From the Principal

It is wonderful to have the energy of the students back on campus, with the anticipation of all that lies ahead for us in 2021.

A warm welcome to all new members of our Redlands community. Whilst we are still restricted to only having groups of 30 on campus, it was most enjoyable to meet some of our new parents on Orientation Day on Wednesday. In the Secondary School I asked the students, and subsequently the parents, to give some background as to where they were from. The answers included places from around the world and reflected the global connections that bind our community. It also reminded me how fortunate we are to live in Australia during this time.

I appreciated the opportunity to speak at both the Junior School and Secondary School assemblies this morning and to share some reflections on the importance of gratitude. When I asked the students to indicate if their family’s travel and Christmas plans had been impacted over the break, the vast majority of hands were raised. I am thankful that Lynn and I were to be able to get to Perth and spend time with our three adult children, and somehow managing to time it when the borders were briefly open.

I encouraged all students to be grateful for the small things in life and the opportunities that lie before them this year and to make the most of them. Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Catholic Benedictine Monk, states:

“It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It is gratefulness that makes us happy. Every moment is a gift. There is no certainty that you will have another moment, with all the opportunity that it contains. The gift within every moment is the opportunity it offers. Most often it is the opportunity to enjoy it, but sometimes a difficult gift is given to us and that can be an opportunity to rise to the challenge”.

The message to our students today was to rise to the challenges before them and to demonstrate perseverance and resilience in the face of any adversity they may experience this year.

With our Secondary School students, and building on words from Mr Guha in the Junior School assembly, I shared my gratitude and the inspiration I had gained from the beautiful words of US National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, who was chosen to read her poem at the Inauguration of US President Joe Biden. She demonstrated the power of words to touch the heart and soul and to inspire positive transformation. I recommend you view the full recording of her delivering her poem. These were the words I selected to share and discuss with the students

“If we merge mercy with might
And might with right
Then love becomes our legacy…..

For there is always light
Only if we’re brave enough to see it
Only if we’re brave enough to be it”

Wonderful alignment with our School Motto and a powerful reminder that it takes moral courage to let our light shine in full intensity.

May 2021 be a most memorable and joyful year for you and your families and may our students’ lights shine brightly.

Mr Stephen Webber

Photo caption: Kindergarten students enjoying their first day at school.

Foundation

A very warm welcome to all our Redlands families! I hope you all had a relaxing break and had time to reconnect with your families and friends in person or virtually. A special welcome to all our new families who have joined our vibrant and diverse community. There will be opportunities during the year to meet other parents, we will keep you posted on these events.

School Development Programs

Thank you to all our families who kindly made donations to the School’s Scholarship, Building and Library Funds. Your support is greatly appreciated as it helps us to develop and grow areas, which are important to our students and teachers.

In 2020, the School received almost $400,000 in donations and pledges towards the Building, Scholarship and Library Funds. We are very proud of our supportive community and thank you for your ongoing support.

We are pleased to announce the Fahl Garden (the landscaped area of the Learning Hub) is now open. This wonderful outdoor facility is named after Redlander Lynette Fahl, Class of 1964 (deceased). The Fahl family made a significant bequest to Redlands in the 1970s, in honour of Lynette.

During the holiday period, significant progress was made on upgrading the Humphery building and on the new access road connecting Military and Waters Roads.

This year our fundraising efforts will continue to support the means-tested Redlands Foundation Scholarship and grant a full-time scholarship named after Redlands teacher, the late Belinda Oxley, acknowledging her dedication to a Redlands education. For more information about this Scholarship Fund, please visit our website.

Community and Fundraising Events

With the ongoing COVID restrictions, we will advise on all Redlands events, later this term.

Alumni Update

During the holidays, Slanted Theatre presented the show Ching Chong Chinaman showcasing Asian-Australian emerging artists. Redlander Tiffany Wong, Class of 2015, and current staff member, performed in this production.  Well done Tiffany!

Mrs Dana Casimaty
Director of Development
dcasimaty@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9858

RPFA

Message from the President

Welcome back to the new school year; hard to believe that the holidays are over and we are back into the swing of lunches and timetables! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday despite lockdowns and restricted travel, and got to catch up with family.

It’s again going to be an interesting year and we will continue to adjust to our new normal. We will be looking at all our events this year and hoping that we can see people in person really soon. We will keep you informed of this happening as soon as we know. If you do have any concerns or we can be of any help, please feel free to reach out to anyone on the Committee directly and we would be more than happy to assist; otherwise please get acquainted with your PCG rep for this year, they will be reaching out to all the classes shortly. On that note, we are still looking for a couple of PCG representatives in the Secondary School so if you would like to get involved, please go to the Trybooking site SS PCG volunteer and sign up by 5 February to register your interest, we would welcome your contribution. 

I will be reaching out to all new parents with some more detail on the RPFA, but if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at rpfapresident@redlands.nsw.edu.au or my phone number is 0419 812 429.

As always, we look are looking to build a vibrant community at Redlands in 2021. Any way you would like to get involved or make suggestions on what you would like to see are welcome. The strength of our community is all of you and we certainly saw our community rally last year to assist each other in peculiar times and we believe the same will be true this year. We look forward to meeting many of you soon and wish you all the best for the year ahead.

Inaugural Second Hand Book Sale Results

On Monday 30 November, Secondary School students brought in over 730 used text books for sale or donation, saving over 2 tonnes of landfill. Over 200 books were sold and hundreds of superseded editions donated to Lifeline, who were very grateful. Over $400 was raised from the sales. Thanks to all the student and parent volunteers who made it possible.

Walks on Tracks

Our first walk for the school year will be on 3 February from the roundabout in front of The Buena to Cremorne Point. Meet at the roundabout at 8.40am.

For more information, please contact Ann Marie Kimber on 0406 691 533 or amkimber@gmail.com.

Book Club

Redlands Book Club finished the year discussing the Australian novel A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville. During our Christmas meeting, we had our annual book swap and raised $170 for the Indigenous Literacy Fund.

Our book list for 2020 covered many genres and showcased three Australian authors – we would highly recommend them all.

• • The Testaments – Margaret Atwood
  • A Match Made in Mehendi – Nandini Bajbai
  • Bad Blood – John Carreyrou
  • The Single Ladies of the Jacaranda Retirement Village – Joanna Nell
  • The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
  • White Girl – Tony Birch
  • American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins
  • A Room Made of Leaves – Kate Grenville

Our first book for 2021 will be by new Australian author Jane Naqvi called Jackjumper. All enquiries for new members to Katherine Dixon at dixon.katherine@gmail.com. We look forward to welcoming you!

2021 RPFA Committee

rpfa@redlands.nsw.edu.au

President: Michelle Tea
Vice President: JP Forrest
Secretary: Jo Lloyd 
Treasurer: Annette Swann
Committee: Maria Kinsela, Lilian Li, Anna Maidon, Karen Nicholson, Monique Scattini, Anna Maria Stillone, Sally Swan

From the Deputy Principal

Emergency Procedures at Redlands

At Redlands, our first priority is safety. In the coming weeks we will be conducting Lockdown and Evacuation Drills on both Sydney campuses – Junior and Senior – as part of our ongoing Emergency Training procedures.

As a School we have an Emergency Planning Committee, we have extensive emergency management plans in place, we train our students and staff, we conduct planned drills periodically and reflect and analyse when unplanned evacuations occur.

Our Plans

The School works with emergency management specialists to develop and implement safety procedures, and the goals of drills throughout the year are to improve our ability to protect students, save lives, and reduce injuries, in the event of an emergency situation. These practice drills allow us to evaluate our emergency response plans and improve our response skills.

