HAIRCUTS- A student's hair must be moderate in style, kept neat and tidy, off the collar and or consistent, natural colour. Haircuts that attract attention and all extremes of fashion are to be avoided. Hair that is too long or very short on the sides and long on top is unacceptable, as are sides that are short and not gradually blended into the top, or undercuts and shaved partings that are overly distinct from other parts of the cut. The minimum length permitted is 6 millimetres (Number 2 clipper). In the case of a student attending school with a haircut which does not conform to this policy, he may be removed from class or sent home.

PERSONAL PRESENTATION- Students are to be well presented and clean-shaven. Students who arrive to school unshaven will be directed to the office to shave. Refusal to comply will result in the student being sent home.

JEWELLERY- Students are not permitted to wear any visible jewellery. This includes necklaces and bracelets of a religious nature.

PUNCTUALITY- Students must arrive at school in time to attend the first session of the day punctually. Primary classes begin at 8:30am, and Secondary morning admin begins at 8:25am.

PHONES- Secondary students are to leave their phones in the boxes provided each morning before school starts. Students are not to be on their phones while on school grounds before 8:25am and after 3:00pm without the permission of a staff member.

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

To finish the year off, the high school students had the privilege of hearing from Jason Evert, a well regarded chastity speaker and author from the US. He shared many insights about common issues faced by teens regarding their sexuality and the pressure of teen relationships in this day and age. It really made us think about the bigger questions of life and showed us the grave consequences of actions that most would think are normal or 'what everyone does'. The talk was a real eye-opener for many, touching on the dangers of premarital sex, the importance of being careful not to judge others, the grave consequences of pornography consumption, and the immaturity of a lot of teen relationships. We were all so grateful to hear his message and I am sure that it was well received by the group of young men in the room who needed to hear it, reflect and pray about the issues in their own life.- Joseph Assaf

MAP GROWTH TESTING, CORE AND EXTENSION CLASSES IN 2024

The final MAP Growth testing sessions took place in the last few weeks of school in 2023 for Years 2 to 10. We are working with our MAP Growth partners to get the reports out soon.

As a reminder, from next year, Mathematics, Science and English classes in Years 7 to 10 will be formed based on the MAP Growth assessment data and school reports. Extension and core classes will be formed for the above subjects, and targeted lessons will be developed with the aim that all students improve their academic performance, no matter what their base is.

DIVERSE LEARNING

Mrs Julie-Ann McLoughlin, our Diverse Learning Coordinator, has been doing a fantastic job working with her team and all teachers to ensure that all students' needs are met. The focus of her work recently has been to develop learner profiles for all diverse learning students. She will make contact with parents who have a son with diverse learning needs to ensure that plans are put in place to help support them for 2024.

CLASS OF 2023

Our Class of 2023 will be receiving their ATARs on Thursday, 14 December. We wish them all the very best and pray that all their hard work pays off for each and every one of them.

ENJOY THE BREAK

Have a blessed Christmas, everyone. I pray that you all find peace in the Christ Child this Christmas season. Find a good book to read and encourage your sons to do the same. Thanks for all your support and I look forward to seeing you all in 2024.

Daryl Castellino, Director of Teaching & Learning

Monday morning began with Mass with Fr Phil and, after a quick breakfast, the boys were divided into two work groups. One group was tasked with helping fix and tidy the church in nearby Griffith (34 kilometres from Darlington Point), while the other was responsible for helping out at a farm in Yenda (47 kilometres from Darlington Point). The boys were eager to go out and help.

Mr Peter Harb’s team at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Griffith helped tidy up the grounds of the church. The boys’ tasks throughout the week included hedging, cleaning gutters and digging a trench to reduce the water pressure so that the church irrigation was able to be fixed. The boys also helped clean the floor of the parish hall. His team also went out to a local almond farm where they assisted with the irrigation.

The farm team with Mr Carlos Del Rosariostarted the week by helping set up boards in the rice patty fields to ensure that the fields retained water for the crop to grow. They had to walk over several kilometres to guarantee that Farmer John’s rice crop would be a successful one. The boys then went to the Murray cod fishery located on the same farm, where the boys were entrusted with counting the number of fish in specific fish pens. These fish needed to be counted as they were ready to be sold to the local fish monger. The boys counted roughly 5000 fish over the week, and they also helped with the transport of a new fishery.

The Year 10 Work Camp, for all boys who have attended it, is an experience which they talk about with their peers well after they have finished school. Being able to start it up again with a new group of boys has been an absolute privilege. It would not have been possible without the assistance of Redfield Old Boys, parents and teachers. Special thanks must go to Mr Chris Tannafor helping to organise the accommodation and some of the job sites where the boys worked. Thanks also go to Mr Matt Aldous, Mr Andreas Engesserand Fr Phil Eliasfor their help during the first half of the week. Our most grateful and heartful thanks go to Mr Daniel Furcciniti, father of Old Boys Michael (Class of 2017) and Matthew (Class of 2023), for ensuring that our boys were well fed throughout the camp, and to the Old Boys Adrian Nader(Class of 2023), Simon Makari(Class of 2023), Isaac Busch(Class of 2023), James Brown(Class of 2023), Denis Setiyo(Class of 2015) and Savio Gracias Flor(Class of 2014) who gave their time to help out.

