Riversdale Principal Conference

Over the past couple of days, Tania Balderston, Kate McLeod and I attended the annual Riversdale Principal Conference.

Dr Jacqui Patuawa was the guest speaker on the first day. Jacqui is an expert in the area of educational leadership and complex problem solving within schools. She is the national manager of leadership development in New Zealand. It was wonderful to hear Jacqui present across the day about a range of topics, including:

The real purpose of education
The challenges schools face
Impact of school culture on student outcomes
The importance of developing student autonomy
Actions of effective school leaders
Problem identification and causation
Supporting staff to solve complex problems

A key takeaway was the quote: “Change is to do something different, improvement is to do something better.”

Over dinner, we were captivated by Scott Darlow, an Aboriginal singer/songwriter and speaker, who passionately spoke about reconciliation, equity and inclusion - and what it truly means to be ‘Australian’. He shared some stories and personal experiences, and it was a pleasure to hear from him throughout the evening. He was truly motivational.

On day 2, we heard from David Anderson, a former school principal and co-director of Hands On Educational Consultancy. He led a session based on effective school leadership and focused heavily on purpose.

David was a highly engaging speaker who guided us through learning from the past to help inform, plan for and develop the future in education.

Tania Balderston and I then had the opportunity to present to the network about the Disability Inclusion (DI) rollout and the department-wide shift from PSD (Program for Students with Disabilities) to the DI Model. We shared our current experiences working with the new model and the work we have done as a whole staff to this point to ensure we are in the best position possible to achieve educational equity and inclusion for all students.

Finally, Rana Hussain closed the conference. Rana is a diversity and inclusion leader who is making a huge impact in the areas of inclusion and equity, particularly in sports. Rana presented about the concept of belonging and the challenges individuals face finding the sense of belonging. She left us with an inspiring message to ensure as educational leaders, we are doing everything we can to help our students feel a sense of belonging at school and in the wider communities.

Inner East Respectful Relationships Forum

Last Thursday, Danielle Anderson and I attended the Inner East RRRR Network Forum. We spent time with many other Inner East schools working through the RRRR curriculum and discussing successes/challenges we are experiencing.

An important element of our day centred around ‘breaking down barriers’ related to

stereotypes and discrimination. We explored this through a range of perspectives, such as race, identity, gender, faith, sexuality, privilege and oppression, as well as the disadvantages faced by our First Nations' students.

We are aiming to create a learning environment at Rangeview where these backgrounds and perspectives do not determine opportunities, outcomes or successes - an environment where respect and equality come first, and are the ‘norms’. We are well on the way, but there is always more work to be done in this space.

Across the day, we heard from a range of schools, including Ashburton PS, Blackburn English Language School, Glen Waverley SC, Methodist Ladies College and Our Lady of the Pines PS.

Further presentations were from the Cyber Safety Project (CSP), and also Martial Arts Therapy (MAT). We have an ongoing partnership with CSP and have engaged with MAT programs in the past, particularly in Year 5/6, so it was wonderful to hear updates from them on how their programs are impacting on our young people in the community.

It is wonderful to be part of a school network that values respectful relationships and one that is working hard to teach our students these important values.

Term 2 Working Bee

Recently we polled our school community on the topic of Working Bees to try and find the most suitable time for families to attend. Thank you to everyone who provided some feedback - we had over 80 responses, which was great! A significant majority of respondents said that Sunday afternoons would work best (lots of sports on in the mornings on weekends!).

Please see below for our next scheduled Working Bee - Sunday 29th June from 2:00pm-5:00pm.

We hope to see you all there!

Whitehorse Libraries - Community Input Opportunity

Whitehorse Council is currently asking the community to complete a short 5-10 minute survey to help shape the next generation of libraries.

The survey closes on the 8th of June, and we are reaching out to schools as we would love to hear more from young people within the community.

Please see further information below, as well as links to access the survey.

We're writing a new chapter for Whitehorse Libraries - and want YOU to be part of the story!

Share your ideas to help us create library spaces for you and other young people across the community. Tell us how you use Whitehorse libraries, what matters most to you, and your ideas for the future. If you don't currently use public libraries, please tell us how we can make them more inclusive.

Help shape the next generation of libraries – your voice counts!

Click here to find out more and take part in the survey - closes 8th of June

Liam Sommers

Assistant Principal

Wellbeing and Engagement

Reading Challenge