Primary students are to bring in their donated items to school during Weeks 4 to Week 9 and place them in the boxes in their classrooms.

Secondary students are to bring in their items to school on Thursday, 28 March (Week 9) (Holy Thursday). These will be collected on entry to school by students from our Community Service Team. It would be appropriate for older students to contribute in some way to the cost of this item so that they may experience the important spirit of giving. The last day for donations of items will be Tuesday, 2 April (Week 10).

It would be very much appreciated if all items donated are of a high-quality brand name. Due to health regulations, no peanut-based items are permitted, and please check the expiry date of the items donated.

Mufti Day:On Thursday, 28 March (Week 9) (Holy Thursday), boys are to come to school in casual clothes and make a gold-coin donation.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and support of this initiative.

David Vassallo, Deputy Headmaster/Head of Patoral Care & Service Learning

Please make prior arrangements with your son to report to the office at the time you need to pick him up. Where it is not possible to make prior arrangements, we ask that you arrive at school allowing sufficient time for an office staff member to contact your son's teacher and arrange for him to come to the office.

If your son is attending a morning appointment, you may receive an absence text message. Please disregard this message, as his presence at school will be amended once he arrives at school and this is reconciled with the submitted the absence form.

AFTERNOON PICK UP/DUTY OF CARE

Direct supervision by staff members ends at 3:30pm. Students should be picked before this time to minimise any incidents that may occur when students are unsupervised.

Students involved in co-curricular activities (such as Study Club, sports training or music rehearsals) should be picked up immediately at the conclusion of the activity.

DELIVERY OF FOOD OR OTHER ITEMS

To limit disruptions to classes, please refrain from delivering food or other items (such as sports gear or instruments) for your son to the office while he is at school.

Frank Romeo, Director of Administration

• Why has God given me a body?
• How can I be a gift to others?
• How can I appreciate the gifts that God has given me?
• Why has God given me the gift of senses?
• How do I control my body and my actions?

Please take the time to read the relevant sections of the “Body Matters” books with your son each week. The pages to read will be communicated to you via the Class Teacher or Religion Teacher.

MAP Growth Assessment

Redfield College is committed to building a culture of excellence and helping each student achieve his personal best in all aspects of his education. MAP Growth is an assessment tool which helps to build a learner profile for each student so that his strengths and areas for improvement are identified and used to help him grow academically. Students in Years 2 to 10 sit these assessments three times each year.

After having encountered some technical difficulties downloading the data from the final round of testing from last year, your son's MAP Growth Report from Term 4 is now available through the Parent Portal at https://paredhills.pared.edu.au. Please make sure you change the selected date range to show ‘all’and then you will be able to view your son’s file from Term 4, 2023.

For instructions on how to view or print your son's MAP Growth Report, please follow this link.

Please also take some time to watch this short videowhich explains some of the aspects of the MAP Growth Report.

Importance of Homework

Redfield College wants every boy to do his best and grow academically. Building good habits is critical to growing in virtue, and one way to do this for all students is completing homework each night. We will follow up on any boys who have not completed their homework and ensure that they have the opportunity to complete it. In the Secondary school, lunchtime sessions are set aside for students to finish their homework in the Library. We appreciate your support in this manner.

Daryl Castellino, Director of Teaching & Learning

1. Control of temper:Meekness involves not giving in to bouts of anger. We all experience anger, but we are free when it comes to our personal response to it. The meek person is able to rein in his anger. He is much stronger than the person who loses control easily.
2. Empathy:Meekness means being able to understand where others are coming from. Being quick to judge and losing patience with people is often a result of not really trying to see things from their point of view. This leads to a loss of peace within us and around us.
3. Cooperation over competition:Not everything needs to become a competition! Of course, it is good to have a healthy competitive spirit, but turning everything into a contest is exhausting for ourselves and for others. The truly meek person knows when the competition is on and when it is not.

