DIRECTOR OF STUDENTS REPORT

Excellence is one of the six values of The Riverina Anglican College. Excellence is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as ‘the quality of being outstanding or extremely good’. 

With the Tokyo Olympics only months away it is timely to think about the concept of excellence. During the games many of the events will be judged by quantifiable measures using sophisticated timing devices and scoreboards.  Other events will be judged by experts who will use their professional expertise and knowledge to consider, measure and award points based on their opinion of excellence. Then there is the Tokyo Paralympics which will again feature athletes being outstanding and extremely good. Olympians and Paralympians will strive for excellence in their chosen events. Logic states that the vast majority of athletes will not be awarded a medal, but they will have been extremely good and many will achieve an outstanding personal best without receiving a medal. This is an extremely important example of what excellence looks like. The allocation of scores as a measure of competence is not new and we see this in our students’ learning, report cards and sports carnivals.

Every student at The Riverina Anglican College is capable of excellence. To assist our students to achieve excellence, teachers at The Riverina Anglican College create an environment focussed on appropriate levels of challenge and support. When teachers challenge students they set performance expectations at the right level for each student. For teachers at the College, challenge is an evolving diagnostic process that involves both students and staff assessing, reassessing and realising strengths, weaknesses, interests and opportunities. As with any challenge comes the need for support in the form of guidance and coaching. The College has always supported its students and staff and is widely recognised as a school with a great culture of support. Support at The Riverina Anglican College comes in many forms: friendship, camaraderie, tuition, feedback on learning, homeroom, homework help, study skills and the great work done by Kylie and the SWANS team. 

As the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics draw closer it is important to be reminded that excellence is often personal and subjective. Each student should strive for their own outstanding and their own extremely good. With the appropriate level of challenge and support from the College and teaching staff every student is capable of a personal best in this Olympic year.

Ross Kennedy | Acting Director of Students