Principal's Post 

Michael Phillips

In recent weeks, our Year 11 and 10 students have been completing  exams and on Wednesday last week over 350 students undertook the VCAA external GAT. The past month has also witnessed strong participation by many students in the winter round-robin sport with many advancing to zone level competitions.

This morning a large contingent of 140 staff and students departed on the Year 10 Central Australia trip  . It is a great opportunity to continue to build social cohesion and provide students with a uniquely Australian experience. No doubt everyone will enjoy a bout of warmer weather too. The Year 10 cohort has also been undertaking work experience which will continue into the last week of term and is another opportunity for our young people to develop more focus and engagement around their future studies.

Early this week we also hosted a Future Work Expo with keynotes and workshops across a range of job clusters. Based on the research of the Foundation for Young Australians, the event provided an excellent opportunity for our students to hear about the latest trends and consider future possibilities. The work of our Heritage and Alumni group in enabling this event was greatly appreciated , as was the support of the Bendigo Bank Foundation and the Ringwood Historical Society. The organisation was led by former staff member Mrs Lyn McGoldrick who ensured that the whole Expo ran smoothly.

I was also delighted to attend the State Awards Ceremony for Sustainable Schools last week and shared the experience with teacher finalist Ms Godfrey and the Student Environment Action Team. It was brilliant to have Ringwood represented as a finalist in three categories and although not the winning school it represented a lot of hard work and persistence to achieve recognition at this level. Well done to all involved.

Semester one summative reports will be available at the end of next week through the Compass portal for all students and parents across Years 7-12.   The purpose of these reports is to summarise your child’s achievement and performance so far this year. Regular feedback on progress and opportunities for improvement have been provided throughout the semester via Compass. This information is still available for you to consider when determining further actions for improvement in Semester 2. Please discuss the report with your child(ren) Our teaching staff are always available if you have any concerns or questions.

There are a number of new appointments that will shortly be finalised for next term. 

Ms Penny Palmer is commencing Family Leave and we wish her well for the forthcoming birth of her new child.

Three of our educational support staff are retiring and we would like to acknowledge and thank for their contribution to the College and wish them well in their future endeavours.

Mrs Joyce Roberts (Foods Assistant)

Ms Robyn Flinn (Learning Support)

Mrs Kay Priestley (Attendance Officer)

Ms Evelyn Boldt is moving from our International Office to assume the role of Attendance Officer and has already commenced in this position. 

The Education State  Leadership Conference was held in Melbourne earlier this month. The theme of the conference was “Leading for Excellence” –served as a reminder of the importance of our work in creating and sustaining excellence opportunities and instructional practice for all students.  There was significant opportunity provided to share our thinking and practice with other Principals, Assistant Principals and Senior Education Leaders from schools across the state at the conference and plan for further action.

It is an exciting phase for our Senior School building program, as the project has now gone to tender. Submissions are due at the start of Term 3 with construction to commence in August, to create a terrific new learning environment for our older students. The construction period will be around 14 months.   

A reminder that opening night for our 2019 musical production of Spamalot is on Friday August 9 with additional performances until August 17. Tickets are available at www.rscproduction.com.au

The last day of term is Friday June 28 and classes conclude at 2.30pm. Term 3 resumes on Monday July 15 2019. I trust that everyone utilises the mid-year winter break to recharge the batteries for what will be a productive Term 3.

Michael Phillips

Principal