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Riverside Currents Week 7 Term 3 2022

From the Principal - Ms McNeil

Good News Stories

Year 7 Games Day

Ms Gleeson and I had the very great pleasure of visiting the North West Zone Girls Year 7 Games Day this week at Pennant Hills Park. It is always wonderful to see young people running around in the sun enjoying themselves and demonstrating great sportspersonship as they do it. Our students participated with great effort and enthusiasm across the three sports of netball, football and cricket. Sporting skill is one thing but active participation is by far the greatest attribute, as far as I am concerned. For many young people, competition sport pushes them far beyond their comfort zone. I am delighted to report that every Year 7 student was running around the court, field or pitch with great gusto and having a lot of fun doing it. Congratulations to all of Year 7 for representing us so positively and for showing such encouragement to each other. I would also like to thank Ms Serov and the PDHPE faculty for coordinating the event, and to the teachers who accompanied the students on the excursion.

The Face of Public Education @ Riverside

I would like to congratulate Imogen M in Year 11 for being chosen as one of the faces of the Public Education Foundation’s latest Facebook campaign, which featured prominent graduates of the NSW public education system, including Jennifer Robinson, Human Rights Lawyer; comedian, Adam Hills and ABC Broadcaster, Jeremy Fernandez. The Public Education Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing life changing scholarships to young people in public education, as well as their teachers and principals. We are very proud of Imogen for being selected to feature in this video. It certainly brought a tear to my eye as I watched it for the pride that I feel in our public education system. Well done, Imogen, for your role in this promotion.

State Dance Festival

Next week our talented dancers will be participating in the State Dance Festival at the Seymour Centre. The festival is a showcase of choreographed dance work from public schools across NSW. All performances must be selected to enter this event and have been assessed on choreography, technical skill, performance quality, cohesiveness of the piece and the age group of the performers. The Riverside dancers have been putting in long hours at school and before and after school to prepare for this festival. Thankyou to Ms Mitchell for her hard work in coordinating, choreographing and teaching these students in preparation for this, and many other, dance events.

English Extension 2 Showcase

Next Wednesday 7 September, our English Extension 2 students will have the opportunity to share their major works with their families and friends at our Showcase event. I look forward to these presentations as I know that hours of work, sleepless nights and emotional energy have been put into preparing these high quality works ready for HSC marking. Thankyou to Ms Turco and Dr Dutch for their work with these students and preparing the event.

Mobile Phone Policy

I would just like to remind you of our school's Mobile Phone Policy. It is a policy that has been developed over time as a result of extensive community consultation. It is based on evidence to support student emotional health and wellbeing. We are very committed to supporting our students through the implementation of this policy and all students are reminded of the importance of keeping their phones out of sight through year meetings and lessons. Please have a conversation with your daughter to remind her of her responsibilities to meet the expectations of this policy. It makes me happy that I come into a mobile-free school each day, knowing that we are creating a space that provides all students and staff with the opportunity to focus on each other and switch off from the constant notifications of online friends and social media. I hope that the girls in some small way appreciate this break from digital connectivity…

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Louise McNeil

Principal

From the Deputy - Ms Nikoletich

What do pirates, Norse gods, a kidnapper and detective, twins, gemstones, cults and journalists, perfectionism and chaos, and a study in artifice all have in common? Year 12 English Extension 2, of course.

English Extension 2 is a very rewarding subject to study, though involves much dedication and hard work. This subject offers students with a true passion for writing the opportunity to develop ideas through to a final product worthy of publication. The breadth of reading and research involved is quite extensive, yet all students in this course comment on how much they have learned with regards to literature.

I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by the English Extension 2 students earlier this term where they presented their ideas, themes and inspirations behind their major works. Needless to say, I was figuratively (and to some extent literally) blown away by their passion when discussing their themes and inspiration.

This coming Wednesday evening the students will present their major works to family and friends. We are also honoured to have the 2020 School Captain, Sabina Patawaran attend this evening as a special guest. This will be a wonderful way for the students to share their success with the rest of us.

A big thank you to Ms Turco and Dr Dutch for their support and mentoring of the English Extension 2 students.

Ms Katarina Nikoletich

Deputy Principal

Faculty News

PDHPE

Year 7 Games Day

On Tuesday, Year 7 participated in Games Day at Pennant Hills Park which involved the year group being divided into 8 teams, playing 3 different sports of Soccer, Netball and Woodcrick (modified cricket) against other schools in their zone. RGHS were 1 of 5 schools playing at Pennant Hills Park, which provided a great opportunity for students to compete against other Year 7 students from other schools.

The efforts of every single student were incredible. They demonstrated great sportsmanship, teamwork, determination and resilience throughout the entire day. From the end of Term 2, and throughout Term 3, Year 7 have been working on their skills, strategies, tactics and game play as part of their course outcomes in Physical Education (PE). Games Day was a great opportunity for the students to apply their knowledge they have learnt within these units.

