On Friday 27th March, I, along with three other students, Mr Vassallo and Mr Georgescu served the community as part of the Ryde Vinnies Van service. This was the first time I and my fellow Mission and Service Captain, Daniel Yanez had taken been part in the Vinnies Van. Fortunately, we were joined on the evening by veteran Vinnies Van volunteer - the  School Vice Captain Christopher Fernandez , Year 12 Student Samuel Nassif , as well as Deputy Headmaster David Vassallo and Science Teacher George Georgescu.

Before we hit the road, there were preparations that had to be done. These included preparing food and drinks. While on the road in our van, we made a total of two stops  to cater the needs of the people we came across. From simple cups of coffee and sandwiches to idle chatter, the people we came in contact with were truly touched by the generosity that we provided. This really struck a chord within me as all these basic tasks we were doing meant a great deal to the people with help. It was pleasant to see that through volunteers like us serving the community any way we can greatly exhibit the kind of work God sent His Son Jesus for. This is greatly shown as it is the season of Lent, meaning that aside from giving up on certain aspects of our lives, it is encouraged to take something up. Whether it be praying more or exercising patience more, Lent is a time to show others the great kindness we have to offer.

Jacob Bernardo, Mission and Service Vice Captain

As we come to the conclusion of our Mary’s Meals Lenten Appeal, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the entire Redfield community for your generous support over the past four weeks.

To mark our 40th Anniversary, we set ourselves the goal of feeding 40 children—and thanks to your kindness, we have far exceeded that target, raising thus far a little over $2,600 (and we still have a week to go in the appeal). This is a remarkable achievement and a testament to the compassion and generosity that define our College community.

The past fortnight has been filled with wonderful moments. The Mary’s Guessing Bowl has continued to delight both Primary and Secondary students, many of whom are still puzzling over just how many gummy bears could possibly fit into one bowl. We look forward to announcing the winners in Week 9.

On Wednesday of Week 6, the COLA was transformed into the Mary’s Meals Ten Pin Bowling Alley as part of our “ Bowled Over ” event. It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm and joy of our Secondary students as they aimed for strikes to win a can of drink—or a spare to earn a Chupa Chup.

This week, our “ Bowled Out ” Cricket Competition brought even more excitement, with students lining up for the chance to bowl out or catch their teachers. Wow there were some amazing pace and spin deliveries. A heartfelt thank you to Mr Fitzgerald , Mr Richa , Mr Ragell , Mr Castellino , and our Headmaster, Mr Adlous , for bravely stepping up. Their good humour and willingness to get involved helped raise additional funds and created a memorable lunch time for everyone.

Our weekly “Bowls for Breakfast” collections wrapped up this Friday. While we are still counting the final contributions, the generosity shown over the past few weeks has been extraordinary and reflects the kindness and empathy of our students.

Our appeal is not over just yet. As we enter the final week in Week 8, we have one more day of activities planned for Wednesday, 25 March:
Blue Shirt Mufti Day — Wednesday 25 March (Week 8)
Students in Years 2–12 are invited to wear a blue shirt (Our Lady’s colour) with casual clothes and bring a gold coin donation.
“Bowl At” – Sponge the Teacher — Wednesday 25 March (Week 8)
A fun opportunity for students to throw a wet sponge at a teacher for a small donation.

For families who would still like to contribute directly, our online donation portal will remain open until Friday of Week 8 (28 March): https://redfield-college-shop.square.site/

Thank you once again for your extraordinary generosity and support. It is truly appreciated.
More information about the wonderful work of Mary’s Meals is available on their website .

On Friday of Week 6, our Student Leadership Team led a heartfelt celebration of International Women’s Day, recognising the many remarkable women who contribute so much to life at Redfield. From administration and support staff to our dedicated teachers, these women play an essential role in caring for and guiding our students each day.

As part of the celebration, our College Captain wrote a beautiful message of gratitude, personally acknowledging and thanking each woman at the College for her commitment, generosity, and quiet strength. To accompany this gesture, the Student Leadership Team presented a small token of appreciation on behalf of the student body - a Marvellous Creations chocolate bar to every woman on staff.

It was a simple but meaningful way for our young men to express respect, gratitude, and admiration for the women who enrich our school community in countless ways.

Our faith is an important part of our daily life at Redfield, and one of the most meaningful ways our students live it out is through service. After the wonderful success of our inaugural involvement in the Parramatta Dioceses Catechism (SRE) program at Dural Public School last year, we are delighted to share that our Year 10 students have once again been invited back to continue this important work.

Last Friday marked our first Catechism session for 2026, with a new group of Year 10 boys heading out to Dural Public School. From all reports, they did an outstanding job—engaged, enthusiastic, and generous in sharing the richness of our Catholic faith with the younger students. Catechism classes aim to help young children understand what we believe and how we live it, and our boys stepped into this role beautifully. Their presence is not only a gift to the students they teach but also a powerful opportunity for them to grow in maturity, leadership, and faith as they live God’s love through service, witness, and participation in the mission of the Church.

