hygiene
  • Cough, blowing nose and sneeze etiquette
  • Not sharing drink bottles and utensils
  • Keeping distance from friends with colds and coughs
  • Keeping long hair tied and managing head lice infestations promptly.
  • Staying at home with a fever, persistent vomiting and diarrhoea and seeking prompt medical advice when conditions including Influenza, Chickenpox, Shingles, Whooping cough, Glandular Fever, Conjunctivitis, Bronchitis, Impetigo (school Sores), Scabies and Hand, Foot and Mouth are suspected.

We appreciate your cooperation in assisting us look after the welfare of our students and the Redlands School community at large. 

Easter Working Bee

Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Secondary School
scorcoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9870