Redfield College (New South Wales)

Redfield College
Redfield College Shield
Location
Map
Dural, Hills District, Sydney, New South Wales

Australia
Coordinates33°41′21″S 151°01′57″E / 33.6891956°S 151.0324323°E / -33.6891956; 151.0324323
Information
TypeIndependent all-boys early learning, primary, and secondary day school
MottoLatin: Veritas liberabit vos
(The truth will set you free)
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
DenominationRoman Catholic
Established1986; 39 years ago (1986)
Educational authorityNew South Wales Department of Education
OversightPARED Foundation
HeadmasterMatthew Aldous
GradesEarly learning and K–12
GenderBoys
Campus typeOuter-urban
Colour(s)Red, white and navy blue    
Websitewww.redfield.nsw.edu.au
Map

Redfield College is an independent Roman Catholic all-boys early learning, primary, and secondary day school, located in Dural, a suburb in the Hills District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The college was founded in 1986 by the Parents for Education Foundation and provides an education for students from early learning, through Year 2 to Year 12.[1]

Mentoring

Each student is allocated a personal mentor, formerly known as a "tutor" within the school, who meets the student regularly (ideally fortnightly) to check on the student's advancement academically, socially, spiritually, etc. The mentor tends to guide the same student over a period of years, and meets with the parents of the student each term.[2][3] This system is the same across all the Schools of The PARED Foundation.

Chaplaincy

Redfield College is an independent school. The Chaplains at the college are priests of Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church.[4] Redfield offers daily mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation to students, parents and teachers as well as other faith-based practises of the Catholic Church. The current chaplains at the college are Fr Phil Elias (Class of 2000) and Fr Frank Garcia.

As of 2023, there have been 11 Redfield Old Boys ordained to the priesthood, including Diocesan, Franciscan, Dominican and Opus Dei priests.[5]

HSC Performance

Although founded in 1986, Redfield's first HSC class was the Class of 1993. Since then Redfield has undertaken the HSC every year and 2022 marked its 30th HSC cohort. Although the school has a relatively small cohort compared to other schools in NSW, the College has consistently ranked within the top 150 schools for the last 20 years. In 2023, the NSW ranking for Redfield College is #43 with HSC results [6]

Programmes available

Community service

Throughout their schooling lives, Redfield students complete many Community Service Projects, both locally and abroad. In Year 9, boys do a small project that they complete weekly over a year. These include visiting disabled students, nursing homes, and community gardening. At the end of Year 10, students attend a five-day camp, known as "Work Camp", wherein they travel to the Riverina town of Darlington Point to work on farms and in the homes of elderly couples. In Years 10–12, many Redfield students attend the annual "Vietnam Workcamp", wherein they travel to K'Long Village, near Dalat, Vietnam, to build homes for impoverished families.[7]

Exchange programs

Redfield has frequently hosted visits from, and sent students to, Mikawadai College in Nagasaki, Japan, and three schools in Spain: Colegio Viaro in Barcelona, Colegio Gaztelueta in Bilbao and Colegio Los Robles in Oviedo. In recent years boys from Monte VI in Montevideo, Uruguay and Colegio Penalba in Valladolid have also visited each year as well as a class of students from Tak Sun College in Hong Kong. Boys are billeted with families.[8]

Sport

Redfield's principal sports include football, rugby union, basketball and cricket. Redfield's sporting division is affiliated with the IPSHA (Independent Primary School Heads of Australia), ISA (Independent Sporting Association), and CIS (Combined Independent Schools).[9] Redfield's senior Rugby team (the 1st VX) has won the ISA second division championship six times since joining the ISA in 2006, more than any other school in the Independent Schools Association.[10]

The Redfield First XI won the Second Division Football Championship in its inaugural year in 2012, and won the 2014 and 2015 seasons comprehensively. More recently they won the 2016 and 2017 season.[11]

Co-curricular

Redfield offers the following co-curricular activities:[12]

  • Junior Voices
  • Primary Choir
  • Vocal Ensemble
  • Schola Cantorum (Gregorian choir)
  • Concert Band
  • Wind Symphony
  • Debating
  • Public speaking
  • Mock trials
  • Athletics
  • Swimming
  • Cross Country
  • Chess Club
  • ISA Cricket
  • ISA Basketball
  • ISA Football
  • ISA Rugby
  • Intramural Chess
  • Intramural Basketball
  • Intramural Football
  • Intramural Cricket
  • Intramural Touch Football

Headmasters

The following individuals have served as Headmaster of Redfield College.[13]

Ordinal Headmaster Term start Term end Time in office Notes
1 Frank Monagle 1986 1995 8–9 years
2 Andrew Mullins 1996 2010 13–14 years
3 James Burfitt 2011 2016 4–5 years
4 George Cavanna 2017 2019 7–8 years
4 Expo Mejia 2019 2021 1–2 years
5 Matthew Aldous 2021 incumbent 2–3 years

Notable alumni

The Redfield Old Boys' Association (ROBA) is a network/community of alumni.[14] It has strong rugby union, football[15] and basketball teams.

Notable alumni include:

Four Corners investigation

In January 2023, the ABC program Four Corners investigated Sydney schools associated with Opus Dei (including Redfield), and alleged harmful classroom practices including: "...misinformation about sexual health, homophobia, opposition to consent education and encouraging girls to not get the HPV vaccine...″ and ″...opposing consent education, encouraging students to make decisions contrary to medical advice, harm to students as a result of their education, homophobia and recruitment of students under the guise of pastoral care..."[20][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Enrolment Policy" (PDF). Redfield College. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Tutorial System". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Education pioneer to be special guest at Warrane". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  4. ^ "What is the PARED Catholic school where the Premier was educated? - Sydney Morning Herald". www.smh.com.au/. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Redfield Old Boy Matthew Dimian (Class of 2010)". Facebook. Redfield College. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  6. ^ "2022 High School Rankings". www.matrix.edu.au. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Vietnam Workcamp 2017". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Co-Curricular – www.redfield.nsw.edu.au". www.redfield.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Sporting Affiliations". Redfield College. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  10. ^ "Rugby ISA". 27 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Independent sports association results winter season 2012". Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Co-curricular activities". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Staff 2017". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Redfield Old Boys\' Association - NSW AUSTRALIA". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Redfield Old Boys". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Lenny Hayes – Former Australian Rules Football Player". Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  17. ^ "Julian Maroun". IMDb.
  18. ^ a b Milligan, Louise; Fallon, Mary; Zillman, Stephanie; Wiggins, Nick (30 January 2023). "Power and purity". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  19. ^ "Legislative Assembly Hansard". Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  20. ^ Smith, Alexandra; Carroll, Lucy (28 January 2023). "War of words erupts between Opus Dei schools and the ABC". The Age. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
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