Fr Phil Elias, College Chaplain

Last Wednesday, we were blessed with beautiful weather for our Primary Swimming Carnival. It was pleasing to see so many parents in attendance supporting their sons. The boys certainly took to the carnival with enthusiasm, and it was great that we had a huge number of swimmers competing and doing their personal best. I was impressed with the boys' behaviour and their support of their teammates. Well done to all who participated on the day. A big thank you goes to the Primary staff who worked tirelessly to ensure the carnival was successful. There can only be one winner, and congratulations go to the winning house, Sirius. They had the most competitors, which certainly helped them secure the trophy for another year. Age Champions will be announced and celebrated at our next whole-school assembly later in the term. The HZSA representative team has been selected and will be competing at Sydney Olympic Park on Monday, 4 March. I know that they are all excited and will represent Redfield proudly. I wish them all the best. The team is:

Away from swimming but still with sport, we have had several boys competing at a higher level and representing Redfield with pride. On Monday, 26 February, Xavier Kennedy(Year 6) will compete at a CIS Tennis carnival where he will be up against some stiff competition. I wish him all the very best and look forward to hearing how he performs. In Basketball last Wednesday, Year 6 students Henry Lin, Ethan Gaoand Felix Yetrialled at the HZSA level, and Ethan was successful in making it through to the next level. We wish him the best for his try-outs for the CIS team.

At a recent assembly, one of the members of the Secondary Community Service Team presented to the boys a school-driven initiative to help out those who are struggling in our community. Every Primary class is working towards bringing in something to contribute to snack packs. Redfield has partnered with the St Vincent de Paul Society, and this is a practical way to perform acts of charity.

Darren Corke, Head of Primary

1. Floating Friend Fun: Students had a blast learning the basics of floating, a fundamental skill that forms the basis of many swimming techniques. Our teachers provided guidance and support, ensuring that each child felt comfortable and confident in the water. This led to a grade competition to see which boys could float the longest, winning points for their House.
2. Hungry Hippo Wading Adventures: Shallow water activities allowed our boys to practise wading, improving their balance and coordination. These playful exercises not only built physical skills but also helped develop a sense of comfort and ease in aquatic environments. This ended in a Hungry Hippo-type game where the boys had to wade through the water collecting balls for their House.
3. Kickboard Mastery: The kickboard became our trusty companion during these events. Boys had the chance to use this handy tool to refine their kicking techniques and enhance their propulsion in the water. It's a step-by-step process that sets the groundwork for more advanced swimming strokes in the future, and it finished in a kickboard relay, with the winning team getting points for their House.

At Redfield, our aim is not only to nurture swimming skills but also to promote a positive attitude towards water safety. By introducing these pre-swimming activities, we hope to instill a sense of confidence and respect for the water in our young learners. Hopefully, these boys will be more confident next year and be able to participate in the 50-metre races.

We want to express our gratitude to our amazing staff who made these events possible, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all. We look forward to seeing our boys continue to grow as confident and water-conscious individuals. Thank you for your ongoing support in making our school a place where learning goes beyond the classroom, even into the pool!

Jason Hatcher, Deputy Head of Primary

Food production in grassland biomes is easier due to the rich and fertile nature of the soil. Grasslands are very important for the production of rice, which is the staple food for over half the world. Other major foods produced in grassland biomes are wheat and corn. Rice and bread (which is made from wheat) are two of the most commonly eaten foods in the world and they are both vital for our survival. Wheat is the most cultivated crop globally and ever since the 1960s, wheat has been processed into many foods.

On the other hand, rice is half the world’s main source of energy. Rice basically built many cultures, such as the Indus Valley and Ancient China. Both of these foods are also a staple food in many third-world countries and are the main source of food for many people. Without wheat and rice, many people would starve. Without grassland biomes, neither rice nor wheat would grow.

Popular theory suggests that after humans evolved from apes, we originated from the grasslands in Africa. Due to those circumstances, humans developed larger brains and the ability to craft tools, and developed longer periods to attain maturity. These are all key factors that make us who we are today and helped us adapt to the coolish climate on earth. Fast forward a couple of million years, and over one billion people live in grassland biomes. Grassland biomes are vital for our population. One in every eight people depends on grassland biomes to give them a home or a place to live. Since over 40% of the world’s terrain are grasslands, they are a significant part of our society, both historically and socially.

