Dear Parents and families,

During what has been one of the most challenging years in our memory, we can look back proudly at the efforts of families, staff and students who together make our School Community.

This last week has been one of celebration. Acknowledging the efforts of all students in our School Community in meeting the challenges of 2020. Particularly this week, we acknowledge and congratulate students in Grade 10; most of whom will progress to learning beyond Riverside High.

For 2021 we will have provision for a small group of students to access a Year 11 curriculum, and with a large incoming Grade 7 cohort, our overall student population will grow.

Presentation Afternoon

In a COVID-19 managed event, our Annual Presentation Evening morphed into a Presentation Afternoon. The unfortunate reality is that we could not be as large an event as past years. We were restricted to mostly Grade 10 Student Award Recipients. Much effort went to the organisation of the event and we give our thanks to the Grade 10 Team, the Admin Team, Assembly Crew and Technical Support Team for their adaptability and attention to detail. In the absence of our usual community supporters and prize sponsors, we thank you for your continued support of our school.

Grade 10 Graduation

This last week celebrates the effort and success of our Grade 10 students. The Graduation Dinner on Monday evening was a very special affair with wonderful and entertaining presentations by students and staff speakers. The evening was made more special by the late change in COVID-19 restrictions that allowed for student dancing. We thank the Grade 10 Team for their outstanding organisation of this event to help our Grade 10 students reflect on how far they have come since those nervous days of Grade 6 Orientation Day.

Grade Celebrations

Special Grade based assemblies were held on Tuesday this week for Grades 7, 8 and 9. Students in each grade were acknowledged for their achievements and efforts. Many students were awarded certificates for their particularly high levels of personal achievement. Some grade-based reminiscing, class competitions, grade council reports and expressions of appreciation were common themes. Given the challenges of the year, students’ ongoing commitment to their studies is commendable.

Taking some time to enjoy each other’s company, the social events of picnics and activity days were a special and well-deserved time for Grade Teams to reflect, relax and have fun.

2021 Grade Leadership Teams

Our Grade Leadership Teams are a vital element of the collaboration between Home Group Teachers, Subject Teachers, Student Support Staff and families. We are very pleased to announce them:

Farewells

As a school year finishes, inevitably we say farewell to several staff members who for a variety of reasons move to other things. We wish the following staff members a fond farewell and express our gratitude to them as members of the 2020 Riverside Staff Team:

Mrs Gill Phair and Mrs Rachael Howell re-joined us for 2020 from what was supposed to be retirements, so we are particularly appreciative of that support for our students.

Mr Jeremiah Soetan will leave as Chaplin and we will be able to introduce a new Chaplin in 2021. We are appreciative of his support for our students, particularly from Grade 7.

Mrs Jo Faulkner joined the Grade 7 Leadership Team in 2020 providing enormous support for Grade 7 students and the Grade 7 Teaching Team.

Mrs Jodi Clegg and Ms Rebecca Glasby are leaving us for other challenges. We thank them for their deep care for students this year.

After a long association, Ms Kelly Howell leaves a legacy of her involvement with Drama, Dance and English. We are so grateful for her time with the Debating Program that has provided a wonderful opportunity for students over many years.

Mrs Mandy Doyle from our Admin Team will pursue other challenges. We are extremely appreciative of her professionalism and care for students at the Student Admin Counter.

Mrs Di Richards a valued and long serving member and integral part of our EFA Team at Riverside High School has announced her retirement. We wish her well in her next journey.

We wish all those staff much thanks for their services to our school community.

I want to take this opportunity to wish Annette Hollingsworth a happy and fulfilling retirement. As Principal of Trevallyn Primary, she has been a strong advocate for our school.

We will have new members of Riverside Staff to introduce to you at the start of 2021.

With Gratitude

This has been a remarkable year. We have been so thankful of the new spaces that became open to us following the re-development, but 2020 has been hard. Under the cloud of COVID-19 and the unknown future that was ahead of us, it is in reflection that we understand the impact. Under direction, we were asked to keep our students at home when that was possible; for others, school was here for them, but looked very different. What we can be so proud of is that through the effort and fast professional learning, we were able to provide ongoing learning in three modes: at school, on-line and via off-line learning packs. Students here at school were supported by teachers scheduled to those classes while those at home had opportunities to engage remotely. Things were not always perfect, but it is often said that perfection is the enemy of progress. We acted quickly and with parent and student support we made the most of things. That is resilience in action. I want to thank parental support and commend students for their continued endeavour in the most challenging of circumstances. We can be grateful that we have been able to return to some stability at school, despite the restrictions placed upon many activities which consequently impacted on parental involvement, for large groups, imposed by physical distancing requirements.