We do not generally announce in advance whether a lockdown or evacuation is a planned exercise. It is essential for the safety of our students, staff and any campus visitors that they are very familiar with our processes and can perform the required steps to complete a safe lockdown or evacuation without forewarning. In the case of younger children, we practise these more frequently and in varying formats so that they are not unduly alarmed.

On both our Senior and Junior Campuses, students have been reminded about what to do in the case of a lockdown or an evacuation and all new students are provided with this information when they start at the School. This information is also contained in the front section of the Student Planner.

Communication

• Students are not, under any circumstances, permitted to use their mobile phone during a lockdown or an evacuation.
• We would usually not communicate to parents that we are undertaking a lockdown or evacuation unless it resulted in a serious emergency requiring a longer disruption to the School day.
• If an emergency situation does continue to disrupt the day, the School will communicate to parents via SMS if it is safe to do so.
• In the case of an emergency situation requiring parents to collect their children, the School will communicate to parents with specific details about pickup arrangements.

Site Access

No person may enter or leave the site during an evacuation or lockdown, including students, staff, parent visitors or helpers. If you are onsite during an evacuation or lockdown, you must follow the instructions of the staff, in particular the wardens (wearing coloured safety helmets). If you arrive whilst an evacuation or lockdown is in place, please wait patiently until it has concluded and it is deemed safe to enter the site.

Please talk with your child about the reason for these drills. Our goal, while practising important safety procedures, is to be sure all students feel safe and confident in how to respond. If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher (Junior Campus) or Tutor (Senior Campus).

Mr Sean Corcoran
Deputy Principal

Head of Secondary School

Welcome Back

Today marked our first official day back at school for 2021 and it was full of energy and excitement. Our students were able to spend time with members of their Tutor Group in the morning, where they shared their holiday experiences. They kindly welcomed 175 Yr 7 students and 29 new students in Yrs 8-11, and after the Welcome Assembly, they leapt straight into learning, with some having the opportunity to meet new teachers and others able to rekindle relationships with teachers who taught them previously.

Our opening Assembly set a great tone for the year ahead, with valuable messages from our Principal, Mr Webber and student leaders. In my address to the students, I challenged them to strive to be the best version of themselves in 2021. I spoke to the students about how being our best requires optimism, and that optimism doesn’t mean we need to pretend or smile all the time, but it does require a consideration of one’s mindset. Being the best version of ourselves means reflecting and reviewing how we approach people and situations and taking the time to discern the most appropriate way forward, in all that we do. It might be how we speak to someone; a friend, a teacher, our mum. It might be the decisions we make about how to spend our time or how to order our priorities. It might be what we choose to post on social media. It might be how we show our gratitude. I also reminded students that maintaining an optimistic and reflective mindset was especially necessary, when we move out of our comfort zones – be it in the classroom, on the sports field or in building new relationships.

This year we have much to be optimistic about – we have so much to look forward to. At this point, we have camps! Yr 7 and Yr 12 Camps are just around the corner and we are very excited that these Year Groups will be able to get away and have this experience early in Term 1. Some other things to be grateful for are the newly renovated classrooms and the outdoor space provided by the Fahl Garden. These renovated, open and airy spaces will enable the students to learn effectively, collaborate with one another and enjoy each other’s company.

Last week I sent home a Welcome Letter for 2021 to all Secondary School families with lots of information relevant to the commencement of the year. This letter has been published on Redlands Pulse if you missed it last week. 

Tutor Meetings

On Tuesday we held our start of the year Tutor meetings for returning students. We hope this initiative further strengthened the strong partnership between students, parents and teachers in the education of the students in the Secondary School. If you have any feedback on this day, please email Susan Jones as we hope to continue to strengthen this program in future years.

Yr 11 and 12 HSC / IB Information Nights

Yrs 11 and 12 HSC / IB Information Nights will be held via webinar on the following dates and times:

Monday 8 February – Yr 11 IB at 6.00pm
Tuesday 9 February – Yr 12 IB at 6.00pm
Wednesday 10 February – Yr 11 HSC at 6.00pm
Thursday 11 February – Yr 12 HSC at 6.00pm

Activities Fair – Friday

The start of a new school year is an excellent time to take a look at the wide variety of cocurricular activities on offer in the Secondary School, such as the Performing and Visual Arts, subject clubs, Debating and many more!

To launch the 2021 cocurricular program, students are invited to the annual Activities Fair this Friday at lunchtime, which is an opportunity to find out more about what is on offer. We encourage all students to try something new in 2021.

Further information about all the programs will be available on Redlands Pulse and a full timetable will be published in the coming weeks.

Uniform

Could I ask parents to assist in ensuring students’ dress and appearance (hair and uniform, for example) meet our standards as they return to school this week. Please refer to the Student Planner if you are uncertain of our expectations. Please note that while blazers are optional for students in Terms 1 and 4, students are still not permitted to wear fleeces or hoodies to and from school. If, on cooler days (hard to believe with the current weather), students want to wear an outer garment, they are required to wear their blazers both to and from school.

Secondary School Photos: Friday 5 March

Yrs 7-12 portraits and Secondary School siblings photos will be held on Friday 5 March. It is important that students are in full school uniform on these days. Please note blazers are mandatory for students in these photos.

Important Links and Guides

For those Parents and Carers new to Redlands this year, please find attached the Pulse links/guides to our user systems:

https://www.redlands.nsw.edu.au/redlandspulse2/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2020/03/Redlands-Pulse-iLearn-and-Engage-Instructions-v1.0.pdf

Below is the link to the Redlands Pulse Useful Links page:

https://www.redlands.nsw.edu.au/redlandspulse2/useful-links/

There are sometimes bumps in the road at the start of a new school year, so please contact the relevant Tutor, Year Advisor or teacher if you have any questions or feedback.

Yrs 10, 11 and 12 Tertiary Education Information Sessions for Parents

Next week we will be offering Tertiary Education Information Sessions for parents of students in Yrs 10, 11 and 12. These evenings are valuable sessions for parents to learn more about the tertiary education program offered for students at Redlands and will be held via Zoom. Links to the Zoom meetings were emailed on Friday 29 January and are below.

Yr 10: 5.00pm  (pw: lkZz09)
Yr 12: 5.45pm  (pw: oUT09)
Yr 11: 6.30pm (pw: WVQzQT09)

Message from School Nurse

• Attention parents of students with Medical Action Plans for potential life-threatening conditions: In order to help us to assist you in the management of your child’s health for the academic year 2021, it is imperative that you ensure that your child provides the Health Centre Nurse, with the pertinent valid emergency injector/medication (Insulin, EpiPen, Cortisone etc) and an updated Action Plan in a clearly labelled (preferably clear plastic) container by the end of Week 1.
• Attention parents of students with non-life threatening conditions who require prescription medications to be stored at school: At the discretion of the School Nurse, assistance will be given in the administration of short term prescribed medication, when requested in writing by parents/ guardians and accompanied by the relevant medical documentation. Prescribed medication to be retained in the Health Centre must be provided in the original container, with a label clearly displaying the student’s name and the doctor’s dispensing instructions.

Yr 8 Vaccinations – Friday 5 February

The Northern Sydney Public Health Unit will be holding a NSW Schools Vaccination clinic on Friday 5 February to administer Dose 2 of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) to Yr 8 students who began the NSW Schools Vaccination program in 2020. This will also be an opportunity to catch up on any missed Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis vaccines (dTpa)for students who were unable to attend the clinic in 2020. Students new to Yr 8 who have not received the HPV Dose 1 and 2 vaccinations or the dTpa should contact their GP.

Parent Information Kits included an information sheet, consent form and privacy statement were returned to the Year Advisors in 2020. You do not need to complete anything further.

