Science
It is exciting to join the team at Ripley Valley this year and write my first newsletter article. Having worked in education within the wider Ipswich area for the past 14 years, I am excited to continue the great work that has been taking place at Ripley. I’m also ready to seek new opportunities to support students achieve their goals. I’m looking forward to meeting all the students as they return for the year and welcoming the year 7 cohort to the school as they embark on the next phase of their education.
As the school continues to grow we’ve also added a number of new staff to the science faculty this year. I’d like to formally welcome Ms O Roberts, Mrs A Constable, Mr J Gerchow, Mrs K Nugent, Mr N Cardiff, Mrs A Everitt and Miss B Gordon to the science faculty. I’d also like to thank the continuing staff of Mr T Barclay, Mr S Sogarthur, Mr J Clifford, Miss C McKendry and Mrs S Saini for welcoming us all in to the faculty and helping us find our feet so quickly.
This year our focus will continue to be on providing quality and engaging learning opportunities for all students and to help them connect the learning in the classroom to their lives outside of school. Whilst we will focus on particular areas of science knowledge, it is vital that we teach the inquiry skills that underpin science. The beauty of science is the framework of asking questions and then working through a process to determine an answer to that question. We hope this year to light the fire of curiosity and inquisitiveness in students as they interact with the world around them and help them discover the answers to the questions they pose.
One of my favourite quotes is John F Kennedy’s moon speech given at Rice University in 1962. “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too” (John F Kennedy, 1962).
This year I encourage all staff and students within the science faculty to tackle the hard things that they face. As we work together to overcome the challenges and obstacles and achieve our goals, we’ll look back on 2022 with pride of knowing we’ve worked to our potential. I’m excited for the year ahead and working with the staff, students and families of Ripley Valley State Secondary College.
Todd Robson
HoD Science