Riverside Currents Week 4 Term 1 2026

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 so that there may be clear expectations and understanding when communicating with our school (see below). 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 3 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.

Infrastructure upgrade - Dance Studio It is with great excitement that I announce that Riverside Girls has had approval to convert one of our shared spaces into a much-needed Dance Studio, complete with sprung floor, mirrors and ballet barres. With an ever-growing population of dancers (150 students signed up for the dance auditions taking place this week and we are looking to add yet another group to Year 7) I believe that it is a school priority to have a purpose-built, specialist facility in which our dancers may rehearse safely and comfortably and hone their craft.   This will be an exciting addition to our school and I look forward to its completion. The start up meeting took place this week so my best hope that is it will be ready to go in no more than 12 months. Preliminary HSC Success in the HSC Information Evening Thankyou to our Year 11 parents and students who attended the Preliminary HSC Information Evening on Tuesday. It is always lovely to have the opportunity to engage with parents and to see so many parents motivated to support their daughters by accessing school events. I know that it is not always possible to attend out of hours events due to busy schedules; however, I promise you that we offer these information opportunities because we think they are important and we hope that you do, too. Welcome to Year 7 Afternoon Tea A date for the diary is Tuesday 24 March for a Welcome to Year 7 Afternoon Tea for all families of Year 7 - see RSVP information below. 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 10 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

Second Hand Uniform Stall

Mindfulness Mondays

School Photo Day 11 March 2026

Faculty News

English

Onstage Excursion Year 11 and 12 Drama

Students in Years 12, 11 and 10 Drama had the exciting opportunity to attend Onstage at the Seymour Centre last Wednesday. Onstage is a collection of outstanding student group performances, individual performances and individual projects from the 2025 HSC. Two students from the Riverside 2025 HSC Drama class had been nominated for Onstage for their HSC Individual Performances. It was a valuable experience for our students across various years to attend Onstage and they were able to closely analyse each project and performance to gather inspiration and advice. Exposure to the high- calibre performances and projects highly motivated our students, allowing them to set high expectations and understand the rigour and creativity required for success in Drama. This is what Year 12 Drama students said when asked what they learnt and what they enjoyed about attending the excursion:

I liked watching all of the performances, especially the swimming group performance and the monologue ‘Young Journey’. Annabelle C

I learnt about all the inventive ways you can make individual and group performances effective and impactful, including using movement as an underlying metaphor, repetition to represent the passing of time, a prop to represent a person, and using specific archetypes and tropes for different characters. It was really useful to watch the performances and see what worked, and even what didn't - especially for the group performances - so I can apply these elements/concepts for my own individual and group performances later in the year, and know what to maybe avoid or try to do differently. Quinn

Going to Onstage helped give me a better understanding of how I want to create my IP piece. Lilly

My highlights from Onstage were getting inspiration and an idea of what to do in my group performance and monologue. From this I learnt that group performances are highly engaging and the use of the body is important. Issy

Ms R Young

Insight Creative Writing Competition - Award Ceremony

An amazing showcase of the literary skill present amongst our students at Riverside as they continue to take the initiative in publishing their writing for an authentic audience. Congratulations, Isabela on your brilliant achievement!