22 March 2023

If reading this article on a phone, it is best to hold the phone landscape.

By Nicholas Moss, Acting Assistant Principal Curriculum

As our newly-appointed Acting Assistant Principal Curriculum, I presented on our Approaches to Learning (ATL) initiative during the Secondary School Professional Learning program in January. My presentation focused on reinforcing the purpose and research behind our ATL initiative and how our staff can embed and assess ATLs. Given the direct link between our ATL initiative and our upcoming parent, student and teacher conversations in the next two weeks, I'd like to share parts of my presentation.

At Radford College, we are committed to supporting our students to reach their potential, so they can contribute to and shape their world, now and in the future. To achieve these outcomes, we are responsible for teaching our students the requisite knowledge and skills.

For our Year 7–10 students, the newly-released Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum sets out the essential knowledge and skills. The framework (pictured below) is three-dimensional and encompasses learning areas, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities.

In Years 11 and 12, students can choose to complete the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) or the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). The ACT SSC allows students to choose from 14 different course (or learning) areas and includes the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities from the Australian Curriculum.

Australian Curriculum: Version 9 (source ACARA, 2022)

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

The IBDP (pictured right) provides our students with a balanced education that promotes international mindedness. Drawing on six course (or learning) areas and the Core (i.e. Theory of Knowledge, Creativity, Activity and Service and the Extended Essay), the DP is underpinned by prescribed approaches to teaching and learning.

Expansion of Radford’s Secondary School Approaches to Learning

Following the overwhelming success of implementing the Secondary School’s Approaches to Learning in 2022, we have expanded the initiative this semester and will continue to do so over the next 12 months.

All students in Years 7-12 recently completed self-assessments and conversations with their teachers about self-regulation: student demonstrates self-discipline and sets goals, and either a second self-regulation strand (i.e. expresses emotions appropriately) or a social management ATL.

The social management strands are ‘works collaboratively’, or ‘appreciates diverse perspectives and contributes to civil society’.

To allow our students to embed the aforementioned ATLs in assessment tasks, we are currently trialling ‘hurdle tasks’ in a select number of courses in each department. Hurdle tasks are compulsory, student-led conversations that occur as part of completing a take-home or in-class assessment. Specifically, these conversations require students to reflect on the ATLs being assessed and detail their findings and understanding of the assessment task. Replacing the submission of a voluntary draft, the hurdle tasks have a number of advantages. These include:

• Ensuring all students begin the assessment task early.
• Generating meaningful and authentic engagement with the assessment task
• Efficient use of research lessons for students (and staff).
• Allowing all students to receive timely teacher feedback prior to submission/completion.
• Enhancing self-reflection and self-assessment process. This process was previously undertaken after the task had been marked and returned.

The expansion of our ATL initiative, including introducing hurdle tasks, highlights our deliberate focus to enhance our students’ learning skills. This approach is supported by curriculum frameworks and other forms of educational research, including the Personal and Social Capability in the Australian Curriculum, the IB’s Approaches to Learning and the 21st Century Learner Profile (pictured left). I am proud that Radford College is trailblazing the promotion and reporting of the critical key skills required for learning.

I look forward to seeing you and your child at the upcoming parent, student and teacher conversations. These evenings are valuable opportunities to join the conversation with your child and their teachers about their Approaches to Learning.

Sources:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2022, The Australian Curriculum, https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/. Accessed 16 March 2023.

Centre for Curriculum Redesign, and, What should students learn for the 21^st Century. https://curriculumredesign.org/. Accessed 16 March 2023.

International Baccalaureate, 2023. Diploma Programme https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/. Access 16 March 2023.

By Rev. Dr Katherine Rainger, Senior Chaplain

“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to bless them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them" - Mark 10:13-16.

The Godly Play story of Jesus and the children is a favourite with Pre-Kindergarten students. One of the ‘wondering’ questions I ask is: “I wonder how the children felt when they talked to Jesus?” Last week a child said, “happy and sad.” I responded with another question, “I wonder why they felt happy and sad?” “They felt happy and sad because they talked about happy and sad things,” was the reply.