If you have any questions regarding the Year 10 Redfield Catechism program, please contact Mr Charbel Doumit – charbel.doumit@redfield.nsw.edu.au

Unfortunately, we have received a few reports of poor behaviour on some afternoon bus services, as well as instances of impatience with some boys pushing and shoving while  boarding buses in the afternoon at school.

We have addressed this directly with the boys at the College, reminding them of the College’s expectations and the importance of courtesy, patience, and respect for others—especially in busy end‑of‑day period in and around the Redfield carline area. Your support in reinforcing these expectations at home would be greatly appreciated. A brief conversation about safe and respectful conduct while lining up and travelling on the bus can make a meaningful difference.

Thank you for partnering with us to ensure all students travel home safely and represent the College well and with distinction.

The Year 6 students have been working hard on developing their narrative writing skills this term. They have been focusing on structuring their stories using the key stages of orientation, complication, rising tension, climax and resolution while strengthening their expression and vocabulary to engage the reader. Below are two examples of the impressive work produced by our students.

Ben Nolan and Nipun Dayasena, Year 6 Class Teachers

The Watertower 2

The watertower loomed over the town of Preston like a beast to an ant. It stood high on dusty Shooter’s Hill, its legs rusted and old. The town all felt unsettled and tense, feeling like it could strike down on them at any moment.

Spike and Bubba had been mates for as long as anyone could remember. They would ride their bikes together after school. They would hang out every day. But ever since Bubba went in the watertower, something about him just felt different. Spike noticed but laughed it off and told himself that people change. So life moved on. But there was still a nagging thought that pestered Spike: Is Bubba alright?

And things went normal, well at least for a few days. One afternoon, after school, Spike and Bubba were walking together. Yet there was one odd thing — it was cold. Preston was in the middle of a desert, yet it was cold? When they parted, Bubba stumbled north when his house was south. Spike, meanwhile, had had enough. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

He followed Bubba, staying out of sight. Bubba kept glancing at the watertower. Then the watertower started making noises.

Low. Loud. Horrible.

Then the noise started to get higher and higher until it was like a primal scream, and it was coming from the watertower. Spike covered his ears and kept following him up Shooter’s Hill.

Then suddenly, at the base of the watertower, something moved. It ran down the hill, its voice like the sound of the watertower, and it circled Spike, but he couldn’t make out what it was. Then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, it had disappeared, leaving Spike wondering. Then suddenly Spike remembered — Bubba!

Spike glanced at the town nervously, wondering if Bubba had gone down there. That’s when he noticed the faces of the town. They were dull, lifeless and staring towards the watertower.

He turned around to look at the watertower but was met with the face of Bubba — well, the lifeless, controlled version anyway.

Spike bolted, adrenaline pumping through his legs, as he sprinted to the nearest bush. Bubba walked towards him as if he had all the time in the world. Spike wanted to say something brave but, as he opened his mouth, fear quivered out instead as he whimpered.

Bubba smiled a smile that wasn’t his, hearing Spike’s whimpers. Suddenly he cocked his head, as if listening to something Spike couldn’t hear, and started pacing towards the watertower. He then lifted his hands and concentration poured over his face as if lifting something heavy.

Spike looked at the town and knew that he had to stand up. He stood and paced towards Bubba, but all Bubba had to do was put his hand out at Spike and he went flying into the base of the watertower.

Then suddenly everything stopped and Bubba fell to the ground in a heap, confused and breathless.

When he spoke, “S–S Spike…”

Spike couldn’t have been happier.

They both opened their mouths to speak but couldn’t say a word.

When they walked down Shooter’s Hill (hopefully for the last time) Spike was certain that Bubba was back to normal. He was full of nervousness but, when they parted, Spike could have sworn that he had heard a hum that was watching.

Waiting.

Jed Toohey



Eilean Mor

The ship rocked and swayed in the darkness, sending only a feeble ray of light from a lit lantern. The smell and spray of the seawater coming to my mouth shrivelled my nose, sending a shiver down my spine.

The cries of the sailors behind me and the distressed orders of the captain stirred me back to the present. I jumped up, tightening the ropes and nets above me, preparing for the harsh touchdown onto the island of Eilean Mor.

As we docked onto the rough island, the smell of barnacles and algae came over me. I immediately looked up at the long, steep staircase, hopefully waiting for a sign of a burly lighthouse keeper coming down to greet us like a bat out of hell.

However, to my great disappointment, none came. No bobbing lantern nor the harsh welcomes we usually received.

