Issue 38 | 6th February 2026

A message from Principal Hartley

From time to time, the College will also send emails for specific purposes. To assist parents in understanding our procedures and expectations, a parent and carer handbook is available via a link provided in the newsletter each week. Our key policies are also accessible on the RHAC website.

While written information about how the College operates and what we expect of students is necessary and important, it is no substitute for positive, warm and meaningful relationships. To help build these relationships, RHAC holds a welcome evening each February. You should have received an invitation by email, and we look forward to seeing many of you there.

The College vision is:
to be a united, Christian learning community committed to taking opportunities, serving, and achieving.

Our teachers are deeply committed to celebrating student achievement, particularly when students improve on their own previous results. For example, if a Year 3 student has consistently achieved 40% in spelling tests and then improves to 60%, this is a significant achievement worthy of celebration. Likewise, if an academically capable student previously achieved 80% with limited effort, but then applies themselves fully and achieves 95%, this growth is equally deserving of recognition.

A consultant statistician recently analysed last year’s HSC results. Using several reliable measures, we can confidently conclude that these results were the strongest in the history of the College. One measure highlighting this success is the students’ average final ATAR scores. The Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank (ATAR) ranks HSC students who apply for an ATAR, with the highest possible score being 99.95. Universities use ATAR cut-offs to determine course entry. For example, last year the University of Sydney required an ATAR of 93 for Commerce, while Macquarie University set a cut-off of 80 for Psychology.

The statistician engaged by the College calculated the average ATAR for each graduating cohort and found that last year’s Year 12 students achieved the highest average ATAR in our history. I trust that these excellent results will inspire confidence in our students and parents as they look ahead to future HSC outcomes.

As I conclude this article, I would like to thank parents, grandparents and other carers for their patience with the increased traffic congestion over the past week. It is common for schools across New South Wales, particularly in the Hills District, to experience heavier traffic during the first two weeks of the school year. We continue to explore ways to improve traffic flow and parking access, especially at the start of the year.

Mr Brett Hartley, Principal

Working from rest

Welcome to Scripture news 2026. This week in Chapel we thought about the pressure we all face as we come to a new school year. As parents we are also in similar situations. I hope you find this week’s message the students and teachers heard encouraging.

We all face pressures in life - pressure to perform, to succeed, to figure out our future. This can lead to overworking or giving up entirely out of fear of failure. But the Christian faith offers a third way: we can be the hardest workers in the room while also being the most relaxed.

This idea comes from Jesus's story, the Parable of the Talents Matthew 25:14-30. A master gives his servants large sums of money, or "talents," according to their ability, and expects a return on his investment. The first two servants work diligently and double their money; the third, out of fear that his master is a harsh man, buries his single talent in the ground. When the master returns, he praises the faithful servants with "Well done, good and faithful servant," and invites them to share his happiness, but the fearful one is called "wicked and lazy".

The core lesson is this: we don't work to get God's love; we work because we already have it. Jesus has done the hard work of securing our worth. When we understand that we have an "A+" already written on our soul because of His sacrifice, the pressure of "losing" is gone. We are like an athlete who knows they have already won the gold medal - they run faster and with more joy because the pressure is off.

This security creates a "holy discipline". We are not working to earn heaven, but because we are grateful for the immense investment God has made in us - our time, our abilities, our very lives are His masterpiece to guard and use for His glory. The sin of the third servant wasn't just inaction; it was a failure to trust his master's character, leading to a wasted opportunity.

So, as you approach this day and this year, remember to stop working for the approval of people. Instead, rest in the secure approval of God found through Jesus, and then, from that place of rest and gratitude, go out and work with everything you've got. Heavenly Father, help us to be secure in our relationship with you through Jesus, so we can do all things in your strength for your glory. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Have a blessed week and year!

Mr Ivan Harris, Head of Christian Education (Senior School)

Reflections from Vietnam - Global Education Service Trip

On the 2nd December 2025, Christine Bolitho, Ivan Harris, Luke Davies and I took 31 fabulous students from year 10 and year 11 to Vietnam.

After a long flight to Ha Noi, we dropped off our bags at the hotel and then officially started the trip with a ride on a Cyclo, which is a three-wheeled cart that seats two people, drawn by a person on a bicycle. We weaved in and out of the crazy Vietnam traffic and marvelled at the people and city streets.

On our second day, we travelled to Ba Vi. Along the roads, people sit at the stalls so close to the road that the traffic could skim their legs. Poor homes are filled with the friendliest people who endlessly greeted us with smiles and waved as our bus passed by. Our first day of service was spent in a school. As we entered the gates, we were greeted by a line of very excited Vietnamese students. The school is very poor, yet warmth fills it with the care of the teachers and joy of the students.

Throughout the day, the students played games that encouraged interaction and conversation among themselves. One challenge was to learning and teaching the Vietnamese language to each other. At the end of the day, students exchanged contact details, hugs and waves, and left with sadness that the day had ended.

The next two days were spent serving the community. Our students were split into groups to move bricks and flatten the uneven ground to help with the construction of a community hall and a toilet house for a local woman's home. While we worked, the local children took the opportunity to visit.

There were lots of giggles and many conversations exchanged throughout the day - over fences, in broken languages creatively aided by Google Translate. As a thanks and celebration of the work finished, there was an exchange of cultural performances. Local women performed for us and taught those who wanted to perform their dances. With very little notice, our students performed with great gusto and also taught some popular dance moves to locals. We were all left sad that our time with the local people had come to an end.

The last few days enriched the students' cultural knowledge and experience of the city of Ha Noi. We visited the night markets across streets buzzed with so much activity. Lights shone, and our students haggled bravely, interacted with many people and saw street performers. Some of which included: visiting a cultural centre including a mausoleum, seeing where Ho Chi Minh lived, visiting a theme park, riding 20km through both city and country streets and visiting a ceramic workshop.

Two days before we left, we made a trip to Ha Long Bay, which was breathtaking. We stopped at a pearl farm, learned how the pearls were formed and watched as workers injected dye into oyster shells to ensure they changed colour, then boarded a boat and sailed through some of the 1969 islands. Along the way, we stopped to paddle kayaks through a cave which opened up into the centre of a doughnut-shaped island. On another island, we walked through huge caves filled with stalagmites and stalactites, and on a third island, we climbed many stairs to a view of the islands. The trip back to the mainland was a favourite as the sky was clear and we watched the sun gently set over the water.

Before heading home, we toured the food markets and took a cooking lesson, ending the day with a delicious lunch, egg coffee and chocolate drinks.

The four of us could not be prouder of our students. Each and every one was respectful, kind and caring. We witnessed and shared so many beautiful moments, which will always live in our hearts. We saw people with very little smile and laugh freely and give generously, and through such experiences, we have all been made more aware of our God-given blessings. We are inspired to continue reminding ourselves of these blessings and to find ways to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves.