Head of Secondary School

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Term 2 Welcome

It has certainly been a different to start to the term, with the campus much quieter than usual this week without the return of students, as well. I have certainly missed hearing and seeing the first day of term buzz of excitement amongst our students, but I am looking forward to having students transitioning back to face to face schooling over the coming weeks and returning to the campus soon. As mentioned in my letter at the end of the holidays, when students do return to school, they will see how the campus has transformed in recent weeks with the removal of the temporary classrooms above the John Roberts Centre, the removal of the walkway across to these classrooms and the removal of the temporary stairway in the Liggins Courtyard. We are continuing to make preparations for the opening of the New Learning Hub and are getting excited about this upcoming move.

Term 2: Weeks 1 and 2

As stated in my letter at the end of the holidays, we are continuing in our remote learning and teaching environment for the first two weeks of this term. From the feedback received at the end of last term from students, staff and parents, we have made adjustments such as lengthening Recess by ten minutes during remote schooling and scheduling in Independent Learning Days as per the schedule below:

Term 2: Weeks 3 and 4

We are excited to be able to begin our transition back to face to face teaching and learning from Week 3 and can now confirm that we will have Yr 12 students return everyday (5 days a week) from Monday 11 May. We will also have one additional Year Group on site each day for face to face schooling as per the schedule below.

We believe it is important to prioritise our Yr 12 students and their academic, social and pastoral needs in this, their last year of schooling. As we will have two Year Groups on campus each day, we will be incorporating a number of updated health, safety and physical distancing measures. The Executive and Secondary School Leadership Team have been working through the logistics of this return to school plan over the past few weeks. We will be sending a detailed document with these arrangements to parents and carers on Friday 1 May and then we will be able further discuss these plans and answer any parent questions in Parent Zoom Webinars which will be scheduled for Monday 4 May and Tuesday 5 May (more information below). Tutors will be going through these plans with students in their Tutor Groups in the coming days, as well. We appreciate your patience and support in the development of these plans over the past few weeks. We have been regularly receiving guidelines and advice from federal, state and local authorities, as well reflecting on best practices in schools and school systems in Australia and across the world with the aim of ensuring a safe, smooth, productive and sustainable return to on campus learning for students and staff.  

Parent Zoom Webinars

We will be holding another round of parent webinars for each year group via Zoom on Monday 4 May and Tuesday 5 May. These webinars will give senior leaders an opportunity to give more detailed information about our transition back to face to face schooling from Week 3 and also address other questions and concerns that parents might have. We hope parents are once again able to attend these webinars remotely via the Zoom links in the schedule below.

• Monday 4 May
  • Yr 10 (5.00-5.25pm) https://redlands.zoom.us/j/99752159465
  • Yr 11 (5.30-5.55pm) https://redlands.zoom.us/j/95706811318
  • Yr 12 (6.00-6.25pm) https://redlands.zoom.us/j/93315282387
• Tuesday 5 May
  • Yr 9 (5.00-5.25pm) https://redlands.zoom.us/j/99676884406
  • Yr 8 (5.30-5.55pm) https://redlands.zoom.us/j/99226334269
  • Yr 7 (6.00-6.25pm) https://redlands.zoom.us/j/98618782744

ANZAC Day

While this year’s ANZAC Day was very different for all Australians across the country, we were pleased to be able to still hold our annual ANZAC Day Assembly remotely via video on Tuesday. A link to the video was also sent home to parents on Tuesday so that you could view this service and its messages, as well.

I know a number of students and families still commemorated ANZAC with their own Dawn Services in their streets or neighbourhoods and I have included a photo of one of our Service Captains, Maya Auld, leading an ANZAC Day Dawn Service in her local community.

Service Learning Opportunities

While many face to face Service Learning opportunities have had to be put on hold because of Covid-19 restrictions, we are able to offer two upcoming remote Service Learning opportunities in which we would encourage students and members of our community to participate.

Taldumande Camp In for Kids

Taldumande Youth Services is an organisation based in North Sydney and the Northern Beaches which supports vulnerable and homeless children and their families from across the Sydney region. We are encouraging students to participate in a Camp-In on Friday 8 May to raise awareness and funds for young people and their families who are less fortunate. More information can be found in the Service Learning article of Note Day.

Mother’s Day Classic

The Mother’s Day Classic is an annual fun run and/or walk which raises funds and awareness for breast cancer research. Every year many members of the Redlands community participate in this event. However, this year, we are asking members of the Redlands community to participate in the Mother’s Day Classic virtually through the Redlands MDC20 Team. Again, more information can be found in the Service Learning article of Note Day.

iLearn for Parents

As parents are aware, iLearn is our Secondary School Learning Management System for students and they are accessing iLearn pages more than ever during their remote learning. Parents also have access to iLearn course information pages. The iLearn course information pages will allow you to see the formal assessment information and results, course outlines and resources for each of the courses in which your child is enrolled. Please note, parents will not have visibility to each of their child’s individual iLearn class pages as these are for students and teachers only. Further information and tips for accessing iLearn course information pages can be found on the Secondary School page of Redlands Pulse.

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