Head of Secondary School

Head of Secondary School

Speech Night 

Wednesday 4 December is a pupil free day at the Secondary School; however, Speech Night is compulsory for all Secondary School students that evening as we celebrate prize winners, enjoy the talents of our performers and bade farewell to Dr Lennox on his retirement. All students are to arrive to the Big Top at Luna Park by 5.15pm and doors open for parents and guests at 5.40pm. Further details of specific student arrival times for rehearsals will be sent separately. I look forward to seeing you there.

 

Boys Uniform Term 1 2020

I am delighted to advise that we will be introducing shorts as a summer uniform option for boys commencing in Term 1 next year, in response to requests from parents and students through the uniform surveys we have undertaken. So for Term 1, Secondary School boys have the option of wearing trousers or shorts. The shorts are currently in production and are scheduled to be delivered to the Uniform Shop at the end of January. We will advise parents when they are available for purchase. The shorts are to be worn with knee length grey socks which will also be available through the Uniform Shop. Yr 6 boys transitioning to Yr 7 next year have the option of continuing to wear their current Redlands shorts, or wearing trousers or the new Secondary School shorts during Term 1.

Australian Business Week

It has been wonderful to see our Yr 10 students engaged in their Australian Business Week activities this week. Students have been working in groups developing their projects and proposals for presentations tomorrow, and during this time they have been mentored by our parent volunteers. Parents and speakers have also presented to students over the course of the week to further develop their knowledge and skills. We have been so fortunate to have this expertise, support and guidance for our students and truly appreciate the efforts of our parent mentors. I would like to also extend a special thank you to Ms Laurenzi and Ms Coleman for leading and organising this excellent learning opportunity for our students.

Mock Trial Finals

Today our Mock Trial team consisting of Yr 12 students, Aleisha Lawrence, Renata Ferreira, Madeleine Howard, Emily Colvin, Stephanie Larcos and Leilani Heath, competed in the finals of the NSW Mock Trial Competition against Loreto Kirribilli at the Mooting Court of Sydney University. Even though they finished as runner-up, it was a tremendous result to get to the final two teams of over 200 schools who competed in the NSW Mock Trial Competition. I would like to especially acknowledge Ms Rebecca Mountain for all of her efforts in coaching the team this year.

Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet

Over the course of this year, a group of Yr 10 and 11 students, led by the Coordinator of Service, Ms Kria Coleman, have been meeting weekly to work on the Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet Program. This project is run out of the Australian National University and engages school students from around Australia to research the progress that local, state and federal governments are making in addressing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Redlands team was chosen to be the lead team researching the data for NSW and last term was engaged in a workshop led by Professor Ian Chambers from the Australian National University to collate and evaluate their data. The Redlands team have prepared a report of their findings and a small group of students and teachers have been asked to present this report at the international Young Persons’ Plan for the Planet conference in Singapore in early December. This is quite a recognition and honour for these students and we wish them all the best representing Redlands and NSW at this conference next week.

Tutor Meetings 2020 

We will once again commence the new school year with Tutor meetings in 2020. Please note that the first day of school for returning students is Tuesday 28 January and all students are expected to come to school to have a meeting with their Tutor on that day. We would like parents to attend this meeting, as well, so that they can collaboratively reflect on the previous year, as well as develop goals and strategies for the year ahead. (However, if parents are unable to attend this meeting because of other commitments, we would still like the students to attend these meetings on their own.) These Tutor meetings are the only requirement for students on this day and students can return home at the conclusion of this meeting. More information about these Tutor meetings and sign up information for the day has been sent home in a separate correspondence. 

Cashless Canteen and Uniform Shop in 2020 

As communicated at the beginning of Term 4, the Canteen will be going cashless from the beginning of 2020. Students will be able to purchase items from the Canteen either using Flexischools through their Student ID Cards or through their own debit cards or credit cards. 

From 13 January 2020, the Uniform Shop is going cashless. You will be able to pay for your uniform purchases via debit cards and all major credit cards including American Express. You can also order online by visiting www.flexischools.com.au and following the prompts where you will see a full list of uniform items to order. 

Uniform Shop/Blazers

The Uniform Shop will open on Friday 6 and Monday 9 December from 9.00am – 3.00pm before returning on Monday 13 January 2020. For details on making an appointment, please see Redlands Pulse.

The Uniform Shop will be open on Thursday 5 December from 9.00am to 3.00pm to take blazers for embroidery for pockets and half colours. Please ensure that all pockets are emptied, all badges removed and clearly labelled with student name. All blazers dropped in will require the relevant certificate of the award. Students will require blazers for Speech Night on Wednesday 4 December. Blazers can be collected from the Uniform Shop from Monday 20 January 2020. 

Important Notice Regarding Medications, Diabetic Kits, Anaphylaxis Kits and Asthma Kits 

On Tuesday 3 December, Secondary School students with Diabetes, Asthma or at risk of Anaphylaxis will have their individual kits returned to them for the upcoming summer holiday period. Parents of students with medications in the Health Centre are requested to make arrangements to collect these by 3.20pm. All scheduled medications are to be collected by a nominated parent or carer. Please note that scheduled medications ­will not be signed out to students. 

