15 March 2023

A special ceremony was held during the Year 3-4 Chapel on Tuesday, 14 March to mark the 160th anniversary of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

Radford was proud to host former Communications Officer, Celia Lindsay, at the ceremony. Ms Lindsay worked at Radford for 14 years and kindly donated a crab apple tree to mark the significant occasion.

The tree was blessed by Bishop Stephen Pickard and The Chapel was lit up by a choir of 250 students, giving the event a real sense of occasion.

The tree will live outside The Chapel as a prayer tree.

By Jane Lilley, Head of Year 12

Radford College joined the World’s Greatest Shave last Thursday and Friday.

We were so inspired by the number of Year 12 students and staff who were brave enough to lose their hair to help beat blood cancer.

The Radford2023 fundraising page had raised a staggering $51,402 by Tuesday morning and there’s still time to donate via the Leukaemia Foundation if you haven’t already. The grand total raised between the two days is $51,600, which includes the money raised from the barbecue and bake sale.

Teacher and Assistant Head of Science, Stephanie Comino, also braved the shave, losing all of her luscious locks and raising an incredible $1,338 via her fundraising page (where you can see Ms Comino's hair before the shave).

Thank you to the students and staff who assisted with the shave. Thank you also to the students who performed in the band and ran the barbecue and bake sale during the shave to keep the large crowd fed and entertained.

By Rohan Steven and Jasmine Snare, Year 7 students

Year 7 Camp was in Biloela from 13-17 February, making it an awesome, five-day experience. We took part in many activities that helped us face our fears and let us take on leadership roles to support our peers.

Some of the activity highlights from camp were abseiling, the flying fox and canoeing. These activities were fun, because we were all able to learn new things about the activities themselves and the environment surrounding us, which was simply breathtaking.

Everyone faced plenty of challenges, but none more so than abseiling. This was a challenging experience because you had to get down from a high cliff. There were two abseiling spots - one was an eight-metre option, while the other one was down 20 metres! All who participated in the activity were risk takers, faced their fears and helped those who needed encouragement.

Something we feel was learnt by each student was how they can challenge their limits to achieve amazing things and help others to do so as well. This collaboration and community are key to who we are as Radford students.

As a year group, I think it meant a lot for us because we all challenged ourselves, helped our peers and made many new friends while having fun. We also believe it meant a lot for the new students in our year group as they were able to become more familiar with their peers outside of the school setting.

On behalf of Year 7, we would like to thank all our Radford teachers and support staff, our fellow peers and, of course, the Outdoor Education Group members for making it such an awesome and memorable experience.

We will always remember Biloela as we move through the rest of our schooling and life.

By Michele Sharp, Head of Languages

During the summer break, four language students undertook our first Long Exchange in some time. Students study at one of our sister schools and live with a host family for a period of six-to-eight weeks. The French students visited Lycée Blaise Pascal in Segré, France while the Japanese students attended Konko Gakuen High School in Okayama. Japan.

The Long Exchange is an opportunity language students can apply for at the end of Year 11, and it is a reciprocal program, meaning those who participate must be willing to host in return. The aims of the program are to:

• gain first-hand insight into other cultures to develop a tolerance, understanding and respect for different ways of life and different values;
• improve foreign language skills through the practical use of the language in a native-speaking country;
• widen perspectives and social experience; and
• gain experience as a host to an overseas visitor at home and school.

We are thankful to the schools we have relationships with and the host families our students stayed with. We look forward to welcoming their partner students this year. Below are some student reflections on their experiences.

Sarah Zhang – Japan

As this was my first time visiting Japan, my emotions were a mix of nervousness and anticipation for the Long Exchange, including meeting my host family, going to a Japanese school and making friends in a different language. However, everyone in Japan was extremely kind and welcoming and my worries quickly dispersed. During my exchange at Konko Gakuen, the sister school in Okayama, I was introduced to various traditional club activities such as calligraphy, flower arranging and the Tea Ceremony Club. As a music lover, playing one of Japan's traditional instruments, the koto, for the first time was also a fun and memorable experience. I gained a lot of cultural understanding and definitely improved my Japanese skills throughout my time at the school. Despite my worries about making friends in Japanese, I connected with many of the students and really enjoyed the school lifestyle there (except for extra school on Saturday mornings). Staying with a host family was also a highlight of my trip, especially spending New Year with them and trying traditional Japanese food that they made on New Year's Eve - mochi (rice cakes) and soba noodles.

