Principal's Message

By Mrs Fiona Godfrey, Principal

Radford Foundation

Under the stewardship of new Chair Alistair Coe, Radford College Development Foundation is now in its sixth year of existence.

The Foundation Board had a full planning day in early March and, amongst other things, resolved to increase its focus on fundraising for the long-term advancement of the College. This included identifying opportunities to fundraise within the Radford community. As has previously been detailed, the College is losing a significant amount of Federal Government funding - almost $2 million this year and a total of 40 per cent over the lifetime of this agreement. So, it is important now, more than ever, that we look for other revenue streams. We hope that community members who are able to contribute to the Foundation will do so through a donation or a bequest.

There are three ways to donate to the Foundation: through the General Fund, Scholarship Fund and Building Fund, with the latter two providing full tax deductibility status.

Over the past few years, several students who have gone onto graduate from the College have been supported by Foundation Scholarships. These are students who would not have otherwise been able to attend Radford. It is incredibly satisfying to witness these students’ progression through the College and to hear of their successes afterwards.

Last Thursday evening, we held our first Foundation function for some years. It was great to be able to welcome our donors back to the College for the cocktail event. As well as listening to our student musicians and catching up with like-minded supporters of the College, attendees heard first-hand about our plans for the Foundation and the College.

If you would like to contribute to the Foundation, you are encouraged to scan the below QR code, which will take you directly to the Foundation page on our website.

The Foundation now has six donor categories (Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Guardian, Member, Supporter, and Friend), which join our Cornerstone Donors (original category, now closed).

Rowing Nationals

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Australian Rowing Championships in Perth where a large contingent of Radford students competed.

The students and staff had been in WA since Monday and had competed in heats, semi-finals, repechages and finals over the previous five days. Head of Rowing, Mr Gordon Marcks, had left Canberra a few days earlier to tow a trailer full of boats across the Nullarbor Plain!

Unfortunately, we did not emulate our 2021 feats, when we were crowned National Champions, but we did have several podium finishes. The most notable was the SB Coxed A Quad (Ollie Fox, Hunter Jolly, Hamish Roberts, Jake Schemen-Rogers and Izzy Faris) winning silver in the final. It is very pleasing to know we have the second fastest boys quad in the country. Like me, there were several parents on the side lines who had tears in their eyes as the boys crossed the finish line.

Foundation Day

At the time of writing, we are hoping that our first Foundation Day Service for many years will be able to go ahead in person.

The Foundation Day Service is one of three occasions over the course of the year that the whole College comes together. The other two occasions are the assemblies at the beginning of Semesters 1 and 2.

This will be the last time that we will be beholden to the weather, as the Multi-Purpose Hall will be available and able to house the whole College from August this year.

After the service, Secondary School students will be involved in a range of Foundation Day activities, whilst the Junior School students will be involved in the Foundation Day Relay.

I am sure it will be a great day for all students and a wonderful way to kick-start the holiday period.

I hope all staff and students have a relaxing break, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for the start of Term 2 on Monday, 24 April.