Dear Parents and families,

As our year draws to a close, we can look back on 2021 with a sense of pride in the achievements of our students and what has been accomplished during the year. 

This week marks a significant milestone in the lives of our Grade 10 students; highlights have been our Grade 10 Formal Dinner and Graduands Assembly. These have been special occasions for students, staff and families. As we farewell our Grade 10 students, we have been able to both honour and celebrate the contribution they have made to Riverside High School. These are a wonderful group of young people who have enriched the life of our school in so many ways.  We wish them well in their future pursuits and we look forward to hearing about their success and their progress over the coming years.

Presentation Afternoon

Our Presentation Afternoon last Wednesday was a fantastic celebration of student achievement from Grade 10 and highlighted the many skills and talents of our students. As a school community we have so much to celebrate. We were able to acknowledge effort, progress and achievement in a variety of areas and it was great to see so many students being presented with awards and prizes. The full list of recipients is published in this newsletter. While we could only have a limited audience at this event, we greatly appreciated the support from families and hope that others were able to enjoy viewing the occasion online. I would like to congratulate all students who were acknowledged at Presentation Afternoon.

Grade Celebrations

This week each grade has held a special end of year assembly. I know each grade has enjoyed the opportunity to share in this time together before the year ends, reflecting on successes and highlights. This has included acknowledgement of achievement and effort in a range of areas. Students were presented with certificates for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Merit Certificates recognising Outstanding Effort, along with the Endeavour Awards and the Dux for each grade. A large number of students in each grade were acknowledged and I congratulate each of these students on their achievements.

During the week each grade was also able to enjoy a picnic and share in celebrating the end of the school year at a range of nearby locations. Students enjoyed the opportunity to have fun, relax and take part in some outdoor activities. A great way to end the year, made even better with fantastic weather!

2022 Grade Leaders

Our Grade Leaders play a key role in supporting students, developing a positive and focused grade culture and working with parents.  Our Grade Leadership Teams for next year will be as follows:                               

Farewells

We are very lucky to have a hardworking, skilled and dedicated staff team at Riverside High School. This includes not only a very committed teaching team, but a wonderful support staff who work away behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the school. I know all staff take great pride in their work and I would like to thank them for their highly valued contribution to the school this year. Staff constantly go ‘above and beyond’ so that students are provided with an enormous range of additional activities and opportunities. I know that students and parents are extremely appreciative of this; I thank staff for their dedication in ensuring that as a school we can provide such breadth in our program. 

Unfortunately, at this time of year we usually have to say farewell to some staff who move on for various reasons. 

• Mrs Mandy Gibson is leaving after many years of service to the Department of Education including working at Riverside High School since 2006.  Mrs Gibson is a passionate and committed Drama teacher who has impacted on the lives of many students. This has included leading the Drama Department and providing countless opportunities for students to perform both at school and in the community.  Mrs Gibson has made an outstanding contribution to Riverside High School and has our very best wishes for the future. 

• Mrs Ailsa Brewer has worked as a Teacher’s Assistant at Riverside High since 2006.  Mrs Brewer has provided care and support to a large number of students and been a highly valued and skilled member of the Support Team. Mrs Brewer has been on leave during the last two years and has made the decision to resign from her position. We thank Mrs Brewer for her contribution to our school and wish her all the best for the future. 

• I’d also like to thank staff who have completed contracts this year and shown great flexibility in very quickly establishing strong relationships with students and providing great learning opportunities in a range of areas. Our thanks to Miss Kate Minchin, Miss Maddy Jarman, Miss Holly Geard and Mr Sam Woodley. We wish them well in their future endeavours. 

Update on Leadership Team for 2022 

• Mrs Kath Smalldon will be continuing in her role as Acting Assistant Principal at Scottsdale High School, along with Miss Bonnie Hall who will also continue in her position as Acting Assistant Principal at Prospect High School in 2022. Mrs Lynette Burt has been appointed in her role as Student Engagement Project Officer for the next two years. 

