WELCOME TO RIVERSIDE HIGH SCHOOL
Dear Student, Parents and Families,
Riverside High School is a Year 7 to 12 school located on the beautiful West Tamar River. The school has approximately 800 enrolments. At Riverside High School we ensure that there are opportunities for every student to achieve personal excellence. Our school provides learning opportunities which develop students’ knowledge, skills, and understandings.
This school was established in 1962 and, in partnership with the community, has gained an enviable reputation statewide. This reputation has been partly built on the achievements of our students in a wide variety of academic, sporting and cultural pursuits. Our former students have gone on to further successes in many areas including business, politics, education, the performing arts and sport.
Teachers at Riverside High School are knowledgeable and passionate about learning. They use evidence-based teaching practices in all classrooms to ensure that every student is engaged, challenged, and learning successfully. Explicit and clear school-wide targets for improvement have been set in measurable student outcomes.
Teachers collaboratively plan and deliver curriculum in an engaging and relevant way. The Gradual Release Model and Riverside High School Quality Teaching Framework ensure that teachers provide students with clear learning intentions (goals) and success criteria and that learners are provided with explicit instruction of concepts, knowledge, and understandings. Students know the purpose of their learning and what they need to do to be successful.
The Leadership Team communicates clear expectations concerning the use of evidence-based teaching strategies and spend time working with teachers, undertaking Learning Walks and routinely evaluating the effectiveness of teaching then using these evaluations to enable adjustments to practice.
Teachers use data to inform their practice. They guide and support students through strategically planned lessons and provide regular feedback both formative and summative to progress the learning. Riverside High School has an Assessment and Reporting Framework to support teachers to guide the learning and achievement of all students.
Riverside High School has developed partnerships with families, local businesses, and community organisations with the purpose of engaging students and improving the outcomes of young people. Families are recognised as integral members of the Riverside High School community, and we continue to work alongside families to provide meaningful, flexible, and responsive learning opportunities for all students.
The school community understands that students who feel safe, connected, and secure are more likely to engage in their learning. A strong sense of wellbeing enables our learners to explore, experiment and engage actively in the learning environment. Teachers provide learning opportunities, support, and extracurricular programs to ensure students feel loved, safe and valued and have their physical, mental and emotional needs met as well as a positive sense of culture and identity at our school. Restorative practices are embedded in our ways of working.
As well as studying a comprehensive range of subjects, students can participate in extracurricular programs including, music and drama activities, art exhibitions and sports teams. Our school has demonstrated a commitment to challenging and extending students; we have enjoyed considerable success in Science Challenges, Maths Relays, Apex Fashion Awards, the Frank MacDonald Prize, MUNA and a variety of competitions. We are also committed to developing students’ leadership potential and the majority of our students undertake leadership training for various roles during their time here.
Our school has completed a major redevelopment that includes a range of new contemporary classrooms and specialist areas, along with a new Administrative Office, Library and Café facility. We also have a range of social spaces and newly landscaped grounds. These are fantastic facilities that support learning and ensure our school is a safe, welcoming and enjoyable place to be.
This handbook aims to introduce you to our school and to help you become more familiar with how our school functions. Within it you will find information on a variety of topics ranging from student support to uniform guidelines, to canteen arrangements. We also produce a fortnightly newsletter which is published every second Friday, in order to keep parents, carers and students fully informed about school activities and events.
Schoolzine is our online communication tool and includes access to our school website, the school newsletter, along with links to our APP and Facebook page.
Parents, carers and students are often anxious about the transition to high school, we hope that this information, together with the various transition activities will assist.
You are now a very welcome member of our school community.
Jeanna Bolton
Principal
