Staff Insight
By Louise Wallace-Richards – Assistant Principal, Teaching and Learning
When we launched the Radford Secondary School Radford Learner in 2016, the College saw the traits as applicable to both teachers and students. We are all learners for life!
The term “lifelong learner” is often used in our society as a trait we all need to aspire to. It feels to me like it has become a cliché, and therefore tending towards being meaningless. This week, I have decided through this article to explore the phrase in its context at Radford and to show that it really is alive and well at Radford.
In 1996, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) defined lifelong learning as ”…learning [that] occurs during the whole course of a person's life. Formal education contributes to learning as do the non-formal and informal settings of home, the workplace, the community and society at large. OECD Source
This definition captures beautifully the way that learning can happen for us at Radford: in formal professional learning courses and incidental conversations with colleagues for teachers, to formal instruction in lessons with teachers and study groups with their peers for students.
Last year, though, certainly prompted by the COVID pandemic, the OECD released a document titled OECD Skills Outlook 2021: Learning for Life. This document does not just seek to define lifelong learning as in 1996, but to emphasise why it is so important for us all:
Lifelong learning is key if individuals are to succeed in labour markets and societies shaped by megatrends such as increases in life expectancy, rapid technological changes, globalisation, migration, environmental changes and digitalisation, as well as sudden shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 Source
I particularly like the emphasis in this statement on "if individuals are to succeed". The pandemic has made us all, as a species, tired – physically, mentally and emotionally. We have all had to adapt to so much change and I have written previously about the exceptional job our teaching staff did in 2020 and 2021 in moving to online teaching. We are still pivoting in 2022 to try to make the learning experience for our students as seamless as possible, despite both student and teacher absences due to COVID. Nexus lesson planning and class Onenote or Teams Notebooks have played their part this semester in helping teachers to deliver quality lessons and students to access learning.
This ongoing need for pivoting at Radford was shown to be a common experience in independent schools across Australia when Adrian Johnson, Head of Secondary School; Lindy Braithwaite, Assistant Principal Curriculum; Reverend Katherine Rainger; Jeremy Hawkes, Interdisciplinary Coordinator and I attended the Association of Heads of Independent School of Australia (AHISA) Conference in Melbourne in the last holidays.
Despite COVID and all that it has forced us to contend with in our workplace over the past two years, 2022 has enabled the Secondary School teaching team to resume formal professional learning in communion with their peers, to ensure students receive teaching and learning experiences that are informed by the best and latest educational research. We have also continued to operate as reflective change-makers through reflecting on our practice with our colleagues, in our teacher Communities of Practice, with our Heads of Department in our goal discussions and, for early career teachers, with their coaches.
Since Semester Two 2021, teachers have undergone extensive learning about how to use our learning management system Nexus to plan teaching and learning programs, publish lessons to students, and assess and report. This has been a monumental task, and Lisa Plenty, Dougal Mordike and Lindy Braithwaite have been instrumental in delivering this learning to staff.
The Heads of Department have also been key to the successful implementation of Nexus as the replacement for SEQTA. They have also continued to research areas of interest and passion through our Leadership Community of Practices (LCoPs). This year the CoPs are being led by our middle leaders and Deans:
- Jason Golding, Head of English – Collaborative Teaching CoP
- Jane Smith, Head of Student Support and Enrichment – Feedback CoP
- Nick Moss, Dean of Senior Studies/IBDP Co-ordinator – the Approaches to Learning CoP
- Jeremy Hawkes, Interdisciplinary Coordinator – Interdisciplinary Learning CoP.
The Academic Executive team look forward to hearing of their research and recommendations at the end of this term.
Our Heads of Department (HoDs) continue to be engaged in Phase One of our self-regulated learning (SRL) project with Assistant Professor Dr Shyam Barr of the University of Canberra. We have also moved to our Phase Two of the project, with the HoDs observing lessons of members of their teams teaching SRL strategies to students. Our aim with this project is to have students use the strategies themselves to help them learn, and this can only happen if we include the teaching of SRL strategies along with our teaching of content in our lessons.
