From School Council

Hello from the RSC College Council and President Teresa Lodge……

To the RSC School Community……we would like to send out a big HELLO from your College Council members and myself. 

I would also like to shout out a huge

“you’ve got this” to all of you in a positive way and encourage you all that although life at the moment is not easy, you are all doing an incredible job!       

                                                                                        No doubt hearing the news of the extended lockdown was disheartening and you’re not alone if you had a little moment. I certainly did!  Everybody’s lives have been disrupted and some of us are steadily getting through this time ok, yet others are struggling due to multiple factors. The saying goes “we are all in the same storm, but different boats”.                                                                                                                  We know that getting through this lockdown (again), is all about taking one day at a time, remaining positive and being kind to ourselves in the process. Previous lockdowns have taught us that the wellbeing of families, our friends and ourselves, is the most important thing – without it nothing else will function. 

You are Important! 

College Council has continued to work hard in the background, and we have continued to hold our Council and Sub-committee meetings on Zoom. We were very grateful to have Maria Allison participate in our meetings in Term Two as Acting Principal, and grateful for her amazing support, as she, herself, faced several unusual challenges that occurred in Michael Phillips absence, including Lockdown No 4! Thank you, Maria, for your hard work and support in Term Two! 

College Council members continue to work with our Master Plan and on aspects of our Future Directions Paper, with our main focus being on the current plans for our recently funded STEAM Education Building (Science, Technology, Engineering, Visual Arts and Mathematics). Michael Phillips updated us all at Council in his status report on the current Stage 3 Works.  The plans are underway, and Council are supporting the DET (Department of Education and Training) processes and pathways that RSC must navigate on the journey to realising the actual building of this exciting and new facility for our College. 

In his report, Michael Phillips also spoke of the ‘changing DET Landscape’ and up-coming reforms to the Victorian  Senior Secondary Certificate. These are very exciting, modern, and progressive reforms that will see changes to the VCE structure, including a new vocational specialisation to replace the current VCAL certificate, and will also see a new Foundation Pathway replace the existing VCAL Foundations Program. These reforms will take place in 2022 to 2023. To find out more please click on the link to the Engage Victoria website. https://engage.vic.gov.au/consultation-senior-secondary-reform

Discussing the DET  reforms has prompted me to speak to the College Community about our own Registered Training Organisation at RSC – Ringwood Training (RT). 

We are very fortunate to have Shayne van der Heide as a member of Council. Shayne is the Director of Ringwood Training (RT) and he leads our very robust, well run (Government School) Registered Training Organisation (RTO) that is bursting-at-the-seams with success! 

Ringwood Training is a special part of the school campus and is closely aligned with and is an extremely important part of Ringwood Secondary College. By participating in the College Council, Shayne maintains and enhances this close alignment and relationship between Ringwood Secondary College and Ringwood Training. Shayne also involves Ringwood Training and his staff in the school community and contributes to many college plans, events, and developments. 

Shayne’s regular RT Report is informative and positive and usually shows growing student numbers, healthy financials, positive staffing news and many other updates, plans and developments. Ringwood Training has become a well-known RTO, especially after winning the prestigious “Small Training Provider of the Year Award” in 2019. This award has highlighted Ringwood Trainings passion and dedication to providing excellent training for their students and shows it is leading the way in its unique and innovative government school training model. 

Ringwood Training provides Vocational Education and Training qualifications to both school-based and post-school students in three main industry areas – Automotive, Engineering Fabrication and Information Communication Technology (ICT). It has shown to provide real pathways for students as they transition from school to post-school training and employment. This has been demonstrated by many RT students progressing to successful career and employment opportunities and outcomes.

Ringwood Training is also a busy and flourishing RTO in its own right, running many vocational training courses and short courses in Automotive, Engineering Fabrication and Information Communication Technology (ICT) and more! Please feel welcome to learn more on their website via this link. https://ringwood.training/

The Facilities Program have been very busy at the college with some fantastic improvements, repairs, upgrades, with the most popular being the upgraded toilet and change room facilities in the PAC. There is also great excitement as our college has traded in the old and we now have a brand-new ride-on-mower! Well done to Chris Salisbury and team. 

There has been a lot of activity in the area of our recently reinvigorated RSC Alumni Program, particularly on the Facebook Page. If you are a former student of RSC, (formally Ringwood High School), or know of anyone else who was a former student, the RSC Alumni Group would love to hear from you! Please head to our Facebook Page, Ringwood Secondary College Alumni) to see and hear more about our Alumni Program! 

College Student Representative Members – Lucy Philps and Charlie Lodge 

Lucy and Charlie have done some great collaboration with the senior students in gathering ideas for the ‘Naming’ of our new Senior Building. Council will then apply to have the name interpreted into our local Indigenous Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Language. The College will be seeking the on-going use of this special name for our Senior building and believe it will provide the College with a rich school culture and important connection to county and the Indigenous land where our school is placed. More of this news will be shared after the next Council meeting! Thank you to Lucy, Charlie and the Senior Students for your ideas! 

To all in the College Community, we so look forward to seeing everyone on the “other side” of Lockdown No 5 and having our wonderful staff and students back at the College where you belong. Please take care and go well

Teresa Lodge                                                                College Council President