From The Principal
Fiona Godfrey, Principal
A very warm welcome back to school for the start of Term 4. I hope all Radford families had an opportunity to have some relaxing time over the holidays and are now ready to face what is arguably the busiest term of the year.
Over the next eight weeks an enormous amount of activity will happen both inside and outside of the classroom. As is customary, the year will culminate with the Year 12 Graduation on Monday 25 November and the Junior and Secondary School Celebrations, formerly known as Awards Afternoon and Evening, on Monday 9 December. The change in name from Awards to Celebration signals a shift in emphasis from a predominantly academic focus to one celebrating all the activities in which our students are involved. This year’s events will, for the first time in many years, be held in the AIS Arena, rather than the Canberra Convention Centre. We are hoping all events will be very entertaining and informative.
For this year only, the Junior School and Secondary School Celebrations will be held on the last Monday afternoon / evening (i.e. Monday 9 December). This change of day came about as the AIS Arena had already been booked by another school on the Tuesday. Whilst we are hoping to rectify this situation for next year, it does mean that all students (Pre K – Year 9) will still be required back at school on Tuesday, the day after the Celebrations.
Between now and the last of the major functions for the year, there will be a great deal of pressure on staff and students to complete all the required curriculum and assessments. Over the coming days, I will be reminding students, particularly our senior students, to make sure they are fully prepared and know what is required of them in their final days.
The end of year functions give us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved over the course of an academic year. It is important that all students and their families can take part in these activities and I ask that the following dates are recorded and prioritised:
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Year 12 Graduation
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Monday November 25 |
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Year 12 Formal
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Monday December 2 |
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Year 6 Graduation
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Thursday December 5 |
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Year 10 End of Year Celebration
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Friday December 6 |
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Junior School and Secondary School Celebrations
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Monday December 9 |
The first of the major co-curricular events for Term 4, the Senior Drama Production, takes place at the end of this week. The choice of play this year is Oscar Wilde’s comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest. I have no doubt that our very talented senior drama students will ensure that the play, directed as usual by Mr Jason Golding (Head of English), will once again be of a very high standard. Tickets are on sale for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night’s shows via this link.
Holiday Events, Tours and Camps
I am pleased to report that all the international tours that were conducted over the holiday period have safely returned home. Our language tours to France and Japan were, from all accounts, fabulous learning experiences, with all students reporting a much greater understanding of the language they are studying and a greater appreciation of the culture, particularly through their home stay experience.
The Round Square International Conference Tour to India, led by our Round Square Coordinator, Ms Kath Notley was also highly successful. The students developed some firm friendships with students from other Round Square schools from around the world, which hopefully will endure over time. The students were also exposed to a range of activities around Round Square’s ideals of internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure, leadership and service.
Closer to home, approximately 30 of our rowers attended a Rowing Camp at the Berry Sport and Recreation Centre in the first week of the holidays. Led by Director of Rowing, Ms Vicky Spencer, the students enjoyed utilising the facilities at the Centre and made a great start for the upcoming rowing season.
And finally, 12 of our Year 12 students completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Qualifying Expedition in the Kosciuszko National Park, led by Ms Sue Hassall and assisted by Ms Tracey Craze. On their return to Canberra Ms Hassall wrote the following:
“It was a challenging walk involving steep hills, heavy packs, bull-ants, difficult navigation, intimidating kangaroos and thick scrub requiring ‘bush-bashing’. It is the most challenging expedition these students have completed, and they were amazing! (and I just managed to keep up with them). I was humbled by their skills, grit and spirit – they are a credit to their families and their school.”
Staffing Announcements
The College was very saddened to learn at the end of last term that our recently appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr Andrew Wood, was forced to retire due to personal health issues. In the short period of time that Andrew was at Radford, he made an enormous contribution to the corporate services area of the College and was instrumental in bringing about some very positive changes to our operational processes and finalising the work on the Morison Centre.
While we have again started a national search for a new COO, we have been fortunate to be able to appoint Mr Peter Gunning as an Interim COO. Peter, who has been retired for the past 12 months, was previously the Chief Financial Officer at AFP and comes to Radford highly recommended by a number of people in Canberra.
Long-serving staff member and Dean of Administration, Mr Glenn Demery will also retire at the end of 2019. Last term we advertised both internally and externally to find someone to replace Glenn and I am delighted to announce that Mr Andrew Barber, our former Head of Mathematics, has been appointed to the role from the start of Term 4.
Current Assistant Head of Mathematics, Ms Kym Palfreman, will now be Acting Head of Mathematics and Ms Alyssa Maier, will be the Acting Assistant Head of Mathematics for Term 4.
In other staffing news, two senior staff members officially began at Radford this week. Our new Head of Junior School, Mr Andy Gordon, started his tenure this week and Reverend Katherine Rainger joins Father Richard as a Senior Chaplain, as he prepares to move to Brisbane at the end of the year. It is very exciting to have two staff with such great experience, credentials and expertise join our staff.
Click to RSVP for the Chaplain's Commissioning Service