From the Principal

Times of adversity often bring out the best in people and once again this is the case with our dedicated and professional team of staff. I am inspired by the way that our staff continually focus on the needs of our students and broader community, giving of themselves and collaborating together to provide the best learning experiences in the current circumstances.

I thank all parents and carers for your ongoing support and valuable feedback and encourage this to continue through feedback@redlands.nsw.edu.au. I greatly appreciated the sentiments conveyed at our recent RPFA Zoom meeting and enjoyed passing the group’s support back to staff. There is a confidence amongst the staff that through our past experience and continual focus on improvement, we will provide an engaging Remote Learning program for our students. We are also very conscious of the need to focus on the wellbeing of students at this time and the Pastoral teams across the School have strategies in place to connect and provide support. Please do not hesitate to reach out and be in touch if we can provide further assistance in this most important area.

Whilst obviously missing the daily interaction with students I have enjoyed the opportunity to connect with them virtually in various contexts. In the start of the term assemblies across the School, I encouraged students to focus on the things that they could control and not get anxious about future events and uncertainty. I stressed the importance of practising daily gratitude and maintaining perspective with the challenges they are facing compared to others in different local and global contexts. The comment from a local community leader in Fairfield that many residents had previously faced persecution as refugees and that they would certainly rise to the current challenge, was a stark example. This is not to downplay the impact on our students at this time, but to encourage them to know that they often have untapped resilience that they can draw on and support available to them.   

Our student leaders are investigating a range of ways of connecting with the student body and encouraging them to continue to be active along with providing wellbeing strategies that work for them.

At the beginning of this week, our Sports Department launched a Redlands Olympic Challenge for our whole Redlands community to run, cycle, row, walk or workout the 7,824kms from Sydney to Tokyo. More details of this exciting challenge, aimed at encouraging fitness during this lockdown period, can be found in the Sports sections of Note Day. As per this video I will be cycling to Tokyo. How will you get there?

Mr Stephen Webber

Photo Caption: Students working together across a virtual platform during Week 2 of Remote Learning

Head of Secondary School

Week 2 of Term 3 and the Sydney lockdown, which has necessitated us all learning and working from home, continues to both challenge and surprise us. Looking at the numbers announced at 11.00am each day can be deflating, especially in the sense of powerlessness which can emerge as a potential response. I try not to be too focused on these numbers, and am usually busy in a Zoom lesson or meeting at this time anyway, but still the news filters through and lately, it’s just begun to wash over me. I’ve got lessons to prepare, paragraphs to mark, phone calls to make and Zoom meetings to attend. I’ve also got to decide on what I am having for lunch – has it become as important to you as it has to me? I am looking at the weather and overlaying it with my daily schedule to work out when I can get out for a walk. In many ways, I am looking after myself better than during a normal work week, but I am also feeling more tired, and when I talk to others, be they staff members or students, they feel the same way. It’s so important at this time to actively take steps to look after ourselves. A Yr 11 student told me she’d bought a FitBit and was excitedly recording her steps each day. I’ve also been trying to get my steps in and stride out far enough away from the ‘burbs to take off my mask and breathe in the fresh air, getting my kilometres in for the Tokyo Challenge. I’ve also been spending time in the evenings looking through old photos and thinking about the places I’ve travelled to and where I want to return, when things get back to ‘normal’. For me, it’s always Italy – I wonder where it is for you? Despite the lockdown, I am having really interesting conversations with friends and family; reminiscing and certainly visioning the future, but also giving thanks for the here and now. I am already planning my evening in for the Grease Musical next weekend and hope you will join me. Please look after yourself this week and reach out if you need support.

Staying Well

Our P-12 School Counsellor Mr Alessandro Digiacomo, engaged this week in a live panel with the University of Sydney called “Pandemic Fatigue: Young People and Mental Health”. He was able to report back to the Pastoral Team about some of the findings and insights, and offer strategies to support students. He spoke confidently in support of our current school strategies as being evidenced-based and relevant at this time, affirming our response to the needs of Redlands students during the current lockdown.

A few key areas which emerged, are outlined below:

• Four key findings were that Australia is experiencing deteriorating mental health, self-harm has increased in young people, the service system is stretched, and social connection really matters
• Young people are faring worse than others because of the disruption that occurs during a formative part of their lives; people going through a transitional phase in their lives suffer more than other age groups
• Zoom fatigue is real
• Games and active involvement in the use of online digital platforms did not have a negative impact on mental health

A few key strategies to support the mental health of young people, are outlined below:

• Shared experiences are important: watching movies together virtually, playing games online with people and using chat, also “old fashioned connection” through mail is encouraged
• Online games can in fact mitigate the negative experience of mental health impacts
• An idea for meditation is to wake up before the sun rises and imagine your hope rising with the sun
• Young people are also encouraged to follow a routine, get fresh air, make sure they do something every day, try to find alternate ways of engaging in social interaction, and reach out to people

Feedback and Adjustment

This week, we surveyed our students and staff to ascertain how they are managing during Remote Learning. The vast majority benefited from the Zoom-Free Time we offered this week and called for longer periods of Free Time or Independent Learning Time in Week 3, with an overwhelming response to move to Screen-Free Time. Given that Zoom fatigue is real, we have responded by modifying the Timetable once again, and students and staff will move into Week 3, with some increased capacity to move through their day at their own pace, and away from their screen. 

Yr 12 Students studying practical subjects for both the HSC and IB are approaching the finish line for their composition of Major Works, to be submitted for final marking this term. A number of Practical Workshops have been taking place after school over the past two weeks to support students to refine their individual creations. Rachael Kinghorn, in this image, used the currently available floor space of Redlands Hall to lay out a vast selection of beautiful plates, which she photographed from on high, using the scissor lift. All of this was executed according to COVID-19 Safety guidelines and with the support of her teacher, Ms Sarah Matthews. We cannot wait to see Rachael’s final Body of Work, which will undoubtedly be visually striking.

Uniform Shop

Open Saturday 31 July, 10am-3pm for Click & Collect only

How are you getting to Tokyo?

The Redlands Sports Department announced the “How will you get to Tokyo?” Olympic Games Challenge this week. The goal is to travel to the Olympic Games in your house group. Sydney to Tokyo is 7,824km and the aim is to make it all the way to Tokyo in two weeks. This week I have done about 6 kms each day, and some of those whilst in Zoom Meetings – obviously with staff members who are sympathetic to my huffing and puffing as I will climb the hills of my suburb. We strongly encourage you and your family to record your exercise this week and log your activity here. Need further inspiration? Watch the promotional video: Redlands Olympic Games Challenge – How will you get to Tokyo? 

Yr 12 Updates

NESA will make the following changes to upcoming HSC exams:

• Reschedule the Oral language exams to run from 14 August to 18 September for students in Greater Sydney and regional NSW.
• Reschedule the Dance performance exams to run from 13 to 17 September in schools in Greater Sydney

More information, including the proposed timetable for the rescheduled oral and dance exams will be provided as soon as possible.

Study Centre evolving to Drop-In Support Sessions during Remote Learning

Our students benefit from 1:1 support accessed via the Study Centre. This is challenging to replicate in a Remote Learning setting especially when we are focused on affirming wellbeing for all members of our community. For this reason, we have considered various alternatives and worked with our teachers to more explicitly enable students to be able to access additional support if they require it.

We know that most students can and will reach out to their teacher for support if they need it. In this respect, teachers will build Drop-In Support Sessions into their scheduled lessons to assist students requiring more personalised help. Any students who do need additional support will be identified (by YAs, Tutors, Subject Teachers, Deans and parents) and a personalised session will be arranged for them with their teacher or another teacher in the department is who able and willing to provide the support.

Week 3 Announcements and Events

If you are sending your child to school next week, then please complete the Week 3 Registration to Attend School (essential worker) Survey. We build staff supervision rosters based on parents notifying us via this survey, and we appreciate confirmation.

Week 3 Timetable

Next week we will trial a Zoom-Free Day on Wednesday. Students will be able to learn at their own pace, following their lessons on iLearn. The students will be updated about how best to manage this day in their Tutor Time tomorrow and again next week.

Week 3 Practical Workshops for Yr 12 Students

These will occur according to the following schedule.

Want to join us for another Parent Webinar?

I’m sure you are probably zoomed-out right now, working from home, managing children learning from home, and because you have so generously given your time to attend the various webinars held in the secondary school since ‘returning’ for Term 3. Next week, on Monday evening, we have another information night to offer on Digital Safety. The presentation will take place in webinar form, so you can tune in, and still engage with the daily routines of your evening, without having to be visually present. We hope you can join us to learn about:

• Social media platforms and current behavioural trends 
• Current legislation and research around topical online issues
• Gaming management strategies
• Safety and communication strategies parents can deploy within the home
• Cyberbullying reporting pathways and management strategies

The Secondary School staff attended a similar webinar on Monday afternoon this week, and we found the information provided relevant, strategy-rich and empowering. In conjunction with the Redlands Cyber Safety Hub, which is a free resource for Redlands families, we derived comfort in the knowledge that there is a growing body of support and rich resources to uphold the safety of our young people in the digital space.

Parent Webinar – Digital Safety

Monday 26 July 2021
6pm – 7pm
To join the webinar: Click here.
Passcode: 106933

Grease the Musical

The Grease Team would like to invite you to one of our highly anticipated online screenings of Grease the Musical, The Movie which is being screened three times from Friday 30 July to Sunday 1 August.  

For more details, please see the Drama section of Note Day.  

Ms Gemma Van de Peer
Head of Secondary School
gvandepeer@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9811

Uniform Shop

Open Saturday 31 July, 10am-3pm, Click & Collect only

Due to this extended lockdown period, the Uniform Shop will be open on Saturday 31 July to allow parents to collect any top up uniform items they need, given students are wearing sports uniform every day.

Here are the arrangements for Click & Collect:

• Collection of orders only: 10am – 3pm
• Orders must be placed via Flexischools by 4pm Friday 30 July
• Students may also collect their blazers that were sent for embroidery
• Everyone collecting orders must sign in with the QR Code, wear a facemask and not enter the shop

Community Update

We trust you are safe and well. 

Thank you for your support of Remote Learning at this very challenging time. We have received many positive messages from our community and these have been greatly received by our staff. We will continue to work in partnership with parents and carers to make this time as positive and enriching for our community as possible.

With our community unable to meet in person, we are working closely with the Redlands Parents and Friends Association and Parent Contact Groups to find meaningful ways for us to connect. The current Redlands Olympic Challenge, organised by our ever active Sports Department, is a fun way to engage with the school for the whole family, whilst working on your lockdown fitness.  We are also planning a Family Trivia afternoon later this term based on the success of last year’s event.

Our alumni continue to inspire with Class of 2019 Alumni, Lili Price, generously sharing her recent experience of moving to London at the height of the pandemic in order to take up her studies at the prestigious University College London. Lili’s experience, along with an update from the Foundation team can be enjoyed here.

A reminder that all COVID-19 related communications to parents and other relevant information is posted on the COVID-19 Page of Redlands Pulse. Our ICT team are also available to provide remote technical support to assist students (and parents) and can be contact at isupport@redlands.nsw.edu.au.

I remain grateful for the continued guidance and support our community provides and, as ever, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Community Engagement team should you have any feedback, suggestions or questions.

Mr Grant Birse
Head of Community Engagement
9908 6406
gbirse@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Foundation

Legacy Gift of Class of 2021

The Class of 2021 proudly continues the Legacy of previous Yr 12 cohorts, and through their efforts have been supporting the Belinda Oxley Scholarship Appeal and sustainability initiatives of the School.

Students have raised over $3,000 through their fundraising initiatives – Yr 7 Movie Night and Spirit Fair. They have also received support from direct donations from our community. A special thank you to Dr Lennox, retired Principal who launched the Scholarship Trust in 2010, for his very generous contribution towards this Year 12 gift.

Their final fundraising initiative is a memorable Yr 12 Tea Towel, featuring students’ hand-drawn faces. Pre-order of these wonderful gifts and memorabilia will be available from next week. Stay tuned!

A BIG thank you to Ms Sarah Matthews and Dr Meta Regis, Yr 12 Advisor and Assistant Advisor, for all their efforts to support the students.

Alumni Postcard from Lili Price, Class of 2019

During the recent break, I enjoyed reconnecting with our recent graduates to find out how their journeys evolved after Redlands. This week’s story is from Lili Price who shared with me how she moved to London to study Law and how she dealt with challenging situations, her connections with Redlands and ability to stay calm and focused.

“After graduating from Redlands in 2019, I moved to the United Kingdom to study law at University College London (UCL) in September 2020. The thought of moving away was initially daunting, primarily because the UK had been overwhelmed by COVID-19 throughout the year; I deliberated spending the first year at home and studying remotely. Nevertheless, I filed for a travel exemption, reserved accommodation at an intercollegiate university hall, and booked my flight.

Even though there were sad moments, such as missing my parents’ birthdays for the first time, I also got to celebrate my birthday, prepare Christmas lunch, and spend New Year’s Eve with my new friends. Despite everything I experienced outside of university, I actually only stepped foot on the main campus once but was still able to attend tutorials at the Faculty of Laws once a week (however, we all had to wear masks and sit 1.5m away from each other).

After Christmas, when most people went home, COVID-19 in the UK worsened, and UCL made a university-wide decision to suspend all in-person teaching for the first five weeks of the second term. Consequently, since most people were already home, many decided to stay put, leaving their college rooms vacant. London suddenly felt very empty, so I decided to come home towards the end of January, and somehow, I was never bumped off my flight. I completed my two weeks quarantine at the Park Royal Darling Harbour and finished the rest of the term online (which was probably the best decision as in-person teaching never resumed). Nonetheless, the university recently sent out an email stating that they expect all students to return for the 2021-2022 academic year, and the Faculty of Laws has informed us that they will attempt to run in-person lectures for certain modules, although I’m not sure of the likelihood of this happening.

Since returning to Sydney, I have found a part-time job at a jewellery store I used to work at, but now this has clearly changed due to the current lockdown situation (it’s my fifth lockdown!). Despite this free time, I am still quite busy as a finance intern at The Keith & Even Group. I’m virtually working for the company’s London office, but the time zones are thankfully not an issue as they don’t mind when I work, as long as I hand everything in on time.

I’ve really enjoyed seeing my friends from Redlands, as I missed some of those friendships while I was away. The day after I was released from quarantine, we had a picnic and my legs turned bright red – clearly my time in London was enough to make me more susceptible to burning. I’ve really enjoyed catching up with my friends over the past few months and seeing the different directions everyone has gone in since leaving Redlands.” Lili Price, Class of 2019

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

RPFA

Redlands Parents and Friends

A warm welcome to all the new families starting this term!

Unfortunately, we cannot meet in person and planned community and social events are all currently on hold. Watch this space for details of our second lockdown Family Trivia afternoon via Zoom & Kahoot!

We understand this is a difficult time for all. Please fell free to contact anyone on the Committee and/or your class and year reps if you need any help during this time.

2021 RPFA Committee rpfa@redlands.nsw.edu.au

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

Chaplain

We seem to be settling into an extended lockdown and living in close quarters with our families. We love our children, parents and room-mates but extended close quarters can wear our patience thin. I have been reflecting on some of the responses of my students and my own situation about how to thrive as mini-communities in our homes.

My dear mother came down from Queensland for a short visit the first week of the school holidays and so I find myself with an unexpected house buddy in my apartment. This has come with delight as I have quality time with my Mum and I am not alone! But it also means we have to work out how to live in our limited space. We are both accustomed to living independently. As I reflect, I am really thankful for this time. I get to share life with her and discover lots about her as she reminiscences about her past. This is and will be a precious gift.

I think this is one of our great opportunities of lockdown: quality time with our families. Of course, there are the demands of home schooling but this gives us an insight to their study world. There are the opportunities to have earnest discussions and light hearted laughs that will help us appreciate our loved ones even better. So may I encourage you to eat together, turn off devices and ask question and listen. Have a topic of the day, or highlights and low lights to encourage sharing. There is also my personal favourite: enforced family fun. Take an evening to play board games together.

