Dear Parents/Caregivers,
I hope you have had a wonderful week.
O Week
It has been a busy week at Riverside as the SRC launched into gear to coordinate the first event for the year – O Week. O Week (or Orientation Week) introduces our students, new and returned, to all of the extra and co-curricula opportunities available to them at Riverside. It includes Mock Trial, The Stream (writers club). Debating, Art Club, Dance ensemble, Double Helix Club, Environment Club, Write a Book in a Day, The Little Mermaid production, and many more. Thankyou to our SRC for coordinating the stalls and to our teachers for providing the smorgasbord of opportunities for our students beyond the classroom. It was exciting to see so many students signing up to participate in these enriching activities. I encouraged a few students, who were lingering by the stalls but hesitant to sign up, that what did they have to lose. They sign up, go along a few times and if it didn’t turn out to be their thing, they never needed to go back!
Further to this theme of having a go, my address at assembly this week focused on the theme of leadership and the power of girls’ education in fostering and promoting student empowerment and leadership. The beauty of girls’ education, I believe, is the supportive, empowering culture that comes with being surrounded by a diverse community of young, capable, invested women; however, these opportunities can only be realised if we choose to jump in and get involved. It is only by trying something new (or not so new) that one will ever discover where our passions and/or talents lie.
Macquarie University Emerging Leaders Award
I would like to congratulate our School Captain, Zara P, and Prefect, Alicia L, for receiving the Macquarie University Emerging Leaders Award. These two young leaders are fine examples of leadership and model leadership attributes and skills every day through their dedication and commitment to learning, participation and excellence in extra-curricula activities, particularly sport and dance, and school citizenship. I was proud to present this award to these two very deserving young women at our assembly this week.
New students
We are continuing to welcome new students to our school, including international students. It is always wonderful to have the opportunity to enhance the cultural and linguistic diversity of our school and to continue to embed and model the values of inclusion and tolerance for all individuals, regardless or racial or religious identity. Riverside is a culturally aware and socially diverse community where kindness and respect will always be upheld through our wellbeing and disciplinary infrastructure, underpinned by the policies of the Department of Education. I declare this proudly and wholeheartedly.
Welcome to Year 7 Afternoon Tea
A date for the diary is Tuesday 25 March for a Welcome to Year 7 Afternoon Tea for all families of Year 7. Please see the details below and remember to RSVP. This is a casual event to provide the opportunity for parents to meet their daughter’s teachers. It is not a parent teacher interview. Year 7 will receive interim reports in Term 1 Week 11 to provide initial feedback to parents and final reports in preparation for parent teacher interviews in late Term 2. We hope to see you for some cake and chat on the 25th.
Swimming Carnival
There is a buzz around school as we prepare for the Swimming Carnival next Wednesday 19 February at Drummoyne Pool. It is a compulsory school event and we expect to see all students in their house colours supporting their house if they are not confident enough to swim. It is a great whole school day that is an important part of our school culture.
Open Day
Our annual Open Day will be held on Tuesday 4 March from 4:00 - 6:00pm. Please pass this on to your friends and family who may be interested in visiting our school and considering Riverside for their daughters now or in the future.
Korean student visitors
We are currently hosting a school tour of fifteen Year 9 and 10 students from Hanol High School in South Korea. They are being given an Australian school experience with their Riverside buddies. We have had a great week playing ice breakers and attending normal lessons with their buddies. This is a valuable experience for the Korean students with the focus being on immersing them in learning in English to develop their confidence and skills in using English. They should go home with many stories of life in an Australian school. Thankyou to Mr Sendov and Ms Peterson, our International Student Coordinators, for coordinating the 10-day tour so beautifully, drawing on the collective generosity and spirit of Riverside to create such a memorable experience for these students.
We will continue to open our doors to international students and tour groups as these rich cross-cultural opportunities provide a wonderful set of experiences and understandings for our students.
P&C Meeting
I would like to personally invite all parents to attend our P&C meeting in the school Common Room on Tuesday 18 February at 7pm. Come and join a wonderful group of people, committed to making our school a better place.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Louise McNeil
Principal
Open Day
Our annual Open Day will be held on Tuesday 4 March from 4:00pm - 6:00pm. Please pass this on to your friends and family who may be interested in visiting our school and considering Riverside for their daughters now or in the future.
Year 7 Afternoon Tea
School Photo Day - 12 March
Apologies, the wrong date was published in last weeks newsletter. The correct date is the 12 March.
School Production
This year's school musical is The Little Mermaid. If you are interested in auditioning to be part of the cast or to sign up for backstage, please join our Google Classroom: tekemsb and complete the Google Form. https://docs.google.com/forms/...
Audition information is on Google Classroom and outside Room 2. Auditions will take place on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of Week 4. Rehearsals will take place after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays. See Ms Young if you have any questions.
Ms R Young
Canteen
Faculty News
English
Onstage Excursion Year 12 Drama
Students in the Year 12 Drama class attended Onstage at the Seymour Centre on Wednesday. Onstage is a collection of student group performances, individual performances and individual projects from the 2024 HSC. Three students from the 2024 HSC Drama class had been nominated for Onstage for their HSC Individual Performances.
It was a valuable experience for our students to attend Onstage and they were able to closely analyse each project and performance to gather inspiration and advice. This is what Year 12 Drama students said when asked what they learnt and what they enjoyed about attending the excursion:
I learned how important ensemble work is with the group performances and how much trust they would all need to have in each other. I also learned how useful having a single prop is and how you can use that single prop in many different ways and have it transform into many different things. Tammy
I love that each performance was so different… I also love the creativity of the groups and the amount of effort and thought that went into each performance. Emily
I learnt that minimal props and costume can still make an amazing performance. Annabelle
They used the entire stage well. Their faces and movements were expressive, flexible and flowing. The groups had great chemistry as they had great timing when talking, pausing and moving at the same time. Aaya
Onstage was an enlightening experience that allowed me to understand the significance of actor audience relationships. Stella
My highlight of Onstage was the second monologue of the performances as his performance was very funny and entertaining to watch. I learnt about group cohesion as well as physicality to embody characterisation especially when the actors switched characters. Valentina
My highlight was seeing the variety in the performances. It got me thinking that I have so many options of what I could choose for my monologue. Summer
Careers
Please visit https://riversideghscareers.com/ for the latest information on careers and life beyond school. You can use this site to locate universities, TAFE and any other type of course across Australia, information about the HSC and job vacancies. Feel free to drop into the Careers office if you have any questions.
Ms J Lemon and Ms T Soares