The very popular Grade 9 and 10 Winter sports roster was played during Terms 2 and 3, with over 200 students involved across the four sports of hockey, soccer, netball and football.

The competition provides an opportunity for students of all abilities and experience to be involved in a team sport.

This opportunity can be the catalyst for students then going on to join sporting clubs in the local community, where they can further develop their skills and their ability to work effectively as a member of a team. It has been great to hear students talking about wanting to join local sporting clubs, after thoroughly enjoying themselves playing school sport this year.

The Senior Winter Sport roster finished in Week 6, with semi-finals played in Week 7 and Grand Finals in Week 8. Riverside High had a very successful season, with five teams making it through to the Grand Finals, where we enjoyed premiership success in the Senior 1^st and 2^nds soccer and in the hockey.

Regardless of where teams finished, or how many games teams won or lost, I would like to congratulate all students who took part in the Senior Winter sport roster this year for the impressive way they competed and represented Riverside High.

I would like to thank our coaches Mr Elliott, Mr Bolton, Miss Hall, Miss Rolls, Mrs Rahimi, Mr Beardwood, Mr Neilson, Mr Fyfe, Mrs Greatbatch, Miss Saunders and Mrs Laycock for their wonderful support and care of the students they took to the courts and fields.

To finish off the season, the Health and Wellbeing Prefects hosted a fantastic Winter Sports Awards Presentation afternoon. The occasion allowed coaches to recognise the outstanding achievements of the students in three categories. Most Improved, Coaches’ Award and the Best and Fairest player.

Congratulations to the recipients of these awards!

Toby Musovic

The Junior Sport Presentation Afternoon was held on Thursday, 21^st September, at Riverside High School. With over 50 students participating in the junior roster, it was a fantastic way to end the season and celebrate the achievements of all students involved.

A huge thank you to Mr Beardwood, Mr Pooley, Mrs Greatbatch and Miss Wheatley for their dedication to coaching for the season. Congratulations to all students involved with sport throughout the season, you all represented Riverside with great pride!

James Beardwood

The High School Netball Championships were held in Week 9. This year, Riverside was able to enter nine teams in the highly contested competition. Students competed in back-to-back games against fellow Government, Catholic, Independent and Specialist schools from around the state in a round robin, four day long carnival, with the prospect of making the State Finals in November.

The first two days showcased some of Riverside’s emerging talent and saw our Grade 7/8 girls and boys compete. The Grade 8 team finished in the middle of the pool with our Grade 7 teams showing great sportsmanship and resilience coming up against some of the strongest teams in the state whilst growing their knowledge and skills for the game.

Day Three displayed the athleticism and skill of our Grade 9 and 10 girls. The positivity, passion and perseverance are to be commended across all three teams. All teams played extremely well, showcasing some of Riverside’s best netball talent throughout the day. Our Riverside Gold team worked hard to make the semi-final against Deloraine. Scores were point for point all game and in the end, our girls were unable to take back a Deloraine turnover, missing out by one point to get into the grand-final. 

Day Four saw our 9/10 boys play some fantastic netball. Both teams were very keen to showcase all they have learnt through the guidance of their grade coaching peers. Both teams listened, responded to feedback and continued to finesse their skills throughout the day, landing the Grade 10 boys team a spot in the State Finals in November.

Well done to all who were involved in this competition (student super coaches, relief staff and parents). It wouldn’t have been such a successful week without you!

Georgia Rolls

Well done to all students who participated in the Grade 9/10 AFLW Gala Day. A spectacular day was spent at Windsor Park with five other schools competing in two divisions. Riverside High School had a team in Division One and a team in Division Two with all levels of experience.

With some people absent on the day and injuries as the day went on, the girls showed incredible grit jumping in and playing back-to-back games to make sure both teams had enough numbers on the field. Our Division Ones won three of their five games, losing only to Brooks in both their games. This was an outstanding effort with only 11 or 12 players at times.

