Growing DifferentThe tides of change run particularly strong in our society. Just 12 months ago, which child didn’t beg for a collection of “fidget spinners”. The ‘experts’ of mind and body championed their benefits and declared the significant ignorance of any who would place these ‘toys’ in the category of useless ‘fads’. And one year on? Almost forgotton!In the world of education, the tides are also running stronger than ever. Data-based this, research-driven that. Mindfulness. Coding. Wellbeing. Grit. Differentiation. The concepts, worthy in many settings as change-agents, become meaningless ‘waffle’ to most outside our narrow sphere of ‘edutopia’ (sorry – making up words again!).2018 will be a landmark year in the life of Riverside Adventist Christian School. If you have already flicked through the rest of this newsletter you will notice the investment that the staff, school company, government agencies, independent contributors and supporting church communities are promising in the coming year. In this past 12 months, Riverside has secured grants for the enrichment and expansion of the program here totalling over $320,000. Most of that money is yet to be spent but careful planning and prayer is occurring to ensure the endeavours of 2018 don’t become the fidget spinners of 2019. Yes, Riverside’s past growth has suffered from a lack of profile in the community and, I think, a diluted vision following too many pathways to effectively make progress. So how do we get all the arrows pointing in the same direction? Well, not by standing still, and certainly not through abandoning the ideas that help establish this school in Aitkenvale in the first place, precisely 50 years ago. Can the future of Riverside Adventist Christian School be different? It must be! In the 1890’s, Adventist education emerged from the tidal forces of industrialisation and colonial supremacy. It was a system of Christian schools established to prepare young people for more than just personal success and future prosperity. Education, the founders of our schools understood, was too narrow in its popular focus. These visionaries saw the potential of schools to enable “the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers”1. Established in 1904 in the US, Madison College was raised to be more like a training ground for its students. Madison grew slowly at first, and was never one of the largest, nor richest schools in the country, but in 1938, Readers’ Digest published a story on this amazing school and its radically different approach to education. Not Harvard, nor Yale - Madison! Most Christian institutions have ultimately left their roots and become renowned for something other than what the early Adventist education pioneers valued, which was to prepare “the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come”2.The belief of the staff and management of Riverside is that caring for the whole student, mind, body and soul, and doing school in a way that connects the students of Riverside with practical projects, natural scientific wonders and widely useful research and study skills, will produce the kind of student that Madison College would have been proud of: and the kind of person who deals as well with adversity as with success. That would be different, wouldn’t it! Please come along on this journey with us and help us grow Townsville’s best. Thank you to all those who have helped and strengthened us through 2017. We are extremely grateful! Parents, please read through this entire newsletter carefully as there are many important dates and news items to be aware of before the holidays.

Ian HumphriesPRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE 24 NOVEMBER 2017

DATES TO REMEMBER

NOVEMBER 30All Fee Accounts Due

to be Cleared

NOVEMBER 30Presentation Night - 6.15pm

DECEMBER 1Term 4 Last Day

DECEMBER 15Office Closes

DECEMBER 25Christmas Day

DECEMBER 26 Boxing Day

JANUARY 8, 2018Office Opens

JANUARY 22, 2018School Starts

JANUARY 23S.A.L.T. Meeting

JANUARY 26 Australia Day

JANUARY 29Parent Information Night

JANUARY 31Swimming Begins

2017 RACS Presentation Night Our special night of celebration and appreciation is next Thursday evening at 6:15pm. The location has changed this year so we are still on the same property, but 50 metres back along Leopold street. Presentation night will be held in the old Aitkenvale SDA church, called the ‘blue church’ by locals. There is a car parking are right next to the church and the gate at that end of this property will be open. You won’t need to come along to the usual entry point apposite Anne Street. Please note the following details.• Thursday, November 30• 6:15pm (approximately one hour program)• Full formal uniform and shoes for ALL students• Reports available after program