Redlands and The Northern Sydney Public Health Unit have added additional infection control measures within the program to help minimise viral transmission between students, nurses, and school staff.

In preparation for the clinic:

• Students who are not feeling well must be kept at home. Students who are sick, especially with any acute respiratory symptoms, will not be vaccinated. The nurse will perform a pre-vaccination assessment and determine the student’s suitability to be vaccinated. Catch-up vaccinations for these students can occur at the next clinic.
• Students will be asked to use hand sanitiser upon entry to the clinic and before returning to their classroom.
• Students will arrive in smaller groups to prevent close-proximity queuing, and physical spacing will be applied.
• Please ensure your child has had breakfast on the morning of the vaccination.

A Record of Vaccination card will be provided to each student vaccinated at each clinic. Details about vaccinations given at school will also be uploaded to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) to support complete vaccination histories. Please note that if a student is absent from this clinic, they will be offered any missed doses at a subsequent clinic. They do not need to go to their GP for these vaccines. Visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation for further information and translated copies of the Vaccination Information Kits.

Ms Gemma Van de Peer
Head of Secondary School
gvandepeer@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9869

Careers

Yrs 10 – 12 Parent Tertiary Education Information Evening

This Information Session will be held via Zoom on Monday 1 February. A letter has been sent out to all parents this week, no RSVP necessary. The event is targeted at parents, as students will be receiving this information at school. Each session will run for 40 minutes.

Timings and links are as follows:

Yr 10: 5.00pm  (pw: lkZz09)
Yr 12: 5.45pm  (pw: oUT09)
Yr 11: 6.30pm (pw: WVQzQT09)

Ms Simone Salier
Tertiary Education and Careers Advisor
ssalier@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9867

Chaplain

Welcome to the New Year 2021. Reflecting on the strengths of our Redlands community, I am thankful. One of the distinctive features of our school is the opportunity that the students have to explore faith and have time in Chapel to engage with a sense of the transcendent yet immanent God. (The bible presents a God who is all powerful and good yet close to us and active in the world.) This reflection is the ancient Christian form of mindfulness: stilling the mind and focusing on the grandeur of God and a life well-lived. Prayer particularly helps in this, as each aspect of life with its stress and burden, is shared with the God who is near to us. Students are given the opportunity to explore these practices and adapt to their own inner faith system. These aspects of Christian practice have been shown in many psychological studies to be protective factors to student wellbeing.

It is natural for students during the adolescent years to engage with working out their own belief system. At Redlands, students are provided with information and skills to understand the Christian faith as expressed in the bible. They are challenged to think, question, probe and reflect as this is the only way to effectively engage with the bible. The bible has been a rich source of inspiration, encouragement, correction and innovation throughout the centuries. It has profoundly shaped our art, music, literature, science, history and values. This alone is good reason to engage with it in an intelligent, thinking manner, but there is more. The disciples responded to Jesus, ‘You have the words of eternal life, where else would we go?’ and this is what I hope our students discover as they explore; words that bring life, hope and peace.

This term Ms McKenzie, the Junior Campus Chaplain, is on Long Service Leave. During this time Ms Lihou, Chaplain of the Senior Campus, will be leading Chapels on the Junior and Prep Schools on Wednesdays. If parents or carers would like to discuss any aspect of the Chapel and its role in the school or if they would just like to chat, I am available so feel free to email me on the contact below.

God bless you in the coming year.

Ms Bronwyn Lihou
Senior Campus Chaplain
blihou@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9909 3133

Ms Fiona McKenzie
Junior Campus Chaplain
fmckenzie@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022

Year 12

Welcome Back

The school was a buzz today, as students returned from their summer break and it was super to reconnect with them and hear their holiday stories. I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Meta Regis as Assistant Advisor for Yr 12, for the duration of 2021. Dr Regis brings experience, passion and exceptional organisational skills to the role and the students too, are delighted with her appointment. Today, our Yr 12 students participated as the live audience for our Beginning of Term Assembly and they had the opportunity to hear our new Head of Secondary School, Ms Gemma Van de Peer speak to the community with an inspirational address. I know that Yr 12 look forward to year ahead with a mixture of enthusiasm, apprehension and excitement, Dr Regis and I are committed to supporting your sons and daughters as they complete their higher school studies.

Yr 12 Curriculum Camp

A Camp Briefing will be held tomorrow at recess for students in Redlands Hall. Parents, please could I request that you go onto Engage and give permission for this event if you are yet to do so. Buses will depart from Murdoch St at the Junior Campus on Monday morning, 1 February at 6.20am.

Ms Sarah Matthews
Yr 12 Advisor
smatthews@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9908 6494

Year 11

Welcome

Welcome back to Yr 11 and 2021! A special welcome also to our 11 new families who are joining us in Yr 11 at Redlands this year, coming from all over the world. We look forward to getting to know your children over the next two years.

Yr 11 Assistant Year Advisor

I would like to welcome Jess Howard as the new Yr 11 Assistant Year Advisor. Jess is also a well-respected PDHPE teacher and many of your children will already know her, in particular, if they have been involved in Netball over the past few years. Jess is excited to take on the role of AYA and is looking forward to getting to know the students this year.

Pastoral Care Program 

The start of Yr 11 begins an interesting and exciting journey for the students as they each take on either their HSC course or IB course. We encourage them to support each other, regardless of which course they are completing. Our Pastoral Care Program this year will focus on helping them to become life-ready and maximise their final two years of school. At the start of each term and each week, students will be completing a study plan during Tutor Time, to assist them in planning their time effectively. In addition, we will be supporting the organisation M’Lop Tapang in Cambodia, where students will spend the year learning about diversity and working in groups to organise fundraising events for Cambodian students. I will provide an overview each week in Note Day and also students have access to our Yr 11 Pastoral iLearn page, so please feel free to ask them if you wish to look at what we are covering throughout the year.

Careers Information

This year we will continue working closely with our Careers Advisor, Ms Simone Salier, who will be regularly talking to the students and offering one-on-one meetings throughout the year. Please encourage your child to take advantage of Ms Salier’s expertise as she is able to provide valuable advice on both University and TAFE further education courses. Ms Salier kicks off next week when she speaks to all of Yr 11 and also offers a Tertiary Education Information evening for parents on Zoom, details having been sent to you previously via email.

Leadership Opportunities

Our Peer Support Leaders were fully engaged on Wednesday, looking after the new Yr 7 students, and they have done a wonderful job making them feel welcome as they begin Secondary School. There will be other leadership opportunities for the students this year and I look forward to seeing how each student develops their leadership skills throughout the year.

Uniform Expectations

We appreciate your support in ensuring each student wears their school uniform with pride and follows the school regulations in regards to haircuts, length of dresses, no make-up, no hair dye, and only acceptable jewellery. By providing your support, Jess and I are able to focus on continuing to develop positive relationships with each student.

Flexischools

Flexischools is now the only way for students to order food from the school Canteen each day. Students have been told that they need to download the app and provide an account, ensuring they order before 8.30am each day that they require lunch. There will be limited availability of snacks in the Canteen if students do not order what they require prior to the start of the school day.

As usual, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Jess and your child’s Tutor over the coming year should you have any questions or concerns.

Have a great week!

Ms Rebecca Mountain
Yr 11 Advisor
rmountain@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9908 6462

Year 10

Key Dates

Welcome to Our New and Returning Students

We would like to warmly welcome the following five new and returning Yr 10 students to the Redlands:

• Jessica Gross – Roseby White
• Trinity Hoffman – Roseby Red
• Julia Murphy – Roseby Red
• LuLu Moya – McDouall Blue 
• Eve Phillips – Dumolo Red

Ms Eleanor Martin and I wish them well as they settle into the Yr 10 cohort and Redlands community. 