Another area that may be an opportunity is to attend an online church together: this will give you a focus for an hour with your family, with music and an introduction to church community: St Peter Cremorne have services at 9 am on Sunday. You can attend virtually by visiting stpeterscremorne.org.au St Augustine has one at 10.00am at neutralbay.church

However, it is not all rosy and this is where I have been thinking about the proverb “a Kind word cheers the Heart up” (Proverbs 12:25 b). While our hearts are often full of love for our families, the irritants of the day often mean it is the short and sharp that slips out of our lips. This week breath deep and actively look for ways to say out-loud kind words: an appreciation, a declaration of love, praise for little things, checking in “Are you ok: do you want to talk?”. Our words have power to heal or to destroy, to lift up or bind down. Let your home be filled with kind words, especially at this time.

A reminder that the Parent’s prayer group meets on the night of Thursday 5 August. If you are interested in praying for the school community, please contact Sally Swan at swanlsally@gmail.com

May your homes and families be blessed with the peace of God’s love.

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

Zoom Protocols

I would like to reiterate Ms Van de Peer’s message in last week’s Note Day regarding Zoom Protocols. I have been very impressed with our students’ capacity to follow the Zoom protocols, which have been designed for their safety, engagement and to support their work ethic.

A few friendly reminders for students: 

• Students are required to wear their Sport Uniform
• Students must wear their fleece with their Sports Uniform (not a hoodie). 
• Students must enter the Zoom lesson with their video turned on and their sound muted. 
• Students are also required to use their full name in order to identify themselves and not use a nickname or emoji. 
• Redlands take each students’ security and safety very seriously and we require these protocols to be met in each and every Zoom lesson – if there is an issue, the class teacher will make contact, and we deeply appreciate those parents who have worked with us this week to support their child to comply with these protocols.
• If there are any technical issues with your child’s laptop/network connection, please do let me know so that I can email their class teachers and get isupport to assist your child with the issue. 

Wellbeing Pastoral Focus

This week, our Yr 12 Tutors  began Zooming students individually to hold wellbeing check-in conversations with them along with goal setting for the remote learning period and the term ahead.

As part of the check ins our Tutors had with students they emphasised the following points: 

• The importance of maintaining a varied and healthy routine – exercise, diet, social connection, school, down time, regular sleep, etc.
• The benefit of focusing on things we enjoy and value, in order to remain motivated and ensure a sense of belonging
• The need to focus on what we can control rather than what we can’t; and, consider healthy strategies to managing responses to what is beyond our control.

As parents, keeping your children engaged during this Remote Learning period can be difficult. As mentioned in last week’s Note Day, ReachOut also offers advice on how you can assist your teen with sticking to a routine during COVID-19. The Redlands Counselling Space also houses a wealth of useful resources.

Should you at any point feel concerned about your child’s engagement with, or response to, Remote Learning, do not hesitate to reach out to me, Dr Regis or Tutors. 

Cocurricular 

It is pleasing to hear that many of our co-curricular activities in Sport and the Arts are back up and running online.

The Sports Department have been working on a number of activities to support the Redlands students to keep active while we are in lockdown. 

Online Zoom Fitness 

• All parents, carers, students and staff are invited to participate in the Redlands Fitness Zoom session. Please follow the links provided in the schedule on Redlands Pulse to join us in any/all of the fitness sessions provided during the lockdown period.
• Participants will need a towel, water bottle and a 3x3m space to complete the exercises. A description for each session can be found below:

Beginner Fitness: Moderate intensity exercises with a balance of upper body, lower body and core strength.
Advanced Fitness: High intensity exercises with a mixture of upper body, lower body, core strength and cardio.
Mobility/Stretch Session: Low intensity session focusing on core stability and full body mobility.
Strava Challenge: Join the Redlands Running Community Strava page by clicking here to find out more. Don’t forget to post your run!. This week’s challenge is a 4km time trial.

Sports Specific Sport Training – commencing this Thursday

• Week 2 – students who are participating in Representative Sport will be provided with a Sport Specific Challenge to complete in their normal Sport Training session
• Week 3 – Students registered for a Representative Sport will be provided 2 Sport Specific Training sessions to complete each week 

Redlands Olympic Challenge 

Redlands Olympic Games Challenge – How will you get to Tokyo?

What’s the goal?

The goal is to travel to the Olympic Games in your house group. Sydney to Tokyo is 7,824km and the aim is to make it all the way to Tokyo in two weeks.

There will be five teams:

• Cowper
• McDouall
• Roseby
• Dumolo
• Staff/Coaches Team

Start date: Monday 19 July
End date: Sunday 1 August

Who can be involved?

All members of the Redlands Community – students, parents, staff and siblings across the Redlands House/Transition, Junior School and Secondary School are all welcome to join in. * Parents / Siblings should record their activity under their son/daughter/sister/brothers House.

How to Win?

The winning team will be the team that has travelled the largest distance over the two week period. A list of activities can be found below, please note not all activities are equally weighted:

• Run/Walk (1:1)
• Bike (2:1)
• Row/Kayak (1:3)
• Swim (1:4)
• Beginner zoom workout: 3km/workout
• Advanced zoom workout: 5km/workout
• Mobility session: 1km/workout

Parent Webinar – Digital Safety

Monday 26 July 2021
6pm – 7pm
Webinar link: Click here.
Passcode: 106933

The webinar will provide real-world and relevant information, providing strategy-rich and practical content such as:

• Social media platforms and current behavioural trends 
• Current legislation and research around topical online issues
• Gaming management strategies
• Safety and communication strategies parents can deploy within the home
• Cyberbullying reporting pathways and management strategies

More Cyber Safety information and resources can be found on the Redlands Cyber Safety Hub which is a free resource for Redlands families.

I hope you all have a great week.

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

Year 11

This week we are all beginning to settle into the routine of Remote Learning and Zoom life. The Yr 11 Tutors are doing an amazing job checking-in with each student in their Tutor Groups every day, and the aim has been to set goals for this term, which are likely to be a little bit different to the normal goals set at the start of each term. In addition, as part of this process, we have begun tracking student wellbeing with them answering questions about how they are feeling regarding the current situation and if it is impacting their mental health. Also, Tutors have begun running their usual one-on-one meetings with each student, focusing on how they are managing as well as goal-setting for the last term of Yr 11. Please remember to reach out to any of us if you feel your child is struggling and would like some additional support, as we are here to help in any way we can.

Yr 11 Camp

On Monday, students were given a Yr 11 Leadership Camp briefing by Steve Fox, Client Relationship Manager for the Outdoor Education Group (OEG) who organise and run our school camps each year. This camp is the first time that students have the opportunity to select which activities they want to do, with many options being available, such as back country skiing or horse-riding. The camp is scheduled for the beginning of Yr 12 in Term 4, 11-15 October, and is a celebration of the journey the students have taken to reach this final year of their schooling. It ends with a celebratory dinner at the High Country Campus, with awards and the distribution of Yr 12 jerseys. Students have been asked to submit their activity and tent partner choices by the end of this week. Also, parents have been emailed regarding medical information and how to provide this to OEG. If you have any questions or concerns, please email either Jon Gray, Dean of Activities, or David Gregory, Head of Outdoor Education.

Sport

The wonderful Redlands’ Sports department are running a number of online fitness sessions before and after school hours; in addition, those students participating in a Representative Sport this term have been set a number of sport challenges and training sessions to complete each week.

To help celebrate the Olympic Games that have begun this week in Tokyo, the Sports department have organised the ‘Redlands 2021 Olympics Challenge’, beginning Monday 19 July and ending Sunday 1 August, where the goal is to travel to the Olympic Games in Tokyo (7,824kms) in House Groups, by individually recording distance through running, walking, cycling, rowing, swim or Zoom workouts and recording this distance in a google form. Please encourage your children to participate in all these activities, as exercise, in particular during times of lockdown, is extremely important for everyone’s mental wellbeing. All of this information is available for our Yr 11 students on the Pastoral iLearn page.

Parent Webinar – Digital Safety

Monday 26 July 2021
6pm – 7pm
Webinar link: Click here.
Passcode: 106933

The webinar will provide real-world and relevant information, providing strategy-rich and practical content such as:

• Social media platforms and current behavioural trends 
• Current legislation and research around topical online issues
• Gaming management strategies
• Safety and communication strategies parents can deploy within the home
• Cyberbullying reporting pathways and management strategies

More Cyber Safety information and resources can be found on the Redlands Cyber Safety Hub which is a free resource for Redlands families.