“Sailor Joseph Moore,” Captain Harpie’s confident, hoarse voice rang out, interrupting my thoughts and tearing my gaze immediately from the large, rusted lighthouse. “Go up there and, uh, do a little check. Be our scouting party. We shall remain here to, uh, avoid any, well, problems.”

“Yes!” I said obediently, straightening up and giving a solid salute.

I relaxed, my stomach lurching as I then began my steep ascent up the towering staircase, my long legs jiggling around like jelly and my mind sinking in foreboding thoughts.

The shadows that danced around the island were incredible, making me shiver in cold fear. Animals and insects darted around in the rocks and the smell of seawater clung to my nose.

Suddenly, the looming, imprinted picture of the lighthouse came into view, looking like an odd landmark that didn’t belong in the stiff, chilling atmosphere.

The door was off its hinges, still dripping wet with streaks of green and red dancing on the handles and the tainted wood. My stomach gave an almighty lurch, my hands trembling in fear.

Everyone in Eilean Mor could have predicted what would have come next after seeing the red streak on the door, and everyone knew what it was — blood.

A couple of feet away, the iron gates that had jutted out of the ground had been folded as easily as if they were paper. The foundations lay crumpled in a heap on the floor, spiky edges protruding out in all directions.

A mere two feet away, a huge boulder sat there, covered in seaweed and algae, a pathway almost built beneath it as it had been rolled significantly forward.

My heart beat in my chest, a rhythm of fear and urgency, as I stumbled into the dark, desolate lighthouse.

Inside, the peeling wallpaper of dandelions and smiling men seemed to mock the horror both inside and out. Chairs overturned, food still set out and an oilskin jacket left abandoned had me convinced — a horrible tragedy had struck Eilean Mor and its three lighthouse keepers.

“And there’s absolutely no one in there?”

The captain’s voice rang out to me, his face as white as a sheet and his eyes staring directly at me, a deer caught in headlights.

“No, sir. And nothing in there too — all except for these.”

I held in one hand a dirty, old logbook, water and sea stealing its words and its pages. In the other, I held a rectangular-shaped radio, red and white lights flashing in all directions, as if it too sensed the urgency in our voices.

“I shall write a telegram back, telling them of this tragedy,” sniffed Captain Harpie, his voice cracking and breaking at the last few words. He turned around, limping in sadness, as stiff and unyielding as a lawn chair.

Captain Harpie’s voice seemed to stick into my brain like jagged splinters of glass. It seemed so strange that a man so spirited now lay hopeless, walking away with his head hung low.

My hands fumbled with the two objects in my hands, causing a regained memory of them to wash over me.

I set them both down onto the floor, opening the logbook with a trembling hand and fiddling with the controls of the radio with the other.

The radio had recorded several days of normal work — harnessing ropes with ease and securing the bulb at the tip. However, on December 12th, the contents caught my eye.

Mr James Ducat, the lighthouse principal, had written odd sightings of the water crashing and swirling about — a warning of a great storm about to hit.

He had also written, in an untidy scrawl with teardrops blotching the page, that the other two lighthouse keepers had been acting strangely. One had been praying daily and the other had been preying viciously.

Suddenly, the radio let out a squeal, then a crackle burst out, followed by harsh dialogue, a shouting voice ringing in my ears.

“Quick, set sail! The storm will be here any minute! Just lucky we got away, but you never know! Marshal, tighten those strings! MacArthur, keep rowing! And how’s the wound? Good. Before you know it, we’ll have touched down at Eilean Taighe!”

A cheer rang in my ears before the radio flickered and died.

The silence was as frightening as a banshee’s cry, the only sound of seawater crashing in the rocks echoing in my ears.

My hands closed around my cold, clammy and expressionless face, as if checking everything was there. Then I smiled, a smile bringing a ripple of pain through my body as I hadn’t smiled for so long.

The smile turned into a grin, my face feeling cold and wet as I stood up, my excitement spreading like wildfire. I rushed forward, ready to bring the good news to the captain.

The spray of the seawater tickled my nose, a breath of fresh air after a tiresome day. The tide moved like a whispering friend, offering comfort through wide arms.

Our ship, the Hesperus, ran alongside the water like a skater gliding on ice.

Suddenly, a large island came into view, its green grassland symbolising warmth and hope. The outline of three burly men jumped to their feet, a fire crackling merrily at their feet.

We finally docked onto the sandy ground, grins on our faces. We jumped up, running eagerly down the ladder and the three men — James, Thomas and Donald — running to greet us.

They handed us each a bottle of thick brandy and we slopped it lazily down our front in tiredness.

I smiled wearily and, as I sat merrily down, I closed the chapter of my past with a heavy thud.

David Kwon

During 7, 8 March, the Year 3 fathers and students took part in the Father and Son Camp. We had a wonderful weekend with plenty of opportunities for each dad to spend quality time with his son, as well as for families to enjoy activities together.

