House System
Ringwood Secondary College is proud to provide an educational environment that ensures that all students are valued and cared for, feel they are part of the school, and can engage effectively in their learning and experience success.
In 2016, the Student Representative Council and student cohort, played a key role in the creation and implementation of a new House System at Ringwood Secondary College. The House System is a way of organising students where they are expected to work together to achieve common goals and creates a sense of group identity, which is symbolised in a House name and logo. Involvement in leading House based activities challenges students to unite and collaborate in teams with students across year levels, provides younger students with role models to look up to in the older students and gives the older students an opportunity to mentor younger students.
(Program design: A Multicultural House System for the International School of Luxembourg Scott Repicky, Michigan State University).
Benefits for Students
- A greater sense of community connection to peers and school.
- Improved leadership opportunities for students.
- The inclusion and encouragement of participation and achievement in a variety of activities that include (but are not exclusive to) academic, athletic, performing arts and non-academic/ athletic extracurricular activities.
- Promotion of student voice, responsibility, teamwork, leadership skills and cooperation.
Structure of the House System and Awarding of Points
Students and staff are divided amongst four Houses and will remain in these Houses until they graduate. The House System allows the school to monitor and support students in their academic, extra-curricular and personal needs with each Sub School (Junior, Middle and Senior) having a dedicated House Coordinator.
Throughout the year, the four houses compete against each other for points in:
- Academic achievement
- Whole school carnivals
- Interschool sporting teams
- District Cross Country
- House based activities
- Performing Arts
- Wellbeing
About The Houses
The Houses at Ringwood Secondary College are named after significant Australians in four categories – Art, Sport, Academia and Change Maker.
Frazer House
Professor Ian Hector Frazer AC is an Australian immunologist and founding CEO and Director of Research of the Translational Research Institute (Australia). Frazer and his colleagues developed and patented the basic technology behind the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine against cervical cancer, marketed as Gardasil and Cervarix.
Freeman House
Catherine Astrid Salome “Cathy” Freeman, OAM is an Australian sprinter who was the first Australian Aboriginal person to compete in the Olympic Games. She excelled in the 400-metre dash and in 2000 became the first Australian Aboriginal person to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Freeman is honoured with the titles such as Australian of the Year and World Sportswoman of the Year. In 2007, she established the Catherine Freeman Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on Indigenous children in Australia.
Mabo House
Eddie Mabo (c. 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992) was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia which overturned the legal doctrine of Terra Nullius (“nobody’s land”) today referred to as the ‘Mabo Case’. He was an activist in the 1967 Referendum campaign and helped found the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Service.
Jackman House
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer and producer. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, including receiving an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor in Les Misérables and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He has also won a Tony Award for his Broadway theatre performance and won an Emmy Award for his hosting of the Tony Awards. Jackman is a global advisor of the Global Poverty Project and is a World Vision ambassador.