Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning
School Tour and Enrolment Information Sessions
Our final School Tour for the year is coming up on Tuesday 3rd November from 3:30pm - 4:30pm. The tours have been very successful and we receive many compliments from the community regarding the conduct, manners and professionalism of our Student Tour Guides. These tours are designed to showcase our College to families in the wider community who are considering enrolling their children at Ripley Valley State Secondary College in future years. They are also a great opportunity for incoming Year 7 students to familiarise themselves and see our College facilities prior to the upcoming Orientation Day. If you would like to attend the School Tour, please register via this link: https://ripleyvalleyssc.schoolzineplus.com/form/49
After the School Tour, we will be holding an Enrolment Information Session for parents/carers and students who are beginning at the College in 2021. There is only one further opportunity after next week to complete the Enrolment Information Session to finalise your 2021 enrolment.
Staffing Changes
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Riley Stewart for his time and efforts at Ripley Valley. Mr Stewart has capably stepped in to teach Ms Tull's classes and will be missed by students and staff when he finishes next week.
Over the next few weeks we will have two new teachers joining our team. We are very fortunate to have these permanent members of our teaching team joining us prior to the end of the school year. Mr Justin Clifford and Ms Karen Logan are joining our teaching team in the Maths, Science and HPE Faculty. Mr Clifford begins at the College in Week 5 and will be teaching the classes that are currently with Mr Stewart. Ms Logan will be joining our team in Week 7 and will be taking some Maths and Science classes.
In our next newsletter, I will be introducing you to all of the new teaching staff that will be joining our College in 2021. We are very fortunate to have recruited a highly skilled and experienced teaching team to complement our existing teaching staff. They will be joining us for a two day Staff Retreat later this term and we will also introduce them to you via our social media platforms.
Teaching and Learning Partnerships
Over the past few months we have been building our partnerships with universities and other organisations to support the professional development of our staff. This occurs through ongoing opportunities as we plan our new Year 9 curriculum offerings for 2021 and create our Pathways curriculum for Years 10-12.
Our teaching staff are busily creating the units of work and assessment and setting up learning spaces with resources for all of our new Year 8 electives - Food Studies, Visual Art, Media Arts and Drama. In the Year 9 curriculum, we are excited to be running the electives of Music, Sport and Exercise Science, Manufacturing, Engineering, Dance, Drama and Media Arts alongside our core curriculum offerings.
We are also partnering with USQ in a research project. This project involves researchers following our progress as a new school and tracking how we are ensuring a positive culture is developed in our College community. This is an exciting opportunity for our staff to be working with university researchers to ensure our school is implementing best practice teaching and learning opportunities for all learners.
Emily Prenzler
