Filter Content
Welcome back to school and what has been a very different start to the school term. No-one could have predicted the dramatic changes that have occurred across the world, our country and community since the start of the year. We all knew that 2020 was going to be a memorable year for our new school but I don't think anyone predicted the current situation.
As I reflect on the recent changes and challenges facing our school and community it has been comforting to remember that some things have not changed. Our school vision and values have not changed. We are still committed to keeping the individual at the heart of our decision making. We are dedicated to providing equitable opportunities for growth through innovative practices. We collaboratively strive to create productive citizens, ethical leaders and positive contributors to our community, country and global society. Our vision will not change, despite the challenges we may face. I still believe that our school motto is as applicable today as it was yesterday, that we can "Achieve Excellence Together". In times of significant change and challenge I find reassurance in remembering the constants in life. For you it may be your faith, your family, your friends or any number of experiences or memorable moments. I would encourage you, like myself, to recall these constants as we face these difficulties together.
On Wednesday this week our school conducted its first ANZAC service at the front of our school. While we were unable to invite parents, guests and have all students in attendance due to current restrictions, we were pleased to conduct a Facebook live service and commemorate this significant event. As part of our ANZAC service we planted a Lone Pine tree in the front school garden, near the flagpoles in recognition of this significant event. Plans are also underway to further develop the front of the school space to create a school/community ANZAC Place for future events and ceremonies. Details of the ANZAC Place development will be available in the near future for school and community feedback.
This week I had the pleasure of welcoming two new staff to our school, Mrs Lisa Henderson (Guidance Officer) and Mrs Lorinda Stiles (Head of Department - Creative Industries). At the end of last term, Mr Gordon Collis completed his contract with the school as acting HOD Creative Industries and Lorinda Stiles replaced him as the acting HOD until the end of 2020. We wish Mr Collis all the best as he returns to Yeronga SHS.
In other news, WATPAC is nearing completion of all building works for the secondary school and it is anticipated that we will have full use of the sports hall, footpaths, bike racks and car parks at the end of April. Plans are underway, once works are complete and COVID restrictions eased, to hold an opening ceremony for the Sports Hall. Further details will be provided on this milestone event as the year progresses. As the final works for our school's Stage 1 buildings nears completion, plans are already underway for the tender and construction of Stage 2 building works in 2021. Over the past month I have been working with senior departmental staff to finalise the design of the Stage 2 works which will almost double the building footprint of our school. It is hoped these works will commence in 2021 and take approximately 12 months to complete.
As we commence what is a very different start to the school term, I realise that for those parents and staff supervising student learning at home and school, this has not been easy. Our staff have had to change the way they prepare and present work for online learning and parents have had to juggle students learning and internet issues combined with work and family responsibilities. To both my staff and school families I would like to say thank you. Thank you for your support, patience and understanding in these difficult times. I, like you, look forward to the return of all students to school and life returning to normal again, whatever that may look like in the future.
Brendan Krueger
Foundation Principal
Term One Reports
At the end of last term, all parents and carers will have received their child's Term One Report. This is an interim report that indicates your child's progress in a Semester-based program of learning.
In Secondary Schools we often see a small dip in the academic progress of Year 7 students as they make the transition from the primary school context of one key teacher for the majority of their subjects to the high school context of specialist teachers for specialist subjects. The opportunity to specialise in their learning, experience new subjects and work with a variety of teachers can be overwhelming for some students. Especially when we also consider that they are adapting to new physical surroundings, new routines in how they get to and from school and making new friends.
Please be assured that all of the right conditions are in place for your children to flourish at Ripley Valley SSC. It may take some children a little longer than others to become accustomed to high school, but when they do they will power ahead as learners. This is evident to our staff when we examine the Behaviour and Effort results of our students from their Term One Reports.
Year 7 Cumulative Behaviour and Effort
Year 8 Cumulative Behaviour and Effort
95% of our Year 7 and 8 students are demonstrating respect and responsibility in the classroom by achieving a Satisfactory, Very Good or Excellent result for their behaviour in Term One.
88% of Year 7 students and 82% of Year 8 students are demonstrating perseverance in the classroom by achieving a Satisfactory, Very Good or Excellent result for their effort in Term One.
These are the values and learning behaviours we want to see in 100% of our students at RVSSC as they will ensure continual improvement occurs in learning, both at school and into adulthood.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Next Wednesday, 29th April our teaching staff will be conducting Parent/Teacher Interviews. Unfortunately the interviews will be taking place over the phone, rather than in person, due to current health and safety requirements.
Instructions with how to book interviews were sent out with Report Cards at the end of last term. We have experienced a very high demand to meet with our teachers, and some are already booked out for the evening.