One of the exciting teaching and learning initiatives from our College 2021–2025 Strategic Plan that we launched at the end of last term, and have fully implemented this term, is our coaching program for early career teachers. After completing extensive formal learning over the past two years, Ailsa Mackerras, Julia Oreo and I have developed a coaching model informed by the work of Jim Knight and Growth Coaching International. Our coaching process, as represented in the diagram below, will run for approximately one semester.
Ailsa and Julia have been joined by Kath Notley, Heath Wade and Tom Wragg as Secondary School coaches this term and I look forward to hearing from them and their coaches at the end of this term about how the implementation of the program has progressed.
Finally, I would like to celebrate the successes of my colleagues Lindy Braithwaite and Adrian Johnson: Lindy, for her presentation on data for the professional learning group The Hatchery
and Adrian for his leadership of our Secondary Executive team. Trinity Anglican College’s gain is Radford's loss!
By Associate Chaplain Andy Fleming
National Reconciliation Week is a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge First Nations peoples and cultures, and also to reflect on our collective history.
Personally, I have found much joy in what I have learnt, and this learning has positively influenced my attitudes, practices and even my spirituality.
Indigenous culture teaches the value of, and respect for, those who have gone before us and what we can gain from the wisdom of their lived experience. For instance, during this time of heightened awareness about climate change, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have helped my understanding of how we are connected to the land and how my actions impact the environment. God has given us all the task of looking after Creation – not ‘owning’ creation but being responsible for it. Adopting the sustainable practices of First Nations peoples could assist in using our natural resources more appropriately.
My interest in reconciliation started simply through listening to music I enjoyed that also held strong messages and told stories. From Little Things Big Things Grow by Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly, Take the Children Away by Archie Roach, and even The Dead Heart by Midnight Oil, are songs that piqued my interest in issues confronting First Nations peoples.
This interest developed further as my friends and I learnt more about Indigenous affairs in the mid-1990s, following the landmark Mabo decision, then-Prime Minister Paul Keating’s Redfern speech, and the Native Title Act, all of which had occurred in the preceding years. This period culminated in the Walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000, where hundreds of thousands of people came together to acknowledge the importance of national reconciliation. I can remember a strong sense of community that day and hope for a better future for this country; a future in which First Nations history and peoples are recognised and acknowledged as the custodians of these lands now called Australia.
As I watch Radford students take the opportunities to build their own understanding of Indigenous cultures, this sense of hope is renewed. On Foundation Day at the end of Term 1, we heard from Aunty Violet Sheridan and Duncan Smith, the artist whose work Dirrum Dirrum and the Scar Tree hangs in the Chapel. At the Reconciliation Day events at the National Arboretum on Monday, several students assisted Reverend Hazel Davies making Sturt's Desert Pea craft remembering the colonial-era conflicts.
All students have enjoyed Uncle Johnny Huckle playing for them in Chapels and Junior School Celebrations. Uncle Johnny’s music is informative and invites the listener to engage with reconciliation. Over the past two weeks, many Year 10s have expressed interest in the opportunity to attend the Myall Creek Memorial on the June long weekend. These remarkable people assist our students to appreciate and value the diverse voices, perspectives, and knowledge within our community.
Peace be with you in the week ahead,
Chaplain Andy
Photo credit: Sturt's Desert Pea image by D Blumer is from the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority of Western Australia.
News
By Scott Corbett, Director of Service Learning
On the (cold, 4 degrees) night of Tuesday, 24 May, 45 brave students, along with six staff, slept outdoors in front of the Years 5/6 building.
The group spent the night empathising with the experience of “sleeping rough”, something that thousands of Australians face each night. They had soup for dinner (generously prepared by the teamSUPPORT boys) and participated in some powerful immersion activities led by St Vincent De Paul. This saw the group explore the challenges faced by people living with homelessness, as well as the most common causes of homelessness.