I hope you all have a great week.

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

Year 10

Zoom Protocols

I would like to reiterate Ms Van de Peer’s message in last week’s Note Day regarding Zoom Protocols. I have been very impressed with our students’ capacity to follow the Zoom protocols, which are designed for their safety.  

A few friendly reminders for our Yr 10 students

• Students are required to wear their Sport Uniform (not a hoodie – fleeces are to be worn instead).
• Students must enter the Zoom lesson with their video turned on and their sound muted. 
• Students are also required to use their full name in order to identify themselves and not a nickname or emoji. 
• Redlands take each students’ security and safety very seriously and require these protocols be met in each and every Zoom lesson – if there is an issue, the class teacher will make contact, and we deeply appreciate those parents who have worked with us this week to support their child to comply with these protocols.
• If there are any technical issues with your child’s laptop/network connection, please do let me know so I can email all class teachers and get isupport to assist your child with the issue. 

Wellbeing Pastoral Focus

This week, our Yr 10 Tutors began Zooming students individually to hold wellbeing check-in conversations with them along with goal setting for the Remote Learning period and the term ahead.

As part of the check ins our tutors had with students they emphasised the following points: 

• The importance of maintaining a varied and healthy routine – exercise, diet, social connection, school, down time, regular sleep, etc.
• The benefit of focusing on things we enjoy and value, in order to remain motivated and ensure a sense of belonging
• The need to focus on what we can control rather than what we can’t; and, consider healthy strategies to managing responses to what is beyond our control.

As parents, keeping your children engaged during this Remote Learning period can be difficult. As mentioned in last week’s Note Day, ReachOut also offers advice on how you can assist your teen with sticking to a routine during COVID-19. The Redlands Counselling Space also houses a wealth of useful resources.

Should you at any point feel concerned about your child’s engagement with, or response to, Remote Learning, do not hesitate to reach out to me, Ms. Martin, or Tutors. 

Remote Learning Cocurricular Lockdown Activities

It is pleasing to hear that many of our cocurricular activities in Sport and the Arts are back up and running online.

The Sports Department has been working on a number of activities to support the Redlands students to keep active while we are in lockdown.

Online Zoom Fitness 

• All parents, carers, students and staff are invited to participate in the Redlands Fitness Zoom session. Please follow the links provided in the schedule on Redlands Pulse to join us in any/all of the fitness sessions provided during the lockdown period.
• Participants will need a towel, water bottle and a 3x3m space to complete the exercises. A description for each session can be found below:

Beginner Fitness: Moderate intensity exercises with a balance of upper body, lower body and core strength.
Advanced Fitness: High intensity exercises with a mixture of upper body, lower body, core strength and cardio.
Mobility/Stretch Session: Low intensity session focusing on core stability and full body mobility.
Strava Challenge: Join the Redlands Running Community Strava page by clicking here to find out more. Don’t forget to post your run! This week’s challenge is a 4km time trial.

Sports Specific Sport Training – commencing this Thursday

• Week 2 – students who are participating in Representative Sport will be provided with a Sport Specific Challenge to complete in their normal Sport Training session
• Week 3 – Students registered for a Representative Sport will be provided 2 Sport Specific Training sessions to complete each week

Redlands Olympic Challenge

With the Tokyo Olympic Games starting this week, I would love to see all Yr 10 students, parents and families compete in the Redlands Olympic Challenge. 

What’s the goal?

The goal is to travel to the Olympic Games in your house group. Sydney to Tokyo is 7,824km and the aim is to make it all the way to Tokyo in two weeks.

There will be five teams

• Cowper
• McDouall
• Roseby
• Dumolo
• Staff/Coaches Team

Start date: Monday 19 July
End date: Sunday 1 August

Who can be involved?

All members of the Redlands Community – students, parents, staff and siblings across the Redlands House/Transition, Junior School and Secondary School are all welcome to join in. * Parents / Siblings should record their activity under their son / daughter / sister / brothers House

How to Win?

The winning team will be the team that has traveled the largest distance over the two-week period. A list of activities can be found below, please note not all activities are equally weighted:

• Run/Walk (1:1)
• Bike (2:1)
• Row/Kayak (1:3)
• Swim (1:4)
• Beginner zoom workout: 3km/workout
• Advanced zoom workout: 5km/workout
• Mobility session: 1km/workout

How to record your activity?

Click here to complete the google form to log your activity.  The Sports Department will post updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, sharing the leaderboard on the following platforms: iLearn, Redlands Pulse and the Redlands social media platforms.

If you have any videos completing the activities please send them to sports@redlands.nsw.edu.au and also hash tag  #redlandsolympicchallenge

I would love to see as many Yr 10 students and their families participate in the Olympic Challenge as much as possible. I along with Ms. Martin and the Year 10 Tutors, will be completing many of the activities too! 

Parent Webinar – Digital Safety

Monday 26 July 2021
6pm – 7pm
Webinar link: Click here.
Passcode: 106933

The webinar will provide real-world and relevant information, providing strategy-rich and practical content such as:

• Social media platforms and current behavioural trends 
• Current legislation and research around topical online issues
• Gaming management strategies
• Safety and communication strategies parents can deploy within the home
• Cyberbullying reporting pathways and management strategies

More Cyber Safety information and resources can be found on the Redlands Cyber Safety Hub which is a free resource for Redlands families.

Mr Nicholas Walker
Acting Yr 10 Advisor
nwalker@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9909 3133

Year 9

Yr 10 Course Selections

Thank you for the efforts of several staff members, parents and families for attending the Yr 9 into Yr 10 Information Night last week and organising individual meetings with various subject teachers to further understand elective options.  This is a reminder, that all students need to complete their preferences by Friday 30 July 2021. 

Winter School

Thank you to Mr David Gregory and the many staff, students and families who have been tirelessly working and organising to make Winter School possible for our students this year. Yr 9 has 26 students attending the program this year for Term 3 at the Redlands High Country Campus in Jindabyne. Students are currently getting settled, assisting with campus chores, continuing to Remotely Learn for the first two weeks while they are in quarantine and connecting with their Winter School Tutor and Tutor Group. We wish these students a fantastic term ahead and look forward to hearing the many stories upon their return. 

Remote Learning Cocurricular Lockdown Activities

It is pleasing to hear that many of our co-curricular activities in Sport and the Arts are back up and running online.

The Sports Department has been working on a number of activities to support the Redlands students to keep active while we are in lockdown. 

Online Zoom Fitness 

• All parents, carers, students and staff are invited to participate in the Redlands Fitness Zoom session. Please follow the links provided in the schedule on Redlands Pulse to join us in any/all of the fitness sessions provided during the lockdown period.
• Participants will need a towel, water bottle and a 3x3m space to complete the exercises. A description for each session can be found below:

Beginner Fitness: Moderate intensity exercises with a balance of upper body, lower body and core strength.
Advanced Fitness: High intensity exercises with a mixture of upper body, lower body, core strength and cardio.
Mobility/Stretch Session: Low intensity session focusing on core stability and full body mobility.
Strava Challenge: Join the Redlands Running Community Strava page by clicking here to find out more. Don’t forget to post your run! This week’s challenge is a 4km time trial.

Sports Specific Sport Training – commencing this Thursday

• Week 2 – students who are participating in Representative Sport will be provided with a Sport Specific Challenge to complete in their normal Sport Training session
• Week 3 – Students registered for a Representative Sport will be provided 2 Sport Specific Training sessions to complete each week

Redlands Olympic Challenge

With the Tokyo Olympic Games starting this week, I would love to see all Yr 10 students, parents and families compete in the Redlands Olympic Challenge. 

What’s the goal?

The goal is to travel to the Olympic Games in your house group. Sydney to Tokyo is 7,824km and the aim is to make it all the way to Tokyo in two weeks.

There will be five teams

• Cowper
• McDouall
• Roseby
• Dumolo
• Staff/Coaches Team

Start date: Monday 19 July
End date: Sunday 1 August

Who can be involved?