New Yr 10 Tutors

Yr 10 is privileged to have Dr Jane Sloan and Mr Jack Gooding join our Yr 10 Pastoral Team for 2021. Dr Jane Sloan is a highly experienced English teacher and will be joining Cowper Yellow. Jane will be replacing Yuji Okawa who has done a sensational job as the Cowper Yellow Tutor for the last three years.
Mr Jack Gooding is an experienced Rugby coach and Strength and Conditioning coach and will be joining Cowper Blue in replacement of Lucienne Willis who is taking on her new role as the Yr 7 Assistant Year Advisor.  

Communication

A reminder that subject related questions should be directed to your child’s teacher or relevant Subject Coordinator. If you are unable to find the necessary contacts, please contact your child’s Tutor who will be able to assist.

Online Canteen Orders

From the beginning of Term 1 2021, purchasing food from the Canteen will be via a pre-order system, Flexischools. While some snacks will still be available for students to purchase in person, the majority of meals will need to be pre-ordered via Flexischools using the app or website, prior to 8.30am. Parents and carers create a Flexischools account for their child via this link. 

Careers Testing and Parent Tertiary Education Information Evening

As part of the Yr 10 Careers program, Redlands offers a career assessment opportunity to all Yr 10 students. We encourage every student to participate as the results aim to help students with their subject selection for Yrs 11 and 12, as well as provide a great start for research into potential tertiary courses and future pathways after school.

On 1 February from 5.00-5.40pm, Careers Advisor, Ms Simone Salier will be conducting a Tertiary Education Information Evening via Zoom. Important information about the Tertiary Education and Careers program for Yr 10 will be covered. 

On Wednesday 3 February, Yr 10 will participate in a half-day careers testing session run by Dr Marian Kratzing, a Careers Psychologist and Director of Career Avenues. Dr Kratzing has developed a unique career profiling system which she and her colleagues provide to many independent schools in Sydney. Students will undertake the Careers Test via their laptops in Redlands Hall and will need to arrive at school at 8.15am on Wednesday morning with their personal laptops fully charged. 

Mr Nicholas Walker
Acting Yr 9 Advisor
nwalker@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9909 3133

Year 9

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

I do hope this summer gave you and your family time to rest, reflect, have fun and connect around the holidays and with some much-needed time away from the regular daily routine. Katharine Boase, the Yr 9 Tutors and I are all looking forward to seeing the students this week, catching up on the holidays and supporting them in reflecting on Yr 8 and setting their goals as they begin for Yr 9. 

Our Yr 9 Pastoral Team also wanted to reiterate our heartfelt thanks for the beautiful notes and gifts shared with the team at the end of last year.

This is now the third year that many of our Tutors have been working with your children. Several Tutors have also taught the cohort in their academic classes as well. The more we know your students and the stronger our communication is between home and school, the more we are able to ensure your children are getting the necessary support as they move through Secondary School. 

As Yr 9 students, we do encourage them to begin reaching out to their Tutors first when issues arise to ensure a trusted adult at school is aware of any situation that may be occurring. These situations may be as simple as a classroom mix-up to something more significant, such as a friendship concern. Tutors will share some information with Year Advisors for additional support yet all student information is protected and kept confidential as we have the student’s best interest at heart. We truly appreciate your support in encouraging your children to reach out to a trusted adult at school as again, we want to get these issues resolved as soon as possible so our students can move forward and grow from each experience they encounter.   

Thank you in advance for your support and communication throughout this year ahead.

Welcome New Students

Yr 9 Service Initiative with Salvation Army Clothing Collection

Last year, every other week throughout Terms 3 and 4, a group of students voluntarily gave their time to plan Service and leadership initiatives for the cohort. This same group organised a clothing drive with the Salvation Army, an international Christian movement aiming to give hope where it is needed by providing clothing to those in need. 

Our Yr 9 cohort will be collecting gently worn clothing of all sizes, except for underwear and stockings, at the beginning of this school year. Please start compiling items to support this great cause. Thank you especially to Jocelyn Wang, Yumi Konetzny and Daisy Thomas for their efforts in helping to organise this event along with several other Yr 9 students. Collection dates will be released shortly. 

Ms Alissa Ynson
Yr 9 Advisor
9968 9863
aynson@redlands.nsw.edu.au  

Year 8

Key Dates

Welcome back to the start of the new year, and most excitingly, the beginning of Yr 8. I hope that all families had a lovely Christmas break spent with family and friends. We also warmly welcome eight new students to our cohort: Charlie Fenton, Jayden Hannaford, Megan Kirkpatrick, Grace Matthews,  Arin Moya Jones, Hiro Phillips, Sonia Polok and William Thassim.

Effort Tracking

This week, students will have had a chance to go through their Approaches to Learning Reports from the end of last year. Students have met with their Tutors to reflect on the data, to target specific subjects, and to set new goals as they begin Term 1. We have been incredibly proud of the effort grades our students achieved last year; their hard work, persistence and dedication to achieve course outcomes was exceptional, and we look forward to further supporting them in this process.

Yr 8 Vaccinations Friday 5 February

The Northern Sydney Public Health Unit will be holding a NSW Schools Vaccination clinic on Friday 5 February to administer dose 2 of the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) to Yr 8 students who began the NSW Schools Vaccination program in 2020. This will also be an opportunity to catch up any missed Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis vaccines (dTpa) for students who were unable to attend the clinic 2020. Students new to Yr 8 who have not received the HPV dose 1 and 2 vaccinations or the dTpa should contact their GP.

Parent Information Kits that included an information sheet, consent form and privacy statement were returned to the Year Advisors 2020. You do not need to complete anything further.

Redlands and The Northern Sydney Public Health Unit have added additional infection control measures within the program to help minimise viral transmission between students, nurses, and school staff.

In preparation for the clinic:

• Students who are not feeling well must be kept at home. Students who are sick, especially with any acute respiratory symptoms, will not be vaccinated. The nurse will perform a pre-vaccination assessment and determine the student’s suitability to be vaccinated. Catch-up vaccinations for these students can occur at the next clinic.
• Students will be asked to use hand sanitiser upon entry to the clinic and before returning to their classroom.
• Students will arrive in smaller groups to prevent close-proximity queuing, and physical spacing will be applied.
• Please ensure your child has had breakfast on the morning of the vaccination. 

A Record of Vaccination card will be provided to each student vaccinated at each clinic. Details about vaccinations given at school will also be uploaded to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) to support complete vaccination histories. Please note that if a student is absent from this clinic, they will be offered any missed doses at a subsequent clinic. They do not need to go to their GP for these vaccines. Visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/immunisation for further information and translated copies of the Vaccination Information Kits.

Online Canteen Orders Through Flexischools

From the beginning of Term 1 2021, purchasing food from the Canteen will be via a pre-order system, Flexischools. While some snacks will still be available for students to purchase in person, the majority of meals will need to be pre-ordered via Flexischools using the app or website, prior to 8.30am. Parents and carers create a Flexischools account for their child via this link. 

Uniform

As we begin the new school year, we appreciate your support in maintaining our uniform standards by ensuring that the uniform is clean and in good repair. Students are expected to have neat hair, of natural colour, and are not permitted to wear makeup. In terms of jewellery, small gold or silver studs or sleepers are permitted. It is a particularly appropriate time to check that the hem length of girls’ dresses reaches the knees and whether shirts and trousers still fit after the summer holiday period. We also ask parents to ensure that all student items are clearly labelled.

Please note that in Terms 1 and 4, blazers are optional and in Terms 2 and 3, blazers are a mandatory part of the uniform. Blazers are also required for special days which will be announced ahead of time.