We also had our Year 9 PASS helpers (elective subject of Physical Activity and Sport Studies) coaching and refereeing throughout the day as part of their coaching and event management course outcomes in this subject. It was wonderful to see them all step up into these leadership roles and encourage and motivate the Year 7 students to perform to the best of their ability.

A big thankyou to Ms Serov, Ms Haire, Mr Palmero, Ms Skinner-Crowe and Ms R for their great assistance throughout the day.

Year 12 CAFS - Caring for Babies

This term, students in Year 12 Community and Family Studies are studying a unit on Parenting and Caring. As part of the unit, students have the exciting opportunity to 'adopt' a baby for one week.

On Wednesday students were given a 'baby', a stroller and essential accessories, and then after some much needed bonding time, students had the excitement of naming their baby. From Bartholemew to Chanel to Christian Dior, it's safe to say baby name choices have been diverse.

So far, Year 12 have spent three fun-filled days caring for their baby. I have seen a lot of love and care for the babies; with outfit changes, play dates, mothers' groups and peers offering their babysitting services. News from home is that the babies' 'grandparents' are also joining in on the fun.

I can safely say, however, that this is a work in progress! I have received some emails and phone calls from concerned staff that some babies are being left unattended in the playground, in backpacks, and held upside down whilst walking between classes...

I am confident that by the end of the week, Year 12 will have developed the skills and knowledge required for childcare or parenting in the future.

I look forward to hearing about students' experiences.

Ms T Serov

HSIE

Year 11 Economics

Year 11 Economics were welcomed back into the classroom, after their examination period, with a simulation activity. The circular flow of economic activity is a simplified macroeconomic model of the basic economic relationships in a market economy. The simulation, which was active and engaging, gave the students an overview of how individuals, businesses and government interact in different markets by exchanging goods and services, factors of production and money. Collusion and market manipulation were features of the game, with students becoming very creative in their pursuit of money and goods and services, highlighting the need for government intervention.

Welcome back Year 11.

Ms L Edwards

Science

Yr 12 EES Waste audit

In our course, Year 12 Earth and Environmental Science, we are looking at Waste Management as part of the module Resource Management. During this, we did a waste audit looking at multiple bins across our school and discovered some pretty shocking outcomes. According to our results, a large portion of our school waste is compostable!

To conduct this experiment, we had to be very hands-on, unfortunately, in organising the waste into separate categories. Because it is rubbish; however, we made sure we wore enough protection and touched the rubbish with tongs. Measuring each pile’s masses allowed us to compare the percentages of different waste within our school bins. A rather unsettling proportion was compostables and food waste, compared to actual rubbish.

Essentially, these results make us ask the question, what can we do to reduce our compost?

Well that's simple, if we implement more composting bins at Riverside with clear labels in the quad, science lawn and senior lawn, we can properly dispose of our compost. At Riverside, we currently have four compost bins at our disposal; however, we aren’t using them to their full capability, and this can be changed with proper waste management.

Mr W Moran

TAS

Year 8 Technology

Year 8 Technology Mandatory finished their miniature room models for their materials unit. They studied interior designing while creating scaled furniture and using software such as Floor Planner and Home By Me.

Mr O Russo

Year 9 Food Technology

Year 9 Food Technology are learning how to cook with staple food items. Here is Tatjana and Sienna, who made an Italian minestrone this week, also winning the Masterchef of the week badges.

Mr O Russo

Co-curricula News

Sydney North Netball Gala

Last Friday our Under 15s Netball team travelled to Gosford to compete in the Sydney North Netball Gala. Throughout the day the girls played with consistency and skill and showed significant improvement in their combinations on the court with each game. The team had a very successful day, finishing second in their pool and going on to beat Cromer High School in the play-offs to finish 7th overall out of 19 teams. Thank you to Emily of Year 8 for attending as our umpire for the day and doing a fantastic job. A special thank you to Bernie Birch for assisting with transporting the team, without the support of parents we would not be able to provide such wonderful opportunities for our students.

Ms T Nagle

Tips from the Office

Early Leave Process

To reduce the disruption to learning time, it would be appreciated that as many appointments as possible are made outside of school hours. In the case that your daughter is required to leave early (eg for a doctor's appointment), could you please adhere to the following process:

  • Students are to bring from home a signed note from their parent or caregiver clearly stating student’s name, year group, the reason and the time you need to leave early.
  • Before school starts or during break time, the student is to visit a Deputy Principal to ask for the note to be signed.
  • The note is kept with the student and shown the class teacher that she has permission to leave. (Please do NOT leave the note with the class teacher)
  • Go straight to the Student Services Counter to hand in the note to Office staff
  • The student signs out of Sentral - choosing the correct reason for leaving early and collects an Early Leave Pass.

Please note, emailing the school to request early leave may not be retrieved in time to be given to your daughter and may delay your daughter's ability to leave at the requested time. For efficiency, a note from home is preferred over emailing the school.

If an emergency arises where your daughter needs to be picked up early and you have not been able to give your daughter a signed note before school, you may fill out to Request Early Leave form at the front counter. In this case, please come to the Front Office.

Thank you for your support.

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