If you would like to speak with your child's teacher/s and there are no suitable times available, please email the teacher directly and they will get in contact with you at a mutually convenient time.
Some reminders for those parents/carers who have scheduled phone interviews:
- you will receive a call from the school phone number (07 3819 5333)
- teachers will be phoning the mobile number of the parent/carer who has made the booking
- please ensure you have your mobile phone turned on and in a location with good service coverage
- teachers will be strictly adhering to the 10 minute time limit
- if further conversation is required, teachers will arrange a date and time for this to occur
Emily Prenzler
Welcome to Term 2, 2020. During Monday's parade this week I reminded students about the importance of Perserverance. Perserverance is one of our school's three values that is particulary relevant at the moment. It is great to see students successfully adapting to the changing learning environment to continue to focus on achieving their learning goals.
Teaching students the value of perserverance highlights to students that life is not always smooth sailing and plans needs to be constantly re-evaluated and revised to stay on track to achieve objectives and goals.
Introducing our House Coordinators
Following an internal review of our staffing last term, we have also appointed two staff to new positions within the school. Both Ms Jessica Starkey and Mr James Dunn have been appointed as House Coordinators and will support students and their families in their transition/settling into secondary schooling. Both Jessica (Blaine and Flinders) and James (Goolman and Perry) have already been working extensively with our students and this new role will allow them to support the wellbeing and welfare of students in a more formal capacity. Jessica and James will focus on building House spirt and positive behaviour in their respective Houses. They will be working with students to develop student leadership and support students with peer issues. Congratulations James and Jessica on this recent appointment.
At this stage we plan to run a Student Investiture Ceremony, where student leaders will receive their leadership badges, on Monday the 1st June 2020. This will also be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the opening of our Sports Centre. We will provide further details closer to this time.
The first round of immunisations scheduled for this week has been cancelled. This round of immunisations will be rescheduled to later this year. We will let you know the date of the next round of immunisations as soon as we can.
Angela Waugh
HOD - Digital Technologies | English | Humanities
Angela Waugh
Email: awaug24@eq.edu.au
- Create a Timetable or Follow your Daymap Timetable
- Ask for Help: email or phone us
- Practice Mindfulness
We will look after your child's education whilst you look after your family.
Let us know if you have questions, concerns or need support.
Rhiannon Kemp
Head of Inclusion
Rhiannon Kemp
Phone: 3819 5319
Email: rxtoo0@eq.edu.au
- Ways to develop physical wellness:
- Exercise, eat healthy and getting 6-8 hours sleep every night
- Ways to develop emotional health:
- Maintaining a positive attitude, develop a stress reliever, converse with someone
- Ways to develop intellectual health:
- Become a life-long learner, seek academic health if needed, take education seriously and spend time reading, writing and listening.
- Ways to develop social health:
- Get involved in a club or organisation, spend time with friends, recognise when you’re in an unhealthy relationship and balance social life with academic responsibility.
- Ways to develop spiritual health:
- Find a quiet place and spend time there daily, contemplate the meaning of life, if you have a religion – study and practice it, spend time appreciating the natural world around you.
- Ways to develop environmental health:
- Recycle, conserve energy, volunteer with environmental organisations, become aware of earth’s natural resources and spend time outdoors.
Mathematics
I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself. My Name is Lorinda Stiles I am the new Head of Department for Creative Industries at RVSSC. I extremely excited to get the opportunity to a part of developing this wonderful new school.
Design Education is my passion. I am fascinated by the rise of new technologies, and look to finding new approaches to teaching creativity and innovation. I have a strong background in teaching emerging technologies and integrating them into the curriculum. I specialise in Design Technology and Visual Arts, I thoroughly enjoy curriculum innovation and I am looking forward to developing a rigourous curriculum that offers our students diversity in advanced manufacturing and new technologies. Design Technology is an amazing subject and I don't apologise for getting very excited about it. It makes a massive impact on students' learning as they need to take information they learn from other subjects, especially maths and science, and apply it using logic, the power of analysis, creativity and a big dollop of common sense. It's a real cross-curricular subject.
I have over 10 years of experience in the design industry and 7 years of experience in education. I have a strong commitment to building partnerships. In my previous school, I led the development of a STEAM program, which was a collaboration between the feeder primary school, high school and local university. I have also participated in The Australia-Asia BRIDGE School partnership program, which was a wonderful learning experience. I hope to build future RVSSC partnerships with Universities and businesses in Creative Industries to develop and provide future pathways for our students
This photo was taken at a High School in Malang, Indonesia. I spent a week teaching students design thinking skills to build on their critical and creativity thinking, while helping teachers implement technology into their classroom.