So much of life is a combination of “happy and sad”. This child’s response put “happy and sad” within the context of faith, where both “happy and sad” are given space in the presence of God in the person of Jesus. All of life can be brought into conversation with God. We can drop all pretence; we have nothing to prove.

The following reflection by Kathleen Norris, published in her book Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, takes up this idea of the honesty we can bring into our relationship with God and the wisdom of children in showing the path to spiritual growth.

When I’m working as an artist-in-residence at parochial schools, I like to read the psalms out loud to inspire the students, who are usually not aware that the snippets they sing at Mass are among the greatest poems in the world. But I have found that when I have asked children to write their own psalms, their poems often have an emotional directness that is similar to that of the Biblical Psalter. They know what it’s like to be small in a world designed for big people, to feel lost and abandoned. Children are frequently astonished to discover that the psalmists so freely express the more unacceptable emotions, sadness and even anger, even anger at God, and all of this is in the Bible that they hear/read in church on Sunday morning.

Children who are picked on by their big brothers and sisters can be remarkably adept when it comes to writing cursing psalms, and I believe that the writing process offers them a safe haven in which to work through their desires for vengeance in a healthy way. Once a little boy wrote a poem called, “The Monster Who Was Sorry.” He began by admitting that he hates it when his father yells at him: his response in the poem is to throw his sister down the stairs, and then to wreck his room, and finally to wreck the whole town. The poem concludes: “Then I sit in my messy house and say to myself, ‘I shouldn’t have done all that.'”

“My messy house” says it all: with more honesty than most adults could have mustered, the boy made a metaphor for himself that admitted the depth of his rage and also gave him a way out. If that boy had been a novice in the fourth-century monastic desert, his elders might have told him that he was well on the way toward repentance, no such a monster after all, but only human. If the house is messy, they might have said, why not clean it up, why not make it into a place where God might wish to dwell?

Kathleen’s reflection brings the Psalms in the Bible into conversation with children’s experiences of all the emotions that are part of the human condition. The perspective that I would add is that God chooses to dwell with us, regardless of the state of our metaphorical house. The invitation of Lent is to recognise that we can’t “clean it up” on our own. It is the love, grace and mercy of God that brings healing and hope into our hearts and homes.

By Nick Martin, Assistant Head of Junior School Learning 3‑6

Over the past two weeks, we have sent our Year 5 and 6 students out into the wilds of the world to experience two very unique experiences. Whilst the experiences were quite different, they both provided an opportunity for our students to develop essential skills that will serve them into their future.

Our Year 6 students engaged with the ‘PYPx: Urban Heart’ program, which acts as a frontloading experience for our upcoming Primary Years Programme (PYP) Exhibition. The Year 6 students spent four days in Sydney meeting people and organisations who are taking action to make our world a better and more peaceful place. These students engaged with some of the biggest issues facing our world, including sustainability, reconciliation and equity. It was a wonderful week highlighted by respectful and thoughtful students engaging sensitively and reflectively. We are so excited to see how our Year 6 students are able to use this experience as a springboard towards Exhibition, in which they will research an issue that is meaningful and motivating to them.

In comparison, our Year 5 students ventured into the bush, near Tallong, to participate in a physically demanding and resilience testing, three-day camp program. Year 5 students engaged in a range of activities, including mountain biking, abseiling, high ropes, canoeing, camp craft, initiatives and hiking. Our Year 5 students were also wonderfully well-behaved, connected with each other in positive ways, encouraged each other when facing challenges and conducted themselves with respect and manners.

Despite having lots of fun, our students also developed a range of skills that will support them in learning and in life for the rest of their lives. In a PYP school, these skills are referred to as the Approaches to Learning (AtLs). The PYP approaches to learning are designed to help students develop the skills, attitudes and attributes they need to become lifelong learners. These approaches are divided into five categories: thinking, communication, social, self-management and research. The table below the photos attempts to draw out some of the ways these skills were developed through our camp program.

