Welcome to yet another exciting school year at Redlynch State College! It is hard to believe that we are already in week 5 of the term and before we know it, the Easter holidays will be knocking on the door. The year started well, and whilst it was a bit wet, students were excited to be back at school.  We started the school year with 1814 students and at the time of writing, we have 1811 enrolments – 619 students on the primary campus and 1192 on the secondary campus. I expect that our numbers will increase slowly during the year.

I would like to warmly welcome Ms. Dale Archibald – Head of Campus – Primary to the College. Dale brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge, which, together with her strong sense of purpose and relentless focus on improving student achievement, makes her the perfect fit at Redlynch State College. I hope that many of you have had the opportunity to meet Dale and know that she is looking forward to collaborating with teachers, parents and the students to continue the already excellent work on the primary campus.

Mr. Hooper is Acting Head of Campus on the Secondary Campus this year – pending a number of selection processes in other schools. I would like to, once again, thank Mr. Hooper for his willingness to step up to the challenge. We currently have a number of vacancies on the Secondary campus that we are recruiting for and I will inform you on progress of this in the next newsletter.

How fantastic was it to finally use the new Multi-Purpose Hall at the beginning of the year. The first major event – the Student Leadership Induction Ceremony was a fitting event to showcase this fantastic new resource for Redlynch State College students, staff, parents and the community.  Congratulations to all the student leaders recognised at this event. I would particularly like to recognise our College Captains Ruby Szczepanski, Mitchell Fulwood, Zoe Ibbett and Ari Kohn.  Once again, our college is being served by outstanding young leaders. I look forward to working with these students and other student leaders on how we continue to improve our college culture.

School photos are fast approaching with the team from MSP Photography here in week 8.  Secondary photos will be on the Monday 17 March and Primary on the Tuesday & Wednesday 18/19 March. Please ensure that your children are in correct uniform for their photo. Uniforms can be purchased at the P&C shop located on the Primary Campus.

NAPLAN testing starts in week 7 this term. Whilst it is not the be all and end all of student performance testing, it is an important point in time measure for schools to have to help inform how our students are going academically. It is important that students turn up on their testing days on time and give their best effort. If you have any concerns regarding the upcoming NAPLAN testing, please contact your child’s teacher.

This year we launched the new Redlynch State College Netball Academy. Students participating in this excellence program will train before and after school and will have the opportunity to represent the college in upcoming tournaments. Mr. Lynton McKay, a highly experienced and well-respected netball player is the lead teacher for the Academy. I look forward to celebrating their success during the year. We are currently looking at launching the Academy on the Primary Campus later this year.

The P&C Annual General Meeting (AGM) is on Tuesday 18 March at 6:00pm. This is a great opportunity for any parents and community members to find out more about how they can help and support the college. Our Redlynch State College Parents and Citizens Association has a strong and proud history of representing the views of parents and community and has helped shape the College as we know it today. I am grateful for the ongoing support the P&C gives the college and look forward to continuing our partnership into the future.  I will hopefully see some of you there at the AGM.