Riverside Currents Week 3 Term 3 2025

From the Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

I hope you have all had a wonderful week.

Trial HSC Exams

It has been another big week at Riverside with the beginning of the Trial HSC exams. With one week of exams down, Year 12 students seem to be managing their workload and exam pressure well. I would like to congratulate them on the seriousness with which they are taking this exam period. We have employed external invigilators to give the students the closest thing to an HSC experience that we can. It is a completely different experience to sit in an exam room being supervised by people that we do not know, rather than being supervised by our teachers. I believe that the students have managed the change of routine very effectively and will be that better prepared for the “real thing” later in the year. Good luck to Year 12 as they prepare for the next week of their exams.

Drama HSC Night

I would like to begin by wishing all of our HSC Drama students good luck for their Trial HSC performance exams this evening. I look forward to attending as it is sure to be an action-packed program with every student presenting a monologue and group performance. Well done to all involved, with special mention to Ms Young for teaching and guiding the students for the past two years. We wish them well in these Trial HSC performances as well as their upcoming HSC performance exams.

Student Leadership Team

Congratulations to our Year 11 students who have nominated themselves for a position in the Student Leadership Team – School Captain, Vice Captain, Performance Captain, Sport Captain, Prefect and International Student Leader. The captain nominees presented speeches to a staff meeting yesterday to explain what they would bring to the role of captain at Riverside. The speeches were compelling and engaging and have made the decision near impossible. Voting for the whole school leadership roles will take place over the next week by teachers and Year 11. It is a very exciting time for as school as we prepare to welcome in our new leadership team for 2026.

High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) Program Interviews

Every Monday-to Thursday during this week until the middle of Week 5, I am being joined by Ms Gleeson, Ms Hendriks and Ms White to form the panel to interview prospective Year 6 students for the Year 7 2026 HPGE program at Riverside. It has been a delight to meet so many motivated, high achieving, well-rounded students who have demonstrated a great desire to be part of this extension program at Riverside. Students will be kept in suspense until the completion of the interviews to find out whether, or not, they have been offered a place in the HPGE program. One thing is for sure; however, that succeed, or not, every student that we have interviewed has much to offer our school across all of our curriculum and co-curricula offerings.

Year 9 Camp

It was with great disappointment that I sent an email to all Year 9 families this week to announce that, due to the apparent lack of interest from a significant percentage of the cohort, the Year 9 camp would be cancelled, as it appeared no longer financially viable. Understandably, I have received a deluge of emails from parents expressing their disappointment and frustration with the decision. All I ask is that students hang tight as we continue to explore alternate options to reward those students and families who were responsive and proactive in showing their support for the camp and in doing so, demonstrated their support for the ongoing wellbeing co-curricula activities offered by the school. Stay tuned.

Farewell to Ms Turner

It is with great excitement and sadness that we farewell Ms Turner on maternity leave. She leaves a huge hole as a HSIE teacher, part time Head Teacher Secondary Studies (Relieving) and Stage 4 HPGE Coordinator. We wish Ms Turner all the best in the exciting motherhood journey ahead. I would also like to introduce the following staff who will step into Ms Turner’s leadership roles – Ms Halverson (Head Teacher Secondary Studies role) and Ms White (Stage 4 HPGE Coordinator role), both of whom bring outstanding capacity and experience as classroom practitioners and leaders in their curriculum areas and beyond. I look forward to the new ideas and practices that they will continue to bring to our school.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Louise McNeil

Principal

Faculty News

Science

Physics Unboxed @ USYD

Students from Year 9 and Year 10 Science attended the Physics Unboxed event at Sydney University to experience science at an advanced level and engage with a range of scientists involved in teaching and research there. They were mesmerised by how much Sydney University resembled Hogwarts, amazed by investigations into measuring gravitational waves, and intrigued by the construction of nano-computer circuits used in quantum computers to explore brain function and artificial intelligence. They also participated in experiments to understand and quantitatively measure sound and electromagnetic waves. Most importantly, they learnt that science is a collaborative field that requires dedication but is also highly rewarding and enjoyable. Who knows — we may even see some Riverside students working in the Sydney University Nano Lab in the near future.

Mr D Russell

Year 7 Forces Experiment

7M have been studying the topic of Forces and they conducted an experiment to investigate the effect of using parachutes of different sizes to slow a falling object by increasing air resistance. Each group applied their scientific skills to measure the area of each parachute they used and calculated the average time recorded from multiple drops. This topic helps students understand the concept of motion as experienced in everyday life and introduces them to the complexity of Sir Isaac Newton’s three Laws of Motion.

Mr D Russell

Science Week

🔍✨ Science Week is here! ✨🔍

This year’s theme: Decoding the Universe 🌌

Sign up outside the Inwood Staffroom to join escape rooms, build your own terrarium, and explore other hands-on science adventures. 🧪🌱 Every activity counts towards your academic badge – so get involved, have fun, and unlock the secrets of the cosmos! 🚀🔬 #ScienceWeek #DecodingTheUniverse #Science@RGHS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PwAFLH5jmI656tKeVFrTOjGxtkMTPTco/view?usp=sharing

Mr R Gorrez

Co-curricular Activities