The goodbyes when I was nearing the end of my five-week Long Exchange in Japan were incredibly sad. I gained so many wonderful memories throughout the trip and friends that I hope to see again one day. The trip was not only educational, but also gave me confidence in myself, my ability to communicate in a different language and meet new people. This exchange has really helped me to grow as a student and as a person. I would like to end by thanking Mrs Godfrey, Ms Sharp and the sister school in Japan for organising this wonderful exchange opportunity that I had the privilege of experiencing. I am extremely grateful to my host family for taking care of me and making this an adventure that I will never forget.

Olivia Wang – Japan

My time as an exchange student in Japan went by in the blink of an eye and is a memory I will treasure forever. For those weeks, I got to experience a completely different life and attend a school completely different to Radford. There are a huge variety of clubs and activities unique to Japanese schools which I attempted, such as calligraphy, traditional instruments and flower arranging. I was also lucky to have two weeks of winter holidays in which I visited beautiful and historic spots, such as Miyajima, the biggest shrine gate in Japan, which stands in the sea, and Hiroshima, the location of the Atomic Bomb Dome. The highlight of my trip was living with my host family and meeting everyone at our exchange school, who were all so kind to us. Speaking so much Japanese every day boosted my confidence with the language and made Japanese even more meaningful to me. I highly recommend the exchange to anyone and everyone!

Eloise Flynn - France

This opportunity has been such a wonderful privilege that I am so grateful for. When I’m asked how my exchange was, or what the experience was like, I generally use my go-to answer: “Well, it’s a hard thing to sum up in just a couple of sentences.” Ironic but completely true. Trying to explain everything is a feat I’ll probably never complete, but I can definitely point out some highlights:

1. Making some of the kindest and most down-to-earth friends in my life.
2. Noticing a massive improvement in my French.
3. Trying a proper French éclair for the first time.
4. Ice skating (terribly) in a giant disco rink.
5. Climbing the stairs of Le Mont Saint Michel.
6. Watching the terrified fear spread over my classmates’ face when I gave presentations about Australia and introduced them to some of our 'backyard pets’.
7. A wonderful New Year's Eve party with my new friends.
8. Exploring the countryside on long sunset walks.
9. Eating more potatoes, bread and cheese than I could possibly imagine.
10. Laughing over French films and cultural discrepancies with my exchange student, Charlotte.
11. Walking through the streets of Paris for the first time.
12. Realising people like to dress up for school, which meant I got to get creative with outfits each day.
13. Having my first, five-course French meal (yes, every lunch and dinner).
14. Visiting the glowing Christmas markets in Angers.
15. Feeling superior in English class with my revered English skills.
16. Most of all, the games I played and talks with friends in the long lunchtime hours.
17. Finally, the comfort of my host-family's home. They made me feel completely welcome, more than comfortable and cared for.

I can assure, however, that it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows; I got horribly sick on Christmas Eve and Day with a raging fever; school days were long and exhausting, running often until 5 or 6 pm; and I definitely missed the quality of a good Aussie coffee. However, the balance of these things reminded me I wasn't just there on a holiday - that I was really living my life with all its ups and downs.

An exchange is a privilege, which I acknowledge is not an opportunity available to everyone - but we are lucky that our lives are long and there hopefully will be plenty of opportunities to travel in the near future. So, if you do ever consider an exchange, travelling with immersion, or are considering learning a language, I urge - please do. You become confident in your independence and make lifelong bonds. I cannot wait for the second chapter of this experience, to welcome Charlotte into my family and show her all the fun and crazy things about Australia. And if you or your family does ever happen to be travelling through France, I urge you to pop in and visit my friends in the towns of Angers and Ségre.

By Josephine Truswell and Olivia Wang, 2023 Sustainability Captains and Year 12 students

We’re excited to take on this role and continue the great work of last year’s captains. Our aim is to create a more environmentally-focused school through collaboration between students and the Sustainability Working Group.

We’d love to hear from the Radford community, so if you have any ideas or questions, please contact us via communications@radford.act.edu.au.

Below are some interesting days centred around sustainability we wanted to share with you all.

Hairy-Nosed Day: 11 May

The aim of this day is to inform people everywhere about the critically-endangered hairy-nosed wombat and to thank the wombat caretakers, researchers and all those who support the Wombat Foundation. Wombats have long been considered important to the environment because their digging cultivates soil and aids vegetation growth. On Hairy-Nosed Day 2020, award-winning writer and honorary wombat Jackie French wrote a chapter of The Life of Dunny Wombat, which stars the famous hairy-nosed wombat Dunny. The first and second chapters can be read for free on the Wombat Foundation website.