Hats are strongly encouraged when playing outside at lunch or recess. Sunscreen is available from either the Secondary School Office or Nurse’s Office.

Lockers and School Bags

All students will be assigned lockers on the first day of school. Students are responsible for bringing a lock to secure their locker. Bags are not to be brought to class for safety reasons and to support traffic flow around the school. Students (Yrs 7-10) should secure their bags in their locker at the beginning of the day and carry only the materials they need for their immediate classes, returning to their locker during the breaks in the school day, to retrieve other items.

Technology and Mobile Phone Usage

Technology is used for learning purposes only. Students in Yrs 7-10 should keep their mobile phones in their lockers throughout the day and are not permitted to have them out in the playground at recess or lunch. When necessary, teachers will direct students to use their laptops and/or mobile phones in the learning space. At recess and lunch, students are to leave their devices in their locked locker. At this time, students are encouraged to REST with each other; to Refresh, Exercise, Socialise and have Time-Out. If students wish to engage in academic activities at lunchtime, and require their laptop, then they should do so in the Library.

Ms Lisa Vale
Yr 8 Advisor
9968 9837
lvale@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Year 7

Transition Day  

I would like to pass on my sincere thanks to all the students for how well they conducted themselves on Wednesday for Transition Day. They were all in good spirits and it was lovely to see our new Yr 7 students getting involved with all the activities. Ms Willis and I know that there was a lot of information they had to absorb throughout the day. If your child has any further questions or concerns, please ask them to speak with their Tutor to get them resolved. We really encourage our students to take ownership over their learning and day to day school business when they move into Secondary School.

Week 1 Reminders

• Please ensure your child has a combination lock for their school locker
• A Flexischools account is needed to order food from the school Canteen
• Camp permission needs to be given through Redlands Pulse (Student Details)

Allwell Catch Ups – Friday 29 January

Students require either a blue or black pen and it is being held in Room L2.2. Schedule is: 
8.15am – meet Dean of Students in Liggins Quad
8.45am – Start Session 1
10.45am – Recess
11.05am – Start Session 2
12.30pm – Finish   

Mr Edward Atkins
Yr 7 Advisor 
eatkins@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9909 3133

Head of Junior School

Welcome to 2021

It has been wonderful to have enjoyed having our students back on campus today as we start the 2021 school year full of hope and excitement. Yesterday’s orientation session for our new students allowed them to feel much more settled today and it was lovely to see our current students taking care of them during breaks and in the classrooms as I have wandered around the Campus through the day.

Despite the drizzle, there has been palpable energy and I acknowledge the preparative work of our teachers, support staff and Facilities team over the holidays to allow us to hit the ground running.

In our Welcome Assembly this morning, we welcomed our new staff and our new students, and our Principal, Mr Webber, spoke to the students about the importance of gratitude which resonated with students and staff alike.

Unable to sing together, the students also enjoyed listening to the stunning voice of Head of Junior Campus Music, Mrs Richardson, singing our National Anthem and in particular, we recognised the importance of the change of word in the second line from ‘young and free’  to ‘one and free’  to be more inclusive of Australia’s indigenous communities and acknowledging our ancient past.

During this assembly, I shared three key messages for the students for the year ahead and I encourage you to engage in conversations with your child on the topics, just as I intend to also do over the year.

The first was about the significance of our School Values: Respect, Honesty, Fairness, Compassion, Responsibility and Moral Courage, as key qualities of being a good person and our hope that these values intrinsically become part of our students’ character. As I explained to the students, an important role of the School is to grow noble people as well as good thinkers and learners and I asked the students to strive to aim to live these values, both at school and at home and not just when someone else is watching.

My second message centred around us all focusing on just one word that we hope might inspire and define us in 2021. This has been a theme for the Junior School for the last few years where instead of having longer-worded goals, each student and teacher has chosen to focus on just one word for the year. I shared my own word for 2021, perspective, and my aim to look to see wider perspectives on a range of matters, particularly from the students in some of our decision-making and to focus on keeping things in perspective at all times.

Some of the classes have already discussed this idea and a number of students have shared their #oneword2021 with me already in passing, which I have loved hearing about; but more importantly, why the word is poignant for them. I encourage you to ask your child what their one word for 2021 might be and ask them to explain why they have chosen this word. And you may even like to consider a word yourself and share it with your child?

My third and final message was centred around the inspirational oration of The Hill We Climb by America’s First Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, during President Biden’s Inauguration Day ceremony. In particular, the final words of the poem truly moved me as I shared with the students and share below:

For there is always light
If only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

I asked the students to look to see where they might be brave this year and be a light for others which has a beautiful connection to our own Redlands School motto, Luceat Lux Vestra – Let your light shine.

The staff and I look forward to supporting each and every child this year as we aim to provide experiences and opportunities to enable each student’s light to shine and to foster the light in others around them.

Meet the Teacher Information Evening (Zoom)

As previously communicated, a letter will be sent tomorrow with the Zoom links to next Thursday’s Meet the Teacher Information Evening.

Yrs 3 and 4      Thursday 4 February – 5.00-5.45pm 
Yrs 5 and 6      Tuesday 4 February – 6.00-6.45pm

School Photographs

School photos taken by Melba Photography take place next Thursday 4 February and all students will be required to be in full school uniform including their school blazers for the photos. For this day only, if students have swimming, they should bring their sports kit separately.

Swimming Program (Weeks 2 and 3)

Ahead of our Swimming Carnival on Wednesday 17 February, each Year Group will have two swimming sessions commencing next week and parents should have received notification of this and to provide online permission. This has been coordinated by our PDHPE staff team and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Faye Dongas.

Drop Off, Parking and Pick-Up

I am very grateful to parents who supported this morning’s staggered drop off which made for a smooth arrival for our students. Please be mindful that many families are new to Redlands and are getting to grips with new parking and pick-up arrangements. For families using the carline process, please remind your child to wait with the duty teacher at the Junior School gate and follow the guidelines clarified in the letter sent last week. It is also important to arrive as close to 3.20pm as possible to avoid additional congestion to our younger Prep School students’ departure times. We have duty staff looking after the children at all gates and bus stops until 3.45pm so do not worry if you are held up in traffic or a little late. Thank you, in advance, for your cooperation and support.

2021 Junior School Captains

After the formal announcement of our new Junior School Leaders for 2021 at last year’s Speech Day, I was delighted to re-introduce these students to the Junior School in our assembly, where they were duly recognised again. As I shared with the students, I have every confidence that they, alongside every one of their peers in Yr 6, will set a wonderful example to the rest of the Junior School in the year ahead and we wish them all the best in their student leadership roles.

Junior School Captains – Caroline Brown and Alexander Heller
Arts Captains – Lillyah Rafferty and Sam Ashby
Sports Captains – Amelie Dewar and Jeffrey Benoliel
Cowper House Captains – Zoe Potter and Daniel Benoliel
Dumolo House Captains – Zara Marks and George Andrews
McDouall House Captains – Ava Keller and James Forrest
Roseby House Captains – Charlotte Algar and Charlie Reeves 

Class Parent Representatives

We are always fortunate to have parents volunteer for the role of Class Parent each year and class teachers will seek interest for this role at the Meet the Teacher evening next week. The role is not an onerous one but is one that makes such a huge difference for families in the class, particularly our newer families to Redlands. If you would like to nominate as the person for your child’s class or if you have any questions about the role, please do feel free to contact either of our Junior School Parent Contact Group Coordinators, Rebecca James, or Becky Gait who will be only too willing to assist.