After a very cold night spent in sleeping bags and cardboard forts, the group had a BBQ breakfast cooked by College Captain Patrick Walker and our very own Master Chef, Dr Johnson. The students then faced a weary day at school, having a first-hand experience of how difficult it is to operate with such disrupted sleep.
The SleepOut provided a rich learning experience for all the staff and students who participated. We are seeking donations in honour of the group's commitment. All donations will go directly to Vinnies and will help support people who are living with homelessness. You can make an online donation here, which will go towards Deputy Principal Mr Andy Gordon's tally for the CEO Sleepout, which he is participating in on 23 June.
A special thank you to the staff (Erica Whitby, Timo Pyeon, Tristan Thomas, Tom Milenovic and Principal Fiona Godfrey), as well as special guests Jessie James and Jasper Jones, Fiona’s pet dogs, who kept us company on the night.
Belconnen & ASC Cross Country
Over 100 students represented Radford at the Belconnen (Junior School) and ASC (Secondary School) Cross Country Carnivals at Stromlo last week. Congratulations to the following students who finished in the top 3:
- Mae Smith – 2nd –11 Years Girls
- Oscar Eyers – 2nd – 9 Years Boys
- Patrick Maundrell – 2nd – 10 Years Boys
- Isla Murphy – 3rd – 12 Years Girls
- Kaiya Barsby – 2nd – 13 Years Girls
- Astrid Evans – 3rd – 14 Years Girls
- Katherine Maundrell – 2nd – 15 Years Girls
- Owen Toyne – 1st – 15 Years Boys
2021/22 Radford Rowing Awards
On Friday 27 May, over 150 Radford rowers, coxswains, coaches, family members, and special guests, including Mrs Godfrey and Olympic Bronze Medallist Jack Cleary, celebrated another successful rowing season.
It was a lovely and entertaining evening co-hosted by our 2022 Rowing Captains Ellen Mihaljevic and Ben Heatley. The Improvement, Contribution and Excellence Awards for each squad were presented, along with the Radford Rowing major awards. The audience also had the pleasure of hearing from Jack Cleary, a current Rowing Australia team member, about his journey from school-based rowing to a USA student-athlete scholarship, to standing on the Olympic podium at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
This excellent video, produced by Year 12 student and rower Oli Bailey in the lead up to Nationals in Nagambie, Victoria, in April, celebrated the dedication of Radford's rowers and coaches.
The evening was also an opportunity to farewell Craig Muller, the Acting Sports Program Manager for Rowing. Craig stepped in and stepped up when the program needed him, and his contribution was greatly appreciated. The announcement of our new Radford Head of Rowing is not far away.
Events such as this also provide a great platform to thank those who have helped bring the season and the Awards Night to fruition.
- Radford College Board, Executive, Staff, and the broader Radford community
- All rowers, coxswains and their families
- 20+ coaches
- Friends of Radford Rowing (FORR)
- Radford Sports Department
Key achievements
- Competed in five ACT-based regattas, including the ACT Head of the Lake and ACT Junior Championships where Radford won the following prestigious cups:
- Senior Boys Coxed Eight – Winners of the Head of the Lake Fraser Cup
- Senior Boys Single – Winner of the Canberra Grammar School Principal’s Cup
- Senior Boys Coxed Quad Div 1 – Winners of the Mason Family Cup
- Year 10 Boys Coxed Quad – Winners of the Marist College Principal’s Cup
- Year 9 Girls Coxed Quad – Winners of the Daramalan College Principal’s Cup
- Competed in the NSW State Championships and the Kings/PLC regatta
- 38 rowers and coxes were selected to row at the 2022 National Championships in Nagambie, Victoria. Radford took home one Silver and three Bronze medals.