Our Division Two team had some close games and went undefeated in their four games. Both teams played incredibly well and displayed excellent sportsmanship towards their opposition, officials and each other.

A massive thank you to Lucas, Caleb, James and Lincoln for umpiring all of our games on the day.

Jacinta Hall

The Grade 9/10 Drama classes presented their whole class plays to friends and family at the Riverside High School Hall on Wednesday, 13^th September.  These students then took their plays on the road, packing up all the sets, props and costumes into the bus, to perform at the Deloraine Youth Drama Festival on Friday, 15^th September.

Audiences at both venues enjoyed two entertaining and enjoyable plays that showed off students’ talents and demonstrated how well they can work together as an ensemble.  The first show of the evening was called Fine Dining and included a cast of eccentric restaurant staff, working hard to provide top service to a range of quirky and charismatic customers, in the hope of winning a place in the top ten fine dining awards.

The second show, written in the style of the Cowboy genre, was called Who Needs Men?  This play was about three cowboys seeking to catch a bandit who had been robbing banks in the district.  Having had no luck in achieving this goal, they found it took working together with a town full of women to finally bring down the bandit.

The students behaved impeccably at the 68^th Deloraine Youth Drama Festival and all their hard work paid off with a number of students receiving awards. 

Who Needs Men? won Best Ensemble

Aiden won Best Actor and the Justin Treffry Memorial Award for Best Performer

Eli won Runner Up Best Actor

Sophie, Mitchell and Charlotte all received Honourable Mentions for their performances in Fine Dining

Emily McMahon

Our Grade 9 Leadership Day was held on Monday, 18^th September at the Tailrace Centre in Riverside. Students wishing to apply for the position of Prefect and/or Peer Mentor were required to complete an expression of interest form in order to attend this event. We were delighted that approximately 70 Grade 9 students submitted applications and participated in our leadership day.

This event provided our Grade 9 students with an opportunity to develop their understanding of strong leadership and teamwork within the Riverside High context, the personal qualities and skills which are displayed by effective leaders and their own and others’ leadership styles. Students were also required to apply their own leadership and team building skills to a range of practical situations and challenges such as planning a whole school fundraising event for a charitable cause which enhanced student engagement and participation.

Our Grade 9 aspiring leaders were also fortunate to enjoy a presentation from our 2020 Head Prefect and Dux of Riverside High, Mr Angus Purtell. This provided students with tremendous inspiration and allowed them to benefit from Angus’ wisdom and advice as he spoke about the importance of being an authentic and adaptable leader who displays loyalty, commitment and integrity at all times. Our 2023 Prefect Executive, namely, Jack, Isha, Max, Izzy and Zoe outlined the various roles which comprise our Prefect Board as well as key highlights from their work this year. Our Principal, Ms Bolton, shared her experiences as a leader and the personal qualities and characteristics which make a strong leader and team player. All our guest speakers were also kind enough to answer our Grade 9 students’ questions and to provide practical advice and suggestions regarding both the leadership application process and the fulfilment of leadership roles and responsibilities. The event concluded with an outline of the application process, including relevant dates, for 2024 leadership positions.

We would like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to all our wonderful guest speakers and to Mr Cam Downie who generously took time away from his leave to come along and see the students and wish them well with their future leadership endeavours. We also wish to thank Miss Caz Saunders who arranged for our Prefect Executive to attend this event as well as Mr Ben Gadsby, Mr Alan Mowbray, Mr Stephen Hindrum and Ms Ashton Woodley for all their support, guidance and encouragement. We are also grateful to our Administration Team for assisting with the day’s organisation and to the Tailrace Centre for providing us with such a lovely venue.

Finally, a huge thank you to all of our Grade 9 students who attended this event. It was an absolute pleasure working with you and all our staff were extremely impressed by the outstanding respect, maturity and thoughtfulness which you demonstrated during the day. Congratulations on your outstanding efforts and commitment!