Mr Ari Guha
Head of Junior School 
aguha@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022

Head of Preparatory School

Welcome to a new and exciting year at Redlands Preparatory School. We welcome back all our existing friends and new families. Despite the drizzle, excitement and a few tears, the first day of 2021 was a hit. It is so special to see our parents on campus again and to see big smiles as they walk through the doors. Thank you to everyone for using the QR codes on entry and exit and also for socially distancing when in the playground. Please remember that each time you enter and exit the Campus, we require parents to use the QR code.

With so many new families in Prep, we would love you to become involved. There are many ways that you can be involved in your child’s education; one of which is to become a Class Parent. Being a Class Parent is a really great way to get to know other families in your class/Year Group and to help build a positive Redlands community.

All interested parents are welcome. Some key points that may help you in your decision are outlined below:

• There is a Class Parent for each class in the Prep School
• The key function of the role is to coordinate social activities for your class to build a strong and positive Redlands community. Class Parents may also work together to organise activities across the Year Group from time to time.
• While only one parent is required per class, it is absolutely fine if two parents would like to team up and share the role.
• It is a role that both mums and dads have taken on in the past.

If you have any additional questions about the role, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jennifer Mast, who is coordinating the Class Parents for the Prep School this year. 

If you are interested in becoming a Class Parent, please ask Mrs Hunt or Mrs Rosling at Prep Reception for a copy of the Duty Statement, and also provide your details to them.  

Year Group Letters and Information

Each Year Group Coordinator will be sending out a Year Group letter on Monday, Week 2. This will be emailed to you and found on the Year Group Redlands Pulse pages. This letter will contain information regarding specific Year Group logistics, contacts and upcoming key dates. Zoom links to the Parent Information session will also be included. Individual class teachers won’t be sending letters out so please contact them directly through email or via the Student Planner for any questions you have.

Parent Information Session

The K-2 Prep School Parent Information session will be held on 2 February at 5.30pm.

The first session will be used for me to talk to the Prep families and the second link will be for the individual Year Group sessions. This session will include curriculum information, wellbeing discussion, logistics and many other helpful information. There will be a chat room function in the Year Group sessions.

Mrs Ainslie Breckenridge
Head of Preparatory School
abreckenridge@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9848

Redlands House/Transition Gold

Welcome

What a fabulous first few days we have had in Redlands House and Transition Gold to start the year! We warmly welcome all new and returning families to our environment and look forward to embarking on a wonderful year of fun and learning together.

Parent Information Session

For Redlands House families this event will take place via Zoom in Week 2. This event is for parents to listen and participate in the presentation from the Redlands House teachers.

Redlands House  Tuesday 2 February – 4.00-4.30pm  https://redlands.zoom.us/j/98202620883

Transition Gold    Wednesday 3 February – 4.00-4.30pm https://redlands.zoom.us/j/95958202868

Parking

Parking around the school can be problematic, especially around pick up time. To ease congestion and ensure the safety of our students, the Prep School uses a carline that enables parents to collect their children from the underground carpark from 2.45pm each day. We, therefore, ask Redlands House families to refrain from parking in the five minutes parking zone outside the Preschool from 2.45pm onwards. Families are still able to park for five minutes out the front of Redlands House between 2.30 – 2.45pm. Cones will be placed on the road at 2.45pm, not before, in order to prepare for the Prep Carline.

Food Breaks

Just a reminder that each child has three breaks for food in the Preschool each day – Crunch & Sip, Morning Tea and Lunch. They will need three separate containers that are all labelled or their name written on the outside of the packet.

Crunch & Sip is a small fruit or vegetable snack that is accessible to the children, along with their drink bottle, please place the container in the wire basket at the door of your child’s classroom.

Morning Tea and Lunch are stored in separate containers in the big fridge in the foyer. Each class has a fridge door to open. Morning Tea containers are kept in the class basket in the fridge and lunch boxes are stored on the shelf.

Please remember that we are an Allergy Friendly Centre (ie. allergy aware) and have a number of children with serious allergies. Therefore, we ask that any food your child brings to Preschool does not contain nuts or traces of nuts, egg or shellfish. We have a number of resources containing nutritious and well-balanced lunch box ideas available in our parent library in the foyer for inspiration.

Birthdays

The Preschool staff love to celebrate the children’s birthdays each year. The children love to celebrate their birthday too – it’s a great conversation topic all year round!  We have many children in the Preschool with food allergies, so we are not permitting cakes or any type of food in the Preschool for birthday celebrations. Please be assured we will celebrate their special day in a variety of ways.

Mrs Chemane Huon
Redlands House and Transition Coordinator
chuon@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9904 1448

Mrs Ainslie Breckenridge
Head of Preparatory School
abreckenridge@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9848

Secondary Sport

Secondary Sport on Redland Pulse incl Rhino

Basketball

Over the holidays we had some fantastic opportunities on offer for our Redlands Basketball players with a sports clinic for our 1sts Boys and Girls and skills sessions available. It was great to see many students preparing for the upcoming Term 1 season. We finished the 1sts Basketball clinic with a game for both the Girls and Boys teams. The Girls played against a Manly combined team and, despite the Manly team managing to get off to an early lead, the Redlands girls managed to find their way back into the game. By the final quarter, Redlands had created a solid lead of their own which they held onto until the end of the game. The 1sts Boys played against the Northern Beaches combined boys school team. It was a closely contested game over the first three quarters and Redlands showed some great form despite not having played together since Term 4. The Northern Beaches team pulled away in the last quarter, however, it was a great pre-season hit-out for our Redlands 1sts.  

We held a Redlands 3×3 tournament with 23 teams entered into five divisions, with some great games across all divisions. Hopefully, the success of this event will lead to this being an annual event for the Redlands Basketball students.  

Round 1 of the Term 1 2021 season will commence on Saturday 6 February. A reminder that the most up to date Basketball information is available on Redlands Pulse. Please make this your first point of contact for all of the Redlands Sport information.  

Swimming

Swimming training starts this week, Friday 29 January. Registered students should make their way directly to the bus located on Military Road outside the Adams Centre at 3.20pm. For further information and if you would like to provide permission for your son/daughter to make their own way home or you intend to collect them, please email Eliza Peirce. 

Tennis

Welcome back to Summer Tennis for 2021. As communicated earlier this week, Tennis training resumes on Thursday with the first Tuesday morning training session on Tuesday 2 February. Training groups remain the same for Term 1. The training schedule can be located on Redlands Pulse. The first round of the Term 1 Summer NSTA competition will be Saturday 6 February. The draw will be available early next week. All students should be prepared to play on Saturday 6 February. Just a reminder, please email Eliza Peirce if your son/daughter is absent from training or matches due to illness or injury. Further information surrounding COVID restrictions on Saturday will be communicated closer to the time. Face masks are compulsory when traveling on a bus for sport.

Ms Alison Cox
Head of Secondary School Sport
sports@redlands.nsw.edu.au

All Sports contacts can be found on Redlands Pulse.​

Junior Sport

Welcome back to all families and students in what promises to be a very exciting year for sport in the Junior School. A special welcome to those families who are new to Redlands in 2021. I hope you and your family enjoyed the Christmas and New Year break despite the restrictions that were in place. This term of sport will hopefully be a bit less restrictive than what we experienced in Term 4 in terms of opposition schools, fixtures and venues. Similar to last year, we will be asking students to continue to practice good hygiene at all times and to use the hand sanitisers available here at school, before and after sport training and matches.

Term 1 is always a busy time plus we have two of our major carnivals (Swimming and Athletics) taking place. There will be information aplenty coming from the School and to aid you in this process, new initiatives and procedures from last year will continue.

