From the Principal: 23 June copy

As I sit down to write this article, the final one for Term 2, I note that we are today heading into the longest night of the year (NB. this article was written on Monday). The winter solstice always signifies for me that we are nearing the halfway mark of the academic year, and that means it is a time to reflect on all that has been achieved over the past two terms, a period to reflect on how we may have done things better and the opportunity to start planning for the second half of the year.

On reflection, I believe Radford College has enjoyed an incredibly successful first half of 2021. Despite the constant threat of COVID-19 and the resultant shutdowns and border restrictions in other parts of Australia, we have been able to continue operating in much the same fashion as we would have in any normal year. There is no doubt that we have been disappointed not to be able to offer overseas trips and tours again this year, but in my view, this is a small price to pay for the safety and security we have enjoyed this year in Canberra.

As I look back over the past two terms, I have many wonderful memories of our students enjoying a wide range of experiences, some they will have never experienced before and others they will never experience again.

Over the course of the semester, many of our students have experienced a range of camping activities, introducing them to new environments, new challenges and new staff and students. In addition to local camping venues, students have travelled as far away as the Southern Tablelands and Sydney.

Most of our students from Year 3 upwards have been involved in the co-curricular sporting program, where this year we have enjoyed greater student involvement than ever and arguably the best-ever summer season in terms of results. Whilst our futsal and cricket results were outstanding, our rowers’ feats on the shores of Lake Barrington in late March, where both the girls’ and the boys’ squads were crowned national champions, were nothing short of sensational! We have also staged the majority of our House carnivals including swimming (JS and SS), cross country (whole College), RadPAC (SS), athletics (JS), and the Foundation Day activities.

On the stage, we have been entertained by Exile, the Year 7–10 production, The Addams Family musical, and Beanstalk, the Years 5 & 6 production (see below for my review), all of which were high-class performances involving large numbers of students. It was also great this semester to get back to having regular recitals and concerts overseen by the Music Department.

It is always difficult to summarise all that happens in a place like Radford over the course of a semester, but I do feel we can finish at the end of this week, with our heads held high with all that has been accomplished. It is obvious these sorts of events do not happen without a great deal of time, energy and effort, and I would like to sincerely thank every member of our community who has assisted in making all of these achievements come to fruition.

New College website

As announced in the Bulletin last term, the College is delighted to confirm its new website will go live on Monday, 28 June.

Offering a fresh, bold, engaging style and enhanced navigation, the new www.radford.act.edu.au invites prospective parents to learn more about Radford.

The website’s responsive, user-friendly design makes it easy to view on any device. It features an improved “Search” function, and an increased use of imagery allows greater opportunity for us to showcase photography from the variety of events our students engage in.

The website caters for current families through a Community Portal, accessed from the top right of the homepage (circled in photo below), which directs them to handy everyday information including:

• College calendar
• Uniform information
• Canteen information
• OHSC information
• Term dates.

Importantly, the Community Portal also links to Radford Online, which will continue to operate and be accessible from this page until it is replaced by the College’s new intranet/community portal, Nexus, later in the year.

A small group of interested community members – students, parents and staff – have been testing Nexus and providing feedback on iterations of the platform ahead of its introduction to the Radford community.

Years 5 & 6 production

Last week I had the honour and privilege of attending the opening night of the 2021 Junior School production, Beanstalk. I always find the Years 5 & 6 production to be one of the highlights of the College calendar, and this year was no exception.

Over the course of the rehearsals, the cast of Beanstalk transformed it from a script written by Ms Darcy-Lee Tindale, into a delightful, colourful and lively stage production.

The story, which emerged through the unfolding of two fables: Jack and the Beanstalk and The Emperor’s Seed, allowed the students to portray their characters with acting, dancing and contemporary humour. It was quite evident sitting in the audience that all of the students on stage thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be involved in a big stage production, and as their confidence grew, so did their smiles!

Whilst is always great to see the actors performing on stage, I am also always buoyed to know that there are other students involved backstage. This production saw a contingent of secondary "Tech Crew" students involved with the sound and lighting. It was also great to see that the Radford Dance Academy staff were part of the production team this year, showcasing the talents of our dancers at regular intervals throughout the performance.

I would like to thank Director Kate Bettison for her work in pulling this show together, as well as Production Manager Nick Akhurst, Assistant Director and Stage Manager Jemima Mordike, and Junior School staff members Tegan Masters, Bec Shea and Taryn Fisher, who oversaw the children involved.

Staffing changes for the start of Term 3

A number of staffing changes will take place from the beginning of Term 3. These include:

• Mr Dale Casburn will take over as Head of Student Pathways during Term 3 while Ms Suzanne Rentsch is on Long Service Leave. They will share the role in Term 4 and then Mr Casburn will take over in his own right in 2022.
• Dr Edie Sevick will be replacing Mr Chris Brennan who is taking Long Service Leave in Semester 2.
• Mr Alex Trinder will be replacing Ms Kate Wales who is taking Long Service Leave in Term 3.
• Mr Jarvis Blake will be replacing Mr Steve Hoshovsky who is taking Long Service in Semester 2.
• Ms Jennifer Missen has stood down as Head of Mathematics and an interim replacement will be announced shortly. A national search is about to get underway to find a permanent replacement.
• Mr Nicholas Fisk will be joining the Mathematics and Science departments and Mr Shannon Dunn will be joining the Design and Technology Department.
• Ms Kate Bearcroft will be replacing Ms Tiia Wright who is taking Long Service Leave in Term 3.
• Mt Tom Hincksman will be replacing Ms Tina Crame who is taking Long Service Leave in Term 3.
• Ms Emma Zen will be replacing Ms Brenda Lander who is retiring from teaching.

Traffic changes for Term 3

From the start of Term 3, there will be some traffic changes at the intersection of the road coming from the Morison carpark, and the road coming from the gym and the staff/student carparks.

At the moment, there is a stop sign where the Morison Centre carpark road meets the road heading out of the College through the Haydon Drive exit. This means cars coming out of the staff/student carparks currently have right of way.

From the start of Term 3, this situation will be reversed. Cars coming from the staff/student carparks will have to stop and give way to cars coming from the Morison carpark. This should result in better traffic flow from the Morison Centre carpark at peak times.

RDA expansion

As detailed in last week’s Bulletin, Radford Dance Academy (RDA) will now be extending dance classes to the wider Radford community from the start of Term 3. This is a really exciting initiative for RDA, and one I am confident will be well patronised.

RDA will be offering a range of new adult classes exclusively for Radford parents and staff, as well as welcoming students who are not currently enrolled at Radford but are the siblings of current students of the children of staff members.

At this stage, RDA is seeking expressions of interest, after which a formal timetable will be constructed. However, ideas for classes include:

• Ballet/jazz/contemporary/hip hop/tap for adults
• Dance fitness classes for adults
• Movement classes for adults (gentle movement for wellbeing)
• Classes for parents and students to attend together (mums and sons/daughters, dads and sons/daughters).

Please get in early to avoid disappointment.

New prefects

I would like to congratulate three new prefects who join those inducted earlier in the year.

David Stocks, Cameron Colvin and Cara Martin have continued to demonstrate leadership and commitment to the College, and it was felt that they needed to be formally recognised with prefect positions.

Finally

As this is our final Bulletin before we start the mid-year break, I would like to wish all Radford families a very relaxing, enjoyable and, most importantly, safe time away from the College and we look forward to seeing all students back at school on Monday, 19 July.