A night to remember
By Mrs Louise Wallace-Richards, Acting Deputy Principal, Head of Secondary School
What a fabulous night was had by one and all at this year’s Year 10 end of year celebration at the Great Hall, Parliament House. After months of planning, parents, carers, staff and of course the Year 10 class of 2025, gathered for an evening of music, celebration and reflection.
During the formal part of the evening, we presented awards that acknowledged the service, citizenship and character of our Year 10 students, including Alia who received the Collegians Award. This award is for an all-rounder, who has performed at an exceptional level across all three areas of academic achievement, co-curricular participation and achievement, and citizenship.
Alexander received the ADF Long Tan Youth Leadership and Teamwork Award, an award that recognizes leadership, teamwork, values, problem solving, resourcefulness, communication, cooperation and community involvement.
Katherine received the Allen Family Memorial Award for service and was also the recipient of the ADF Future Innovators award.
James earned the Australian Catholic University’s award for a student who has completed a breadth of service across the entire Year 10 Service Learning program.
We also celebrated the recipients of a new award for Year 10 students – the Galambany award. This is an oratory based award which encourages students to think about the values of peace, reconciliation and belonging. The winners this year are Methmal and Keating.
Our Year 10 music students performed Riptide, by Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy to great applause, and their second performance, The Less I know the Better, led to a full dancefloor.
Our Year 10 presenters, Alex and Thenuki captured the message of the evening about reflecting about the past years and celebrating Year 10s achievements as they come to the end of their High School years at Radford. Here are extracts of their address:
Our High School journey has prepared us well, through countless new friendships and challenges we’ve endured hold ourselves in good stead for the next two years and those all-important white shirts – Alex
This year, I’ve discovered that the most fulfilling experience is to not know, to truly not understand, because that’s what drives curiosity and growth. So, my message to all of you is simple, appreciate what you don’t understand, embrace what you don’t know, and don’t fear questions you can’t answer. In the words of Socrates, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing – Thenuki