In an organisation as large as ours, it takes many adults with a range of responsibilities and obligations for our successful operation. I want to publicly thank our Education Facility Attendant Team, Admin Team, Teacher Assistant Team, Student Support Team, Canteen Staff and our school volunteers for their contributions that allow for our teaching staff to help our students learn and grow.

In our assemblies, I have spoken of gratitude. I asked our students to show the courage to express gratitude to those who have done them a kindness, no matter how small. With that in mind I want to take this opportunity to express gratitude to all the adults and families of our students. I want to thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement of your children’s endeavour. Teachers and parents share hopes for success, so we need to work in partnership in the best interests of our students. Riverside High thanks you for your positivity about our school.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Mr Darren Hanson
Acting Principal

SPECIAL PRIZES

SUBJECT PRIZES

Riverside High School would like to acknowledge the following sponsors for 2020:

Grade 7 Awards

Outstanding Academic Achievement Award 2020

Sophie B
Jack C
Isha D
Rhys D
Alexandra M
Mia P
Aishwarya R
Quy T
Zoe U
Poppy W
Sophie W

Outstanding Endeavour Award 2020

Jack C
Daisy G
Connor H
Ned N
McKenna S
Sophie W

Dux Award 2020

Isha D
Zoe U

Grade 8 Awards

Outstanding Academic Achievement Award 2020

Chelsea B
Keila B
Lily B
Maggie C
Erin C
Lydia F
Lilea G
Sarah H
Chloe H
Ella H
Morgan H
Zach J
April L
Sienna L
Charlotte M
Sharon M
Nikitha R
Tara S
Emily T

Outstanding Endeavour Award 2020

Erin C
Zayden D
Sarah H
Neil M
Cade S
Tara S

Dux Award 2020

Keila B
Lily B
Zach J

Grade 9 Awards

Outstanding Academic Achievement Award 2020

Lachlan B
Willem D
Alice E
Lili G
Ella G
Aiden G
Ava G
Callie G
Bree I
Poppy J
Arwen K
Daneika L
Alyssa M
Kuba M
Sungjoo P
Isabel P
John P
Alex R
Laura R
Ashlee S
Ellie S
Kara S
Tori S
Keini U
Cohan W

For the past 8 weeks, 8A, 8C, 8D and 8E have been learning about consumer rights and responsibilities, as well as business rights and responsibilities, goods and services, resource use and more. For the culminating task, we were asked to find a gap in the market and create a product or service that filled the gap and create a range of business products which showcased our business and economic understanding (ie: concept drawings, 3D demo model, brochures, business cards, dodgy advertisements vs responsible advertisements, Business Proposal Booklet, memos, 30 second elevator pitch and more).

Some of the products and services we came up with were:

These are only a few of the great ideas we had.

Having finished the design and creation component of the task, we then hosted a Business Expo where we showcased our business ideas and business documents. The business exhibitions were incredibly successful. We invited other classes to come in to have a look, we discussed our business ideas with them and they provided us with feedback. Everything went to plan and we had a great time.

Author: Benjamin 8A

Editor: Ms Rebecca Glasby

2020 has certainly been a year to be remembered, full of challenges but also triumphs, and all in all everyone at Riverside High did a fantastic job making the most of every moment. As a Prefect Board we strived to be consistently active members of our school, implementing positive change in any way we could, and this started in Term 4 of 2019. Once the Board was announced we began our official duties by assisting with the parking of cars and ushering at the Grade 10 graduation events. As we entered into the new year we assisted with the book and uniform sales and welcoming students back on the first day. To help develop our teamwork and leadership skills, as well as establish goals for the year, we all attended the GRIP Student Leadership Conference in February, which was a great way to get to know each other and learn new skills. We also worked on a list of goals for the year, including events we wanted to run, initiatives we hoped to support and overall aspirations for the year.

Near the start of 2020, the Community and Fundraising Prefects worked to organise one of the biggest events of the year, Relay for Life. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, this event could not take place. Missing events that we normally would have organized and participated in became a running theme this year, with the global pandemic taking a huge toll on not only our day to day lives, but also those of people all around the world. Some of the activities and events that we could not run included favourites such as Bullying No Way Day, the Swimming Carnival and the House Challenge Day.

