From the Principal
A New Year , a New Start
... to respond to the call of justice , to be the voice of provocation in their community , and to serve those who find themselves on the margins .
Schools , by their very nature , are places of new beginnings . Each year approximately 250 boys walk through the gate to begin their Riverview journey , and what a portent that is for the future . For the boys who are currently making the transition in preparation for 2018 , the majority of whom will be in Year 5 and Year 7 , they will become the graduation classes of 2025 and 2023 , respectively . In the interim , the formation of these young men will be distinctively guided , and at times challenged by , the principles of a holistic Jesuit education . It will ask the boys to take up the cause of the magis ; that is to strive and deepen their experience of school life intellectually , emotionally , physically and spiritually . And , in the best of the Jesuit tradition , it will ask them to respond to the call of justice , to be the voice of provocation in their community , and to serve those who find themselves on the margins .
As much as new cohorts of students represent new beginnings , much of College life – as indeed the institution of education – is predicated upon adaptation and renewal . The Ignis Project is a cogent reminder of the need for innovation and change in context of the demands of the contemporary world . Agile , interactive and collaborative learning environments that will embrace multimodal learning across transdisciplinary subject domains signal a new era for the College . Asymmetries that are consonant with a changing world will be part of the educational platform moving forward in IT-rich and virtual environments .
Curriculum design and delivery is under renewal also through Project Based Learning ( PBL ) - that is , student-centred inquiry involving the fusion of traditional fields of learning to find solutions to new problems . Science , Technology , Engineering and Mathematics ( STEM ) is one such face to learning that currently combines coding , robotics , animatics and a variety of new and expanding opportunities for heuristic learning . And , more beckons over the years ahead .
Stage 1 of the Ignis Project , which is due for completion in early April , is the harbinger of what is to follow over the coming decades . It , along with the other stages of the Project , is designed to prepare young men for the new beginnings that they will experience in the post-school world , one where the twin turbines of obsolescence and innovation will produce its own challenges and rewards for those who are prepared for them .
There is much to look forward to . For the graces to meet these challenges I offer a profound statement of thanks to all who contribute so much to make the beginnings at Riverview so rich and stimulating .
DR PAUL A HINE , PRINCIPAL
6 | IGNATIAN | DECEMBER 2017