Year 8

Yr 8 are Right Back into their School Routine

After moving through a full rotation of our new timetables, Yr 8 are certainly back into ‘the groove of things’, engaging in their lessons, finding new clubs to enjoy, meeting new people and preparing to get involved in their new Winter sports. On Monday, we held our first Chapel session of the year where students learned more about the foundations of Valentine’s Day and explored what the Bible says about love. Mackenzie confidently read out to the cohort one of the most well-known descriptions of love in literature:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

It gave us time to ponder how to bring ‘love’ to our own lives and the people around us in meaningful, caring ways.

On Tuesday, we began our Coaching Conversations between students and their Tutor. During these conversations, students are shown their iGrow tree, where their data in terms of academic achievement, effort, cocurricular involvement and general school behaviour and attendance are visible to students. Tutors carefully take students through such information, allowing them to process and reflect on it, before setting themselves goals for growth for the Term 1. This term, we encouraged students to set at least one academic goal and one growth goal, and they have been mature and thoughtful in engaging with this process.

Some of the thoughtful goals to arise thus far have been:

• I would like to improve my extended responses and focus in English. I will achieve this by asking my teacher for a scaffold and write this in the margins whenever I am writing an extended response.
• I would like to improve my performance in Maths, particularly focusing on Algebra. I feel focused in it but require more practice to fully grasp it. To achieve this, I will complete at least 3 extra practice questions every time I do maths home learning, to keep it fresh.
• I would like to be more consistently focused in class and listen to what the teacher is talking about because sometimes I forget what the instructions are.
• I would like to join more cocurricular activities this year with some friends and to meet new friends.
• I would like to practice meditating more, particularly for Football as it will help me forget about stress.
• My goal is to balance school, sport and as well as balancing free time to relax or hang out with friends and I’m doing this by planning ahead.

On Wednesday, there were a few jitters and a bit of nervous tension as students all proceeded to Redlands Hall to get their profile photos taken. How do I look? Is my hair okay? Is my tie done neatly? Can I borrow your jacket? Such questions bounced around the Hall as students patiently waited to put on their best smiles in front of the camera. I was impressed with Yr 8’s behaviour as they moved through the process smoothly, with a minimum of fuss.

If students were absent for their portrait photo, they can get it taken on the make-up date on March 1.

Today, Yr 8 students were engaged by cyber safety educators, ySafe, in considering their online presence and encouraged to consider how to operate safely in the online world. The presentation, ‘Mastering your Digital World’, reaffirmed key messages that were also explored last year based around protecting oneself from online abuse, predatory behaviour and knowing where to seek support if concerned by any online interactions. Students will consolidate this knowledge with further conversations and activities during Tutor this term.

Student Achievement – UNSW Gifted Students Program:

Congratulations to the following students who were invited to participate in the UNSW GERRIC Gifted Students Program held during the recent break on 10-12 January. To qualify for the program, students needed to show evidence of exceptional academic ability, achievement and critical thinking skills. They participated in university-style seminars and dealt with advanced content pitched at two years above their grade level. They also toured the science labs and observatory, as well as engaged in projects centred around cosmology, theories of relativity, myths about the lost city of Atlantis, the science of the brain and the practice of logical thinking.

Well done to all the Yr 8 students who were in attendance: Lachlan Carter, Lucas Gai, Thys Hulsbosch, Aimee Kang, Olivia Law, Aaron Oh and Gabrielle Thomas

Term 1 Key Dates and Upcoming Events:

• Year 8 Camp (Yarrahapinni National Park): Monday 4 March to Friday 8 March

Parent Online Safety Information Session (Via Zoom)

Thursday 15 February (this evening)
6pm – 7pm
This informative session provides relevant, positive, strategy-rich and practical content that help parents ignite conversations with their children about the online world and share the tools parents need to guide and support them.
Please register using this link.
A Zoom link to the online session will be emailed to those registered.

Secondary School Individual Portraits and Secondary School Sibling Photos Catch -up Opportunity

Friday 1 March

A catch-up date for missed Year 7-12 Individual Portrait photos and Secondary School sibling photos will be offered on 1 March at recess (10.10am) in the Redlands Learning Hub Level 2 Atrium.

All students are required to be wearing their full school uniform, including blazers for all and ties for boys. Boys must be clean shaven with hair that has been cut so that it is away from eyes, ears and collar. Boys and girls with a hair length touching the collar is to be styled and tied-up neatly so that it is away from eyes, ears and collar. Hair is to be tied back with navy or hair coloured accessories.  No hair dye, mullet style haircuts, make-up or nail polish is permitted. No jewellery is to be worn other than one pair of plain gold or silver studs in ear lobes.

If you have any questions, alterations or additional orders, please contact Melba Studios directly on (02) 9438 4566 or email sales@melbastudios.com.au.

Our Illuminate Scholars Program Commences in Week 5 this Term

Our new Illuminate Scholars program offers students the opportunity to engage in home learning activities and assessment preparation in an academically supported environment, with learner-centred academic coaching. 

To book your child’s place in this program, please visit the Illuminate Scholars Program Pulse Page here.

Mr Jimmy Tod-Hill
Year 8 Advisor
jtodhill@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9908 6462