All members of the Redlands Community – students, parents, staff and siblings across the Redlands House/Transition, Junior School and Secondary School are all welcome to join in. * Parents / Siblings should record their activity under their son / daughter / sister / brothers House

How to Win?

The winning team will be the team that has traveled the largest distance over the two-week period. A list of activities can be found below, please note not all activities are equally weighted:

• Run/Walk (1:1)
• Bike (2:1)
• Row/Kayak (1:3)
• Swim (1:4)
• Beginner zoom workout: 3km/workout
• Advanced zoom workout: 5km/workout
• Mobility session: 1km/workout

How to record your activity?

Click here to complete the google form to log your activity.  The Sports Department will post updates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, sharing the leaderboard on the following platforms: iLearn, Redlands Pulse and the Redlands social media platforms.

If you have any videos completing the activities please send them to sports@redlands.nsw.edu.au and also hash tag  #redlandsolympicchallenge

I would love to see as many Yr 10 students and their families participate in the Olympic Challenge as much as possible. I along with Ms. Martin and the Year 10 Tutors, will be completing many of the activities too! 

Parent Webinar – Digital Safety

Monday 26 July 2021
6pm – 7pm
Webinar link: Click here.
Passcode: 106933

The webinar will provide real-world and relevant information, providing strategy-rich and practical content such as:

• Social media platforms and current behavioural trends 
• Current legislation and research around topical online issues
• Gaming management strategies
• Safety and communication strategies parents can deploy within the home
• Cyberbullying reporting pathways and management strategies

More Cyber Safety information and resources can be found on the Redlands Cyber Safety Hub which is a free resource for Redlands families.

I hope you all have a great week.

Ms Alissa Ynson
Yr 9 Advisor
aynson@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9865

Year 8

“The wellbeing of today’s youth has never been more challenging.”

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

SPECIAL REPORT: COVID Fatigue & Youth Mental Health

As the nation remains to be on alert and in various stages of lockdown, restrictions continue to be mandated. And we, as a society, persevere to do the best we can to navigate this post-COVID era. Whilst some of us quietly take comfort from the availability of vaccines, it does introduce new uncertainties for families and young people alike. We continue to remain in a state of suspended animation, wondering when “normal” will return.

The physical impact of the pandemic has mostly spared our young people, however researchers are now reporting that children and adolescents are paying a heavy emotional and developmental price, being affected by a range of psychological disorders. According to Kids Helpline, emergency interventions to protect young people have skyrocketed over the last 12 months.

Being a young person today is hard, but so too is being the parent of one. A recent international survey reported that parents are struggling to keep their child’s mental health afloat. Young people are feeling like they don’t have much control over their lives. Their developmental processes have been interfered with and their trajectory has been interrupted. Unfortunately the emotional blowback of the pandemic cannot be vaccinated away. Young people can’t choose what happens to them, but they can choose how to respond. Encouraging them to use programs such as Moodgym, will help them change their thinking.

If your young person wishes to talk to someone outside of the family unit, encourage them to call Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 – anytime, any reason. Alternatively, they can chat online at kidshelpline.com.au

Goal Setting

Self-management is a skill that many of our students are developing. We’re aware that students who can effectively self-manage are able to manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviours effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation & agency to accomplish personal/collective goals. Developed self-management can also significantly influence responsible decision making. 

Effective goal setting is a key strategy in aiding the development of self-management. We’re aware that for some, goal setting can be tokenistic. Subsequently, wanting to increase Tutor/Student engagement with academic and personal goal setting.

“Setting goals gets you to the places you want to go. It’s a process that turns dreams into reality. Learning how to set goals will help you to plan your future, and to clarify what’s important to you. Whether your goals are big or small, the first step in achieving them is deciding what they are!” – Reach Out Australia.

Setting goals (long-term, short-term and daily goals) and committing oneself to accomplishing what has to be done each day to achieve goals helps you to be successful. This week Yr 8 will be focusing on setting SMART academic and personal goals to ensure improvements and success for Term 3.

The aim of promoting goal setting is to allow students to be able to

• Establish and work toward the achievement of positive and realistic goals (both short- and long- term). 
• Develop a plan and action steps with reasonable timeframes for completion. 
• Analyse how current decisions may impact goal achievement. 
• Monitor and sustain progress toward goal achievement, using motivational strategies and celebrating successes. 

Aim of Goal Setting

• Teach students procedures for setting goals (SMART Goals)
• Teach students about useful resources and equipment and resources available to assist them in achieving their goals
• Teach students how to revise goals as needed
• Over the course of several weeks, monitor student progress on their identified goals and document progress. 
• Over the course of several weeks, have students work on individual goal projects using goals they identify for themselves. Have them monitor and document their progress for several weeks. 
• Define “perseverance” and “discipline”
• Talk about how you motivate yourself when you need to
• Discuss help seeking strategies.

“We’ve re-set goals during different times of this year after we’ve hit a few of our other ones so I think it’s always nice to keep pushing yourself and refresh your goals and do the best you can to try to bring in that next level.” – Ash Barty.

Rob Barty’s advice to his daughter growing up, “One, be a good person; two, have fun; three, be happy; four, show respect and be respected; and then number five was, if you can play tennis after that, it’s an added bonus.”

Parent Webinar – Digital Safety

Monday 26 July 2021
6pm – 7pm
Webinar link: Click here.
Passcode: 106933

The webinar will provide real-world and relevant information, providing strategy-rich and practical content such as:

• Social media platforms and current behavioural trends 
• Current legislation and research around topical online issues
• Gaming management strategies
• Safety and communication strategies parents can deploy within the home
• Cyberbullying reporting pathways and management strategies

More Cyber Safety information and resources can be found on the Redlands Cyber Safety Hub which is a free resource for Redlands families.

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

Year 7

COVID & Remote Learning

Resources for Parents

Click here for more resources for parents

NSW Government website – Learning from home – Tips & Advice

Wellbeing

Being confined to home for an extended period of time can cause stress and conflict. Tips for looking after your children during isolation include:

• Talking to your whole family about what is happening. Understanding the situation will reduce their anxiety.
• Help your children to think about how they have coped with difficult situations in the past and reassure them that they will cope with this situation too. Remind them that the isolation won’t last for long.
• Exercise regularly. Options could include exercise DVDs, dancing, floor exercises, yoga, walking around the backyard or using home exercise equipment, such as a stationary bicycle, if you have it. Exercise is a proven treatment for stress and depression.
• Encourage your children to keep in touch with family members and friends via telephone, email or social media (where appropriate).

Communicating with Your Child

We encourage you to start and finish each day with a simple check-in. These check-ins should be a regular part of each day and start straight away. Not all students thrive in a Remote Learning environment; some struggle with too much independence or lack of structure and the check-ins help keep them on track.

In the morning, ask:

• What are you learning today?
• What are your learning targets or goals?
• How will you be spending your time?
• What resources do you require?
• What support do you need?

In the afternoon, ask:

• What did you learn today?
• Acknowledge one thing that was difficult. Either let it go or come up with a strategy to deal with the same problem if it comes up again
• Consider three things that went well today. Why were they good?
• Are you ok? Do you need to ask your teacher for something? Do you need help with something to make tomorrow more successful?

These specific questions matter because they allow your child to process the instructions they have received from their teachers and help them organise themselves and set priorities. 

Digital Citizenship

We recommend that you take the time to explore issues of digital citizenship and then discuss these with your child. Click here for more information.

It is important that during this period of Remote Learning that we maintain safe and responsible use of information and communication technologies.

This includes appropriate use of digital platforms, privacy and information protection, respectful communication and how to deal with online issues.

Parent Webinar – Digital Safety

Monday 26 July 2021
6pm – 7pm
Webinar link: Click here.
Passcode: 106933

The webinar will provide real-world and relevant information, providing strategy-rich and practical content such as:

• Social media platforms and current behavioural trends 
• Current legislation and research around topical online issues
• Gaming management strategies
• Safety and communication strategies parents can deploy within the home
• Cyberbullying reporting pathways and management strategies

More Cyber Safety information and resources can be found on the Redlands Cyber Safety Hub which is a free resource for Redlands families.