• Mr Adrian Smith has been appointed to a permanent Assistant Principal position at Riverside High School. Mr Rohan Pooley will continue as an Acting Assistant Principal. 

• Ms Karen Dudley and Mrs Joanne Faulkner have been successful in being appointed to AST positions at Riverside High School. Mr Tim Elliott, Miss Kate Huddleston and Miss Lillian Males will each be taking on Acting AST positions. 

Thank you

I would like to thank our parent community for your support of our school throughout the year. We greatly appreciate the value you place on education and the close partnership you have with Riverside High School. These strong relationships are essential in how we support and care for students and achieve high quality learning outcomes. This will be my final newsletter as Principal. It has certainly been a week of mixed emotions; whilst I am looking forward to the opportunities ahead, it is also difficult to leave a wonderful school community that I have had a long association with. It has been a privilege to be the Principal of Riverside High School over the last 6 years and I thank you for your support of myself and our school.

I am pleased to share with you that Jeanna Bolton will be Principal (Acting) during Terms 1 and 2.

Happy Christmas

2021 has indeed been a busy and exciting year at Riverside High School with many fantastic learning outcomes for all of our students. I know everyone is looking forward to a well-earned break.  I hope students and families have an enjoyable holiday, an opportunity to enjoy some special family time and a chance to have some fun and recharge! Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very safe and happy Christmas. Best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Ms Natalie Odgers

Outstanding Academic Achievement Award 2021

Sithmi Amarawardhana
Daisy Barbour
Sienna Bowden
Sophie Brewster
Aurora De Boer
Imogen Donoghue
Daisy Fagan
Meadow Hunt
Emelia Jessup
Lilly Kelly
Hannah Kershaw
Kacey Morehead
Alana Payne
Lilly Rademacher
Sophie Ryan
Ella Simpson
Sora Small
Rebecca Tickle
Emily Titmuss
Dylan Wilson
Harvey Youngs

Outstanding Endeavour Award 2021

Sithmi Amarawardhana
Hannah Kershaw
Ryan Macpherson
Alana Payne
Dylan Wilson
Harvey Youngs

Dux Award 2021

Daisy Barbour
Daisy Fagan

Outstanding Academic Achievement Award 2021

Shivansh Bindal
Sophie Brewer
Isha Dave
Rhys Dobson
Erin Dunlop
Danika Finearty
Joe Flint
Alexandra Macfarlane
Max Mauldon
Aishwarya Ravichandran
McKenna Smith
Zoe Uko
Poppy Walker
Sophie Wemyss

Outstanding Endeavour Award 2021

Shivansh Bindal
Sophie Brewer
Rhys Dobson
Max Mauldon
Zoe Uko
Sophie Wemyss

Dux Award 2021

Isha Dave

Lions Club, Riverside ‘Citizenship Award’

Awarded to: Keila Burnie

Harold W Lord Prize

Awarded to: Erin Coull

Outstanding Academic Achievement Award 2021

Keila Burnie
Lily Burt
Erin Coull
Amy Furlonge
Lydia Furlonge
Lilea Gretschmann-Anderson
Ella Howie
Morgan Howie
Sam Hugo
Zach Jones
Sienna Lee
Charlotte Mattern
Shay Mudwari
Ela Poulton
Nikitha Radhakrishnan
Zahlee Rose
Millie Starrett
Tara Stewart
Emily Tickle

Outstanding Endeavour Award 2021

Lily Burt
Sam Hugo
Zach Jones
Sienna Lee
Tristan Tabagari
Amelia Wing

Dux Award 2021

Tara Stewart

2021 has been a year for students to examine different moments in History. In Grade 7, students have ‘gone back in time’ to explore Ancient Civilisations from the Ancient Minoans, to Ancient Egypt, Rome and China. Grade 8 students have looked at The Vikings, The Middle Ages and the Black Death as well as Shogunate Japan.  

