There’s something special about walking into a school for the very first time – and this September, North Sydney families will get to do exactly that at the Reddam House North Shore Open Day.
Inside the beautifully restored, Harry Seidler-designed Simsmetal House on McLaren Street, Reddam House North Shore has been quietly building something warm, welcoming and a little different: an eight-storey, 9,000-square-metre home for more than 1,340 students, from kindergarten right through to Year 12. On 13 September, the school will open its doors so the community can come and feel it for themselves.
For Executive Principal Mr Dave Pitcairn, that feeling begins with togetherness.
“Boys and girls learn, collaborate, lead and problem-solve side by side every day beyond school, and we believe students should experience that environment throughout their education,” Mr Pitcairn said.
It’s a simple idea with a lot of heart behind it: when students grow up learning alongside one another, he explained, they pick up a wider range of perspectives and ways of communicating, and those differences become strengths rather than divides. Just as importantly, he believes it helps children build genuine confidence, empathy and respectful relationships – the kind of foundation that carries them well beyond the school gate.
That same warmth shapes how the school thinks about achievement, too. Reddam’s strong academic reputation, Mr Pitcairn said, comes down to knowing each child properly – how they learn best, where they need a gentle push, and where they simply need someone to believe in them.
“What makes the Reddam approach different is that achievement and enjoyment are not seen as competing priorities,” he said. Children do their best learning, he believes, when they feel safe enough to take a risk, ask a question, or get something wrong along the way.
You can see that same thoughtfulness in smaller details, too – like the school’s refreshingly relaxed approach to uniform. Mr Pitcairn is candid about why: students settle, focus and open up more easily when they feel comfortable and able to be themselves, so the school has chosen not to make that an unnecessary source of stress.
Downstairs in the primary years, Primary Principal Ms Kylie Chacon is nurturing that same sense of belonging from the very first day of school.
“These years build foundational skills in literacy and numeracy, but just as importantly, they establish confidence, curiosity, self-belief and a willingness to try,” Ms Chacon said, reflecting on just how much shape those early years give to a child’s future.
“We focus on building strong learning identities: students come to see themselves as capable learners who can set goals, respond to feedback and improve over time.”
It’s a gentle, deliberate kind of independence, Ms Chacon explained – built up gradually through everyday responsibility rather than rules alone.
In her classrooms, that might look like a child organising their own belongings, checking their work against clear success criteria, or being guided, patiently, to set a goal and reflect on how they went. Mistakes, she said, are treated simply as part of the process of growing.
That same care extends outdoors. Ms Chacon spoke warmly about how sustainability and outdoor learning are woven into everyday school life, through bush and outdoor education experiences that help children build confidence and a real connection to the natural world. Even the building the children learn in was designed and constructed with sustainability in mind, quietly showing students that caring for the environment is simply part of how you live, not just something you study.
It’s this warmth – a heritage building given new life, a genuinely shared classroom, and a gentle hand guiding children toward independence – that families are invited to experience for themselves at the school’s Open Day on 13 September, from 10am to 12pm.
There will be guided tours, live student performances, and plenty of opportunity to meet the leadership team and ask questions over a cup of tea. Places are limited, so early registration is encouraged, and a second Open Day will be held on 28 February 2027 for anyone who can’t make the first.
Register for the Open Day and learn more about Reddam House North Shore at: www.northshore.reddamhouse.com.au/visit-us/open-day
Reddam House North Shore
📍 41 McLaren St, North Sydney
📅 Open Day on 13 September 2026
🌐 https://www.northshore.reddamhouse.com.au/
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