	Year 5 Bush Camp	Year 6 Urban Camp
Thinking Skills	Developing creative thinking skills by designing and implementing innovative solutions to problems encountered during the outdoor experience, such as constructing shelter and navigating challenging terrain. Enhancing critical thinking skills by evaluating and analysing information related to the natural environment, and making evidence-based decisions. Building metacognitive skills by reflecting on personal experiences and learning, and making connections to prior knowledge and future goals.	Developing an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships by observing the impact of urban development on the environment and communities. Applying critical thinking skills to analyse complex issues and engaging with creative solutions to address them. Using inquiry-based approaches to investigate urban issues and their impact on quality of life.
Communication skills	Developing effective communication skills through verbal and non-verbal communication while working with others in a team in a challenging environment. Enhancing listening skills to follow instructions and understand group goals and objectives. Building skills in expressing themselves creatively to communicate the essence of their outdoor experiences.	Developing effective communication skills through interactions with people from diverse backgrounds in the urban environment. Practising active listening and asking clarifying questions to deepen understanding of others' perspectives and experiences. Using a range of communication tools such as maps, brochures, and digital media to convey information and experiences to others.
Social Skills	Developing teamwork and collaboration skills by working together in small groups to achieve common goals. Enhancing empathy and cultural awareness by interacting with others from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Building conflict resolution skills by navigating and resolving interpersonal conflicts that arise during the outdoor experience, developing mutual respect.	Developing communication skills through interactions with diverse groups of people in the urban environment. Developing empathy and understanding towards different cultures and lifestyles through experiencing and observing them in an urban setting. Collaborating with peers to plan and execute activities, navigate through urban spaces and solve problems that arise.
Self-management skills	Developing self-awareness by reflecting on personal strengths and weaknesses, and setting personal goals for growth and improvement. Building resilience by facing new challenges in the bush, and developing adaptability and flexibility to changing environments and circumstances. Developing planning and time-management skills by organising and prioritising tasks in order to meet group and individual goals.	Developing organisation and time-management skills through executing a four-day urban experience. Demonstrating resilience and adaptability in response to unexpected challenges or changes in plans. Developing self-reflection skills to evaluate their own learning and growth through the urban experience.
Research skills	Developing inquiry skills by engaging in hands-on learning and exploring the natural environment through observation and experimentation. Building analytical and critical thinking skills by evaluating information from different sources, and making connections to prior knowledge.	Developing research skills by gathering and analysing information about a variety of issues and solutions. Applying critical thinking skills to evaluate the credibility and reliability of sources, and synthesising information from multiple sources. Using technology to access and organise information for further analysis and reflection.

I would also like to extend my absolute gratitude to the teachers who embarked upon these experiences with the Year 5 and 6 students. This is another example of the dedication to students and to learning that our teachers demonstrate constantly. I would also like to acknowledge Ms Tracey Markovic for her organisational work prior to and during these camp experiences.

Can you tell us about your current role at Radford and what it involves?

As a Year 5 teacher, I’m responsible for the 25 students in Class 5GO.

I’m blessed and grateful to be working alongside a magnificent Year 5 team that laughs together and supports each other (personally and professionally) on a daily basis. Moving from overseas was a big step for me, but my colleagues and supervisors have been supportive, kind and welcoming from day one. I love that our lesson planning is focused on providing a learning environment that enables students to follow their personal interests.

What do you love about teaching?

For me personally, I haven’t experienced any other profession in which I feel such a profound sense of meaning. Teaching is such a versatile profession. It allows you to be an educator, entertainer, mediator, inquirer, social worker, psychologist, caretaker, manager, administrator, and many more things – it never gets boring.

Can you tell us a little more about your background and the path that led you to joining Radford?