Susan Matkovich
Grade 9 Assistant Principal

On Thursday, 14^th September, our Grade 9 students were extremely fortunate to participate in an engaging and impactful half-day seminar conducted by JCP Youth.

JCP Youth is a nationally recognised organisation providing programs in schools aiming to build resilience, leadership and motivational capabilities in young people. Their founder, Will Smith, is a former police officer with an extensive background in youth work. He has received a Human Rights Award for his work and has been recognised in the Australian of the Year Awards.

The seminar focused on positive and negative risk-taking behaviours which may impact students and/or those around them and explored topics including peer pressure, behaviour management and decision making. Students were challenged to consider the difference between being someone who is positive and energises those around them or someone who is predominantly negative and brings others down.

The feedback from our Grade 9s following this presentation was overwhelmingly positive with a number of students stating that they found the seminar to be both inspirational and thought provoking. We would like to express our gratitude to JCP Youth for affording us this invaluable opportunity.

On Tuesday, 19^th September, our Grade 9 students also participated in an extremely engaging and informative one lesson workshop facilitated by headspace National Youth Foundation.

Headspace is a nationally recognised organisation which provides support to young people to assist them to deal with significant issues in their lives and to look after their mental health. The Grade 9 workshop concentrated on assisting our students to consider the ways in which they react to stress and the impact of difficult situations upon their mental health. The session also encouraged students to find spaces and activities which allow them to thrive and consider who they can talk to and seek support from in order to ‘stand strong’ and be resilient.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the headspace National Youth Foundation for addressing our students and providing them with a range of strategies and suggestions regarding looking after their mental health and maintaining their overall wellbeing.

The Grade 9 Leadership Team

On Monday, 25th October, our Grade 10s travelled to Symmons Plains to attend the Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) program in bright sunshine.

RYDA is delivered to over 660 high schools throughout Australia and New Zealand, with an average of 40,000 students participating in the program every year. We split into five groups to attend our six separate workshops which presented varying messages for young people who are or will be joining us behind the wheel.

The workshops detailed how personalities can affect risk on the road, how speed and car condition can affect stopping distance, a police perspective of safety issues, peripheral vision, how to speak up as a passenger and how road trauma can impact lives. These strong messages might well save our students from the devastating effects of road trauma.

We thank and very much appreciate our Rotary hosts who devoted their time and energy to making our roads safer places.

Grade 10 Leadership Team

On Sunday, 24^th September, 15 students across Grades 7-10 competed in the northern heat of the Maths Relay held at Scotch Oakburn.

The Grade 8 Team consisting of Ethan, William, Kenny and Isaac placed first in the Grade 7/8 Division and the Grade 10 Team consisting of Jack, Erin, Kaleb and Max placed third in the 9/10 Division.

Congratulations and well done to all students involved!

Kate Huddleston

Riverside High is producing some very talented cake decorators. The students have been developing and practicing their skills, working with buttercream and fondant, in the Master Cook Class to finish of the term. Here are just a few samples of student work:

On Tuesday, 19^th September, the Riverside High School Climate Council got the opportunity to attend Walk for Peace held by Launceston College and Amnesty International. The event was presented by the Tamar Peace Festival and included live music, speeches sharing personal rights experiences and a peaceful walking protest where students got to share their posters that represented the rights they cared about. Of course, being the Climate Council, our focus was Climate Rights and the rights to a safe future free of Climate Change.

We would really like to thank Launceston College, Amnesty International, the Tamar Peace Festival and Ms Bolton for giving us this wonderful opportunity to share our thoughts as young people.

Karsha Barwick and the Climate Council

Friday, 15^th September, was another night of ‘rocking out’ for the Music Department, with Audible Scenery performing at the State Finals of the Rock Challenge. After progressing from the Northern heat, the week before, Emily, Aishwarya, Grayson and Kiera were excited to go and play against other high school groups from the North West and South. Although the group did not place, their performance, commitment and attitude to the entire process was outstanding. Well done Audible Scenery!