Grassland biomes are very important for our carbon dioxide storage. Since grasslands are covering around 40% of our land, they are essential for storing carbon dioxide. With growing concerns globally about CO2 emissions and their effect on global warming, grasslands are a useful solution because they store one third of all carbon dioxide. Grassland are covered in trees and, due to a process called photosynthesis, they take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their leaves to produce glucose. One major contributing factor in working towards our net-zero goal will be trees and important biomes such as grassland biomes.

In conclusion, grassland biomes are vital for our food production, producing staples such as wheat and rice. In addition, humans have been living in grassland biomes since their first evolution, and grasslands are also important for storing carbon dioxide.

On the first day of competition, our new recruit Daniel Yanez Marichal(Year 10) completed the course in style, finishing in 48th place out of 76 competitors (25th place out of the competitors from the CIS). The second day saw our Junior team comprised of Year 7 students Alexander Siau, Luke Alloggiaand Xavier Scheepersperforming admirably to place 28th out of 54 teams (ninth in CIS). Finally, our Intermediate Year 10 team of Joachim Rodriguesand Jackson Buschwere terrific in gaining 39th place out of a large field of 77 teams (20th in CIS). Marcus Alloggiarolled his ankle in Basketball the night before, so Joachim completed both runs - an outstanding feat!

The stack of the day went to Jackson Busch who entered into the transition too hot and completely grazed his shoulder. He still had a smile and, thankfully, the bike lent to him by Santiago Mustafa-Ortiz(Year 8) is still in one piece!

Thanks go to Mrs Siau, Mrs Alloggia, Mr Scheepersand Old Boy Isaac Busch(Class of 2023) for helping with transport, and we are looking forward to entering more teams and individual athletes in the Hills Zone Event on Holy Thursday.

Chris Tanna, Triathlon Coordinator

• Thank you for your patience while we roll out Clipboard. PARED IT and Clipboard Support are still working on a solution to add both parents’ email addresses to each account.
• In the meantime, please log in using one email address (most likely the mother’s email address) to register your son for his sport. A guide on how to register (activity selection) is attached for your convenience.
• Fixtures are being added to the Clipboard schedule and should all be uploaded by the end of the week.
• If your son has an away game, it is expected that he takes the bus provided to and from the venue.
• If you are going to be picking your son up from the venue OR if you are allowing him to make his own way home, this needs to be communicated by email to his coach before game day. Please also copy me into the email (headofsport@redfield.nsw.edu.au) just in case a coach is absent on the day.
• The list of coaches is as follows:

Nick Georgiou,Head of Sport

Competition games- Games will be run weekly from the first week of Term 2 (29 April, 2024) through to the end of Term 3 (28 September, 2024). Please note that games may be scheduled after Redfield's last day for each term.

Location- Games will be scheduled at one or two of these venues

• CASTLE HILL: Hills Basketball Stadium (HBS), Fred Caterson Reserve, Caterson Drive, Castle Hill.
• KELLYVILLE: Bernie Mullane Sports Complex (BMC), Marella Avenue, Kellyville.

Times of gameswill differ.

• Junior games (U10s through to U12s) will be on Saturdays.

• Senior games (U13s through to U18s) will be during weekdays after school into early evening. U17 and U18 games will be on Friday nights.

Volunteers- Our Basketball Club cannot survive without volunteers. We need parents and Old Boys to volunteer as a coachor as a manager. Without a coach or manager, our teams may be forced to pull out from the competition.

In saying this, as our coaches and managers are volunteers, we put a lot of trust in their decision making and judgement on game day, and we ask that all family members trust and support their coach and manager. The Basketball Club will always side with the Coach's decision when it comes to game situations. Please encourage your son to follow what the coach or manager is asking of them during the game.

Training- We will be scheduling training for the local competition teams again this upcoming season. Days and times will be scheduled based on coach availability.

Uniforms- Uniforms will be supplied by the Redfield Basketball Club prior to the first game.

Registration- Please click on this link and complete the Trybooking form: Redfield College Basketball Club Local Winter Competition. We are required to have our teams entered by Friday, 1 March, 2024.

Fees- The Basketball Club sets out a set fee for Senior and Junior players. This fee structure covers the competition fees set out by Hills Hornets and includes Redfield uniforms.

James Marcelo, Basketball Club President