I was born and had lived in Vienna my whole life (until recently). Ten years ago, I met my wonderful wife Jacinta (who is a Radford Collegian (Class of 2008)). During our time together in Vienna, I worked in a bilingual school (English/German), where I also held the position of Vice Principal for two years prior to moving to Australia. Last year, my wife and I made the decision to move our young family to Australia, to immerse ourselves in the culture and to experience this beautiful and adventurous country.

What differences have you noticed between teaching in Austria and Australia?

As a primary school teacher in Austria, you teach your students consecutively from Year 1 to Year 4, so you have the same class for four years. Additionally, you teach almost every subject, including PE, music, art and technical crafts.

The school day is also organised very differently. School starts at 8:00 am, and students arrive at 7:45 am. In winter, it’s still dark outside when school starts. As a teacher, you teach through the entire morning, until 12:00 or 1:00 pm without a break. After this, some students go home, and others go to after-school care. The Austrian school year starts in September with a summer break in July and August during the European summer.

If you could bring one thing from Austria (tradition, culture, hobby, monument, person etc.) to Australia, what/who would it be?

I would love to be able to bring my extended family with me. Ideally, they’d be transported in Café Sperl, which is one of Vienna’s oldest coffee houses, together with at least one grumpy waiter (an essential part of the Austrian experience), my favourite coffee called a 'melange' (which is half a cup of brewed coffee with half a cup of cream - probably, relatively close to a flat white), Viennese cakes and my closest friends.

What do you enjoy outside Radford?

I love spending time with my son and my wife. I enjoy swimming, playing the guitar, reading, yoga, improv theatre, cycling, vegetarian food, surfing (I’m not very good yet, but I hope living in Australia will change this), good coffee, board games and spending time with kind and passionate people.

The Radford Rowing Program completed the general 2022/23 rowing season with outstanding performances at the 2023 Schoolboy and Schoolgirl Head of the River Regattas over the weekend. The Head of River Regattas is the pinnacle rowing event for schools and is where the whole Radford Rowing Shed (100+ students) compete.

Girls Shed Results

Radford’s female crews (including some male coxes) took to the water very early on Saturday morning to try to beat the oncoming heat wave.

Three Silver Medals:
- Year 10 Second Coxed Quad (Sophie Freemantle, Bonnie Hardy, Audrey Potter, Jessi Palframan and Charlotte Joyce)
- Year 8 Double (Catherine Austin and Kate Kristiansen)
- Schoolgirl First Coxed Quad (Hannah Sampson, Chloe Miller, Zoe Macintosh, Zoe Hickey and Stuart Ward)

One Bronze Medal:
- Schoolgirl First Year 10 Coxed Quad (Amber Smith, Coco Guenther, Zara Turner, Amelie Brennan and Jude Barlin)

Ninth on the Junior Pointscore (Year 8-9)
Second on the Senior Pointscore (Year 10-12)
Ninth on the Overall Pointscore

Boys Shed Results

Radford’s male crews (including some female coxes) also needed to rise early due to the 40-degree temperatures that were expected.

Four Gold Medals:
- Year 10 Double (Hamish Whithear and Josh Miller)
- Schoolboy Third Coxed Quad (Finn Robinson, David Gray, Curtis Garrett, Rohan White and Sammy Fejer)
- Schoolboy First Coxed Quad (Hunter Jolly, Jake Schemen-Rogers, Hamish Roberts, Oliver Fox and Izzy Faris)
- Schoolboy Single (Hamish Gaden)

Three Silver Medals:
- Schoolboy Third Coxed Quad (Sam Austin, Joshua Orr, Joe Martin, Marley Buchanan and Charles Kendall)
- Schoolboy Second Coxed Quad (Noah Vosen, Angus Scott, Connor Malouf, Hamish McKee and Pippa Humphries)
- Year 8 Double (Charles Kendall and Andrew Ren)

Two Bronze Medals:
- Year 9 Single (Lincoln Uren)
- Schoolboy Single (Marcus Ward)

The Radford male program finished third on the Overall Pointscore.