Melissa de Jong & Sam Rainbird

Under the radiant sun, two Riverside High School bands lit up the stage at the Junction Arts Festival as part of the Inaugural Youngtion event. Their vibrant performances captivated the audience, proving that the high school musical talent can hold its own alongside college performers. Well supported by the school and wider community, it was a fantastic way to cap off the term for some of our busiest Music students!

Sam Rainbird & Melissa de Jong

During Week 9, our Grade 10 students had the opportunity to visit high schools in the Northern Region to experience a variety of Year 11 and 12 offerings. Students participated in a range of activities related to the VET and TASC study options available across the North.

On Monday, Queechy High School showcased their Certificate II in Community Services while Exeter High School gave students a hands-on experience in Agriculture. Kings Meadows High School was Wednesday's destination with a focus on Construction Pathways. Thursday saw students enjoy some tasty treats at Prospect High School's Nest Cafe as they looked at Hospitality while Lilydale District School hosted students interested in Agriculture.

Finally, students were invited to find out more about our Year 11 and 12 VET course: Certificate II in Resources and Infrastructure Work Preparation. The focus of this qualification is Civil Construction. Students can enrol for the VET course at Riverside High School and attend our campus one day per week while completing other courses, such as TASC subjects, with a shared enrolment at Launceston or Newstead College.

Grade 10 students have been making decisions for next year with our Transition Program and they will enrol in their chosen Year 11 destination next term. The Taster Trail was another opportunity to help shape students' future by demonstrating the variety of options available to them following Grade 10.

Adam Child

Over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, students from Riverside High School competed in the F1 in Schools state final.

On the Tuesday, teams submitted their competition elements, had their cars scrutineered to check their compliance to the stated rules and setup their trade display.

Over the course of the two days our students were exceptional in their support of each other and their high level of engagement. As displayed in the results below, the results for our school were outstanding and strongly reflected the maturity of our students.

Teams that were involved:

Crescent - winners of Senior Professional Category - Isabella, Sophia and Millie.

Convergence - winners of the Junior Professional Category, and the highest outright score of any team - Lucy, Nandali, Dan, William and Maya.

Zenith - Winners of the Development Category - Bea, Charlie, Chilli, Ethan and Minh.

Titanium - Second Place Development Class - Lucas, Gus, Archer and Nina.

Amity - Third Place Development Class - Lucy, Lily, Asya and Addison.

Richard Gregory & Adrian Smith

As we go into the school holidays, I wanted to share with you some resources and phone numbers which may assist you as a parent or carer on the journey of parenting.  Currently, many of us are looking forward to our upcoming holiday, however we know that for some young people and their families, this break time can be challenging to wellbeing and mental health. 

Please see below links around building better mental health for our young people. We hope that these may help you on your journey of assisting your adolescent to grow resilience and help you in supporting them if they are struggling.  It also provides some information about how to keep well and look after yourself as a parent or carer.

Families working together to build better mental health How to help your young person with mental health | headspace

Supporting a young person with mental ill-health I'm supporting a young person - In category Mental ill-health (headspace.org.au)

Supporting your young person during the holidays Support-your-young-person-during-the-holidays-web.pdf (headspace.org.au)

7 ways to support a young person’s health headspace 7 ways to support a young person’s headspace | headspace

If you are a student who is looking for information about building your mental wellness as you enjoy the holidays, the following links may be helpful.

How to stay healthy over the holidays How To Stay Healthy Over The Holidays | headspace

Helping a friend going through a tough time 12-If-your-friend-is-not-OK-headspace-fact-sheet-WEB.pdf

Please click on the following link to see the Year 11/12 offerings.

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/1201f0a34a.html

Donations of any second-hand school uniform items would be greatly appreciated.