I hope you all have a great week.

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

Head of Junior School

JUNIOR SCHOOL UPCOMING EVENTS

Remote Learning

It has been fantastic to continue to see and be part of some of the synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences this week and as both Mr Webber and I said to the students in our Zoom assemblies this week, we could not be prouder of what they continue to achieve and how they are growing in every sense. I also continue to recognise the efforts of our staff and our families at home who are supporting the children in this important time in our partnership.

The lockdown didn’t stop Yr 3 go on a virtual excursion to Taronga Zoo which was planned for this term and our Home Fit program is well underway with some our student leaders prerecording fitness videos for our Junior School students to keep them active and connected. Look out for the return to some Saturday morning live workouts again!

Our teachers, Dean of Students and counsellors continue to do regular check-ins with the students as we place our emphasis on student wellbeing alongside learning. If you or your child needs any particular aspects of support or assistance, please contact our Dean of Students, Mrs Clinton, and either she or one of our counsellors will connect with you directly.

Uniform Shop

Open Saturday 31 July, 10am-3pm for Click & Collect only

Weekly Booking for On-Campus Learning for Children of Essential Workers

Thank you for continuing to understand the importance of minimising the numbers of students and staff on campus as we follow the government guidelines of reducing mobility across Greater Sydney during this period of lockdown. We continue to make provisions to support students of essential workers only who have the opportunity to be supervised on campus for remote learning. With our class teachers working from home themselves, these students follow the same learning that students at home will do remotely and be supervised in the Arnold Library.

Parents who are essential workers can make a booking request for next week (26-30 July) by completing this online form. Booking requests close at 8pm tomorrow (Friday) to allow us sufficient time to organise staffing and a separate request form is required for each child.  

N.B. Any student who presents at school with even the mildest symptoms of COVID- 19 will be sent home and not permitted to return before a negative COVID-19 test result and are symptom free.

Junior School Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Ably supported by other Yr 6 leaders, our School Captains, Caroline and Alex, have organised a fantastic virtual Scavenger Hunt for all Junior School students tomorrow morning after roll call which promises to be great fun so be pre-warned that your children may be frantically running around collecting things at this time! 

Redlands Cyber Hub

Even more relevant in the current climate, parents are reminded of our Redlands

Cyber Safety Hub specifically for our community, which contains current, research-based information and assistance for our families and staff.

This was shared with all families last term after a parent presentation led by Yasmin London from ySafe and I encourage every family to take the time to explore or revisit this valuable resource to support you and your child, which includes a range of relevant topics such as:

• Cyber safety guides
• Managing screen time
• Creating a safe home
• Gaming
• Setting up parental controls
• App and Game reviews

I draw your attention to a particular app that a couple of parents have asked teachers about called Discord which is listed as 17+ as a rating. Clearly, this simply should not be accessed by any Junior School student and parents should ensure that this is the case as our Cyber Safety Hub reaffirms.

We know that this is an ever-evolving landscape and look forward to continuing this important partnership with ySafe to support our students and wider community navigate the way through this important aspect of our current and future lives and most importantly, help to equip our students with the tools and information to keep themselves safe in an online environment.

Pandemic Fatigue

Earlier this week, one of our Junior School Counsellors, Mr Alessandro Digiacomo, joined the University of Sydney’s live panel discussion on the topic, “Pandemic fatigue: young people and mental health”. Whilst the focus was more on older students, I share some of his notes for Junior School families too as aspects may be of both interest and support.

Pandemic Fatigue: Young People and Mental Health (University of Sydney)

• This period of time is impacting social connections
• Young people are encouraged to follow a routine, get fresh air, make sure they do something they enjoy every day, try to find alternate ways of engaging in social interaction, and reach out to people.
• Evidence has been reviewed and four key findings in Australia were:
  • a deterioration in mental health
  • self-harm has increased in young people
  • the service system is stretched
  • social connection really matters 
• Young people are faring much worse than most people because of this disruption occurring  during a formative part of their lives.
• Parents are struggling with the fact that they or their children may not be vaccinated by the time they have to go back to work or send their children back to school.
• Technology is a divider but also a helper as a strategy for helping people to stay connected.
• Zoom fatigue is real; shared experiences are important: watching movies together virtually, playing games online with people you know and using “old fashioned connections” through mail or email is encouraged.
• Games and active involvement in the use of online digital platforms did not have a negative impact on mental health and for some they can in fact mitigate the negative experience of mental health impacts.

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

Junior School Upcoming Events

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

Head of Preparatory School

PREP SCHOOL UPCOMING EVENTS

Remote Learning Week 2

A big thank you to our Redlands Prep community this week for supporting the staff and our learners during Remote Learning. The staff have developed a positive combination of online connection and offline task completion. I have been able to jump in and out of many lessons and early morning catch up sessions and it melts my heart to see enthusiastic faces smiling back at me. We have had fun in Assembly, Mrs Clinton has been dancing the hokey pokey, there has been crazy hair, pets, toys and many other fun ways that we have all connected. From my perspective, I am so incredibly proud of the way our young learners conduct themselves on Zoom. They are always there on time, wearing their uniform, headphones on and navigating their Seesaw platform so professionally. We are seeing true resilience and courage at its best online.

As we progress further into lockdown, please be aware that the enthusiasm levels of some students and their engagement may hit highs and lows. This is to be expected, so if this is happening in your household and you would like to reach out to us to talk through some strategies or to just touch base with where your child is at, please do by emailing any of your teachers, myself, Katie Louise Clinton, Alessandro Digiacomo or Courtney Karpin. If you would like to discuss any curriculum specific questions, please email Stacey Smith.

The communication between us is so very important to ensure we are all supported and on the same page. Can I please point out that emails or posts sent to our teachers during the day may not be answered until later that day as our teachers are on Zooms, planning meetings or indeed having a break themselves so please be patient for their reply or the answer you may be seeking could be answered by another parent in your class. I would like to thank our class parent representatives who have been trying to find ways to connect virtually outside of school hours. It is very much appreciated to know that the students are having time to catch up with their friends. I know our new families in particular are very grateful for this contact.

Weekly Booking for On-Campus Learning for Children of Essential Workers

Thank you for continuing to understand the importance of minimising the numbers of students and staff on campus as we follow the government guidelines of reducing mobility across Greater Sydney during this period of lockdown. We continue to make provisions to support students of essential workers only who have the opportunity to be supervised on campus for remote learning. With our class teachers working from home themselves, these students follow the same learning that students at home will do remotely and be supervised in the Arnold Library.

Parents who are essential workers can make a booking request for next week (26-30 July) by completing this online form. Booking requests close at 8pm tomorrow (Friday) to allow us sufficient time to organise staffing and a separate request form is required for each child.  

N.B. Any student who presents at school with even the mildest symptoms of COVID- 19 will be sent home and not permitted to return before a negative COVID-19 test result and are symptom free.

Uniform Shop

Open Saturday 31 July, 10am-3pm for Click & Collect only

Redlands Olympic Challenge

Redlands is going to Tokyo! We challenge you to travel to Tokyo in your house groups for the 2021 Olympic Games! Click here to watch our promotional video.

The goal is to travel to the Olympic Games in your house group. Sydney to Tokyo is 7,824km and the aim is to make it all the way to Tokyo in two weeks, ending on Sunday 1 August. There will be five teams:

• Cowper
• McDouall
• Roseby
• Dumolo
• Staff/Coaches Team

Who can be involved?

All members of the Redlands Community – students, parents, staff and siblings across the Preparatory School, Junior School and Secondary School are all welcome to join in.

How to Win?

The winning team will be the team that has travelled the largest distance over the two week period. A list of activities can be found below, please note not all activities are equally weighted:

•  Run/Walk (1:1)
•  Bike (2:1)
•  Row/Kayak (1:3)
•  Swim (1:4)
•  Beginner zoom workout: 3km/workout
•  Advanced zoom workout: 5km/workout
•  Mobility session: 1km/workout

*Please ensure you are following the current NSW Health Guidelines and Protocols when participating in this challenge*

How to record your activity?

