Assistant Principals

From Mrs Stathatos

The Year 7 Business and Economics unit was a great success with students

working collaboratively to further their understanding in the Impact of Gambling project.

While the end results are to be seen elsewhere in this newsletter, I found the process through which the students gained and displayed their understanding fascinating.

One of students’ tasks in the last week was to develop a pitch for their idea of a public holiday, replacing the Melbourne Cup holiday. I sat in with each group of students and listened to their discussions:

Oh I know!

I am going to write down in Notes how our pitch will run.

The first 15 seconds have to be serious.

We have to come up with a good opening.

It doesn’t have to be perfect- it’s a story board.

No not that. I think we should do it like this.

That’s not going to look good, guys.

If people don’t do it properly, we can get someone else.

I reckon we should at least try it out.

It will be a waste of time.

How did you get that?

Yeah, I already wrote that down.

What are we actually going to do instead of that?

What are the festivals in Melbourne?

Yeah, well like, we can raise more money.

So, like, how would we film it?

Do you want to start it with like, a green screen?

Why, how is it weird?

How do you want it to come across?

We are kind of having an argument.

We have different ideas.

We are going to do a survey monkey and survey people and abide by their decisions.

Why isn’t there a Tim Tam day?

There is no echidna day! Like that could work!

I think pink would be a better.

Which one do you prefer out of these two?

Do we make the acronym thicker?

Let’s go into Photoshop.

Congratulations to all students and staff involved in the unit. It was a terrific learning experience, emphasising the skills of deep learning: critical thinking and knowledge construction, creativity, collaboration, citizenship, communication and character.

To all the members of the Ringwood Secondary College community, it has been a joy to work with you in 2017.

I wish everyone a happy and safe festive period and I hope you enjoy the holiday season with family and friends.

Eleni Stathatos

Assistant Principal

From Mr Barut

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE YEAR 12 CLASS OF 2017 and CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE STUDENTS OF RSC

Our Year 12 students received their results earlier in the week and there were some excellent outcomes amongst this year’s class of 2017. All of the awards were presented at last night’s College Presentation Night and it was a fitting end to what has been another, amazing successful year at RSC. Congratulations to Bec Hall, our dux and congratulations to Ariel Parker and Dean Stevens (Year 11) for achieving a perfect study score of 50 in English and Further Maths respectively.

The College would also like to acknowledge the efforts of all the students who put in their personal best. Pathways and a new horizons will open up for all of them. For all our students it was always about the journey. The class of 2017 will be remembered fondly for their warmth, good humour and service to others. The ‘soft’ skills of emotional intelligence, positive relationships, teamwork and connectedness was a highlight of their character.

We would also like to thank and acknowledge the hard work of all our teachers for their input in guiding our Year 12s over their secondary schooling.

To our Year 12 cohort of 2017, the journey awaits……

To all our students from Years 7-11, well done in all your personal achievements - the summer break will give you all the opportunity to reflect on things you did well and opportunities to reflect on improving your learning journey. A growth mindset and practice, practice and more practice is the message for all our students.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

James Barut

Assistant Principal

From Mrs Allison

I cannot believe that this is the end of another school year!  With Christmas upon us all it is timely to reflect on the past year. Ringwood Secondary College has progressed in so many ways, from the built environment with the new Junior School building, to classroom learning initiatives, supported by the increased focus positive wellbeing for our students, staff and parents.

This past week focussed on professional learning for our staff, aiming to improve positive relationships with each other and students, as well as to improve our classroom practices.

David Bott (Associate Director of the Institute of Positive Education, Geelong Grammar School) delivered an energising session on ‘Positive Teaching Practices’ to our staff this week. The Institute of Positive Education is a pioneering training and research organisation with the aim of improving student and staff wellbeing, dedicated to promoting the science of wellbeing in an educational context at GGS, throughout Australia and beyond.

Ringwood Secondary College implemented positive education several years ago and has been instrumental in delivering a comprehensive explicit program (Bounce) to all our students. The information David introduced to our staff, further supported the work they are currently doing through using implicit strategies in a collaborative manner with all our students.

In 2018, RSC aims is to introduce practical positive psychology to parents, together with our educators and external organisations, so that they can learn, live and embed the evidence based strategies for flourishing. So watch this space!

I wish you a very safe and happy holiday full of love and joy. Enjoy this special time with your family and friends and focus on the positives of life. See you next year, bright and shiny for the future!

Maria Allison

Assistant Principal