Awards for Presentation Night 2017 – An Explanation I have worked in various schools and systems and there has always been a small number of families who attend presentation evenings with a mindset that they will leave at the end happily, ONLY if their child receives an award. Obviously, it is impossible to know your child’s performance or skill levels comparative to the other students in the class, so this can pose a threat to the ‘feel’ and purpose of the night. We have small class sizes and maybe that raises hopes, but we have a good system of public and private awards at Riverside. Every student will receive at least one award certificate in their ‘pack’ at the end of the night. Some awards are for a subject, some for personal qualities and some are for special skills displayed during the school year. If we handed out ALL these awards on the night, it may take a few hours. At Riverside, like most schools I have worked at, the proposition of a sports award/trophy or a poetry award/trophy has been raised, but inevitably the teachers come back to the same reality – “If we have one for this, then we have to have one for that, and this and this and these!”. This is why we have continued awarding for subjects and skills in the student packs, but only announce the three other categories as listed below. These are awarded on merit and attract a small trophy or gift and a certificate at each year level. Citizenship Award – “Contributions to Riverside through unselfish Christian service, integrity, leadership and demonstrating the Riverside Way”Most Improved Award – “Most improved student in academic learning this year”Academic Award – “Outstanding results in all Key Learning Areas of The National Curriculum and, in particular, the core areas of English and Mathematics”There are a few other awards for an individual on a whole-school basis which are part of the Riverside culture and historical ‘fabric’. Please note that students will need to be in full uniform on the night.

Principal’s AwardCaleb Deliseo - Looking out for others and displaying the

Riverside Way.Rana Tahir - Kind-hearted and humble attitude to play.

Prep & Year 1 Eli Robertson - Welcoming challenge.

Alexander Keech - Encouraging others.

Years 2 & 3Caleb Deliseo - Great partner work in science.Marleena Pugh - Displaying the Riverside Way.

Lucas Marshall - For improved expression and phrasing when reading aloud.

Years 4 to 6Tasha Tuilimu - Excellent focus on work tasks.

Brooklyn Acres - Being a great example in showing kindness to others.

Through play, we experienced the process of change. We started with playdough we could mould and shape. Next, we turned it into a soft powder by cutting it small and stirring it. Then, we finished by adding water which turned it into a ‘gooey’ mass but after a little rest in the air it turned back into the playdough we know and love to use. That was amazing!

PLAY & CHANGE

Stockland Pop Up StallDuring this term the school has been running pop up stalls throughout Stockland shopping centre to promote our school. Our stalls have been run by numerous staff members, parents and local church members who have been happily volunteering their time to engage with our local community. A big thank you to all our happy helpers! Both the RACS and ELC balloons have been a huge hit with children and even adults stopping by to grab one. There are only a few more sites to go so if you’re shopping in Stockland, keep an eye out for our school stand and drop by to say Hi or pick up a balloon, we would love to see you!

Celebrate Good TimesPrep and Year One Students celebrated a year of collaborative learning on Thursday, Nov 23. Students, along with Pr. Alfredo and Miss Jess spent time at Riverway All Abilities Playground followed by a picnic lunch with some Kookaburras. While there, students demonstrated the Christmas Spirit of giving by offering free bottles of cold water to people passing by. This offer of kindness was greatly appreciated by many walkers and workers.

Ducks and ExerciseToday, Friday, concluded three weeks of regular river walks for the Prep and Year One students. Our students have been studying ways they can take responsibility for their own health. Walking is a great form of exercise and particularly along a beautiful Ross River. The students have enjoyed exercise and observing nature at the same time. Today, students stopped and fed the turtles and ducks as part of the final walk.

Riverside Creek Watchers Training has begun for our school to become a sub-group of the local Creek Watchers. Mrs Watkins spent time with Dean Cunningham and the creek watch volunteer group earlier this month. The local volunteer group, Creek Watchers, monitor up to 17 creeks and rivers in the local area. Our school is in the process of learning how to monitor and then record data on the Ross River. Records are kept of birds, fish, water temp, water clarity, macro-organisms, plant life, just to name a few. More training is planned over the break and equipment will be purchased. Initially, we will be working closely with Dean Cunningham who heads up Creek Watch to ensure our data is accurate. Then, it will be up to our school community to ensure data is regularly collected.