Grade 9 students have examined the Industrial Revolution and how it totally changed the world at the time with advancements in technology and thinking. They also explored movements of people through the topic of slavery and many are now investigating World War 1.

Our Grade 10 students have focused on the key events between WW1 and WW2, such as, the Roaring 1920’s and the 1929 Depression. They have also investigated WW2 and the events of the Holocaust before moving their focus to the topic of Indigenous Rights and Responsibilities. 

I would like to take this time to thank the HASS teaching staff for all that they have done this year, particularly in terms of collaborative teamwork and planning. It has been a year like no other and the HASS team have been simply amazing!  There are many things that we could say but for me the proof of this pudding is always in what students are doing in their classes. The many photos in this article give you a small window into what students have been doing in 2021.

Mrs Finnigan and the amazing HASS team

Congratulations to the following students on their roles on the 2022 Prefect Board.  

Hi, we are Loganne and Keini. We are the Junior School Prefects for 2021 and it is our pleasure to give the last Prefect Newsletter Report for the year. To start with, the Prefect Board would like to thank the Riverside High School community for making this year such a great one. Thank you to the Principal, staff and students for getting behind us and helping to make 2021 a success and of course, thanks to the parents and the rest of the community for making our many school events including Sidefest what it was. Sidefest was an event that many year groups and Prefect Boards were not able to do in recent times, due to renovations and COVID restrictions. We are very grateful for having the opportunity to partake in this and we wish the 2022 Prefect Board the same success with all they do.

As Junior School Prefects we wish the Grade 7s all the best throughout their time in high school and we hope that we have been able to make their start to high school just that little bit better. We have all had an amazing journey throughout our time at Riverside High School and have gained many tools and traits that will help us move forward into the future.

Thanks to everyone for a great year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Loganne 10E & Keini 10G

Well, that’s another year of providing Breakfast Club to Riverside High Schools super students.

Breakfast Club has been running this year in our Cafe Common Room every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:15am to 8:35am offering toast and milo. Breakfast Club provides a warm, comfortable, safe and welcoming space for all; it has been great to see students enjoying the interaction and setting themselves up for a positive start to the day.  Also, every second Wednesday we have pancakes provided by the Youth Leaders from iSee Church which results in our student attendance numbers at Breakfast Club increasing dramatically.

Just a quick thank you as the above would not have occurred without the support of Natalie Odgers (Principal) for allowing and supporting the running of Breakfast Club, Cynthia Pearce (School Business Manager) for finding the funds to enable Breakfast Club to continue, Rebekah Dilger (Chaplain), Peer Mentors plus Breakfast Club attendee students and staff.

As mentioned above, ancake Wednesday has been a great initiative and has certainly been looked forward to by all students who attend. This would not have occurred if it wasn’t for iSee Church and the dedicated Youth Leaders who mixed, cooked and served these delectable treats. A wonderful Wednesday thank you to iSee Church from all at Riverside High School.

We would like to also pass on a huge thank you to Sarah Knee (Manager) and the wonderful staff at Banjo’s Riverside for the ongoing supply of bread products that have made our Breakfast Club a sustainable venture.

Cheers for now Nurse Nige.

We encourage families to pre-order uniforms if possible. Our Uniform Shop is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30am – 11:00am during school terms for families to visit, look and try on items. Uniform orders can also be placed via the Qkr App, a “click & collect option” with collection from 20^th January onwards from our Admin Office. In order to manage Covid physical distancing protocols during January, families wishing to visit our Uniform Shop to try on items will need to make online bookings. This will avoid queues and allow for physical distancing. Online bookings will open on 13^th January; https://www.trybooking.com/BUKHE

If you have any queries please do not hesitate in contacting Sue in the Uniform Shop through email – riversidehighuniforms@gmail.com or contact the Admin Office on 6327 6333.

Please find below instructions to download the Qkr App.