Carlos Del Rosario, Teacher in Charge of Work Camp

This Friday marked our Presentation Day, an occasion filled with pride and celebration. I wish to extend my congratulations to all the award recipients for their outstanding accomplishments.

While acknowledging the achievements of our award winners, it is also essential to recognise the commendable efforts of all our Primary boys. They have shown great determination and successfully navigated through a full year of challenges. Their commitment to learning and growth is commendable.

Within the next day, parents will have access to their son's final end-of-year reports. This year has been demanding and tiring, and the boys truly deserve a well-earned break. Nonetheless, finding a balance and utilising their holiday time wisely is crucial. I always encourage the boys to view reading as a pleasurable activity rather than a chore.

I want to express my gratitude to our exceptional Primary staff who have dedicated themselves tirelessly to ensure the finest learning journey for your sons. They have gone above and beyond, collaborating effectively to support our students. I am aware they eagerly anticipate this break and will savour the opportunity to recharge.

In conclusion, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the Redfield families. Your support and involvement contribute significantly to making Redfield a unique and cherished community. I wish each of you a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas break. I look forward to the return of the boys to Redfield on Wednesday, 31 January and an exciting year ahead.

Darren Corke, Head of Primary

I extend my gratitude to the staff and volunteers who made this day possible, ensuring our boys had a safe and enriching experience at Darling Harbour. It was a big day with lots of walking and we knew the boys were tired as so many of them fell asleep on the bus ride home.

Jason Hatcher, Year 2 Class Teacher

On the last Wednesday of Term 4, Year 12 was privileged to go on a Community Service Day, where a group of boys was invited to the Glenhaven Rural Fire Station. We were warmly welcomed by the officers - Mark, Ian and Rod - who briefed us on their daily lives as firemen. This included the unexpected calls and station maintenance. They assigned us to different jobs such as washing the fire trucks, sweeping the floors and weeding, promising us a refreshing morning tea and lunch. The boys worked hard in the heat and showed a great example of Redfield spirit. This was a great way to bond as a group and gain new experiences, including the wrapping and preparation of different hoses. Community service is always a great way to take a step back from your lives and give back to the people. I would like to give huge thanks to Mrs Mandlafor providing transport and Mr Carolfor supervising the group and ensuring that we had fun, as well as Mark, Ian and Rod who provided a unique and enjoyable experience. Finally, I’d like to thank Mr Tannafor his hard work, as I’m sure there would have been a lot of organisation and preparation involved in running the day.

Gabriel Choi, Year 12

In the first segment of the day, we discussed the importance of having leaders in society and what it means to be a leader. We learnt that the most important part of being a leader is to not make people follow you because of your authority but to have people follow you because they wantto follow you. In addition, we talked about the first part of a man, the body. During this talk, we participated in three physical activities that required teamwork and collaboration to be completed. The first activity required us to stand in a circle, hold hands and get a hula hoop to pass all of us without letting go of each other. The second activity consisted of us trying to flip a blanket whilst standing on it and without falling off. The last physical activity required the most strength, as the whole group had to lie down on each other while sitting on chairs. Later, the chairs were pulled from under us and we had to support each other, which required everyone to work together.

The second segment of the day was all about the soul. We learnt that our soul is made up of three parts: our mind, emotions and will. In order to be the best version of ourselves, we have to harness and control all these three things, meaning we are in control of our minds, emotions and our will to do certain tasks that we may or may not want to do. During this segment, we participated in a game that required us to compete with other groups in trying to build the highest tower out of palm cards. This activity tested not only our patience and collaboration skills but also our problem-solving skills, as we tried to find the best way to build the tower.

The last segment of the day was much more quiet and peaceful as we explored the last part of a man, the spirit. In this talk, we learnt how to enhance our spiritual life and hear God when he talks to us. Then, later, we engaged in a visual representation using a container (representing our body as a vessel), ping-pong balls (representing all bad things in life) and water (representing the holy spirit). The container started off full of ping-pong balls and no water, but as we started to pour the water into the container, the ping pong balls started to float and were pushed out of the container. This represents why we need to stay full of faith and the holy spirit in order to prevent bad thoughts or actions interfering with our spiritual life.

Overall, the boys and I had a great day learning about the importance of leaders in our society, what it means to be a leader and the three parts of a man. Thanks to Mr Assaf's great talks and engaging activities, we were able to learn a lot from this experience. This is definitely something I would recommend to all students.

Jayden Elias, Year 10 Hydrus House Captain 2024

Redfield College Year 7 Booklist 2024

Redfield College Year 8 Booklist 2024

Redfield College Year 9 Booklist 2024

Redfield College Year 10 Booklist 2024

Redfield College Year 11 Booklist 2024

Andreas Engesser, Deputy Headmaster (Curriculum)