Macro-organism study

Year 5 & 6 Camp, 2018From 31st July to 3rd August, the Riverside Year 5 & 6 students will be joining with students from Carlisle Christian College (Mackay) and Cairns Adventist Christian College for their Year 5 & 6 Camp. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime event and something to really look forward to.

The venue will be the Apex Camp on Magnetic Island. The camp has excellent facilities and exciting activities for us to take part in. Some of the activities include Abseiling, Archery, Radio Rogaine (orienteering), Kayaking and Slack Lining.

For this event to become a reality, the students will commence various forms of fund-raising in early Term 1 of 2018. If you have any creative ideas for fund-raising, please contact us at the school.

Year 4 – 6 Sleep-overLast Thursday, the senior class stayed at school for our much-anticipated sleep-over. If there is a direct correlation between the amount of fun we had and the amount of sleep we DIDN’T get, it was a great success!

We started Thursday afternoon with a leisurely bike ride around the river, followed by a swim off the pontoon near Rossiter Park. When we returned to school, everyone was ready for a refreshing shower. Thanks, Di Obst, for letting us use the shower facilities at the Riverside Convention Centre.

Everyone was more than ready for a yummy tea of pizza & garlic bread, followed by a movie & pop-corn. Clean-up and lights out at about 11pm. After just a little bit of ‘shush-ing’, I think my eyes closed around midnight.

No time for sleep-in on Friday morning! Tania Kelly, from Townsville Massage & Fitness, arrived at 6.15am for a surprise Boot Camp session. A great way to wake up & start the day! The ‘awake’ didn’t last very long, at least half of my students fell asleep in the classroom at some point during the day. I was tempted to join them.

Everyone had FUN & enjoyed each other’s company – Thank you Senior students for a great sleep-over!

Hat DesigningThis week in Year 2/3 we designed and created hats.

Students were given the following design brief. Hat must:- protect them from the sun- stay on their head - be pleasing to look at

They did a wonderful job designing and then making their hats. Each hat was very creative and the students used awesome problem-solving skills to produce their end-product.

Well done Year 2/3!

Queen’s Baton Relay – 2018 Commonwealth GamesLachlan Pugh, who will next year be in Year 5 at Riverside, has been selected as a baton bearer for a short leg of the 2018 Queen’s Baton Relay, which began at Buckingham Palace last year and has been making its way around the Commonwealth nations to Australia, where the relay will continue through all the states and territories. Lachlan was chosen for the strength and courage he has shown in the crises his family has faced in recent years, and the positive attitude he displays at school. He will run with the baton in Townsville at a set location (yet to be determined) on either Sunday, March 18 or Monday, March 19, 2018. We look forward, as his Riverside school family, to possibly being present roadside next year to cheer him on! Well done, Lachlan!

Re-enrolment Forms We are still waiting to receive a number of forms. Please return re-enrolment forms to the office as soon as possible. We need to finalise a number of enrolment related matters including stationary and textbook orders for 2018. Thank you.

2017 Fee AccountsSome families still have 2017 fees owing. We would kindly request that you make payment as soon as possible. According to school policy, only students whose fees are fully paid are entitled to receive their final student report of the year. Please contact Mr Humphries if you believe there might be special circumstances worth further consideration.

Stadium Roof – APPROVED!We received the fantastic news recently that the Block Grants Authority has approved the partial funding of a Full steel (curved) roof structure for our court area backing onto the Ross River. Designs have been drawn up and we anticipate the commencement of a short, one month building project either in 2018 or 2019, depending on budgets and enrolments. Riverside Adventist Christian School was informed that most schools get less than 50% funding. Our project is being funded by the state government at 67% of the final costs! That is as much as they can justifiably assist and the reason was given that the BGA ‘caught the vision’ of Riverside’s plans and believe that the direction of the school should greatly benefit the wider community and the students in particular. Praise God! And thank you to the State Government, which will contribute $300,000 to our new structure.

