Year 7

Week 9 – Keeping Running Until the End

Let’s not talk about anything else but…The Addams Family Musical*!!

(*Note – the original lyric here is ‘love’ – – also a good thing to talk about!!)

If you managed to get out to The Concourse on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of last week then you would have experienced an absolute treat of Musical Theatre. The Addams Family Musical was funny, irreverent and offered beautiful messages about the importance of family, relationships, embracing individuality, and treasuring love! The cast and crew were passionate and professional, and supporting staff were excellent in harnessing the wonderful student potential. Congratulations to everyone who was involved! Particularly kudos goes out to all the Year 7 students who were involved: Leo Campbell, Sienna de Saxe, Emma Foley, Joshua Freer, Matthew Krapovnitsky, James Priestley, Phoebe Sun, Eliot Taylor and Mackenzie Willis. And also our very own Tutor, Mr Owen, who did a fantastic job conducting and directing the orchestra each night!

Fittingly, Week 9 began with the Cross Country Carnival – a suitable metaphor as we ‘keep running’ towards the end of Term. Monday was wet and windy, but around 65 Year 7 students braved the elements to push their legs through several kilometres, everyone finishing with a smile (grimace?) on their faces!

Congratulations to our top 3 place getters in the U12 and U13 Cross Country divisions:

While some of our cohort were out running, the rest of the Year group engaged in their first Mindful Monday (normally our ‘Wellness Wednesday’). A mixture of mindfulness meditation, relaxation and fun ‘just dance’ exercises were engaged in, giving students energy to begin the week.

On Tuesday, Year 7 were introduced to a very exciting learning opportunity, which they will be the first to engage in as Year 9 for 2025. Mr Corcoran visited Year 7 and presented them to Redlands’ new Experiential Learning Program which will take students out of school to learn in the wonderful High Country Campus for Term 1 or Term 2 of 2025. The chance to immerse oneself in the beautiful landscape around Jindabyne and the Snowy Mountains, while engaging in a range of valuable cross-disciplinary and life learning moments is an exciting future to consider! You can find out more through Pulse, including watching an introductory video through Pulse.

On Thursday, students also engaged in their first self-assessment for their effort tracking. The School’s effort tracking process rates students based on their behaviour, diligence and engagement. Subject teachers allocate students a grading out of 5 for each of these approaches to learning, and students also self-assess in this space, allowing them to compare their own opinions about their learning approaches to that offered by their teachers. This is a useful reflective exercise that we encourage students to embrace as a means for developing their self-awareness. It would be great to have conversations at home about how students think they are travelling terms of their behaviour, diligence and engagement, and consider strategies they might employ to develop their strength in these areas. We will certainly be seeking to build on such reflections during our Term 2 Tutor sessions.

This week we have also been reiterating the importance of considering the language we use when we engage with others. Language can be a great source of support and positivity but it can also cause great harm and damage. We want to ensure that our Year 7 cohort are using language thoughtfully and with consideration to others, making sure it is used to empower, not to put down others.

Key Dates and Upcoming Events

• Week 10: Battle of the Bands (Monday 3/4)

John Roberts Music Centre, 6pm.

• Week 10: International Day (Tuesday 4/4)

A fun day of foods, games and events to celebrate our diverse cultural backgrounds at Redlands.

• Week 10: Year 7 Vaccinations (Wednesday 5/4)

See details below for further information.

• Week 10: Term 1 ends (Thursday 6/4)

Important Notices

Balmoral Swim Schools’ Relay Challenge – Make a splash for a great cause!

The Balmoral Swim Schools Relay Challenge is back! On Sunday 2 April from 8am-9am, local schools will come together to raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Institute, increase awareness for this important cause, and most importantly, have fun participating in an open water swim relay.

Here’s how it works: each team consists of four swimmers, and each swimmer will swim a 200m leg of the relay. Participants can choose to swim in their year category or an older category, and the entry cost is just $20 per swimmer. 

Don’t want to swim? No problem – you can still support the cause by donating to the Redlands fundraising page to help raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Institute.  