On Saturday, the families participated in several activities, including a soccer game, a multi-golf game, a catapult-building activity, and swimming. Everyone had great fun and took part with excellent sportsmanship and teamwork. We were also very fortunate with the weather, it only rained while we were having lunch, which meant we were able to continue with all the activities as planned.

That afternoon we celebrated Mass with Father Phil, followed by dinner. The food was fantastic throughout the entire weekend, and there was certainly plenty of it to keep our energy up for all the activities.

Later that evening, the parents had a discussion about the use of technology. It was a very interesting conversation where everyone shared their thoughts and helped each other reflect on how to guide Year 3 boys in this area. While the parents were meeting, the boys played night games and prepared a campfire. When the parents joined them, we all prayed the Rosary together in the middle of the bush, gathered around the fire. It was a truly beautiful moment as we prayed for all the boys and their families.

After that, the boys went to sleep and the fathers had a little more time to spend together.

On Sunday morning, we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hash browns. Some boys certainly ate more than others! After cleaning the rooms, we went for a bushwalk. It was a beautiful walk with a few challenges along the way, and although Mr Nodrid may have briefly lost the path (something he might not fully admit), the boys showed great resilience and fortitude.

We finished the camp with some tennis, swimming in the pool, a cricket game, and other fun activities before having lunch and heading home.

It was a fantastic weekend full of great memories, where fathers and sons were able to strengthen their bond and enjoy time together.

Francisco Nodrid, Primary Formation Leader

Please note that these dates are current at the time of the newsletter publication and are subject to change.

Please find attached the End-of-Year Examination timetable . The exams will take place Friday, 27th March to Thursday, 2nd April 2026 ; that is, Friday of Week 8 and all of Week 9 this term. This timetable is a live document and may be updated, so please check regularly for any changes.

Jason Ursino, Head of Curriculum

Well done to the boys who were selected to represent basketball for HZSA.

The following students were selected:

- U18s: Marcus Alloggia & Joachim Rodrigues

- U16s: Ryan Choo

U16 Boys

The team finished 2nd in their pool after strong wins against WAS and ISD, and a close loss to CDSSA. They were defeated by a strong HRIS side in the semi-final, before going down to CASA by 10 points in the 3rd/4th play-off.

U19 Boys
The team also finished 2nd in their pool, recording wins against SASSA and ISD, with their only loss to HRIS. They were beaten by a strong CDSSA team in the semi-final, and then went down to CASA by 15 points in the 3rd/4th play-off.

Congratulations to our boys and to all players on their efforts and for representing HZSA with pride.

Natasha Doherty, Head of PDHPE

Three boys from Redfield College represented the Primary Boys team for HSZA: Tobias Gregory (Year 5), Spencer Nisbet (Year 4), and Hendricks Selorio (Year 6). The team competed against some of the strongest teams at the CIS trials and represented the school with great effort and sportsmanship.
At the conclusion of the event, the CIS team was announced, and we are proud to share that our very own Hendricks Selorio was selected. This is an outstanding achievement, and we congratulate Hendricks and wish him the very best in the next stage of the competition.

Danny Zhang, Basketball Coach

An elite Redfield Rugby squad recently competed in a fast-paced 10-a-side cup tournament hosted at William Clarke College where we faced strong opposition from the home side William Clarke College as well as Pacific Hills Christian School and Arndel College.

Although the core of the team has been training since last November, as a full squad we only had a single training session and in this light, the boys delivered a genuinely remarkable performance, showcasing the cohesion, resilience, and sharp game awareness often found in Redfield Rugby teams. The boys played well beyond expectations and lived up to the legacy of the jersey which both my co-coach, Thomas Ragell and I myself have worn with pride. The efforts of our boys were all the more impressive given the real disappointment of not the College not being able to field a 1st XV team in the 2026 regular season—making this opportunity to represent the club and school even more meaningful, and highlighting just what might have been.

For me personally, far more importantly than the result of the tournament, our team embodied the true virtues of rugby; respect, discipline, and camaraderie and represented the school with pride both on and off the field. A final and special acknowledgement must be given to our Year 12 players, for whom this tournament may mark their final time wearing the sacred First XV jersey. These players included Seth and Ashton Weimer , Christopher Keirouz , Sid Nassif , Louie Elias , Nick Jaucian , Manan Saini , Joseph Melhem , Xavier Asalemo and, importantly their captain, Jacob Melhem . Jacob in particular should be congratulated for his dedication to the 1st XV over three seasons and thanked for the shedding of much blood, sweat and tears over that time.

The leadership, commitment, and passion of Jacob and the boys have set a standard for those who follow, and their contribution to the culture of the team will leave a lasting legacy.

Oliver Foxe, 1st XV Coach

Click on this link to book for the Autumn Sports Camp