Riverside Estate – School Grounds ExpansionPlans have been discussed with Townsville City Council and we are currently negotiating further and engaging contractors to quote on the work that will be carried out. We are needing to find new owners for the houses that will be removed and we still hope to see the redevelopment and signage completed in early 2018. This is going to open an exciting new chapter for our school.

Uniform Changes – 2018 – Happy Feet!In 2018, there will be some minor adjustments to both the uniform policy on shoes and the ‘policing’ of students who are out of uniform without a written note or email from parents. As will all or most local schools with a uniform, we are not being fair to all families if a few are allowed to wear non-uniform items either occasionally or otherwise. For this reason, we are introducing a new system that will be fully explained at Parent Information Evening in January, 2018. Effectively, if students are out of uniform upon arrival, it will be recorded and a consequence applied.

Also, we are changing the policy for sports shoes. We will still be requiring that sports shoes are proper, supportive joggers, rather than skate or street-style flat-soled shoes. They need to have impact protection built into the soles like any good cross-training or jogging shoe. The colour of the shoe will no longer matter. Instead of requiring ‘mostly white’ joggers, the shoes can be any colour from the start of the 2018 school year. This has been changed to allow for more scope when purchasing appropriate footwear. The requirements for the plain black, polishable, supportive-soled formal shoes will stay the same for 2018.

New Riverside Parent/School BodyWe don’t have a name for it yet, but at the start of 2018, we will be changing the Home and School Committee to something else. It will be retitled next year, but also rebranded and repositioned. The former model of having a committee to raise funds for necessary school initiatives and upgraded resources, is not entirely ‘dead’. We hope to still raise funds in similar fashion. This will now become more a secondary purpose. The main purpose of this new group or ‘club’ (I hesitate to call it that!), is to GROW. - Grow the nature play opportunities. - Grow the relationship between Riverside school families. - Grow the quality of the outdoor facilities.- Grow the scope of parenting/teaching partnerships.- Grow the available projects students can engage in.- Grow the service programs.- Grow the interactions between Riverside and the wider community.We have had some ideas for names. If you have a good one, let the Principal know! It may just be ‘the one’!

Riverside’s 50th Anniversary CelebrationsWe have set a date for the anniversary events next year. There will be more information early next year about specific times and appointments on that weekend, but Saturday, May 5 is the day most of the special commemorations and events will occur. We hope to have former students, staff and leaders from all over the globe in attendance so mark it down in your calendars now! If you have any photos of the past or stories to share, please pass them onto the office so that we can build a ‘story’ that can be shared next May.

Thanks, Kandise!From the entire school community and staff, we want to pay tribute to Kandise Acres, as our outgoing (and 2018 map-lapping) president of our Home & School Committee. Kandise has displayed immense passion for Riverside and through her extended family has made many contributions that the school community may not be aware of. For all the time, the fund-raising, the ideas and the support, Kandise – we say thanks! May God be with you in your amazing adventures around the country next year.

New 2018 CalendarToday’s newsletter contains a reduced-size version of the calendar that you will all receive in your packs next Thursday night. Please note the dates for the start of Term 1, the operating dates for RAELC, our Early Learning Centre, and the opening of the school office. It’s going to be a big year!

ISQ (Independent School Queensland) FundingOnce again, our friends at ISQ have informed us of our successful application for funding in 2018. Two separate projects (“Coaching Partnerships”, and “Self-Improving Schools”) will be funded throughout 2018 and the many thousands of dollars will be used to train teachers, build knowledge and inform our journey towards project-based and nature-centric learning. We would like to express our deep gratitude to the staff of ISQ and the government departments which support them. We would not be offering the same level of learning at Riverside without this amazing group of educational leaders.

Farewell & Thank you, Rob!Mr Rob Ellison, a long-time contributor at our head office here in Aitkenvale, is transferring to another Adventist church company in south Queensland at the end of next week. Rob has overseen the building and funding of our fantastic Library/Classroom buildings, the conversion of the Early Learning Centre buildings, and many other non-capital projects at Riverside Adventist Christian School in the past ten years or so and he will be sorely missed. We want to say how grateful we are for you time of service for Riverside and our two sister schools here in the north. Your expertise (and hearty laugh) will be missed!