This is a fantastic opportunity to come together, have some fun, and raise funds for a great cause. So, gather your teammates, come along to Balmoral Beach, and make a difference in the fight against childhood cancer.

We can’t wait to see everyone there! Register your team now and join in the fun!

Register Here

Contact Ms Riley rriley@redlands.nsw.edu.aufor more information

NSW School Vaccination Program 2023

Each year NSW Health works in partnership with schools to offer the vaccines recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for adolescents as part of the school vaccination program.

The following vaccines are offered free to Year 7 students at school on Wednesday 5 April.

• Year 7 – diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (dTpa) and human papillomavirus (HPV)

Students who miss this clinic date will be offered a catch-up opportunity on Thursday 25 May.

From February 2023, children in Year 7 will now only need one dose of HPV vaccination. This change has been endorsed by ATAGI based on evidence showing that one dose provides the same level of protection against HPV as two doses.  

Vaccination will only be provided at school if consent has been received.  To provide consent for vaccination online go here, you will need:

• your ServiceNSW log-in details, or to create an account with ServiceNSW if you don’t already have one
• Medicare details for parents/carers and your child

Benefits of online consent for parents/carers:

• SMS notifications when vaccinations are given
• easy updating of your child’s details online
• faster upload of your child’s vaccination records to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)

If you or your child do not have a Medicare card, consent can still be provided by requesting a paper-based consent form directly from the Year Advisor.

What to tell Children: Children should be informed about what to expect on the day of vaccination. We recommend advising them of the following:

• Having breakfast on vaccination day is highly recommended.
• If nervous, talk to the teacher about going first.
• Following vaccination an SMS is sent to their parent/guardian to advise that the vaccine was given. A record of vaccination is automatically sent to the Australian Immunisation Register.

To help answer questions you may have regarding providing vaccination and online consent, please visit the NSW Health website.

Forbes Fundraise: A Message from Year 11

As some of you may know Forbes is a small town in NSW, neighbouring Lismore, which went through dire levels of flooding last year. They have slowly been recovering from flood levels reaching a 70-year record!! The environment is devastated, and the community is still in desperate need of some assistance from those who can help. 

We are setting up a drive for the last week of school and continuing into next term, so please bring in anything you can manage, and it will go a long way!! 

Items to include could be:

• seedlings 
• canned goods 
• non-perishable foods
• notebooks and school supplies
• cutlery, utensils, frypans, cutting boards, bowls
• financial aid
• first aid kits
• clothing
• sewing items
• tools (old hammers)

We will have boxes set up every morning at the front and back gates in Week 10 or under the gym throughout the day.

Thank you everyone in advance for the consideration and donations! 

Epilepsy Awareness and Fundraiser at Battle of the Bands Monday Night!

Last Sunday, 26 March, was Epilepsy Awareness Day. The day was created to increase the public’s understanding of what happens in the brain for someone with Epilepsy and to eliminate the fear and stigma surrounding it.

As we have several students at Redlands with Epilepsy, Year 11 will be hosting a Bake Sale on Monday evening during Battle of the Bands to shine a light on the bravery and resilience of people with Epilepsy as it can be quite scary living with the fear and anxiety around epileptic seizures. All proceeds will be donated to Epilepsy Australia. The aim of this initiative is to reduce the stigma surrounding Epilepsy and to educate people on how they can help someone having a seizure and maybe save someone’s life. 

On Monday afternoon from 5pm to 6pm, there will be a Bake Sale in the John Roberts Foyer before the Battle of the Bands. Money from this Bake Sale will go towards Epilepsy Australia. Please come by Monday evening to purchase a baked item and to support students at Battle of the Bands! Alongside the Bake Sale, Year 11 students Halcyon Hunt, Lara Wilson and Winter Penney will also be giving out free temporary tattoos, magnets, and more!

To either donate or further explore the cause, please visit here.

Mr Jimmy Tod-Hill
Year 7 Advisor
jtodhill@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9908 6462