Prefects’ Report

We are Anabelle and Sienna, two of your Community Portfolio Prefects for 2022. As the year quickly progresses, it is important to not let the school year get away from us. In the hope to make Term 2 as engaging as we can, we have many exciting events and ideas approaching.

Earlier this week, the House Captains opened applications to the Grade 8 students for the role of House Assistant. Students interested in the role had to submit an expression of interest.  From this selection, two successful applicants will be appointed to represent each house.  Riverside High School’s 9/10 Winter Sports Roster has begun, which is another exciting experience for students.

The Learning Portfolio’s Spelling Bee is finally underway and will take place in the upcoming weeks. This is a terrific opportunity for students to display their abilities that may go unnoticed. In addition, the Learning Portfolio is working towards a massive goal of ours, a Riverside High School Podcast. Another event to look forward to this term is Arts Week. This will be hosted by the Learning and Community Portfolios. Arts Week celebrates the importance of expressing oneself and creativity in different ways. This could be through visual art, dance, music and drama. We look forward to seeing how students engage and support one another.

Towards the end of this term, the Community Portfolio Prefects will be hosting Pride Week. Pride Week is very important to show students they are welcome and able to be themself without judgement. It also shows how our school community is accepting and willing to learn about others and what makes everyone different. We will be holding a range of different events, including but not limited to, a rainbow jelly eating contest, a chalk mural and other food events.

Early this term, the Prefect Board will be attending another planning day, as this was a great opportunity in Term 1. This provides us with the chance to bond as a team as well as within our portfolios.  It also helps us to address our leadership skills. We are starting to focus on the legacy we will leave and how we want to be remembered. We aim to widen our thinking, to not just hold isolated events, but long-term initiatives that shape our school culture. Following this day, the Prefect Board hopes to communicate our goals and ambitions for the year.

At the end of Term 1, we all reflected on the year so far. The Board has a new structure this year, based around portfolios instead of partners. We have had to discover and adapt to what these new roles entail, but it is great to see our group continue to grow, and individual roles develop along with this. COVID has created challenges we would not usually face but has also forced us to think of new ways to bring the school together. Overall, we have learned a lot from Term 1 and look forward to Term 2 and the rest of the year ahead.