Teacher and Student Appreciation

One of our thoughtful teachers has been providing some wonderful gifts to students over the past few weeks.

Students and staff are blown away by the drawings and given the fact the illustrator has to erase each one to draw another one on a weekly basis is testimony to how much others enjoy the works of art.

From the Chaplain

Even though things have been really tough, our incredible Year 8’s have risen to the challenge to bring some joy to others!

It’s been a fabulous week continuing the tradition we have had for the last three years where Year 8 students from RSC partner with Hope City Mission to provide some Christmas gifts to our local community.

The Year 8 students are tasked with raising $10 each via chores or work around the home for others. They then combine their money with their group and go and buy a gift for a family/ student. What an amazing blessing it is to work with such an incredible team of teachers and students. This project has brought many special moments to all involved as we embrace the opportunity to give and bring some Christmas Joy.

Francis of Assisi said, "for it is in giving that we receive."

This is something we all experienced through this program. Below is an exert from a group of students who participated.

When we heard about the hope city mission gift task, our whole group was really excited although half of us was also worried. We started planning right away and thinking about many different ways to earn the money and buy a nice gift. During the time earning money to buy the gift, one of the members of our group won $300 from a costume contest for halloween, and with all the other member’s money we had earned, we were able to afford a nintendo switch for our kid!

After knowing that the gift had been delivered, we were ecstatic but worried. What happens if one of our members wasn’t here? What happens if the gift was forgotten to be brought to school? But turns out, everything went just the way we hoped.

We were relieved, overwhelmed and happy. Not because the event was over, we were relieved that we handed over the gift, we were overwhelmed due to the challenge, we were happy that we gained enough money.

— Anonymous group.

Adam Bryant

Chaplain

This week in Bounce!

This has been such a great week in Bounce! It is so wonderful to see all the students back on site, interacting with their peers and teachers and especially as we can now start to have more face to face workshops.

Year 10

On Monday, all of the year 10’s were involved in workshops from the Tomorrow Man and Tomorrow Woman organisation. These workshops explore what it means to be a young person in 2020 and give students a chance to connect with each other on a deeper level. Students discussed gender stereotypes and how we can support one another better to embrace individuality and express our emotions more freely to have important conversations. The feedback from students was astounding and overwhelming and we cannot wait to continue this important work in the future.

Quotes from the Students

“The Tomorrow Women workshop was moving to me, it definitely opened my eyes and made me realise I'm not alone. As a group of girls, most I don't know, I feel we became so close and built trust in one another. It was very emotional to see the effects of society's pressure has on all of the girls and made me feel so sad that we all struggle with these expectation. It was a relief to break down the pressures and stereotypes that we try and live up to. All of us girls listened and understood how we all felt. Tilly did such a good job at making the space feel so safe and building a connection within the room.”

Olivia Mooney, Year 10

“It was so good and such a relief to talk to someone and all the girls that i wouldn’t usually talk to and hear there sides that no one knows”

Darci Innes, Year 10

“The Tomorrow Woman workshop has been one of my favourite things we have done as a year level during 2020. It brought the girls closer and was amazing to here from girls that we wouldn’t usually talk to and find out how you can relate to them too.”

Mylee James, Year 10

Year 8

Students in Year 8 have been working collaboratively in small groups to raise money and then purchase a Christmas gift for a vulnerable young person in the Maroondah area through the Hope City Mission. It was so fantastic to see the huge pile of gifts that had been collected and the smiles on the students faces as they handed them over. Students have also hand-made cards for people in Aged Care facilities, wishing them all the best for the Christmas period. The empathy, compassion, generosity and care these students displayed was phenomenal.

Year 9’s

Students in Year 9 have been watching the series, A Wrong Kind of Black. This is based on the life and stories of Boori Monty Pryor, an indigenous author, speaker and performer who has been coming to Ringwood Secondary College and sharing his stories for over 20 years. Unfortunately he was not able to address the students in person this year, but they will have the opportunity to meet him as Year 10’s in 2021.

Year 7’s Friendology

The Year 7 cohort have been exploring positive relationships – how to be a good friend, how to deal with conflict and confrontation and how to show empathy and kindness to others through the Friendology Program. This has been very helpful for students, particularly empowering them to resolve issues of conflict amongst themselves, thereby building resilience and interpersonal skills.

Facilities

The Facilities team has recently been working on the following areas:

-Senior School locker construction

-Rear of hall cladding-the old rotten weatherboards replaced with modern sheeting

-Repairs to roof leaks-last Monday’s rain really tested us out

-Oval maintenance-I might be biased but it’s looking like the MCG

-Projector maintenance-It’s amazing how essential these have become for day to day teaching

-Repairs to security lighting

-Senior School defects-sounds worrying but all new buildings have several items to rectify

OH & S

-Checking for gas leaks-ensuring there are no leaks in Science or Food Technology rooms

-Test and tagging

Chris Salisbury

Facilities Manager

RSC News

Issue 26 · 27 Nov 2020

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