Dear Parents/Caregivers,
I hope you have had a wonderful week.
Swimming Carnival
We had a wonderful day at Drummoyne Pool on Wednesday. It is always such a joyous day, out in the sun, swimming and/or cheering on our swimmers, students and teachers, in the spirit of competition and sportspersonship. Thankyou to the PDHPE faculty for coordinating the day and to all of our students for showing the true Riverside spirit in dressing in their House colours, showing up and getting involved. It was a magical, fun day with some outstanding swimming performances and records broken along the way. Congratulations to all of our talented swimmers who will now go onto represent Riverside in the Zone Competition.
Communicating with our school
We welcome and value our partnership with all families and strive to foster positive interaction and enquiry at all times. In order to maintain and uphold respectful communication, I thought it important to share the NSW Department of Education’s Communicating with our school document (see below) so that there may be clear expectations and understanding when communicating with our school. This document works in concert with our Community Charter – both documents can be found on our website. We endeavour to address all issues of concern with student learning and wellbeing in a timely and effective manner; however, it becomes difficult for us to centralise and focus our efforts when parents have emailed numerous members of staff about the same issues, often in separate emails.
Teachers generally teach for most of the day and spend their breaks preparing resources, lessons and tending to personal comfort and nutrition. They are generally not available to answer or return calls or emails during the day.
Year Advisers are “given” two periods a fortnight to carry out their Year Advising, which amounts to 2.5 hours a fortnight. I have asked that they prioritise students at school, high level wellbeing concerns, student visits, Deputy Principal and School Counsellor updates, before returning calls to parents. Year 7 Year Advisers are particularly popular at this time of year as parents learn to navigate the unfamiliar world of high school. We ask that you trust us, be patient, breathe and empower your daughter with seeking the assistance or advice that they require to solve their problem. There is often less reason for concern than parents think.
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.
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.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Louise McNeil
Principal
School Photo Day - 12 March
Apologies, the wrong date was published in last weeks newsletter. The correct date is the 12 March.
School Production
Auditions for The Little Mermaid
This week, the spotlight shone on the excited students who auditioned for the upcoming school musical The Little Mermaid. The auditions took place over four days, with 115 talented performers from all grades auditioning for their chance to be part of this magical production.
The excitement was evident as students showcased their vocal skills by singing some of the beloved songs from the musical, like “Part of Your World”, “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and “Kiss the Girl”. The auditionees also demonstrated their acting abilities by performing one-minute monologues with energy and enthusiasm.
It has been wonderful to watch so many students audition for roles this week. We certainly have a lot of talent at Riverside!
As well as the 115 students who auditioned, we have 85 students who have signed up to help backstage, and 30 talented orchestra students who will be playing the whole score for the show.
The cast list will be revealed next week with rehearsals starting in Week 6 for the cast. The backstage crew are not required to attend rehearsals until Term 2, and the orchestra will be rehearsing during their Thursday after school sessions.
The school production will take place in Term 2, Week 6 with evening performances on Wednesday 4th, Thursday 5th and Friday 6th June at 6:30pm.
Ms R Young
Korean Study Tour Program 2025 Tuesday 11 Feb to Friday 21 Feb
Today we farewelled 15 Korean students from Onyang Hanol Middle School, South Korea. These students were part of this year’s nine-day Korean Study Tour Program that started last Tuesday as mentioned in last week’s newsletter. The girls arrived in Sydney after a long flight from Incheon International Airport and without looking remotely tired, they enthusiastically entered the gates of Riverside, keen to meet their RGHS buddies and be part of our school community. Riverside has a longstanding relationship with Onyang Hanol Middle School, and we hope the tradition of this annual study program continues for many years into the future, enriching the lives of all our students!
The focus of this tour was class integration,���with each Korean student closely following their Riverside buddy’s timetabled classes. Students seemed to enjoy the lessons they participated in and responded well to all our friendly and helpful students and teachers. In addition to timetables lessons, the girls were excited to attend various activities such as our Swimming Carnival, a Drama Workshop, a laser cutting lesson to create their own bookmarks, a competitive dodgeball class, Just Dance and Karaoke sessions as well as enjoying a Kahoot and Blooket on Australian Trivia. Students loved the Allens Snakes to celebrate the year of the Snake for Lunar New Year as well having a farewell lunch this afternoon with food that reflects our ethnic diversity such as pies and sausage rolls, pizza, sushi, sandwiches, lamingtons and fairy bread.
Studying abroad experiences are personally rewarding and transformative while also allowing students to create inedible memories and deep cross-cultural friendships in a short period of time. Indeed, this group established a strong sense of connection to their Riverside buddies from Day 1 as our girls enthusiastically welcomed them to Riverside and of course supported them throughout the program. There were many emotional goodbyes this afternoon.
As always, Riverside students were outstanding school ambassadors, demonstrating wonderful leadership qualities and making a sincere effort to explain, translate, and make the Korean students’ time at Riverside fun and meaningful. A sincere thank you to all our RGHS buddies, including the reserves: Hazel L, Malak E, Haruna C, Sophia B, Hannah L, Vivian P, Jane J, Sarah P, Mina M, Olivia K, Levy A, May I, Joanna H, Mackenzie M, Jennifer S, Marissa M, Olivia L, Joanne H, Chloe Y and Hana L. We would also like to thank our school captains, Zara P and Jacqueline S, as well as our International Student Representative, Mia N, who enthusiastically assisted us to make this study program such a success.
We would also like to acknowledge all the time and effort the staff and teachers at Riverside put into making this visit invaluable for all students involved. A very big thank you to Ms McNeil, Ms Gleeson, Ms Philpott, Ms Young, Mr Young, Ms Campbell, Ms Wang, Ms Holt, the Maths and English Faculties, SASS staff and all Riverside teachers who supported and warmly welcomed the Korean girls into their wonderful lessons.
Thank you and farewell!
감사합니다
Mr M Sendov and Ms M Peterson
Faculty News
HSIE
Year 7 Geography
Year 7 Geography have been busy exploring the school grounds. They are searching for features of the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere.
Ms H Burgmann
English
STC Staged Readings
Year 12 Drama Excursion to Sydney Theatre Company On Friday 14 February, Year 12 Drama students embarked on an exciting excursion to Sydney Theatre Company to view staged readings of the contemporary Australian plays they had studied in class. This wonderful experience provided the class with an opportunity to witness their studied plays come to life, clarifying the key ideas and characters in the plays, whilst providing the students with experiential evidence that they can refer to in their HSC Examination.
The staged readings featured three professional actors bringing both plays to life through effective transformational acting to portray the different characters they were playing. Watching the selected scenes unfold in front of them gave our students valuable insight into characterisation, stagecraft and the importance of the actor-audience relationship.
The excursion not only enhanced their understanding of the texts but also allowed students to experience the energy and atmosphere of a live performance, encouraging them to think critically about the choices made by the directors and actors. These insights will no doubt influence the students when completing their HSC Individual and Group Performances.
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