Riverside Currents

From the Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers, I hope you have had a wonderful week. Week 1 Week 1 Term 2 has been eventful, to say the least. You would have all received the official works notice that I emailed to all families this morning – I would like to reiterate that all steps were taken to ensure the safety of staff and students in remediating the issue. There was disruption for a few days but we are now back to normal operations. Thankyou to our Science/CAPA staff who showed such good grace during their few days of displacement. ANZAC Day Ceremony - Women in Service Thankyou to Ms Guerriero-James and Year 10 Elective History for the beautiful ANZAC Day assembly that they put together. This year's theme is Women in Service, a theme that resonated perfectly with our school. It was a solemn, thought-provoking ceremony in which students shared stories of women who had served in both wars. We were also lucky to have two guest speakers from the Royal Australian Navy, Commander Louella Russell-Cook, Fleet Weapons Electrical Engineer and Chief Petty Officer, Anthony Wright, Weapons Manager of the Fleet Support Unit Austraila who delivered insightful speeches that landed powerfully with every student. I believe it is important that we continue to remember the ANZACs and their contribution to our country as it is today and I was delighted with how respectful and attentive every student was throughout the assembly. Network Uplift The reason for the damage was that we are in the midst of a network uplift, to increase the speed and availability of wi-fi throughout the school. It is an exciting, DoE-funded project that will enhance learning once it is complete. The projected date of completion is 7 May when all files will transfer to a new network – cross your fingers for us. In the meantime, we are all working and learning in a well-managed and barricaded obstacle course so that the tradespeople may get on with the work with as little disruption to learning as possible. School Production Excitement is mounting for Peter Pan. Look out for ticket sales to open – it is guaranteed to be an amazing event! Thankyou to our Riverside teachers Our school production is just one of the examples of the rich extra-curricula program that we offer at Riverside, made possible by the passion, creativity and generosity of our talented staff, some going noticed and much going unnoticed. I celebrate the dedication of our staff unreservedly and acknowledge their commitment to providing high quality, individualised learning experiences for all students. This is particularly true of Year 12 staff teaching courses with major works, many of whom, at this time of the year, are holding extra lessons and supervising students in the holidays to ensure that major works are finalised. None of this is expected and is all initiated by the staff themselves. We are a very lucky school. HPGE Applications To all of our parents with younger daughters or friends with children in year 6 – just a reminder that the registration link for the Ignite HPGE test is open and can be found on our website: https://parentportal.aas.systems/?schoolId=173

I hope you have a wonderful long weekend. Louise McNeil Principal

Mindfulness Mondays

Faculty News

English

Can all students please return any texts that were issued to them by their English teacher last year or in Term 1 to the English staffroom. 

Maths

Sophia H in 7C was awarded the Jar of Easter eggs for correctly estimating the exact number of eggs in the jar. Estimation is a key skill in Stage 4 NSW Mathematics, helping students develop number sense and judge quantities without exact calculations. By rounding and using compatible numbers, students can quickly check if answers are reasonable in areas like measurement and finance. Estimation is a mental arithmetic skill, it improves efficiency, and helps identify errors. Estimation is extremely useful in real-life situations where precise values are not always required.

Ms E MacIntyre

Co-curricula Activities

Australian Junior Athletics Championships

Congratulations to Bella F, Year 9 who represented NSW at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships in Brisbane in the holidays - an incredible achievement!!! Bella competed in the U16 Heptathlon, 90m Hurdles, and 200m Hurdles, delivering outstanding performances across all events: ✨ Heptathlon – 5 personal bests out of 7 events, finishing 15th overall with a total of 3947 points ✨ 90m Hurdles – Personal best and 15th overall ✨ 200m Hurdles – Personal best and 12th overall We are so proud of Bella’s dedication, determination, and success on the national stage. A fantastic effort and a great example of commitment and hard work paying off! 👏 Well done, Bella

Term 2, Week 1 School Production Rehearsals

Rehearsals for this year’s school production of Peter Pan have recommenced for the term. We have begun with a positive start, working with the cast on some of the larger scenes of the play. It has been wonderful to witness everyone’s growth in confidence and ability as they continue to develop their characterisation and blocking. Students have also been learning their lines at home and should begin rehearsing soon without their scripts! Next Thursday, our backstage crew will attend their first rehearsal and commence assisting with the development of props and assisting with the audio and lighting requirements. Optional school production t-shirts are available for students in the cast and crew to purchase. They cost $32 and payment for these must be received before midnight on Tuesday 28 April. Payment can be made through School Bytes. Students will only receive a t-shirt if payment has been received before midnight next Tuesday.

Ms R Young