Head of Secondary School
A Peek Inside the Classroom… Science
This term I have asked teachers to invite me to their lessons to witness some of the “Wow” moments that occur in their classrooms. So, over the next few months, I will be visiting classes in each subject area and will be giving little “peeks inside the classroom” in my Note Day pieces. This week I will write about my Science lesson.
This Tuesday I had the great pleasure of observing Ms Scott’s Yr 7 Science lesson. When I arrived to class, the students were preparing to do the Collapsing Can experiment and were listening to Ms Scott as she went through the instructions with them. Students then conducted the experiment by heating up empty soft drink cans with a small quantity of water inside. (I was wondering who drank all of the soft drink to provide the empty cans…..) After the water was boiling, the students then quickly (and safely) used tongs to pick up the can and turn the opening into a bowl of cool water where the can then suddenly collapsed with a loud bang. Students returned to their desks to hypothesise, test, explain and provide reasons for what they observed before sharing their deeper understanding about particle movement in a larger discussion. Thank you Ms Scott and the 7G Science students for this peek inside your classroom; I learned a lot about the movement of particles.
Careers Week: Great Debate
Last Friday our inaugural Careers Week finished on a high note with the Great Debate between students and teachers on the topic “Formal examinations do not prepare students for real world careers”. The teacher team of Mr Skinner, Dr Regis and me had the affirmative side of the topic while the student team of Aleisha Lawrence (Yr 11), Mackenzie Lofts (Yr 12) and Ela Kos (Yr 12) had the negative side. The Edwards Auditorium was packed to hear this heated debate that the students ended up winning in somewhat controversial fashion. (Supposedly, my use of props and leading the audience in song as 3rd speaker – “Exams? What are they good for…? – was frowned upon by the adjudicators, Ms Rolon and Lindsay McNeil (Yr 12), which might have led to our defeat.) It was a fun way to finish a great Careers Week. (However, there was concern from some students that because the student team was so successful in arguing their case for formal exams and the large student audience appeared to support them, the school leadership team might now institute more formal examinations, even weekly or monthly, for all students… stay tuned.)
Red Shield Appeal
This Sunday 26 May, a large number of our Yr 11 students will be joining thousands of others across Sydney door knocking and raising money for the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal, continuing our ongoing long-standing relationship with the Salvation Army. This is a great opportunity for our Yr 11 students to give up a few hours of their Sunday for a worthy cause while also representing the School’s strong dedication to service to the wider local community.
Winter Uniform
At Redlands, we are proud of our community and a significant amount of this pride is reflected in how students wear their uniform. Whilst we acknowledge the change to the winter uniform can create a few initial challenges, as we are now approaching the half way mark of Term 2, we expect students to have adjusted their uniform accordingly. Ms Shaw and I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and students that girls’ skirt length should be to the knee and all students are required to wear their blazers to and from school. We would appreciate parent support of our uniform expectations which can be found on Redlands Pulse and in the Student Planner. After repeated warnings, students who are not meeting the required standards of winter uniform will now be issued with a detention from this week.
Mr Sean Corcoran
Head of Secondary School
scorcoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9870