Year 7
Term 3: Reflecting on Where we have Been and Where we are Going
‘O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?’
– Percy Bysshe Shelley
Welcome back to Redlands for Term 3! I trust that everyone was able to have a relaxing and enjoyable break, and perhaps even an adventurous one (I have already heard many Europe stories!), and that our Yr 7 students are revitalised and ready to take on another busy term. While the heavens decided to turn on the rain for the Staff PD day on Monday, the sunshine shone out beautifully as students came back through the gates on Tuesday; an auspicious start to the term.
I want to particularly welcome Archie Cooper and Dylan McQueen, two students new to Redlands who joined us in Yr 7 this term.
Yr 7 immediately jumped into Term 3 with Growth Conversations with their Tutors across Periods 1 and 2 on Tuesday. Having commenced Terms 1 and 2 with such conversations, students have become more comfortable reflecting on their personal progress from the previous term and articulating specific goals for a successful year ahead. These conversations are now well-informed with student academic grades and approaches to learning helping students to see their own efforts and achievements. It was really pleasing to see students taking their Growth Conversations seriously and coming up with valuable goals for Term 3. I have noted down a few examples of student goals below, as indicators of the level of thought apparent in their conversations with their Tutors:
- “I would like to focus my efforts more in Science, by building my confidence with the content and taking care with organisation, assessments & classwork.”
- “I would like to focus on reading more as I do not think I read enough. I think it will help to develop my vocabulary, expression and spelling. This in turn will help develop my confidence and skill in writing. I’d like to try to average 15-20 minutes of outside school reading on most nights.”
- “I would like to balance my home learning and free time in order to maximise most of my time. I will create a timetable for after school home learning activities and assessment dates. This will help me prioritise what I need to study. I would also like to focus on my netball skills by giving my all in training and taking the risk to try out new skills.”
- “I would like to improve my diligence across all subjects by making sure I complete all my home learning tasks up to a high standard and on time, I will achieve this by creating a daily to-do list and taking extra care to ensure I am not rushing through and I am doing my best work.”
- “I want to commit to my assessment preparation and planning by setting a study and assessment schedule and using the notification and marking criteria as resources.”
With such a collection of excellent aspirations, I am confident Yr 7 will hit the ground running this term!
Term 2 Flashback – Peer Support Party, Final Assembly and Locker Clearance
Peer Support Party
Last term ended with much joy and student recognition. The cohort enjoyed their final Peer Support session, reflecting on their growth and showing their gratitude to their Yr 11 Peer Support leaders who have given them such great advice and guidance, celebrating through a pizza part on the Fahl Garden. Zac Fowler and Michelle Byron gave all the Yr 11 leaders a heartfelt ‘thank you’ on behalf of the Yr 7 cohort, each reflecting on some of the engaging and supportive activities Yr 11 had coordinated for them over Semester 1; and students handed out the gratitude cards which they had each written to their Yr 11 leaders. The Peer Support program has been a wonderful space for Yr 7 students to learn from their older peers and this year’s Yr 11 leaders were exceptional in their roles – caring, enthusiastic, empathetic and thoughtful. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all the Yr 11s who helped out here.
Term 2 Final Assembly
We also closed Term 2 with a final assembly which celebrated student achievements over the term, recognising all those in Yr 7 who had received academic merits in their subjects. These merit certificates will be handed out to students in our Year Assembly next week.
Importantly, the assembly was made particularly special by the fact that Erol Jackson read out the prayer and the entire assembly was emceed by our very own Leo Campbell and Clem Roumanoff! Both Leo and Clem did an excellent job of introducing each speaker, moving between each presentation and generally facilitating the presentation of the assembly smoothly. It can be daunting standing in front of hundreds of people but they both presented with confidence and flair! As a fun fact, I found out after the assembly that the running schedule pages had got out of order and so there had been a misstep in the scheduling, but Clem and Leo covered it so professionally that no one in the audience even noticed!
Locker Clearance
Term 2 also ended with students clearing out their lockers at the end of the day. It is a good time to remind everyone that lockers must have a lock on them, which is capable of being locked (particularly important now that phones must be stored in them – see below), and they should be kept tidy so that books, student resources and school bags can fit in them neatly. Bags should not be left on the ground outside lockers!
Responsible use of Technology – Reminders for Students
Last term, the School began an initiative which required Yr 7 and 8 students to keep their mobile phones locked away in their lockers from when they start school until they finish the school day. Yr 7 did excellently well at adhering to this phone management focus. This term, the focus has been extended from Yr 7 all the way up to Yr 10 with Redlands recognising that the school environment provides a nice space to ‘break’ from social media and other phone apps. If a student needs to contact a parent or carer during the day, then they can visit the Student Services Centre to use the landline phones at the front desk.
Additionally, loan laptops are now only for devices that are being repaired (with a letter explaining this from a parent – in future a form will be sent to parents to sign and return). There is no option for a loan device if the student has simply forgotten their laptop or forgotten to charge it. A limited number of charging bays are still available for laptops opposite the ICT service desk.
Student Uniform Reminders
Winter Uniform
For the duration of Term 3, students are required to wear their winter school uniform, including their blazers, when travelling to and from school. School shoes should be black leather shoes, polished, and hair needs to be kept tidy, with hair longer than shoulder length worn up and out of the face, and no hair dye is permitted. No jewellery is allowed apart from one pair of plain gold or silver studs or sleepers. The full uniform details can be found in student planners and in the school uniform guide on the Yr 7 Pulse Page.
Sport Uniform
The Redlands Sport Uniform is to be worn only during Sport activities:
- For all PDHPE (practical) classes
- For all Redlands Sports Carnivals
- For Thursday Sport day
The Sport Uniform should never be worn for a full school day, except for Thursday Sport days.
Parent Presentation – Weathering the storm: Responding to teen anxiety and depression
In Week 3 of this term, Tuesday 1 August, a presentation will be held specifically designed to support parents and caregivers who have young people with diagnosed anxiety and depression, as well as those who display signs and symptoms of these conditions. During this session, the crucial role of parents in responding to mental health issues will be explored, helping you to support your child in times of distress by gaining a deeper insight into your teenager’s experiences.
You can find out more information and register your attendance through Pulse.
And Finally – Good Luck to everyone at Gala Arts!
Tomorrow night is one of Redlands most exciting nights – the Gala Arts. The evening promises to be an exceptional night of singing, dancing, acting, musicianship and amazing artistic talent! If you did not manage to get tickets this year, I urge you to try to get out to see it next year, as it is always an amazing showcase of Redlands. There are a few tickets left which can be booked via the QR code in the flyer below.
Best wishes to everyone involved in Gala Arts tomorrow – but especially to our Yr 7 performers and production crew Leo Campbell, Phoebe Dawson-Damer, Phoebe Sun, Grace Walker-Barker and Mackenzie Willis. Bon chance!
Gala Arts
Gala Arts Program
Term 3 Key Dates and Upcoming Events:
- Week 1: Gala Arts (Friday 21 July)
- Week 2: Yr 7 Student led Parent Conferences (Wednesday 26 July)
- Week 3: Parent Presentation: Supporting Student Mental Health with a focus on Anxiety and Depression (Tuesday 1 August)
- Week 5: Science Week.
Mr Jimmy Tod-Hill
Year 7 Advisor
jtodhill@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9908 6462