Riverside Currents Week 6 Term 3 2023

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Good News Stories

Week 6 has been another week of great news stories at Riverside.

TRIVIA NIGHT

This is just a little reminder that if you are reading the newsletter this afternoon, anytime before 7pm, it is not too late to join our P&C Trivia Night. Come along to the school hall and pay at the door. $25 per person. It should be a great night. And don’t forget to come dressed as your favourite music icon.

WEAR IT PURPLE DAY - Write Your Story is the theme for 2023

I am proud to announce that we are celebrating Wear it Purple Day 2023 at Riverside today. Wear it Purple Day is a national day to celebrate and raise awareness of our LGBTQIA+ and gender diverse students. I am proud that we have a school that embraces all students of all gender identity and sexuality. But not only do we welcome and embrace our queer and gender diverse students, we work to bring to the fore issues that ensure that all students feel safe, loved and noticed in our school environment.

At Riverside, we also work to give every student a voice to hopefully feel supported to be able to tell their own story, literally or figuratively, by expressing themselves in words, or through their actions and acts of self-expression.

My vision and moral purpose when making all decisions for our students, is to create a place where all students feel respected and feel that they belong; that they know who to go to and where to go when they need someone to talk to or when things aren’t going right or just that they want to feel visible and have their feelings validated.

In 2023 as we celebrate Wear it Purple Day (with a touch of purple) we encourage our LGBTQIA+ students to tell their stories and to be themselves. For this to happen, I urge that we all be present to listen and provide space for our queer students to share their world, if that is what they choose to do.

TECHNOLOGY AND ARTS SOIREE

I would like to acknowledge the incredible efforts of all staff in the TAS and CAPA faculties at Riverside for the wonderful display of cross-faculty collaboration in bringing our Technology and Arts Soiree, a showcase of HSC student work, to us on Wednesday evening.

It was a compilation of Visual Arts and Design and Technology major works, Music and Dance major work performances, complemented by the preparation and service of culinary delights by Year 11 Hospitality and Year 10 Food and Beverage students.

The Soiree was a true demonstration of talent, skill, dedication and collegiality.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the organisation, guidance and supervision of our students: Ms Kearney, Mr Young, Mr Hunt, Ms Mitchell, Mr Russo, Mr Palmero, Ms Mihailou and Ms Tyson.

WRITE A BOOK IN A DAY – TOUR DE CURE

Thankyou to the leaders of Coen House for initiating and managing the fundraising treasure hunt to raise money for Tour De Cure, a series of cycling events to raise money for research into a cure for cancer. Special mention should go to Sophie K in Year 8 for organising Dr Lynne Mann, Head of Surgery at Auburn Hospital and the coordinator of the medical support for Tour De Cure, to address our school assembly on Wednesday this week. It was most inspirational to hear of the work that Dr Mann does in both of her official roles. She was quite the role model for our students.

PRELIMINARY EXAMS

Year 11 exams begin on Monday 28 August. Students have their personal timetables and are only required to attend school when they have a timetabled exam. All students have been informed of this and have been reminded of the illness and misadventure procedures if they are unwell and unable to attend an exam. We wish every Year 11 student the best of luck in preparing for and completing their exams. We welcome them back to school on Monday 11 September.

SRC Elections

It is always exciting for me to be introduced to the students who have nominated themselves for senior leadership roles in our school. Yesterday, our nominees for our captain positions, vice captain and international student leader, presented a speech to staff to convince us why they should be elected to these positions. The speeches were professional and creative and presented each candidate in a very impressive light. Voting will now take place with Year 11, the SRC and the staff voting for our senior leadership team. The successful candidates will be notified by me when voting closes.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Louise McNeil

Principal

HSC Arts and Technology Soiree

On Wednesday 23 August, our HSC Students in Dance, Design and Technology, Music 1, and Visual Arts showcased their amazing Major Projects and works that they have created over the past 12 months. The night was a culmination of their hard work, perseverance, and creativity with a sophisticated art and technology gallery display in the Gym, followed by some outstanding live performances from our Dance and Music students in the Hall. The night was also catered for by our Year 10 Food and Beverage and Year 11 Hospitality students, who prepared some delicious food for our guests to enjoy.

The CAPA and TAS faculties would like to congratulate these HSC students on what they have accomplished. It truly was a fantastic event, highlighting just some of the many achievements of our Riverside students. We would like to acknowledge the HSC teachers of these classes: Ms Mitchell (Dance), Mr Young (Design and Technology), Mr Hunt (Music 1) and Ms Kearney (Visual Arts) in guiding our students.

Such events like the Soiree are not possible without a whole team effort from our wonderful staff. Thank you to the CAPA faculty: Ms Tyson (HT), Ms Mitchell (re. HT), Ms Kearney, Ms Hearne, Mr Hunt and Ms Wang and the TAS faculty: Ms Mihailou (HT), Mr Young, Mr Russo and Mr Palmero. Their combined efforts in organising and running the event ensured it was a success.

We would also like to acknowledge our fantastic SASS team, especially our School Administration Manager and our General Assistants Javier and Steve for their assistance – the night would not have been possible without them. Nadia in Year 12 and Ms Young also helped on the night with our technical production, and we’d like to extend a warm thank you to them as well.

Ms T Mitchell