A special mention to our Year 12 rowers – the 2023 Schoolboy and Schoolgirl Head of the River Regattas marks their final regatta in the Radford colours:

Sian Fitzgerald
Zoe Macintosh
Hannah Sampson
Edana Hosking
Oliver Fox
Curtis Garrett
Hunter Jolly
Hamish Roberts
Jake Schemen-Rogers

It was great to see everyone compete with such enthusiasm and tenacity and, as a result, achieve some super results and medals over the weekend. All regattas involved a huge amount of logistics, including boats, transport and catering. Thank you to all who competed, coached and supported our teams' efforts across the two days.

On Thursday, 2 March, the Junior School celebrated and participated in throwing, jumping and running at the Australian Institute of Sport’s Athletics Track for the yearly Athletics Carnival and community celebration. On a glorious day, the heat and energy provided in sunshine were equally matched by the vigour and determination demonstrated by all our students from Year 2-6. Each student represented their House with pride, donning their House colours and collecting House points throughout the day.

It was a big effort by all the students who participated. All the students completed numerous running events, discus and shot-put throws, as well as the long jump and high-jump events. The atmosphere was bubbly and thrilling, with students cheering one another on and showing great character strengths, such as courage, perseverance and fairness. The day culminated in the heavily anticipated Golden Slipper - both the girls' and boys' races were greatly contested.

Congratulations to Eva Dixon and Lachlan Stevens who were the triumphant winners of the girls and boys Golden Slipper races.

The Age Champions were:

8 Years Boys – Elliott Griffiths
8 Years Girls – Billie Zeng
9 Years Boys – Archie Moss
9 Years Girls – Loretta Dal Bon
10 Years Boys – Oscar Eyers
10 Years Girls – Faye Sun
11 Years Boys – Patrick Maundrell
11 Years Girls – Elsie Osborne
12 Years Boys – Lachlan Stevens
12 Years Girls – Eva Dixon

The Junior School Athletics House Cup was tightly contested between Jarrah, Banksia and Kurrajong. However, the mighty green machine that is Kurrajong was the triumphant House, winning by just three points over Banksia.

A special commendation to Lachlan Stevens who took out the double, winning both the Golden Slipper at the Athletics Carnival and the Golden Flipper at the recent Swimming Carnival. A mighty effort and accomplishment to be crowned the fastest Junior School boy on track and in the water.

See more photos of the day below.

By Aoife Rothery and Sophie Conlon, Year 11 students

We both had the amazing opportunity of being part of an exchange program at Dainfern College in Johannesburg, South Africa in January and February this year.

While there were a lot of fun trips and experiences, we also got to really immerse ourselves in the Afrikaans culture and experience what it is like to live in a country with such a different dynamic to our own and what we are used to. The opportunities to discover a different way of living, such as witnessing a taxi driver's creative manoeuvres, having braai (BBQ) nights, living in a secure housing estate, and having townships nearby was a valuable experience.

Some amazing memories we made included:

Driving through a game reserve at sunset
Seeing lions, giraffe, hippos, buffalo, zebra and many more animals in their natural environment
Exploring an old gold mine (that had a theme park built on top of it!)
Reaching the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town
Visiting Cape of Good Hope and playing with penguins on the beaches
Whole-class chats about Australia in geography class
Watching many beautiful sunsets over beaches, savannahs and just while at home
Watching a baboon run through the caravan park I was staying at
Kayaking in Cape Town while a pod of dolphins swum underneath the boats.

Aoife and Sophie (first and second left)in South Africa/penguins at Cape of Good Hope.

And some things we found interesting were:

Not being able to make toast in the mornings (due to load shedding - the power was turned off for up to 12 hours per day)
School ending at 1 pm on a Wednesday
Being able to buy a whole lunch for around $3! (around 30 Rand)
Having to wake up at 5:30 am for school
How huge a large fries from McDonalds is (bigger than your head)
Having to scan your finger to get into the housing estates.