Despite all of the interruptions, we didn’t let the pandemic stop us from organising initiatives to help make everyone’s school experience just that little bit easier and enjoyable. This work started with events such as the Grade 7 camp and the Leadership Assembly and continued throughout the home learning period. This included the Prefects producing a range of videos and social media posts to commemorate important events such as Anzac Day and to support students during this tricky time. As this experience was difficult for us all, we placed an emphasis on maintaining mental health and connection to school as well as motivating people to complete their every-day studies.

After this we got back into the swing of things with the recommencement of our lunchtime basketball roster and Wednesday lunchtime activities for those not participating in winter sport. These were a lot of fun and provided a great boost for morale after our time away from school.

In conjunction with the Grade 9 Council and 9/10 Foods classes, our Arts Prefects, Leo and Chelsea, organised a Veranda session for Red Nose Day. This was set to be a great success but was, unfortunately, cancelled due to poor weather. Leo and Chelsea also built upon the hard work of last year’s Prefect Board and finished the mural near our new table tennis area. Our Drama Department had to adapt the usual Drama Night, and with some amazing organisation from our Drama teachers and some guest appearances from our Arts Prefects, the night was fantastic. This event gave students the opportunity to display their talent and finally get the chance to perform for their friends and family whilst following social distancing and COVID-19 safe rules.

One of the highlights of term 4 was Pride Week. Our Community and Fundraising Prefects Maggie, Saashay and Aponi, organised a week full of activities to increase awareness for the LGBTQI+ community. This was a lot of fun and brought people together for a very worthy cause. The Arts Prefects also ran a veranda session with three bands displaying their awesome music, with the Prefect Board also selling multi-coloured donuts to raise money for minus18, a charity that seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of LGBTQI+ young people in Australia. Pride Week finished with a bang in the form of a rainbow free dress day and a jelly eating competition. Everyone got involved and had a blast, with everyone from grade 7s, to grade 10s and even Ms Odgers taking on the Jelly eating challenge.

Another exciting event that we worked towards was Mullets for Mental Health. This was an initiative organised by the Health and Wellbeing Prefects and was a great success, raising over $2300 for RUOK. Thanks so much to everyone who was involved, it was an awesome occasion. Our Health and Wellbeing Prefects were also busy this year organising and running a basketball and futsal roster which was a great success, as well as staff vs student matches in a range of sports.

Last term also saw the momentous opening of our school’s Capital Works Project. To commemorate this a Celebration Assembly was held as well as an Open Day, with Prefects helping to run tours and introduce the community to our new spaces. In a year where so many opportunities were missed, it was wonderful for the Board to have something to look forward to. It was fantastic to hear the resoundingly positive responses from everyone who attended these events, and we can’t wait to see how our new spaces evolve in the future.

We would like to take this opportunity to formally unveil our legacy item to Riverside High. As you can clearly see, our legacy has been the commissioning of a work by a local artist named Paul Eggins. Paul was kind enough to come in and run a workshop for us which allowed us to develop the ideas that have now been brought to life behind us. We wanted to create a design which would appeal to everyone and would encapsulate all that the gym is about. The design is aspirational and symbolises individuals showing courage and stepping out of their comfort zone to embrace an active lifestyle and participate fully in a wide range of activities and pursuits. We hope that this design brightens up the gym for many years to come.

All in all, whilst this year has presented a unique set of circumstances, we as a board have tried our best to squeeze in as many fun and engaging activities and competitions as we could which kept people supported and connected. We could not have this without the constant support of our fellow Prefects who we are eternally thankful to. Every one of you have been incredibly dedicated and persistent throughout the year and we thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. We can’t wait to see what you all achieve in the future. We would like to personally wish all of the 2021 prefect board the best of luck with the upcoming year and look forward to seeing all that you achieve together. In what has been a challenging year, we are so grateful for all of our peers, Ms Odgers, Mr Hanson and our school’s leadership team as well as our wonderful Prefect Co-ordinator, Mrs Saunders and our teachers and families who supported us – you made 2020 truly amazing!

Thank you

Exciting News! You can order uniforms on our Qkr App now. Uniform collection will be available from 20 January 2021 between 1:30pm-3:30pm from the Admin Office. If you have any queries please do not hesitate in contacting Sue in the Uniform Shop through email – riversidehighuniforms@gmail.com or contact the Admin Office on 6327 6333.

Please find below instructions to download the Qkr App.