Attention Parents of Students at Risk of Anaphylaxis

Redlands is committed to supporting our students at risk of Anaphylaxis. Our ability to do so, however, requires all respective parents to ensure that Redlands is provided with the necessary and specific information required for carrying out your child’s individual emergency procedures in the event of an occurrence. This information is specified in each student’s individual Anaphylaxis Action Plan. 

As stated previously, on Tuesday 3 December, Secondary School students at risk of Anaphylaxis will have their individual kits returned to them for the upcoming summer holiday period. In order to help us to assist you in the management of your child’s health for the academic year 2020, we ask that you ensure your child returns their emergency kit to the Health Centre Nurse, in a clearly labelled container, with a valid EpiPen, current Anaphylaxis Action Plan containing a recent colour photograph, as well as any other required medication, on the first day of Term 1 2020. All students, returning or new to the school, at risk of Anaphylaxis, are requested to comply with this request. In addition, students at risk of Anaphylaxis should carry their second EpiPen to and from school either on their person, of in their school/sports bags.

Congratulations

I would like to congratulate our 2019 Arts Captain, Asha Boswarva, for winning the AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts) Award for Best Female New Talent for her outstanding performance in the television series, Lambs of God. This is a tremendous honour for Asha and we wish her all the best when she is presenting at the awards ceremony on Monday.

Staffing Updates

Firstly, we would like to acknowledge and wish a warm farewell to HSIE teacher and CAS Coordinator, Ms Belinda Rawlinson, Computing teacher and Assistant Subject Coordinator of Innovative Design, Mr Graham Amos, ICT Student Administration Manager, Ms Anne Gilkinson, and Deputy Registrar, Ms Wendy Robinson, on their respective retirements after many years of service both here at Redlands, and elsewhere.

Furthermore, after ten years as a Winter School teacher and then 8 years as a Geography teacher, Year Advisor, Subject Coordinator and most recently Dean of Activities for the past two years, Mr Simon Colyer will leave Redlands at the end of 2019 to return back to the slopes of Mammoth Mountain in California to run their Ski School. Simon has made tremendous contributions across many areas of the School and will be greatly missed.

In addition, after over ten years as a valued HSIE teacher and more recently as Co-Subject Coordinator of HSIE, Ms Giulia Laurenzi will leave us at the end of this year to take up a Subject Coordinator position at Marist Sisters’ College, Woolwich. After over nine years as a valued Visual Arts and Theory of Knowledge teacher, Ms Kristen Privett will be taking up a new teaching position Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Croydon. Ms Christine Shorter has been a valued Science teacher and Assistant Year Advisor for the past six years at Redlands and leaves us at the end of this year to explore new opportunities. We thank all of them for their many and valued contributions to the School.

We would also like to thank the following teachers who are leaving us at the end of year for their efforts as leave replacement teachers: Mr Alexander Stanuga (Innovative Design) and Ms Chelsea Stockbridge (Maths).

Finally, we wish all the best to Dr Amanda Michel in 2020 who has been selected for a one year teaching fellowship at the University of New South Wales.

We would also like to confirm some of the updated leadership positions for 2020:

  • With Mr Simon Colyer’s departure, Mr Jonathan Gray will move into the role of Dean of Activities next year.
  • Ms Simone Bryant will take on Mr Gray’s previous role of Assistant Subject Coordinator of Science
  • Mr Ben Castelli will continue in the ongoing role of Dean of Academic Administration
  • Mr Simon Johnson will be joining Redlands in 2020 as the new Co-Subject Coordinator of HSIE with Ms Giulia Laurenzi’s departure. Mr Johnson has ten years of department head experience at international schools and joins Redlands from Newington College
  • Ms Lisa Vale will be the Year 7 Year Advisor and Ms Vanessa Wang the Year 7 Assistant Year Advisor
  • Ms Alissa Ynson will continue as the ongoing Year 8 Year Advisor
  • Ms Abigail Walker will return to the Year 9 Assistant Year Advisor role following her maternity leave and we thank Mr Michael Warrell for his efforts as the Year 8 Assistant Year Advisor this year. Mr Warrell will be moving into the IB CAS Coordinator role in 2020 with Ms Belinda Rawlinson’s retirement.
  • Mr Tony Dong will continue in the ongoing role of Year 10 Assistant Year Advisor next year
  • With Mr Graham Amos’ retirement, Ms Helena Niranjan will take on the role as Assistant Subject Coordinator of Innovative Design (Computing).

I would like to once again acknowledge the efforts of our amazing teaching and support staff in the Secondary School and give special thanks to all departing staff members for their many contributions to Redlands.

Happy Holidays

As this is the last Note Day of the year, I would just like to express my gratitude and appreciation to you, the parent community, for all of your efforts and support this year. The partnership between the School and home continues to grow stronger as we all remain committed to best nurturing the young people under our care. I wish departing families all the best on the next stage of their schooling journeys and look forward to welcoming new families to Redlands next year. I also look forward to seeing you at our Speech Night on Wednesday 4 December (further details above) and wish you a safe, relaxing, joyous and family-filled holiday season.

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