Year 7

Week 9 – Term 2 has been a Whirlwind – Holidays, here we come!

Let’s start this week off with a riddle.

Question: what do you get when you jam 11 weeks’ worth of work, events and excitement into 9 weeks?

Answer: Students in a daze (get it, days…). 175 tired students ready for a break to relax and recharge (and then do it all over again in Term 3!)

It has been a busy term. But it has also been a really valuable one. Students have been engaging with how to manage their home learning, navigate busy assessment schedules, and build caring and supportive relationships with their peers and teachers. Of course, we still have a lot of learning to go but there has been some really positive growth amongst the cohort.

Yr 7 continue to grow in confidence as a year group and this was evident in our Monday Year assembly. After a few general announcements, this assembly was all student led. Grace Walker-Barker played some exceptional piano for us, performing a lively piece as Year 7 entered the hall and then playing for everyone Claude Debussy’s First Arabesque – which she will perform next term at Gala Arts (buy your tickets now!!). She was fantastic and one would never guess a twelve year old was playing, given how accomplished her craft.

Joshua Freer also confidently spoke about his recent charity event in Melbourne, ‘Giant Steps’, where he climbed the tallest building in Australia to make money for autism research. He ran up 96 floors or 1700 steps, and was the fastest under 15 competitor, coming 46th out of 533 people. Together the participants made $250,000 for the charity – a phenomenal achievement!

Daisy Mann also spoke to us about her involvement in Girl Guides and how great an activity it has been for developing her confidence and skills in a wide variety of areas. She talked about her experiences at the Jamboree this year, where 1500 girl guides gathered together for a week of adventurous pursuits and bonding activities – her favourite being surfing lessons on the nearby beach.

Ariella Wold also shared photos and footage of her recent high level figure skating at the Hollins Cup. Her graceful movement and athleticism over the ice were spectacular to see.

We were also able to congratulate Jason Gong for being awarded a certificate of achievement by his local member of council from Bennelong, Mr Jerome Laxale, for his participation in international Robotics; and applaud our Year 7 Jazz Troupe Dancers – Ada Grossman, Adabelle Lee, Zoe Murdoch, Emma Foley, Astrid Vincent, Ariella Wold, Phoebe Sun, Freya Carroll and Anabelle Kendrigan – for an excellent performance on the weekend, coming 2nd in the Extreme Dance Competition.

All in all, the assembly was a wonderful recognition of the wide variety of talents, pursuits and skills possessed across our Year 7 cohort! And we will keep encouraging Year 7 students to share their experiences with the cohort, so we can learn more about each other and keep connecting as a year group. And, we even managed to get in some quick group shots together to mark our last assembly of the term. Year 7 even managing to teach me how to take a ‘0.5’ shot (apologies for the blur; it was my first 0.5!)

Tuesday Surprise Party – Happy Birthday Ms Zhang!

On Tuesday, we saw a lovely indicator of the goodwill and care evident and continuing to grow amongst our Year 7 cohort. Our wonderful Tutor, Ms Jessica Zhang, had her birthday this week and, to show their gratitude for all she has done so far this year, her Tutor group threw her a surprise birthday party, full of balloons, lollies, a thoughtful card and a lovely bunch of flowers. It was really touching to see the group coming together to show their recognition for the help and guidance they have received so far this semester.

It’s Wellness Wednesday: so Just Dance!

Wednesday also saw some positive expressions of joy across the cohort through our Wellness Wednesday activities. On these days our Tutors encourage students to engage in activities that will give them a break from the regular routine of school, encouraging them to ‘switch off’ for a bit of time to help support their mental wellbeing. This can sometimes be group yoga, mindfulness meditation, music listening, quiet reading or drawing. A solid crowd favourite is getting up out of their seats and dancing to Just Dance. As you can see from the photos, it is a great way to expend some energy and just have a bit of fun together amidst a sometimes busy school week!

Acting in English

This week several English classes put together short performances of one of their current dramatic texts being studied in class, Blue Beard. Students have been working on exploring the creation of character, setting and morals within fairy tale narratives, and then identifying  how such tales can be dramatised for the stage. Several groups got really ‘hands on’ in this space, thinking about blocking and verbal strategies for performance, before practising and then performing renditions of Blue Beard, a melodramatic thriller where a serial killer husband tries to murder his new wife (all PG-13, of course!) And, while I do not want to spoil the ending, I can let you know that it is a happy one! Students really enjoyed the opportunity to be out and about from their classrooms performing, some using the Fahl Garden, while others made use of one of our Drama Studios.

Gargoyles or Grotesques?

Do you know the difference between a gargoyle and a grotesque? Well, I learned last week from my visit to Yr 7 Visual Arts that while both sculpture types are of monstrous creations, a gargoyle is a decorated waterspout that projects from a roof and carries rainwater away from the walls of a building, protecting it from damage, whilst a grotesque is a decorative carving that has no functional architectural purpose. But it looks pretty cool! There’s a fun trivia fact for you! 

So, while I was confident Yr 7 were making gargoyles in Visual Arts, I was respectfully informed they were actually creating grotesques. Once again, the Visual Arts department is doing an amazing job at engaging Yr 7 in a variety of fun, educational tasks. You can see from the photos they were having a great time making their grotesques!

Gratitude for Peer Support

Finally, we ended on a really positive note today. This term in Tutor Time, we have been focused on building respectful relationships across the school and beyond it, really aiming to teach the cohort the importance of kindness and empathy in their interactions with others. Tied to this, we have also been so lucky this semester to have the excellent support of Yr 11 school students as our Peer Support leaders every fortnight on Fridays. They have shared their wisdom and advice with Yr 7, offered their support and been friendly faces across the school, helping Yr 7 adjust to their new Secondary School experience and see what respectful relationships look like.

Tomorrow (Friday) is our last Peer Support session, and so we will be having a fun party as a thank you to all the Peer Support leaders (stay tuned for an article on this next term!) Today, students wrote thank you notes to all their Peer Support leaders, showing appreciation for their time and efforts and kindness in supporting them this semester – a lovely indicator of Yr 7’s growing success in building respectful relationships and expressing their gratitude for the help of others.

Holiday Messages

Jess and I want to wish everyone a lovely holiday break. It has been a busy term, so taking the time to relax and recharge, and spend quality time with friends and family will be important. I want to share the messages I offered to Year 7 in our Year Assembly on Monday about the holiday break. I have copied them below.

During your break:

  • Be kind to others and yourself.
  • You will have some free time so try to help your family, friends and community.
  • Maybe offer to clean the house, cook a meal, help in the garden, tidy your room…
  • Go outside and meet your friends in real life – stay off social media!
  • Rest, relax and recharge so you are ready to do it all over again in Term 3.

Best wishes for a lovely holiday, everyone!!

Key Dates and Upcoming Events:

  • Week 9: End of Term (Friday 23/6)
  • Term 3: Classes commence (Tues 18/7)

 

Gala Arts

Friday 21 July, 6.30pm

The Concourse 

Please join us at Gala Arts at the end of the first week of Term 3, an exceptional evening of entertainment where we celebrate the talents of our students, and book your tickets via the QR code in the following invitation.

This annual Creative and Performing Arts festival showcases the plethora of talents of the diverse Redlands student body from Year 7 to 12. The Festival was created to showcase the creative talents of Redlands students whilst at the same time promoting Inter-House competition and House spirit. Students perform in dance, instrumental, theatre and vocal categories. Visual Art photography work will be on display in the foyer and the winner will also be announced at the event.

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