Riverside Currents Week 6 Term 1 2025

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Week 6, term 1 2025 was action-packed as usual, two high points this week were Open Day on Tuesday and International Women’s Day Assembly this morning.

Open Day is always a great opportunity to invite our community into the school to see all the wonderful things happening in and outside classrooms. We love to show off our dedicated students and staff and all their achievements. The rain did not deter the record-breaking amount of visitors that were treated to dance and choir performances, hot chocolates from our student-run café and lots of inside information of learning as a Riversidian.

It was an honour to speak this morning to celebrate International Women’s Day. We had two very distinguished guest speakers at our assembly, Ms Grace Corbiau, the Director of the Indo Pacific Centre for Military Law and Mr Michael O’Loughlin, co-founder of the GO foundation and previous full forward and leading goal kicker for the Sydney Swans. Both provided valuable insights into what International Women’s Day means to them. I thought I might share a snippet from my speech to students and staff this morning.

What does it mean to us here at Riverside, and to you, as young women, stepping into the world to make a difference? You might think the world is in a great place, and that no further action is necessary. But maybe this will broaden your perspective.

Confession time: sometimes, at night, I catch myself doom-scrolling on what you young folks call Insta. Very occasionally, I come across someone who actually says something worthwhile. One of those moments happened when I stumbled upon a speech by Reshma Saujani to a group of students from Smith College in 2023. I encourage you to look it up when you get home, it’s on YouTube. https://youtu.be/BoHDDgeQtlc?si=22H7LvlcWO9U5e2X

Reshma Saujani is an American lawyer, politician, and the founder of Girls Who Code, a non-profit organization aimed at closing the gender gap in technology. In her speech, she talks about imposter syndrome, which she describes as a social construct designed to make women doubt their abilities. Saujani argues that imposter syndrome isn’t a problem women need to solve; it’s a problem society created to make women feel less than they are.

She draws an interesting comparison to a phenomenon that occurred in Europe and America in the 1890s called “bike face.” When the modern bicycle was invented, it became a tool of feminism, offering women greater mobility and challenging traditional ideas about femininity. Many women—especially those active in the suffrage movement—embraced it. But this led to a backlash from men, particularly doctors, who claimed that riding a bicycle was too taxing for the “fragile” female body. They warned that it could cause exhaustion, insomnia, headaches, and even depression. Ultimately, doctors argued that the unconscious effort to maintain balance while riding a bicycle caused a weary, exhausted look that was dubbed “bike face.”

“Bike face” became a widely mocked term to describe the supposed negative effects of bicycling on women. But Saujani points out that bike face wasn’t a medical condition—it was a strategy. To men, bicycles and the freedom they gave women were a threat to the status quo. So, they invented this “disease” to put women back in their place.

While the idea of bike face may sound absurd today, I wonder if any of you have experienced something similar. Have you ever felt like you were treated differently just because you’re a girl? Have you ever felt inadequate or like you’re not good enough? If so, Reshma Saujani has some advice: instead of using your energy to change yourselves, focus on changing the world. Pedal fast on that bike, take action, and keep moving forward.

One more thing I want to say… As women, we need to look out for each other. Sometimes, we mistakenly think we’re competing against one another—but we’re not. When you hear someone say something mean about someone else, don’t add to it, don’t share it. All you’re doing is stoking a fire that will burn you and everyone around it. Let’s back each other to succeed. Let’s take action, lead the movement, write the book, sing the song, and build the bridge.

Just keep pedalling. Don’t stop. Keep moving forward. And support others as they move forward too.

I hope you have a wonderful International Women’s Day tomorrow, we certainly cherish celebrating with our students here and reflecting on what has happened before us, what’s happening now and what we will do to make positive change in the future.

I hope you have had a wonderful week.

Melissa Gleeson

Deputy Principal

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.