Upcoming Events/Key Dates

Term 1 Summer Sport

As you would be aware, towards the end of last year you would have nominated either a Representative Sport (Saturday commitment playing other schools with training taking place in school hours on a Wednesday) or a Non-Representative Sport (Wednesday sport with no Saturday commitment) for your child to participate in this term. A reminder of what sport your child has selected can be found here: 2021 Summer Sport Choices

If your child has nominated to participate in a representative sport (Saturday commitment), there will be compulsory trials on Saturday 30 January and Saturday 6 February. Details with times and venues for these trials can be found on Redlands Pulse.

For all Representative Sports, ability based gradings will occur at these trials for students to be allocated into teams in preparation for Round 1 of our Saturday Sport competition. 

As outlined in Term 4 last year, all representative sports are at capacity (with the exception of Yrs 4 and 5 Girls Football) and no changes are permitted to representative sports. Changes between non-rep sports up until Friday 28 January are permitted. 

Wednesday School Sport

Our normal Wednesday Summer sport (for both representative sport and non-representative sport will commence in Week 2 Wednesday 3 February. This will include morning sessions for representative sports (Basketball and Touch Football) as well as normal afternoon sport for all students. Please ensure your child has the correct gear and equipment (if required) for their chosen sport. Please refer to the Uniform information booklet located on Redlands Pulse if unsure. 

Absences from Saturday Sport

For those students who are representing Redlands in fixtures on Saturdays and will miss their game due to illness or misadventure, parents/carers are required to complete this online absence form. This will allow your responses to be passed on electronically to your child’s coach efficiently and at short notice. The Student Absence link can also be found on Redlands Pulse.

Redlands Pulse

The Junior School Sport pages on Redlands Pulse will continue to be the ‘source of truth’ for all information relating to sport this term. I am asking that if parents have an enquiry relating to sport that your first port of call will be the Junior School Sport section of Redlands Pulse.

Student Absence

From this term onwards, if students are absent on match day, parents are required to complete this online absence form. This will allow your responses to be passed on electronically to your child’s coach efficiently and at short notice. The Student Absence link can also be found on Redlands Pulse.

Team Movement

This may already occur but the aim is now to make the process more transparent for all parties as unexplained team movements sometimes cause unnecessary stress. At Redlands our teams are ‘fluid’, meaning teams may change from week to week depending on three main criteria:

Ability: in direct comparison to other students on the team
Attendance: any student who misses two games in a season unrelated to sickness may be moved
Attitude: this is based on behaviour at trainings, on game day and not limited to the sporting arena

Swimming Carnival

This term we will have the Swimming Carnival on 17 February and the Athletics Carnival on 31 March. Both carnivals will be using entrant numbers as a way of recording results and identifying students in their races. In preparation for this carnival, every student has been allocated with a 1, 2 or 3 digit entrant number and will need to memorise their own entrant number. This number is a computer reference for their colour House, DOB, events etc and on the day when they finish their race (by touching the touch pads in the pool), they can see their name and time on the large digital screen. More importantly, it is how your child will sign up for events on the day. It is important that your child knows their entrant number and has it clearly marked on their arm before the Carnival. It will be the same number for all Carnivals this year. For more information relating to the upcoming Swimming Carnival, please click here.

Athletics Carnival

Trials for the Athletics Carnival (optional for all students) will be conducted during Wednesday Sport, before and after school and during the Carnival:

3 March – Before school 7.00-8.00am – Shot Put Trials
3 March – After school 3.30-4.45pm – High Jump TrialS
10 March – During Wednesday Sport – Long Jump Trials
31 March – During Athletics Carnival – Discus Trials

Registration for these trials is now open here.

I look forward to meeting many of you over the course of the term and beyond and please don’t hesitate to contact our Sports team via the contact details below, if you have any questions pertaining to Sport.

Have a great term.

Mr Trevor Dunne
Head of Junior Sport
tdunne@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9953 6022

Kirsty O Sullivan
Sports Administrator
juniorsport@redlands.nsw.edu.au  

Ballet and Dance

Welcome to 2021

We look forward to welcoming new and returning students to the Ballet and Dance Academy.

Please note our classes, including private classes, start week commencing Monday 1 February. 

Please see Redlands Pulse for further information on the Ballet and Dance Academy, including class timetables and auditions and our wonderful End of Year Concert.

Any Questions?

Please contact us at dance@redlands.nsw.edu.au. We would love to hear from you.

Ms K Martin
Head of Ballet and Dance
kmartin@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9908 6461

Drama and Theatre

Welcome everyone to an exciting Term 1 at Redlands Drama and Theatre. A special welcome to all our new families. Redlands offers a variety of courses in Acting, Theatresports, Shakespeare, Musical Theatre, Film and Production for students from Preschool to Yr 12. There are lots of fabulous activities, festivals, performances and competitions planned for 2021. Any student interested in joining any of our classes can collect an enrolment form from any reception, Redlands Pulse or via email. All classes commence in Week 2.

Musical Rehearsals

Our full rehearsal schedule is on iLearn and has been emailed to all Musical Company families. Exact scenes, songs and students required for each rehearsal are available on iLearn for students, on the Drama and Theatre notice board and also on Redlands Pulse each week for parents. Students are reminded to be prompt to all rehearsals, bring plenty of food and water, wear appropriate clothing as required, and the very important libretto!

Makeup and Props Team

Any student interested in Theatre Makeup or Property Creation is invited to become part of the Makeup or Props team for 2021. Students will meet every week on Friday afternoons and are trained in stage makeup and stage properties. The teams will be involved in school functions throughout the year such as the Musical and Gala Arts. Any student interested in joining these groups should collect an enrolment form from the Drama and Theatre office.

Junior School Theatresports

Any student wishing to participate in Theatresports in Junior School is welcome to join us at lunch on Tuesday. Meet at the flagpole on 2 February. Workshops are free and open to all students from Year 3 to 6.

Secondary School Theatresports

Redlands Theatresports competition preparation is beginning! Workshops are free and open to all students from Yrs 7 to 12. Classes take place on Tuesday lunchtimes in the Drama Studio. Redlands will be holding our Carnival and will be entering a Senior and Intermediate team in Impro Australia’s 2021 Theatresports  Schools Competition. The regional TSC takes place in Term 2 with heats running from early May. Winning schools will progress to take part in the qualifying finals in June and the top teams in each division will go into a Grand Final at the Enmore Theatre at the end of June 2021.

Shakespeare Festival on Screen 

This year the Shakespeare Festival is focussing on film acting techniques. You can submit a film of your performance and be judged by the esteemed Darren Gilshenan! (Stateless,The Moodys, Here Come the Habibs!, Harrow)

Step 1: Choose your category. The categories are:

• Duologue (2 people)
• Ensemble Scene (3-10 people)

Due to Covid restrictions, please ensure you only work with your Year Group. (eg. If you are in Yr 9 you can only work with Yr 9 students)

Step 2: Choose your Shakespeare Play

• Click here (Links to an external site.) to access resources.

Step 3: Register your interest by completing the Google doc – Click here (Links to an external site.)

Step 4:

• Research the context of your scene.
• Rehearse your scene.
• Watch the tips and tricks video: Click here (Links to an external site.)
• You can also attend a Zoom workshop with Tess Haubrich on film acting techniques. Stay tuned for the specific date and time
• Please note: The time limit of your piece must be the following:
  Duologue (5 minutes)
  Ensemble (7 minutes)

Step 5:

• Film your piece
• Wear Drama blacks
• Set and props should be minimal

Step 6:

• Submit your film
• Your filmed performance must be submitted into the Google Drive
• Click here (Links to an external site)
• Due date: Friday 12 March by 3.30pm (Students will be blocked from access after this time)

Step 7: The winners of each category will be announced in Note Day on Thursday 18 March.