World Egg Day: 14 October

World Egg Day was established at Vienna 1996 to celebrate the nutrient powerhouse that is the egg, and in 2022 more than 100 countries across the globe joined in. In Australia, farmers were encouraged to create ten-second films naming as many egg dishes as possible, and many competitions were run. Egg production is already one of the most environmentally-friendly forms of agriculture due to the fact that hens convert feed into protein very efficiently and have relatively small land requirements to do so. The International Egg Commission is driving a global initiative for sustainable egg production in-line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which will further the way for sustainable egg production.

Earth Day: 22 April

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated to promote environmental awareness and encourage global action to protect the planet. Through community clean-up efforts, tree plantings, educational programs, and other events to promote sustainability and conservation, the day aims to promote awareness of critical environmental issues. The day serves as a reminder that we all have a responsibility to take care of our planet and its resources.

Zero Emissions Day: 21 September

Zero Emissions Day highlights the harm caused by CO2 emissions and tries to give the world a one-day break from the harmful effects of fossil fuels. On this day, people around the world attempt to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in a bid to remove our historic and unavoidable emissions from the air.

2023 Secondary School House Swimming Carnival

At the Week 6 Secondary School Assembly, our 2023 Swimming Captain Victor Au and Sports Captain Kaitlin Barsby announced the winners of the 12 Years to Open Age Champions, the Golden Flipper winners and the point scores for the House Spirit and House Cup.

Congratulations to the following champions:

Age Champions

• 12 Years Girls – Lara Madsen (Jarrah)
• 12 Years Boys – Will Mailler (Banksia)
• 13 Years Girls – Sarah Tompson (Acacia)
• 13 Years Boys – Louis Hayward (Huon)
• 14 Years Girls – Annika Hayashi (Acacia)
  
• 14 Years Boys – Xavi Canadell (Huon)
• 15 Years Girls – Chloe Mailler (Banksia)
• 15 Years Boys – Kevin Wong (Boronia)
• 16 Years Girls – Amber Smith (Karri)
• 16 Years Boys – Brynten Au (Acacia)
• Opens Girls – Gemma O’Rourke (Huon)
• Opens Boys – Victor Au (Acacia)

Golden Flipper Champions

• Victor Au
• Gemma O’Rourke

2023 Broulee Bay to Breakers Ocean Swim

In more swimming news, four Radford students performed exceptionally well at the Broulee Bay to Breakers Ocean Swim on Sunday, 12 March. This event is a 1.4 kilometre ocean swim from Shark Bay on Broulee Island out and around the headland to South Broulee (Bengello) Beach.

Congratulations to the following students:

• Under 14s - Xavier Canadell (first)
• Under 16s - Hugo Hayward (first)
• Under 16s - Louis Hayward (second)
• Under 20s - Oliver Lonsdale (first)

Cricket

Congratulations to the Raiders (Stage 3 Sunday Blue), Sixers (Stage 2 Saturday Gold) and Scorchers (Stage 2 Sunday Gold) on their Premiership seasons!

All three Grand Finals were played on the P&F Oval. The Raiders and Sixers matches were back and forth contests, but the Scorchers were too hot for Marist, chasing down Marist’s 66 in ten overs.

A special mention to Tom, Daniel and Mark Brown, who were all in the winning Raiders team. I think it will be a long time before Radford College has three brothers in a Premiership team again.

The Raiders have a chance to secure the ‘double’ on Wednesday night when they take on Eastlake in the T20 Final on the P&F Oval.

Pictured below: The three Premiership teams and the Brown family, including Zoe Brown who plays in the Radford Eagles Girls Team.

Year 11 students Palak Maheshwari and Rena Cao reflect on their experience at the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) International Women’s Day Lunch

International Women’s Day falls on 8 March every year. This date calls for a celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women worldwide. However, it also serves as a call-to-action to continue on the path towards gender equity.

On this day, seven Year 11 girls, accompanied by three staff, had the privilege of attending the AIIA's International Women’s Day Lunch at the Hyatt Hotel. There, we listened to amazing women in various senior leadership roles.

The keynote speaker, Kate Woolley, who is one of the most accomplished ICT executives in Australia, spoke about the struggles she has faced as a woman in a workplace setting. She emphasised the importance of championing women who are doing a great job professionally, so people in higher management positions can see that.

