Ridley House News

Earlier in the year, I had the Ridley boys work in small groups, within their Pastoral Groups, to discuss and give me feedback on, the issue of College dress standards and appearance. There were four questions to answer and each group responded based on viewing those questions from someone else’s perspective. The groups took the positions of; the Principal, a parent, a teacher, an Old Boy, a community member, a girl from a local school. The responses from the boys could be summarised best by simply saying that, firstly, they clearly see why appearance standards need to be upheld for their own benefit and that of the College and secondly, that the majority of the boys do the right thing but we are being let down by a few. I showed the boys their responses and then discussed the importance of maintaining standards by using the Broken Windows Theory (referencing the fall in crime on New York subways in the 1990s as a result of applying Broken Windows Theory).

So, I put it out to the boys that the challenge of maintaining a good appearance is a matter of character and integrity. The ability to do the right thing when others are not and the ability to do the right thing when others are not looking.

Term 4 is proving to be both busy and successful in Ridley House. Prior to the Year 12 External Exams commencing we had a terrific farewell for the Year 12s where the Year 11s made small farewell speeches for each Senior. Congratulations to the following Year 11 students who were selected by their peers to lead Ridley House as seniors: Hugh McCann (Mission), Zac Apelt (Academic, Tom Dempsey (Culture), Pat Tierney (Sport). 

In the inter-house events recently: we’ve had a House band perform a great rendition of “Free Fallin’” by Tom Petty, Ridley teams from each year level put in a great effort to win the Gilroy Ash Dash, our chess players tied for first in the Ignatius Chess Competition and Liam Maccormack performed superbly in the final House event of the year the Ephrem Rock Climb. And as a House, we were awarded the House Cup for the SIXTH consecutive year. 

Now with only a few weeks remaining, I trust that the boys have their heads down and are working hard in preparation for the final exams. Good luck to all students!