Welcome to Term 4 and what will soon be the completion of our foundation year at Ripley Valley State Secondary College.  Over the past 10 months our College has created a strong and positive school culture that is living up to our motto of "Achieving Excellence Together". Despite the unique challenges that we have faced this year, I am constantly reminded and see examples of parents, staff and students working together to make our college a better place.  It is only through the hard work, commitment and dedication of so many that our school has been able to achieve so much in such a short time.  For those new students and families to our college I welcome you and would encourage you to join our P & C Association and school community to build on the great work already started.  

On Wednesday the 28th October we celebrate our first Awards evening and announce our first junior School Captains and Vice Captains for 2021.  This historic occasion will provide a opportunity for us to recognise and acknowledge student achievement and also reflect on our first year achievements as a college.  Further information will be provided closer to the date and I look forward to seeing many of you at this evening.    

This term will see a number of other significant events with the celebration of NAIDOC week, Remembrance Day, Foundation Park and time capsule development, Year 6 into 7 Orientation Day and our P & C State of Origin and election day BBQ fundraising events. More information about these events will be provided on our school website, Facebook, newsletter and other social media platforms.   Once again, I look forward to sharing these significant events with our college community and encourage you to attend these special occasions.  

As we near the end of the 2020 school year, planning is well and truly underway for 2021 and our stage 2 building works which will further expand and enhance our student learning spaces.   Combined with this significant facility improvements is the creation of our College's four year Strategic Plan.  This term, all school community members and stakeholders are invited to provide their feedback into our future direction and priorities for 2021 -2024.  Following consultation with staff, students and community members to date a draft Strategic Plan has been developed and your feedback and input is welcome.  To view our College's 4 year Strategic Plan please open the attached document and you are welcome to provide further feedback or suggestions through the attached survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZGDW5KF

Following this feedback an updated Strategic Plan will be shared in the next newsletter for final feedback before ratification by the P & C Association and Department of Education later this year.  

Once again, as Principal, I am incredibly proud of our College's achievements in such a short period of time and I look forward to leading us into the future as we strive to "Achieve Excellence Together".