Click here to complete the google form to log your activity. Families are encouraged to share photos and videos of themselves participating in activities with the Sports Department by emailing to prepsport@redlands.nsw.edu.au

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

Prep/RH Upcoming Events

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

Redlands House and Transition Gold

A huge thank you to all our Redlands House families who have rallied with us to ensure the smooth transition to Remote Learning. We fully appreciate this is a challenging time and many of you are trying to assist older children with Remote Learning, as well as work from home yourselves. Please let us know if we can assist in any way, or if you have any special request for Storypark posts.

Please do reach out to me or any of our counsellors if you or your children are feeling uneasy or finding the current situation difficult to cope with emotionally. Sometimes a chat and few strategies can help in getting back on track.

I would like to warmly welcome our new families who join us this term. While this is not the start to Redlands we hoped it would be, we are looking forward to welcoming the children and their families soon. Luckily some families did fit in some pre-lockdown playdates which was very timely.

UNIFORM SHOP

Open Saturday 31 July, 10am-3pm for Click & Collect only

Weekly Booking for On-Campus Learning for Children of Essential Workers

Thank you for continuing to understand the importance of minimising the numbers of students and staff on campus as we follow the government guidelines of reducing mobility across Greater Sydney during this period of lockdown. We continue to make provisions to support students of essential workers only who have the opportunity to be supervised on campus for remote learning. With our class teachers working from home themselves, these students follow the same learning that students at home will do remotely and be supervised in the Arnold Library.

Parents who are essential workers can make a booking request for next week (26-30 July) by completing this online form. Booking requests close at 8pm tomorrow (Friday) to allow us sufficient time to organise staffing and a separate request form is required for each child.  

N.B. Any student who presents at school with even the mildest symptoms of COVID- 19 will be sent home and not permitted to return before a negative COVID-19 test result and are symptom free.

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

Redlands Olympic Games Challenge 

We hope you have all had a chance to look into our Redlands Olympic Games Challenge, a fantastic challenge that our whole community in encouraged to take part in! How will you get to Tokyo? 

There have been a number of parents, carers, students and staff members take on this challenge and we look forward to many more entering kilometres over the next 2 weeks.

At the moment the McDouall seem to be making their way to Tokyo the quickest  with a slight lead over the Staff team, which is followed by Dumolo, Roseby and Cowper! 

Basketball 

A huge congratulations to Meera Coburn (Yr 11) who has been selected to attend the Australian Junior Basketball Camp in September. 

Read more here.

Fitness

It has been great to see so many students participating in the zoom fitness sessions. Keep up the good work. Students are encouraged to attend as many sessions as they wish, and we encourage all members of the same household to join in the sessions.

A reminder that students need to be:

• Online and ready to go prior to the zoom starting (please be online ready to go at 6:55am/3.25pm)
• If students are more than 10 minutes late they will not be admitted into the Zoom Session
• Zooms set to mute with cameras on (students who remain with their cameras off will not have the session counted towards their commitment)
• Have a water bottle 
• Have a gym towel 
• Please wear appropriate fitness attire (in line with mufti day attire ie: no singlets, appropriate length shorts)

ONLINE FITNESS TIMETABLE

Rugby

Despite the lockdown, it is still a busy period with Redlands Rugby with a focus through this period being feedback to players and coaches, along with plans for our 2022 Preseason. On top of this we have a fantastic accomplishment to highlight for our 2021 Season. In the last week of Term 2, Redlands had three students represent the school and the ISA in the NSW Schoolboy Championships, held at NSW HQ in Daceyville. Josh Hicks, William Pearson and Hugo Scott, all selected for the ISA Under 16s A side, played brilliant across the weekend, each making impact in attack and defence. Josh put together some amazing highlights, ducking under the contact of some much larger opposition in the GPS side, and he came inches away from scoring. Will Pearson continued his scoring streak, having scored in all of our matches so far this season including the trials. Late in the 1^st half of the GPS match the ball was thrown wide to Will and in wet and greasy conditions, he was able to step two defenders and dive over in the corner. Hugo Scott, the youngest of our three reps, also was impressive, especially in defence with some incredible chop tackles.

Following on from these matches the NSW Selectors along with the NSW Schoolboy Coaches were tasked with selecting the Schoolboy sides for 2021. In a fantastic sign of things to come for the Redlands Rugby program, Will Pearson was selected as a shadow player in the NSW Schoolboys 16s II team. This is an amazing accomplishment and a testament to the work that Will has put into his Rugby this year. The Redlands Rugby program could not be prouder of these boys and their accomplishments.

Along with this wonderful news I can also announce, very proudly, that I have been named as the NSW Schoolboys Head Coach for the Under 16s. Having this opportunity not only allows me to continue my development as a coach but it also clearly demonstrates to our program the clear pathways for our elite players. The proudest moment of the NSW Schoolboys weekend was seeing all of our representatives, Hugo, Will and Josh, all appear on selectors notes.

Players in our Under 15s and Juniors should set their goals high for next year and I look forward to even more of our students representing our School, ISA and higher in the coming years.

Tennis

With the Winter Tennis season currently on hold, we are encouraging all students to keep up their tennis skills and fitness through online fitness sessions, private coaching, tennis specific sessions or using Strava to track a run, walk or cycle. 

The Redlands Tennis ilearn page has all the information you need to get started and to stay motivated. We are looking forward to getting back out on the court soon.

“Exercise not only changes your body, it changes your mind, your attitude and your mood”

Unknown Author 

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

All Sports contacts can be found on Redlands Pulse.​

Junior Sport

Week 2

Week 2 of Remote Learning on the back of the school holidays certainly does feel like where we were last year. In a perfect world this week would have been the final training session for our Junior School Athletics team before heading off to HICES Athletics next week. Our girls AFL would have been preparing for their first competitive match this week.

Interschool sport and club sport in Australia has been cancelled for now, but that doesn’t mean students need to miss out on what is a vital component of their life. Sport Australia acting chief executive Rob Dalton remarks:

“It’s a tough time for sport, but helping our kids to stay active – and being active ourselves – is just as important as ever,” says.

How much physical activity do children need each day?

Australian physical activity guidelines recommend children aged 5 to 12 get at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day. “Sport and physical activity can contribute to making kids happier, healthier, more resilient and socially engaged,” says Rob. “There are numerous studies to show it can also impact positively on their other learning skills, including their academic education.” Byron Dodds, of multi-sport program Ready Steady Go Kids, of which quite a few Redlands students have taken part in in their younger years, says sport helps kids develop their gross and fine motor skills, as well as social abilities such as resilience.

Why exercise is crucial in a world changed by coronavirus

Rob says staying active can be particularly therapeutic amid the uncertainty right now. “Sport and active games can provide an important balance, physically and mentally, for you and your children,” he says. Byron says physical activity helps the brain cope better with stress and anxiety. “So making sure daily exercise comes into your routine in the current health crisis is crucial,” he says.

How parents can step up for their kids

Research shows eight in 10 kids don’t get the recommended hour of physical activity a day – but 77 per cent of children with an active parent are active themselves, says Rob. “You can be their most important sporting role model,” he says. Byron says now is the perfect opportunity for parents to get out and play with their kids. “Shoot hoops with them, bowl them a cricket ball, kick the footy, learn a dance with them, practise those gymnastic or acrobatic tricks and do some strengthening,” he says.

Get creative in your own backyard

Make it easy and enticing “Encourage them outside, put some sporting equipment where they will see and use it,” says Rob. Get on board some wheels. “Get the kids out and about riding their bikes or scooters or using their skateboards/rollerblades in the driveway or up and down the road,” Byron says.

Turn your backyard into a sporting venue “Set up a game of backyard cricket, play basketball, frisbee, throw and catch, jump on the trampoline, play piggy in the middle, kick a ball, chase bubbles, pull out the balls, bats, hula hoops, yoga or Pilates mats,” says Byron.

Mix it up and think outside the square. “Use balloons for balloon volleyball, tennis or soccer,” Byron says. “Or build some obstacle courses the kids can do indoors or outdoors with household items to get them to crawl over and under things. “Or have races in the backyard – relay races such as jumping, hopping, frog jumps, running backwards, walking sideways, or use a pillowslip and do sack races.”