- Silver – Schoolgirls Coxed Quad 500m Sprint – Ellen Mihaljevic, Bridget Kelleher-Cole, Nikita Crabb, Hannah Hardy, Cox: Stuart Ward.
- Bronze - Schoolboys Coxed Quad 500m Sprint – Connor Jacopino, Campbell Kruger, Hunter Jolly, Ollie Fox, Cox: Izzy Faris
- Bronze – U19 Men's Coxed Quad – Chris Bush, Jake Schemen-Rogers, Hamish Roberts, Will Gregory, Cox: Ben Heatley
- Bronze – U19 Men’s Coxless Quad – Chris Bush, Jake Schemen-Rogers, Hamish Roberts, Will Gregory
- Radford Rowing was named as one of four finalists in the 2021 Hancock Prospecting Rower of the Year Participation Awards. On this occasion, Radford did not bring home the prize, however, this amazing achievement is the culmination of many years of growth and development for the Radford Rowing Program.
Major Award Winners
Crew of the Year Boys – Senior Boys A Coxed Quad
- Will Gregory, Hamish Roberts, Chris Bush, Jake Schemen-Rogers and Ben Heatley (c)
Crew of the Year Girls - Senior Girls Coxed Four
- Nikita Crabb, Hannah Hardy, Bridget Kelleher-Cole, Ellen Mihaljevic and Stuart Ward (c)
Coxswain of the Year
- Ben Heatley
Most Improved Girls Crew – Senior Girls Coxed Quad
- Olivia Hickey, Zoe Macintosh, Claudia Kendall, Hannah Sampson and Jude Barlin (c)
Most Improved Boys Crew – Senior Boys C Quad Crew
- Curtis Garrett, Aidan Roberts, Matt Wang, Oli Bailey, Callum Durnell and Charlie Stuart
Major Service Awards
- Senior shed – Ellen Mihaljevic
- Junior shed – Jude Barlin
By Rachael Hind and Gemma Wilson, JS Teacher Librarians
Kids Lit Quiz is an annual competition for book lovers and avid readers from Year 5 to Year 8. It is a trivia-style competition, where teams of four students face 10 rounds of questions.
The questions are very tough and require students to read broadly, rather than in one specific genre.
This year, 37 teams from schools across the ACT participated in the event at Merici College. The four-year age range of participants makes a huge difference in the number of reading years, so our youngest students did extremely well.
Each round is on a different theme. Examples for 2022 were beverages, clothing, females, glasses and birds.
Test yourself against some of our favourite questions this year!
- In the picture book series featuring Spot the Dog, what is Spot's mum’s name?
- Which river flowed through Mr Wonka's factory?
- Who is Angelina Ballerina’s best friend?
- What is Minnie Mouse’s real name?
- We know the BFG was very friendly, but how many unfriendly giants where there?
This year, we entered more teams than previously. We had four teams from Radford Junior School and three teams of Secondary School students. All our teams did extremely well, despite finding the questions tough. The competition is loud and active, with spot prizes given out during the afternoon. There is always a spot prize for identifying the first line of a book and it is incredible how quickly the students can guess the book. This year, the first line came from The BFG by Roald Dahl. Do you know the first line?
We were extremely proud of all our students and look forward to participating in this competition for many years to come.
Answers:
- Sally
- Chocolate river
- Alice
- Minerva
- 9
By Rachael Hind and Gemma Wilson, JS Teacher Librarians
On 26 May we celebrated National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) in the Junior School.
NSS is an annual event that has been held since 2000 and is organised by the Australian Library and Information Association. Every year a picture book by an Australian author and illustrator is read simultaneously across Australia in schools, libraries, childcare centres, homes and bookshops.
This year over two million students read Family Tree, written by Josh Pyke and illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh. Videos of readings by VIP guest readers, including Australian Children’s Laureate Gabrielle Wang, Josh Pyke and Governor-General David Hurley and Mrs Linda Hurley, were available, as well as an AUSLAN version.
