Redlands Parents and Friends

Second Hand Textbook Sale – for Current Yr 6-11 Students

A final reminder not to miss the Second Hand Textbook sale next week on Mon 4 December.  A great initiative to ease pressure on the wallet and the environment! Book lists have been sent via email and are also available on year group pages as well as the RPFA secondhand book sale page. Please see more information on Pulse. If you do want to purchase some second hand textbooks, we suggest you don’t complete the Box of Books order until you know what books can be fulfilled. Any books you wish to donate from this year to the sale would be greatly appreciated. Big thanks to the dedicated parent volunteers making this sale come to life: JP Forrest, Kate Kesby and team! All proceeds raised will go to the Dr Sue Morey AM Scholarship Fund.

Coming Up

Parent / Family Get-togethers  

Walks on Tracks

Weekly guided walks around the northern Sydney area are organised by Ann Marie, a wonderful RPFA volunteer. This is a great way to meet other Redlands parents and get in shape, plus a wonderful way to spend a morning discovering the many paths of the Sydney area.

The invitation for walks is open, so if you have friends or family who you think would like to come along, please feel free to bring them. Dogs are also welcome on most walks.

We will be doing TWO walks before we say goodbye for the Christmas break.

1 Dec we are joining the Walk Against Family and Domestic Violence in Mosman. Led by Mosman Mayor Carolyn Corrigan, the walk will begin at Rawson Oval on 1 December at 10am and conclude at the Headland Park Artist Precinct in Georges Heights.  Book tickets!

Our usual walk is set for 6 Dec Mosman to the Rocks. Meet at Mosman Bay ferry.

Any questions, please contact Ann Marie on 0406 691 533.

Book Club

The Redlands Book Club is a group of Redlands parents – past and present – who share a love of reading. New members are always welcome! The Book Club meets twice each school term to discuss a book, rotating among members’ homes. Occasionally, outings are also organised to events, movies or shows that are tied in with books, including annual attendance at the Sydney Writer’s festival in May. If you would like to join Book Club, or simply want to know more, please contact Monica or Sabiha.

Our Christmas lunch took place today where we discussed Mans’ Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Stay tuned to join us again next year!

Behind the Scenes with RPFA: Meet your Class Parents

Class Parents (CP) play a pivotal role in building connections and fostering a supportive social spirit among parents and children outside the classroom. From welcoming new families, organising class playdates and events, to facilitating communication between the school and families, these dedicated superstars are the backbone of the Redlands community. Follow this series each week to meet your 2024 Class Coordinators and Parents, put a face to a name, discover what they do, AND keep an eye out for opportunities to join the team!

Names: Jennifer Harris and Jenny Krallis
Shared Role: Prep School Class Parent Group Coordinators for 2024
Kiddos: Kindy, Year 1, Year 2, Year 6, and Year 8.

CP Five with Jennifer and Jenny

 If you could choose a Class Parent theme song what would be the title?

 “I’m only one WhatsApp away” (sung to the tune of “I’m only one call away”)

 Why did you decide to be a Class Parent?

Redlands has a wonderful community of staff and families who work together to really support all our children. Taking on the PCG roles is our way of helping to foster this community. It’s also a great way to make friends across different year groups who you may not necessarily interact with regularly.

Why would you encourage other parents to volunteer for this role?

It’s really great knowing that you’ve helped families build connections that will last them throughout their time at the School (and often beyond). In particular you can have such a positive impact on families that are new to the School.

If you could trade places with your children for a day what would you most want to experience?

Jenny K –  Maths lessons because the way maths is taught now feels much more inspiring than the way we learnt back in the day…  and I’d definitely audition for the school musical.

Jenny H – Music lessons! I’ve always wished I could play an instrument. Year 7 recorder was as far as I got unfortunately! Our children are so lucky to have the opportunity to choose from so many instruments. Perhaps my kids can teach me ????.

Thank you to all our wonderful Prep, Junior and Secondary School parent volunteers who have worked so hard this year to welcome new parents, connect the parent community within their year groups, help parents find answers to their questions and share school information. From Your Coordinators Nancie Pageau (Secondary School), Michelle McDonald and Catherine Grinham (Junior School), Jenny Krallis and Jennifer Mast (Pre and Prep).  xxoo

Parent Power Needed: Join the Team in 2024!

Next year, teachers and Class Parent Coordinators will be doing a Shout Out for Class Parents and Year Coordinators.  A great opportunity to meet other parents and get involved in your school community. All you will need is a sense of fun, enjoy people wrangling, a Working With Children Check, and have a spare couple of hours a week. Keep an eye and ear out for the call for volunteers in Week 1 of school next year, or let us know now if you are interested here.

The Week in Pictures                                            

On behalf of the RPFA, our 2023 Class Parent Coordinators arranged thank you gifts for support teachers and staff. Class Parents and Year Parents arrange end of year thanks you for the individual class teachers across the Prep, Junior, and Secondary School. Thank you to everyone for their generous donations to show our appreciation for all of the hard work at Redlands to ensure our children shine!

Pre, Prep and Junior Schools joined forces and were able to provide support staff and teachers who work across the two campuses with $75 gift vouchers, which can be spent across 70 different brands. Additionally, each staff room received an edible chocolate tree to help spread the joy of Christmas and gratitude across the teams.

At the Secondary School, Parent Reps and their Coordinator organised individual gifts for the Year Group support team (Year Advisor, Assistant Year Advisor and Tutors) and beautiful hampers will be delivered to each of the supporting departments.

The festive spirit was buzzing at the Year 8 drinks at the Fernery!

Over 35 students from Redlands House to Year 6 performed a Christmas concert for the Mackillop Grange Retirement Village and shared 85 handmade Christmas cards. The residents enjoyed the visit so much they asked the students to perform again next year. Thank you to Rebeccah Rothwell and Bing Lin for bringing this wonderful initiative to life.

Outgoing/Incoming RPFA Exec Team Lunch

Today’s Legacy Fair

Do you have pictures of parent / family get-togethers you want to share?

Please send them to RPFA Note Day.

A Final Few Words From the RPFA President

Wow! What a busy, fun-filled year it’s been! From our Twilight drinks in our beautiful Fahl Garden, to our humongous Autumn Fair, fabulous Gala Ball and more recently our much-loved Melbourne Cup event…combined with all the wonderful coffee catch ups, class and year dinners, picnics and end of season Friends of Group events! I think it’s safe to say that our community has fully embraced and celebrated our first year of ‘return to normal’ after the isolation of COVID! On that note, the newly elected RPFA committee would like to extend a massive thank you to the outgoing RPFA Executive Committee, and the awesome teams who have gone above and beyond as PCG coordinators, Class and Year Parents, Friends of Group leaders and all the other amazing volunteers throughout!

We are so lucky at Redlands to embody an inclusive and welcoming culture and we look forward to celebrating this in 2024, Redlands 140th Birthday year. Our first event to kick off the year will be the Twilight Drinks in the Fahl Garden on 16 Feb 2024, so please lock in the date! In the meantime, we hope you have a most wonderful holiday season, are able to spend some treasured time with close friends and family, and have a chance to re-fuel for another wonderful year ahead! We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you in 2024.   

Brittne Whitelaw

RPFA Committee

President: Brittne Whitelaw
Vice President: Carrie Taylor
Secretary: Jennifer Mast
Treasurer: Joe Russo
Committee: Monika Crennan, Michelle McDonald, Lisa Middlebrook, Karen Nicholson, Emma Okhovat, Sophia Stewart-Kasimba

Contact us!