Senior Acting Ensemble

Interested in becoming part of the Redlands Drama Senior Acting Ensemble? Students who would like to develop their acting skills and be part of an ensemble that creates new works, as well as working towards Theatre Festivals are invited to come on Monday lunchtime to the Drama Studio. See Mrs Daley for details.

Mrs Joy Daley
Coordinator of Theatre and Drama
drama@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9860

Music

Music Forms and Events can be found on Redlands Pulse

The Music Department would like to welcome all members of the Music community back after the summer holidays. We look forward to meeting with your children over the coming days and guiding them on their next musical journey. Partnerships with families are important to us in Music, where together, we all play important roles in fostering, encouraging and creating rich learning environments in which each individual is able to develop and extend their creativity and musical skills.

As a department, we believe that learning to sing and play a musical instrument, along with the habits of mind that are attributed to these learning experiences, is one of the many incredible opportunities that our school provides. In pursuing a music learning journey, each child is provided with broad musical experiences that foster personal curiosity, encourages persistence and patience over time, builds resilience when facing new challenges, and ultimately cultivates grit and determination through the learning of new skills.

Connections between home and school are paramount, and we believe that students, parents and teachers all play vital roles within this learning process. In achieving these developmental goals, the department values partnerships that support regular practice routines in order to develop, enhance and extend students’ skills.

Senior Music Lockers

Music instrument lockers are in the process of being processed and assigned. Please ensure you have completed the Music locker form and submitted it to the Secondary School Music Office by Monday 1 February. This form can be found on Redlands Pulse.

Key Dates

• Jazz In The Garden (Under Review) – Saturday 13 March
• Battle of the Bands (Under Review) – Monday 29 March
• Red Factor (Under Review) – Friday 1 April
• Junior and Senior Piano Competitions – Friday 30 April
• Composition Competition – Friday 3 September
• Vocal Competition – Monday 7 June
• Instrumental Competition – Monday 13 September

Welcome New Staff to the Music Team

In recognition of the ongoing growth and change within our Academic, Cocurricular and Extra Subjects Music programs, we are thrilled with Mrs Amy Richardson’s recent appointment as the Head of Junior Campus Music (P-6). Amy is an exceptional teacher and leader and already in a short time, has had a positive impact on our Junior Campus Music team. We are also pleased to introduce second generation Redlander Mr Joseph Montz, who has been employed as our new Head of Bands. Mr Montz will teach Secondary School Music and take a lead role in overseeing the Band program across the Junior and Senior Campuses. Joseph will bring with him a wealth of experience having recently spent the last 16 years working at St Augustine’s, directing a broad range of musical ensembles and leading various programs. To our team of Music tutors, we welcome new Specialist Music tutors, Ms Lorissa Brink (Voice) and Ms Bridget Patterson (Voice and Choral program), who will work in our Cocurricular and Extra Subjects programs.

Planning Ahead

In order to assist you with planning the next few weeks ahead with your child, listed below is a summary of dates as to when various programs commence. Here is a weekly overview of the Music Ensemble program on the Junior and Senior Campuses:

• Week 1 – Administration (registration, enrolments, Music locker organisation)
• Week 2 – Commencement of Extra Subjects Music Tuition (Individual and Group lessons)
• Week 3 – Commencement of Cocurricular Music Ensembles

Extra Subjects Private and Group Music Tuition

The Extra Subjects Music Tuition program provides specialist lessons in private singing and instrumental tuition. This program is primarily to provide tuition during school hours, where students leave a curriculum lesson for 30 minutes per week to attend their private music lesson. Music tutors rotate the lesson times on a four weekly cycle to ensure that students only miss 30 minutes of the same curriculum lesson two to three times each term. Only in special circumstances, and if possible, within individual teaching timetables, will Music tutors be able to organise for lessons to be made during free periods, lunch, before or after school hours.

All enrolments for Extra Subjects Voice and Instrumental tuition must be submitted by Friday 12 February for lessons to commence in Term 1. Any forms received after this date will commence lessons in Term 2. Parents and guardians are advised that students who are requesting a change to their current Extra Subject Music tuition will need to submit a Notification of Change Form four weeks prior to the end of Semester 1. Please note that once term has commenced, lessons will NOT be able to be terminated. The Notification of Change form can be downloaded from Redlands Pulse and emailed to Music Administrators.

The Private and Group tuition commences next week in Week 2. Please note that Music specialists will be in direct contact with parents to issue the Studio Teaching timetables for Term 1.

Junior and Secondary Cocurricular Music Ensembles

Cocurricular Music ensembles commence in Week 3, providing students with a wide variety of ensembles in which to participate. The ensemble program is based on participation in the CORE experiences of Band, Choral, Guitar and Strings. The Music Department invites any interested students to sign-up to CORE Music Ensembles by Friday 12 February. Days and times of rehearsals can be found on Redlands Pulse.

Music Competition Series

Students are encouraged to begin selecting and preparing repertoire for the upcoming auditions for the various Music competitions. The process in selecting finalists will require students to present one work that demonstrates musical competency. For information on audition requirements please download forms from Redlands Pulse.

Junior Campus Music Instrumental Program (MIP)

MIP commenced today for Yrs 4 and 5. In allocating instruments, parents are required to have logged into Redlands Pulse to give consent for Instrument Hire if you are wishing to hire from the school. A reminder that all students in Yr 4 will be billed $20 for the accompanying text for the program. It is an expectation that all students complete a minimum of 3 x 15 minute practices a week. For any enquiries regarding the MIP program, please contact Mrs Amy Richardson, Head of Music Junior Campus.

Friends of Music

As part of this partnership and, in further building community and collaboration, we extend the invitation to all parents to consider joining the Friends of Music (FOM) association, as we value the benefits of parents working together actively within this parent group and in association with our teachers. If you would like more information on the Friends of Music, please contact our President Ms Emma McLaren at g_e_mclaren@hotmail.com. To commence the year ahead, our first FOM meeting will be held on Friday 12 February commencing at 8.30am in P1.1 of the Parkes Building on the Junior Campus.

COVID-19 Safe Plan for Music Ensembles

The Music Department is pleased to announce that we will be resuming our ensembles within the Redlands Music program offerings from Week 3 (Term 1). The organisation of the Music program in commencing a new year, has been guided by the advice of the Australian Government, NSW Health, and School Leadership, along with recommendations that have emerged through online discussions with leading Conductors and Epidemiologists at local, national and international levels.

The planning of our modified format for rehearsals has considered, first and foremost, the safety of all students who are currently enrolled in the Music program and the staff who are responsible for leading these groups each week. In particular, the Choral program will see students participate in a variety of different learning experiences and rehearsal approaches, with more information issued to students in Week 2.

Hygiene in the Music Setting and Student Expectations

As part of our return to group settings, this continues to be a well-considered aspect of our planning, and students involved in group instruction will follow the guidelines through the appropriate spacing of students in rehearsals, utilising larger areas and rehearsal spaces to promote distancing, where possible. Regular cleaning and disinfecting of musical equipment and resources will be undertaken daily. In rehearsals, all students are expected to adhere to the recommendations pertaining to social distancing expectations. In consideration of these guidelines, all students are required to:

• Sit in designated areas as determined by the teachers.
• Bring individual repertoire that will be issued in Week 3 in a clearly named Music folder.

HSC and IB Results

At the conclusion of the Higher School Certificate and International Baccalaureate courses, the department celebrated the outstanding achievements of the Yr 12 graduates, who all obtained exceptional results in their Music studies across all courses of study.

Mr Darren Kuilenburg
Coordinator of Music
seniormusic@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9820