We had a break for lunch and then listened to a panel discussion with Dr Michelle Graham, Rebecca Fealy and Natalie Gunn. These highly-accomplished women shared their insights into gender equity in the workplace, advised young women to embody confidence at the earliest possible stage in their life and discussed the importance of everyone calling out bias when they see it.

Overall, this was an eye-opening event, and we all feel so inspired and lucky that we were able to hear these women speak.

Radford College wishes to thank Greg Boorer and the AIIA for sponsoring the students and staff to attend the lunch.

By Terry Yang and Thuhi Mathu-Ragupathy, Year 12 students

Music can heal and transform on a personal and community level, but can it build a bridge between middle Australia and some of the world's most vulnerable people?

We warmly invite the Radford community to consider this question at a screening of the film Scattered People from 5-7 pm on Friday, 24 March in the Heath Lecture Theatre.

Scattered People is a film about two Iranian musicians who discover the healing power of music, bringing together people, cultures and countries while exploring Australians' attitudes towards people seeking asylum. Prominent Australian musicians such as Missy Higgins, Archie Roach and Baker Boy also feature, collaborating with Saha, Mas and other asylum seekers to show how music can unify people and bring hope around the world.

The screening is being held as a pre-event to Dirrum Dirrum, a festival annually run by Year 12 students that includes a wide variety of speakers who talk about how they’re making a difference to their community locally, nationally and globally. Key speakers over the years have included Akram Azimi, Gillian Triggs, Peter Greste, Professor Tom Calma AO and Professor John Minns. This year, the festival is being held on 12 August.

The theme for this year’s Dirrum Dirrum Festival is 'Sonder', defined as the realisation that each random passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. By watching this film, we hope to embody this theme in our own lives, and we’d love for the Radford community to join us in watching this insightful film. Dr Barlow, one of our history teachers, has kindly agreed to introduce the film on the day, drawing on her expert knowledge of the Iranian women’s movement.

At the conclusion of the film, we’ll be interviewing Professor John Minns of the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, whose research interests include international relations and the politics of asylum. We will be talking to him about how the world has changed since the release of the film in 2021, as well as cases that have garnered recent media attention.

At 4:30 pm on the day, there will also be a sausage sizzle run by RAS. All profits and donations on the day will go towards the Refugee Action Campaign. Furthermore, the senior band Illitrat will be performing.

As a candid exploration of some deeply troubling issues regarding asylum, the film does contain some disturbing content and is rated M. We would recommend keeping this in mind if you’re interested in coming.

We hope to see you there!

By Kath Notley, Acting Director of Service Learning and Round Square Co-ordinator

RAID Basketball is Radford’s longest-running service-learning activity, and one that we take huge pride in.

Radford students train for and play basketball alongside adults with a disability every Wednesday night. This program has been run by the YMCA for 30+ years, and Radford has been partnering with the YMCA for 17 years.

To celebrate and raise awareness of this amazing activity, we are hosting a private screening of the movie Champions on Monday, 20 March at 6 pm at Hoyts in Belconnen…and we’d love for you to come!

Join star Woody Harrelson in the hilarious and heart-warming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realises that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.

This is a great chance to gain an insight into the RAID program and hear from some of the students who have been part of the program.

Tickets are $14 each, and the audience will comprise of Radford staff, students and families with a connection to RAID Basketball, as well as YMCA staff and members of the RAID program who the students play alongside each week.

Please be aware that the film is rated M15+. There are sexual references in the film and some swearing. We encourage you to view the trailer and exercise discretion when deciding whether the film is appropriate for your child to view.

Please contact me via email to confirm ticket numbers.

P & F Welcome Back BBQ and Movie

Thank you to the many new and existing families who attended the Welcome Back BBQ and Movie night last Friday. It was a beautiful afternoon and the P & F Committee enjoyed seeing so many new and familiar faces!

It was a bit of a different atmosphere this year as we normally host the movie on our spectacular oval. Nevertheless, we were able to start the movie a bit earlier given the number of families attending with young kids. The sausage sizzle and ice creams were a hit and were sold out by 6:30 pm!

Thank you to the Junior School for the use of the BBQs and RA Young Hall; Radford Foundation for the ice creams; Gecko Gang for the great face painting; Outdoor Movies; and the committee, which organised the food, set up and cooked!

Reminder: P & F Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, 16 March at 6 pm in RA Young Hall.

If you would like to attend the meeting virtually, please click on this link.

Meeting ID: 828 4166 4961
Passcode: jGgj3p