Our Junior School students have been fortunate to have Wednesday sport still timetabled into their Remote Learning schedule. The sport captains and house captains have been very busy creating and producing a weekly age-appropriate fitness routine for all the Junior School to complete during this time. While the links for these have been uploaded to your child’s Google Classroom they can also be found here.

In the coming days you will receive a notification containing links to longer workouts including sport specific skills sessions that have been put together by the sport department. Previously these have been ‘live’ in nature with students asked to participate via Zoom on the Saturday morning but given the nature of the current restrictions these will be sent pre-recorded which will enable you and your child to complete these at another time if Saturday morning is not convenient.

It might be stormy now but rain doesn’t last forever.

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

Snowsports

Please note: All remaining Snowsports events are currently pending due to possible COVID restrictions and/or regulations and/or operational conditions.

Important Dates

Interschools

Interschools is a great place to find further information regarding all Snowsports events including the latest news and announcements on changes to events.

Further details can be found on Redlands Pulse – Snowsports.

Bruce Campbell
Snowsports Administrator
0413 764 445
bcampbell@redlands.nsw.edu.au

or Ms Eliza Peirce
Snowsports Administrator
epeirce@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Ballet and Dance

Remote Dancing

Thank you to all our creative and resilient ballet and dance students and their parents and carers, for making our first week of Remote Dancing such a positive experience for all. It is very uplifting to see our students’ smiling faces as they trained together. Dance brings so much joy to so many. For us, “the show goes on”.

Why we encourage our students to continue Remote Dancing

Staying Connected with our Ballet and Dance Community: Zooming into ballet and dance classes each week helps your child to remain connected to teachers and friends.

Keeping Active: Continuing students normal dance classes remotely, contributes to maintaining physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Keeping a Routine:  Zooming in for their usual timetabled face-to-face dance classes helps to maintain a routine during challenging times.

Maintain Skills and Confidence: Students will continue to work on their End of Year Concert work and continue to build on their technique, skills and confidence during their ballet and dance classes. We also encouraged students to practise independently their home environment and provide extra resources to support this practise.

Happy Remote Dancing everyone!

Platforms for Remote Dancing

The Ballet and Dance Academy are providing classes via the platforms listed below:

Redlands Ballet and Dance Academy: Events Postponed

Sydney Eisteddfod

The Sydney Eisteddfod Board have made the decision to pause all scheduled events until Monday 9 August (inclusive) with the intention of rescheduling events towards late August and into September & October. This means our events on Saturday 25 July and Sunday 1 August will be rescheduled.

RAD Exams and Class Awards

The RAD have advised that our RAD Exams and Class Awards, which were scheduled for 29 & 30 August, have been postponed. New dates to be advised.

Contact us

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us at dance@redlands.nsw.edu.au should you have any questions or concerns.

We also ask that you check our Ballet and Dance page on Redlands Pulse for updates. Please Click here to view page.

Thank you again for your continued support and understanding. 

Stay safe and keep well.

Ms. K Martin
Head of Redlands Ballet and Dance Academy
kmartin@redlands.nsw.edu.au

Music

Music

We’ve enjoyed the opportunity to connect with families in our Senior School community this week via Yr 10 Information Sessions and Parent Teacher Interviews. It’s always so valuable ensuring those home and school connections are in place as we work together to build a world of opportunities for our Redlands students through Music.

While checking in with our Curriculum Music students this week, we discussed the highs and lows and challenges and joys of life right now. Unsurprisingly, many of our students cited music-making as being their ‘happy place’ at this time. I was reminded of the article ‘The Unexpected Solace in Learning to Play Piano’ in the New York Times last year by artist Christoph Niemann, who taught himself to play piano during the 2020 lockdowns.  Music has proven, science-based wellbeing benefits, and we are thrilled to see these being drawn upon across our learning community at this time.   

Learning Music from Home

Lessons in Week 3 will continue to be provided as per the schedule below. Several ensemble conductors reached out to their groups via Zoom this week, and whilst lag makes it challenging to facilitate a traditional rehearsal, it was beneficial connecting altogether and putting things in place for when our rehearsals resume down the track. Thank you to all our students for the warmth and enthusiasm you have brought to these sessions!

As mentioned previously, the default for weekly rehearsal provisions while learning at home will be through the upload of resources and activities to the respective learning platform (Seesaw, Google Classroom and iLearn). Conductors will continue to communicate directly with ensembles if there is to be a scheduled Zoom session to accompany the resource upload in the regular session.  Weekly resources will be available from each session’s regular start time.

(Junior Campus Music Teacher – Mrs Susan-Gai Anderson – all ready for her Redlands House music students this week!)

Online Auditions and Competitions

The current climate has seen the invention of the new Music Department Auditions page on iLearn. Current events that are open for our students are the Redlands Senior Instrumental Competition (via video upload, now closing Friday 30th July 2021) and the Redlands Composition Competition (via score & audio upload, now closing Friday 13th August 2021). 

We look forward to receiving all the video uploads from our Senior Instrumentalists in the coming week, to be judged by a panel towards the publishing of Finalist names in Week 4 Note Day.

Entry Forms are currently available for download from Pulse and iLearn. 

Other Date Changes

Please keep your eye on the Music Events dates on Pulse in case of adjustments in the term ahead.  A reminder that the Yr 12 IB and HSC Music 2 & Extension Showcase has now been rescheduled to Monday 23rd August 2021 in order to accommodate the revised Trial Examination Period.  The HSC Music 1 Showcase will now be on Tuesday 24th August 2021. Both events will be recorded and live-streamed.

Contact us

As always, our administrative team remain ready to help you with any queries you have. Please don’t hesitate to reach out via seniormusic@redlands.nsw.edu.au or juniormusic@redlands.nsw.edu.au if you have any queries.

Amy Richardson
Director of Music P-12 (Acting)
seniormusic@redlands.nsw.edu.au 
9968 9820

Drama and Theatre

Grease the Musical the Movie

• Friday 30 July
• Saturday 31 July
• Sunday 1 August.

Drama Competition 2021

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the Drama Competition will be conducted online. 

The Details

• Email drama@redlands.nsw.edu.au to be added to the Drama Competition iLearn page. This is where you will find all relevant information, and submit your performance and application form.
• Performances can be either a solo, duologue or ensemble piece
• If you choose to submit a duologue or ensemble piece you must film online using zoom gallery or another appropriate platform. *Please note It is encouraged to form a group with students in your year group as there may be an opportunity to film at school in a socially distanced environment if restrictions ease and we return to onsite learning. 
• Performances must be no more than 4 minutes in length
• There will be no auditions. Instead, a selection of ‘finalist performances’ will be chosen 
• Each submission must comprise of a video performance (mp4 format) and an application form. Both must be submitted via iLearn
• All content/and or material must be appropriate and suited to the age of performers. If unsure, speak to a drama teacher
• House points will be awarded for each submission 
• Prior to filming your piece, please watch the ‘Filming your entry’ video located on iLearn under ‘Modules’ as it provides tips for filming your performance. 
• The winners from each category will be awarded a medal and $50 theatre voucher 

Important Dates

• Submissions are open from Monday 26 July 
• Submission close on Friday 20 August, Week 6 
• Judging will take place during Weeks 7 and 8 and the winners will be announced in Week 9

Judging

• A winner will be announced for the solo category and the group category (two or more performers) 
• Each performance will be judged on the following criteria:

Criteria 1 – Skills Performance skills appropriate to the style or form
Criteria 2 – Interpretation Stylistic interpretation of the chosen repertoire
Criteria 3 – Techniques Demonstration of a solo and/or ensemble techniques
Criteria 4 – Presentation The care taken with suitable dress/costume and appearance appropriate to the performance style

Extra Subject and Cocurricular Classes 

It was wonderful to see all our Drama and Theatre students in our Extra Subject program online this week in these challenging times. Our Acting, Film, Music Theatre and Production students welcomed the opportunity to communicate creatively with each other and our talented teachers adapted activities so successfully from stage to screen. 

Anyone interested in joining our classes in Drama and Theatre should email drama@redlands.nsw.edu.au. 

Online Learning Platforms

• Secondary School teaching: via Zoom and iLearn  
• Junior School teaching: via Zoom and Google Classroom
• Prep School teaching: Seesaw
• Preschool teaching: Storypark 

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