Welcome back to another wonderful Term at Ripley Valley SSC! I hope your holidays were restful and enjoyable, and you are energised for the Term ahead. In reflecting on the Semester 1 Report Cards, I was very pleased to read through the collective efforts of our students – particularly the Effort and Behaviour marks that were attained. In Years 7 and 8 these represented some of the best marks the school has ever achieved with over 95% of students attaining an A – C grade in these categories.

In looking ahead, the next six months offer an array of key events and opportunities for our students and wider community. Some of these include:

NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year the College celebrated NAIDOC Week in Week 1 of Term 3 though a range of events and activities that were open to all students. The week culminated with a Parent and Elder Morning Tea, which was held in our newly opened Yarning Circle. It was lovely to share this moment with our Elders and seek their input into the increasing number of cultural programs that we have on offer for our Indigenous students. 

School Opinion Survey

The School Opinion Surveys (SOS) is undertaken each year to obtain opinions from parents, caregivers, students and school staff around what we are doing well and find areas which may need improvement. This year the SOS will open on Monday 22^nd July and will close on Friday 16^th August.

The survey will be distributed directly to students and parents/caregivers using OneSchool emails. All invitations will contain a link with a unique user ID and password as part of that link. The survey can be accessed by simply clicking on the link. Respondents will only be able to complete the survey once. The SOS continues to be an anonymous survey. Personal information such as email address is used for distribution purposes only. These are separated from a person’s responses and deleted, prior to the responses being loaded into a database.

Further information about the SOS can be found at: www.qld.gov.au/schoolopinionsurvey.

Excellence Morning Tea

On Thursday 1^st August we will be hosting our second Excellence Morning Teas for the year. This event is focussed on celebrating those students who have achieved the highest possible grades for their Effort and Behaviour across Semester 1. Invitations will be sent out in the coming weeks to those students who have attained this impressive result. 

Awards Evening:

Planning has commenced for the Annual Awards Evening, which will take place in Week 3 of Term 4 on Wednesday 16^th of October. This special event provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the academic, sporting and cultural achievements of our students. In preparation for this event, students will be given the opportunity later this Term to apply for several special awards, including:

• P&C Citizenship Award (Senior and Junior)
• College Culture Award (Senior and Junior)
• Leadership Award (Senior and Junior)
• Innovation Award (Junior)
• College Wellbeing Award (Senior and Junior)
• Long Tan Award (Year 10 and Year 12)
• Ampol Best All Rounder Award (Year 12)
• Excellence in Sports Award

Further information around the criteria for these awards will be made available later in the Term.

Raptor Awards:

Another important aspect of the Awards Evening is the presentation of our Gold Raptor Awards. In order to be eligible for this award, students must accrue 18 – 20 points based on the criteria featured below. Students who receive a Silver or Bronze Raptor Award will be acknowledged on Year Level Assemblies later in Term 4.

Student Leadership Nominations:

Student Leadership nominations for 2025 will open in Week 3 of this Term. This will include nominations for the following roles:

• School Captain (Year 12)
• School Vice-Captain (Year 12)
• House Captains (Year 12)
• Junior Captains (Year 9)
• Student Representative Council (Years 7 – 11)

Again, further information around this nomination process will be made available later in the Term.

I wish all students an enjoyable Term ahead and look forward to celebrating their successes throughout the Semester.

Regards,