Year 8

Assessment Extensions 

Please be mindful that extensions for assessments are considered on a case by case basis through the Heads of Department. It is a school policy that students be given Assessment Notifications at least two weeks prior to assessment due dates. Students are expected to start planning and beginning these assessments at that time to avoid last minute issues or unforseen difficulties.  Tutors are available for organisation support and teachers are available for guidance in the Study Centre. Please see Study Centre timetable on Redlands Pulse and on the iLearn Yr 8 Pastoral Page. To see full details on assessments, please see the Assessment Booklet on the Redlands Pulse Yr 8 page. 

Cell Phone Usage 

This week, students have been reminded to keep phones off and stored between 8.20am and 3.20pm. Teachers will confiscate phones when in use during the school day. Many students will suggest that they need their phones to keep in contact with their families throughout the day. This is not the school’s policy. Any urgent matters where parents need to make contact with students should come through the Secondary School Office. We strongly encourage students not to be in continual contact with parents during the school day so they can focus on their social development, practice coping skills, develop independence and have meaningful conversations with their parents at the end of the day. We appreciate your support in reinforcing this message at home as well.  

Tutor Challenge

Congratulations to Dumolo Red for their correct answers and the most participation in the Yr 8 Tutor Challenge last week. This challenge included trivia and dance moves, including the worm. Well done Dumolo Red for showcasing your spirit, talent and participation!

Science Week

Students from Yrs 7-12 recently participated in a Paper Plane Competition as part of National Science Week. The task was to try and make a plane from a single sheet of A4 paper that would fly the further distance or stay in the air the longest time. All students had a great (and socially distant) time, with the winners being awarded some awesome Science prizes. The winners in the Junior Division (Yrs 7-9) were Jack Forrest (longest distance) and Lucile Thompson (longest time aloft). Yr 8 student Conor Petersen took 2nd prize in Distance. Well done to all those who participated!

Pastoral Care

This week in Pastoral Care, students will be learning about catastrophising and coping skills. Students will reflect on learning from failure and framing failures as opportunities for growth. Last week, students practised using an emotional thermometer to describe how they were feeling and linking that to their catastrophe scale to determine how bad an event really is, in perspective. This week students will be introduced to certain coping skills to help work through challenges and difficult times. Full lessons are linked in Yr 8 Pastoral Care page. 

Coping Skills presented through YouCanDoIt! Education include:

  • Being aware of how upset you are and deciding to keep calm
  • Relaxation techniques
  • Finding a ‘time out’ area to de-stress
  • Finding someone to talk to
  • Finding something fun to do to distract yourself
  • Exercising
  • Healthy eating
  • Having a good laugh and not taking yourself or the situation so seriously
  • Being assertive so that whoever is being negative towards you or is pressuring you stops
  • Internal problem solving to figure out how to make the problem go away

Ms Alissa Ynson
Yr 8 Advisor
9968 9863
aynson@redlands.nsw.edu.au