As an educator I look to encouraging students to create authentic solutions to real world problems, building on 21st century skills, including problem solving, collaboration, communication, creative and critical thinking. My goal is to inspire students to be their best and begin a lifelong journey in creativity and innovation. I love the daily ‘wow’ moments, as well as getting to know students and families and learning what motivates them.
Thank you, I look forward to meeting you all soon. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Mrs Stiles
lstil21@eq.edu.au
What are we doing in English this term?
Year 7 English
|
|
Lesson One |
Lesson Two |
Lesson Three |
|
Week 1 |
Egyptian Fables in the 21st Century |
Storytellers Rule the World |
Myths, Fables and Legends |
|
Week 2 |
QAR Strategies |
Making Meaning |
Organising my Thinking |
|
Week3 |
Look Again |
Give One, Get One |
Assessment Task 1 (Thursday collaborate lesson) |
|
Week 4 |
Everything Old is New Again – Universal Fables |
Everything Old is New Again – Universal Fables |
Everything Old is New Again – Universal Fables |
|
Week 5 |
Creating a Storyboard |
Creating a Storyboard |
Creating a Storyboard |
|
Week 6 |
How to Pivot |
How to Pivot |
How to Pivot |
|
Week 7 |
Adapting a Fable |
Adapting a Fable |
Draft of Adapted Fable Due |
|
Week 8 |
Creating a Storyboard |
Creating a Storyboard |
Draft of Storyboard Due |
|
Week 9 |
Pivot Animation |
Pivot Animation |
Assessment Task 2 Due |
|
Week 10 |
Showtime |
Showtime |
Showtime |
Year 8 English
Science fiction is often referred to as the “literature of ideas”, and explores the potential consequences of scientific, social, and technological innovations. Through short stories, the students at Ripley are going to delve into this exciting and creative genre.
This term, in Year 8 English, we will be investigating this new world of science and art. From reflecting on Ray Bradbury’s thoughts on dystopian worlds, to Steven Spielberg’s interpretation of an alien encounter, we will be analysing and creating our own texts on what we dream the world of our future might become.
The Year 8’s are going to go where no man has been before, they are going to imagine a world of the future and, and even, maybe, discover new planets and civilisations. As they progress through each lesson this term, where might an author take them? What experiences might await them from worlds afar? How might they become the protagonist of their own narrative in an environment that new futures have built? Stay tuned for some exciting examples of what we think our future might look like!
What are we doing in HASS this term?
Year 7 HASS - History
After successfully navigating Geography in term 1, year 7 will complete an introduction to secondary school History in term 2. The focus will be on the ancient civilisation of Egypt. Students will discover the significant role the Nile river played along with the importance of other key aspects of daily life that keep the civilisation afloat over millennia.
The first 5 weeks of the term will focus on knowledge and understanding and will culminate in a Short Response Test in week 5. The second half of the term will focus on the skills of History, in this case the ability to analyse both primary and secondary sources and will be assessed via a Source Analysis Exam in week 9.
Year 8 HASS- Business and Economics
Similar to year 7, the year 8 Humanities course will be broken into four different disciplines, one each term. Term 1 focused on History and the Vikings whilst term two will look at Economics and Business. Students will spend the first four weeks becoming familiar with the marketplace and the varying stakeholders involved before creating a Consumer Affairs TV segment as their assessment piece. Students will work in groups and produce a segment based around the rights and responsibilities of consumers and producers in the Australian marketplace.
Hello!
My name is Lisa Henderson and I am very excited to join the staff at Ripley Valley Secondary College as Guidance Officer. While it may be a while before I get to see you in person, I am looking forward to getting to know the students and families that make up this great community.
There are many things that I can help with, including:
-Mental health & wellbeing support
-Support for students & families
-Referrals to external support such as headspace
-Time management & study skills
-Stress management
-Career education
I am located in the Administration building and work every Monday, Wednesday & Thursday. To make an appointment to see me, you can visit Student Reception, phone the main office or email me on llodw1@eq.edu.au.
Over the coming weeks I will be emailing some wellbeing resources and activities to students, so please keep an eye out for these.
Take care,
Lisa Henderson
Guidance Officer
Domestic Violence support in the current social isolation conditions.
Queensland Police Service have introduced an online contact option for people in a situation where it is unsafe for them to call police about domestic and family violence: https://www.police.qld.gov.au/domestic-violence
Of course always call Triple Zero (000) if domestic violence is occurring right now or someone is in immediate danger.
Online support for students and families
Here are some useful websites, phone numbers and apps that support mental health.
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 / https://kidshelpline.com.au/get-help/webchat-counselling
Eheadspace: www.eheadspace.org.au
Head to Health: https://headtohealth.gov.au/
Parentline: 1300 30 1300 / www.parentline.com.au
BeyondBlue: 1300 22 4636
Lifeline: 13 11 14