We are All in This Together

All Together Onsite

This week we are finally back to onsite schooling, marking the end of a long, rather complex and challenging period in all of our lives. 

Throughout this health crisis, rather than being engaged in incremental change, nearly 1.5 billion students globally, together with their families have had their educational support systems undergo a rapid change. 

Whilst It has become a popular saying that “we are all in this together”, many of us  have all experienced it differently too. 

The teachers were thrilled to welcome their classes back, with some of the routines a bit altered. The students have adapted very well to the additional hygiene and safety measures in place and are certainly well sanitized! The additional cleaning of surfaces has been occurring throughout the day too. 

There has been lots of engagement in the school yard and shared stories from the remote learning period. Down-ball has started again too! Classes have been settled and productive , with most students ready to learn. 

I am really looking forward to reflecting upon and gaining further feedback on this unusual era for all of the good things that it yielded, and adapting some of the positives to the life of the college once all of this is truly over. Clearly for many, there were fewer distractions at home and some of our students absolutely thrived in this different learning environment. We now have new tools at our disposal for learning too.

We all still need to remain vigilant to ensure that there is no second wave with the virus and practice sound health and hygiene practices. Our students have demonstrated that they can be resilient, adaptable and successful during challenging times. We hope that they continue to focus on the positive opportunities that the remainder of 2020 will provide them.

In this week’s edition of RSC Connections, I have prepared a short video that takes you inside the Senior School Centre which is under construction. The building will be a wonderful additional resource for our senior students and importantly will be completed in the early part of Term 3. 

Please click the link below to view the latest developments. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Z5FYt8M-yjde_bsEpD7NN-2enK57zLy/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy.

Michael Phillips OAM

Principal 

Learn from the past

I am so proud of my students who submitted their final Unit 2 VCD work today. It has been a long haul for everyone! 

During these past few months with isolation, remote and flexible learning and the return to face to face learning many students have displayed increased maturity, honesty and adaptation to the challenging changes in their lives. Not only have they dealt with their adolescence, which is challenging enough, they have utilised coping and resilience strategies to move forward. Many lessons can be learnt from them.

They accept each day as it comes

They don’t dwell on the past

They collaborate effectively and openly

They accept that life is different

They give their personal best

They have lifted their grit levels 

They are curious

They move on

Karen Reivich’s research states that ‘resilient people are able to derive meaning from failure…they use this knowledge to climb higher by tackling problems thoughtfully, thoroughly and energetically (Reivich, 2002).

As this terms nears to a close my students reflected on their achievements today and they should be very proud of their accomplishments. 

We too should learn from the past.

Maria Allison

Assistant Principal