Year 8

Week 7 – Long Weekend; Short week

After a long weekend of perfect sunny, winter weather, this week has been a short and fast one. I hope everyone got a chance to spend time with family and friends, relax and enjoy the extra weekend day away from a busy Term 2.

Tomorrow, Yr 8 will all attend their Geography excursion, visiting a variety of sites that will help them to understand and appreciate the circular economy. The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended, and, in practice, it implies reducing waste to a minimum. With Redlands working hard to adhere to principles in our sustainability charter, an excursion like this should offer a thought-provoking space for students to consider their environmental footprints and how they can reduce them. Stay tuned next week for some photos from the excursion!

Yr 12 Teachers in Training

Recently, as part of their fundraising initiatives, connected to the Festival of the Fahl, Yr 12 have been bidding for the right to take a teacher’s class for the period and teach a lesson. This week, 8B has the privilege of welcoming an enthusiastic trio of Yr 12s – Bianca, Emilie and Ethan – who created an engaging activity to explore a variety of films and film features with the class. The cohort have just begun studying the film Bran Nue Dae in English, so the Yr 12 lesson offered a fun and interactive quiz to prompt students to explore a range of the film elements they will be analysing further in English lessons this term and next.

Teamwork makes the Dream Work in PDHPE

This past week, students have been working together in groups to coordinate exercises and activities in PDHPE as part of their assessment program. I was lucky enough to capture 8G in action on Wednesday afternoon, working through some student led activities. 

Screen Time and Teen Mental Health – Insights and Tips for Parents

Our school participates in the Black Dog Institute’s Future Proofing Study, the largest and most comprehensive investigation of adolescent mental health in Australia. When our current Yrs 11 and 12 students were in Yr 8, families and students could choose to opt into the study or not.  

Researchers from the Black Dog Institute now visit our school every year to facilitate these enrolled students completing an anonymous online survey about all aspects of their mental health and wellbeing. This information is then analysed with the data from the other thousands of participants, and the analysis is provided to key decision makers to shape policy and service provision. 

In 2023, the researchers asked participants about their screen use and linked this input with participants’ mental health input. The research team then prepared a webinar for parents documenting their findings about teens, screens and mental health. This webinar also includes options for how parents can support their children navigate the digital world positively and safely

Please click here to watch this accessible and informative webinar on YouTube.  

Topics included in the webinar:

(1)    Background to the Future Proofing Study (at 3:13 mins)

(2)    How teens are using screens (at 4:10 mins)

(3)    The association between teen screen use and mental health (at 6:28 mins)

(4)    What families can do to support children to navigate the digital world (at 18:00 mins)

The researchers have also created a PDF of the webinar slides and content you can view here.

Further information is available here or you can email futureproofing@blackdog.org.au  

Athletics Training

In Week 8, there is an opportunity for all students in Yrs 7-12 to practice their event/s for the SS Athletics Carnival, which is coming up in Week 9. If you are interested, please complete the form HERE. Training will resume in Week 2, Term 3, every Monday morning from 6:30–7:30am at Balmoral Oval.

First Training Session Details:

  • Date: Week 8, Monday morning
  • Time: 6:30-7:30am
  • Location: Balmoral Oval

Key Information:

  • Transportation: Students must make their own way to Balmoral Oval to arrive by 6:30am. A bus will transport students back to the Senior School at 7:30am, giving them time to change before Period 1.
  • Training Focus: Events available at the training session include sprints, middle distance, throws, and long jump. High jump training will begin in Term 3 on Friday mornings in the gym from 7:00-7:45am.
  • Schedule: Training will commence in Week 8. There will be no training in Week 9, but it will resume every Monday throughout Term 3.

All students are welcome, including those who wish to use athletics training as fitness for other sports. We look forward to seeing you all at the first session!

Term 2 Key Dates and Upcoming Events

  • SS Athletics Carnival – Week 9: Tuesday 25 June
  • Police Liaison Officer task (cyber safety and social media) – Week 9: Thursday 27 June
  • End of Term 2 – Week 9: Friday 28 June

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