It was definitely very interesting to see this country’s regular societal norms, as there was a very clear upper class and lower class, but not really a distinct middle class, meaning there are two extremes of living standards that exist amongst each other almost seamlessly. Overall, it was very hard to say goodbye as we both had such an amazing experience and met so many new people. Exchange was such an incredible opportunity that we were both so grateful to partake in and we are excited to be able to welcome our exchange students back to Radford to show them our own culture.

Mountain Biking

Congratulations to Lachlan Gaden, Year 12, who competed in the 2023 Australian Mountain Biking Interschools at Thredbo during Week 6. Among the 1600 students who competed, Lachlan raced in the Flow, All Mountain, Pump Track and Downhill events. He placed 17/118 in the Flow race following a crash, which also impacted his pump track finals. Lachlan placed 12^th in the All Mountain and 7^th in the Downhill events. Awesome effort Lachlan!

Please note – Radford Sport does not get officially notified by SSACT or State Sporting Organisations when a student is selected in a school sport or state representative team. This information is publicised on the SSACT Facebook page, the State Association media channels or needs to be provided by the student or parent to CCSports@radford.act.edu.au for it to be celebrated.

ASC Touch Football

Tuesday, 14 March 2023 marked the inaugural ASC Touch Football Competition. Radford entered two Year 9/10 teams for this first competition: Girls Year 9/10 Team (Alice Berger, Ellie Chapman, Astrid Evans, Zara Hungerford, Chloe Mailler, Hannah Rankin, Madi Scholfield, Poppy Steven and Lily Wickham) and Boys Year 9/10 Team (Benjamin Baker, Lachie Cox, Cameron Hewitson, Finn Hourigan, Jakson Kang, Samuel Lemon, Oliver Luppi, Micah Primrose and Baxter Sicily).

The Girls Team had a tough first game against Canberra Girls Grammar School (CGGS), going down 8-2. In Round 2, the girls took on John Paul College (JPC) and played a solid game, coming away with a 3-3 draw. In Round 3, the girls played St Clare's College, which played super well and convincingly beat Radford 7-0. In the final round games, Radford played against Canberra Grammar School's (CGS) girls and narrowly lost 4-3. Well done to all the players. We hope to see you back at ASC Touch Football in 2024.

The Boys Team had a strong start in Round 1 against Marist College, with a 4-3 win. In Round 2, the boys convincingly defeated CGS, 4-1. In Round 3, the team came up against a very skilled JPC and were beaten 4-1. In Round 4, the boys played Burgmann College and finished with a convincing 6-1 win, securing themselves a spot in the semi-finals when they played Marist again. Unfortunately, Radford was not able to stay with the Marist boys and went down 5-3.

Congratulations to Ben Baker and Chloe Mailler for being selected in the ASC Super 6 ‘All-Stars’ Team.

ASC Touch Football Competition - Boys Year 9/10 Team.

Year 9/10 Boys Super 6:

Ben Baker (RAD)
Will Thompson (BAS)
Luca Wah (CGS)
Cooper Johnson (SMM)
Cooper Jenner (JPC)
Luke Grocott (DAR)

Year 9/10 Girls Super 6:

Eden Morrissey (SCC)
Lilly Quigley (DAR)
Meghan Scott (SMM)
Chloe Mailler (RAD)
Eliza Royal (CGS)
Annie Hassel (CGGS)

22 March 2023

Term 1, Week 8

Staff Insights

Enhancing Student Agency

Enhancing Student Agency

If reading this article on a phone, it is best to hold the phone landscape.

My Messy House

My Messy House

News

Developing Skills for Lifelong Learning

Developing Skills for Lifelong Learning

The Return of Sister-School Exchanges

The Return of Sister-School Exchanges

Meet Year 5 Teacher Mr David Goebel

Meet Year 5 Teacher Mr David Goebel

Head of the River Regattas