We celebrated NSS by creating a Story Walk outside the JS Library. Our students enjoyed wandering by and reading the story and finding interesting details in the illustrations. Additionally, students were able to write their family name on a leaf and add it to our ‘Radford Family Tree’ display in the JS Library.
We would like to acknowledge Scholastic Australia who kindly granted us permission to use Family Tree for our Story Walk.
By Gemma Voortman and Erik Greenberg (Year 6)
On the Tuesday of Week 3 the Radford Tribal Council (RTC) went to look at the waste management site at Radford.
We saw the three big hoppers of waste that get emptied every single day. There was one paper bin that gets emptied two times a week. In the recycling bin there was lots of waste and recycling. The paper bins were not being used for paper but for rubbish so they took them out of the playgrounds. We saw an extraordinary amount of recycling in the rubbish bin. There was a disgustingly large amount of compost being put in the rubbish when they should put it in the compost bin.
The RTC was shocked to learn the monthly cost to get rid of all this waste. We want to do better and have come up with some plans.
We have:
- Created posters to show people which bins to place items in.
- Complied lists of items you can buy from the Radford Canteen that are fully recyclable.
- Listed items that are waste-free birthday treats for students to share at school.
- Made posters to encourage people to be waste free.
We hope to see some big improvements!
Sports Program Coordinator
What do you like best about your current role?
The team in the Sports Department is awesome and made of just champion stuff. Never a dull moment.
Can you tell us about your role and current projects?
I am the Sports Program Coordinator for Snowsports, Basketball, Water Polo and Golf.
I organise coaches, camps and competitions within each sport.
Current projects include snowsports camps, water polo competition development and preparation for summer 22/23, basketball referee recruitment and basketball coach development.
What did you do before joining the Radford community?
I was a swimming coach with Cruiz Swim Club, as well as having my own coaching business.
What do you enjoy outside Radford?
Taking part in Movember, coaching swimming, getting away to the coast, playing football and Jerk cooking firepit sessions.
The next Executive and Wellbeing Committee (EWC) Forum will be held on Thursday 2 June 2022 from 5:30–6:30pm, in the Morison Centre, MOR 2.5.
The upcoming EWC presentation is a chance to explore the theological and pedagogical underpinnings of religious inquiry and spiritual formation from Pre-K to Year 12 and beyond.
This open forum will include a presentation by Rev. Dr Katherine Rainger (Senior Chaplain) on how our Anglican identity is embodied at Radford College, with a Q&A to follow.
Participants will have an opportunity to engage in discussions and provide feedback on reporting.
Please RSVP by emailing Kelly McMahon: Kelly.McMahon@radford.act.edu.au
If you wish to participate remotely, a Microsoft Teams link will be shared when you RSVP.
The Collegians Association is delighted to invite members of the Radford Community and their friends to hear from an Australian hero, Dr Richard Harris SC OAM, at the Collegians Long Lunch event on Friday 17 June, at The Marion, Regatta Point.
Dr Harris was joint Australian of the Year in 2019 for his part in the Tham Luang Thai cave rescue in 2018. He was also awarded the Star of Courage and medal of the Order of Australia for his contribution.
Dr Harris’ passion for cave diving goes back to the 1980s, and he developed a professional and voluntary interest in search and rescue operations. In 2018 he played a crucial role in the massive operation to ensure the safe rescue of twelve young boys and their 25-year-old coach, who were trapped in a flooded cave from 23 June 2018 till their rescue on 8–10 July.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Dr Harris speak, while enjoying a fabulous lunch at The Marion, Canberra’s outstanding new lakeside venue. Book now. Don’t miss out, tickets are limited!
Where: The Marion, Regatta Point
When: Friday, 17 June 2022
Time: 12:00pm sharp
Tickets: $150 (includes drinks, canapes, 2-course lunch)
Enquiries: cate.mcdonald@radford.act.edu.au (flyer)
This event is open to everyone, come along and bring your friends for this very special event!
