11 minute read
TEAM RGS
Behind the scenes team
Working tirelessly behind the scenes are a group of staff who are passionate about their roles in helping make RGS a great school. We meet some of the team working behind the scenes.
Food services team
Preparing around 15,000 meals a week keeps the RGS Food Services team busy.
Consisting of 22 staff, on an average day the first staff are on the floor at 5.45am getting ready for breakfast. Breakfast wraps up at 8.30am, but already an hour earlier on some days the morning tea preparation has started. It’s all hands on deck for morning tea service and after a whirlwind 10 minutes the gloves are off and it’s back to the next job preparing for the lunch rush. Afternoon tea is followed by dinner service over three sessions.
The chefs are working 10-hour days, the kitchen is closed at 7pm and the staff are off the floor at 8pm. Boarders receive six meals a day, including night time supper. Weekend service usually starts at 7am, or at 5.30am if there are trips heading off campus, and the kitchen is open until 7pm on a Saturday and 8pm on Sunday night. The kitchen is open all weekend.
And then there are all the events scattered across the school calendar throughout the year, from major dinners on campus to packing eskies for day trips and preparing meals for Early Learning Centre children. “There’s always something on,’’ said Tanya Curtis-Flynn, Food Services Manager. “What everyone doesn’t see behind the scenes is some days it’s ballet, with pirouettes and it’s seamless, and some days it’s like a footy field with crashing and banging into each other.” Mrs Curtis-Flynn said they were not a team, they were family. “These men and women go above and beyond what I ask them to do and they make it happen every day. Having to be in 15 different places at the same time we can get spread thin, but dinner still has to go out at the same time.” Mrs Curtis-Flynn also knows she can’t please everyone all the time. “We all have our favourite food. If I served crumbed steak every night there would be no dramas. We try to balance the nutritional needs and what life will throw at them. It’s their home and they need that balance.” Both the staff and students are also welcoming a return to more normality after the COVID challenges in 2020. “COVID really hurt us. We had to pre-package choices for the students. Now we’ve bought back the salad bar and more choices are available.”
It’s also about adapting the meals – whether that be breaking up a predictable weekly routine or managing a growing number of meal requirements for allergies, intolerances or medical needs.
Tanya Curtis-Flynn (Food Services Manager)
Transport team
It can be tricky coordinating transport for your own family, let alone an entire school.
The RGS Transport team is constantly scheduling, and rescheduling, transport logistics. With permanent and casual bus drivers, across a bus fleet of four large buses and three small buses, RGS Transport is ready for work at 5.45am each day. Starting with RGS bus runs to Yeppoon, Emu Park and North Rockhampton, the team then focuses on daily runs across the Early Learning Centre, Primary and Secondary schools. From 3.10pm onwards buses start the return journeys for Yeppoon, Emu Park and North Rockhampton runs while also scattering in all directions for co-curricular activities, which can continue to 9pm. Transport also coordinates boarder bus runs and other school tours and excursions throughout the year. RGS Transport Co-ordinator Mr Wayne Davis has worked at RGS for around 8 years. “The biggest thing I had to get my head around when I started was that the students called you “Sir”, and that’s a good thing, it’s a good show of respect,’’ Mr Davis said. Wayne particularly enjoys the Early Learning Centre bus passengers. “They are friendly, direct and honest. They’re good kids and they definitely love a chat,’’ Mr Davis said.
Wayne also reflects on seeing the younger students progress through school. “You see them come up through the grades and become young adults,’’ Mr Davis said. During his years at RGS, Wayne has also see the bus fleet grow from two big buses and two small buses when he started.
It’s not an easy job all the time. “It’s good when people have an understanding of how busy we do get. It can be very stressful at times, but we’ve got a good group of drivers to make it happen,” Mr Davis said.
Grounds and maintenance team
The RGS Facilities team, made up of Maintenance, Grounds and Cleaning staff, are on a daily mission to maintain and improve a vast arrange of assets and areas at RGS.
Classroom cleaning starts at 5am followed by Campus Blowers cranking into gear at 7am with little time for rest before staff and students start arriving for the day. Facilities Manager Mr Darrin Spark said one of the team’s main goals was to have the School ready to start each school day as if it’s your first day walking onto campus. “First impressions do make a difference,’’ Mr Spark said. Mr Spark said a large part of the Facilities Team role was supporting the never ending list of events – covering everything from exams and Speech Days in Duggan Hall to Cross County at Rugby Park and weddings at the Rowing Club. The Grounds team works to a weekly plan, adjusted for events, ensuring the presentation of the School, including the ovals and grounds, are mowed and maintained to support the Co-curricular programme. “We have over five hectares of sporting fields mowed twice a week seasonally adjusted, approximately 1.5 kilometres of line marking on a rugby field, line marked every two weeks during the playing season,’’ Mr Spark said. “During league season we expand to have three fields (Rugby Park and Bottom Oval). For Athletics season we have 3 kilometres of line marking for track and field events – again marked every two weeks.”
The Maintenance team is the smallest team but they fill the “Mr Fix-it” roles, with daily tasks varying from minor electrical and plumbing to constant wear and tear repairs to ensure the teaching and boarding staff have what they need to keep the school running. Mr Spark said the best part of leading the team was knowing the staff, working with their strengths and the pride they show to deliver the best outcome for the School.
“The Facilities Manager’s role is required to be across the whole of the asset base, it’s one of a few roles that provides a holistic perspective when considering events, projects and multi-dimensional problems and priorities,’’ Mr Spark said. “I’m lucky to lead such a diverse team with three dedicated and passionate supervisors supported by staff that are often asked to be flexible and go above and beyond.”
Cleaning team
Everyone can do their bit to help keep the School clean and tidy.
Fortunately, our School’s cleaning team is dedicated to also going that extra mile to help our students, families and staff on a daily basis. The cleaners are on the job from 5am each week day, making their way to the many classrooms around the school. Always aiming to meet high presentation standards. Classroom cleaning is from 5am to 9am before starting dorm cleaning and the bin runs. The afternoon shift works from 12.45pm to 5.45pm to keep everything looking neat and tidy. You can still find the cleaners at RGS on the weekends, working from 7am to 11am.
Cleaning Staff also attend to RGS properties external to the Main Campus, including the Rowing Club and Rugby Park, with cleaning duties frequency adjusted relative to demand on a weekly basis. RGS Cleaning Supervisor Mrs Judy Moore has worked at RGS for the past 46 years. Initially working in the kitchen for two years, Judy then joined the cleaners and has worked in the School’s laundry since 2004. “I love meeting the kids and having a chat with them,’’ Mrs Moore said.
“They’re good company and it’s nice being able to help them. You see a lot of the kids in the younger grades but when they are in Year 10 they start to do a lot more of their own washing.” Judy said the cleaning is “full on”. “We have a good team with a lot of cleaning experience. It’s a hard job and they have a big area to work on the school grounds,’’ Mrs Moore said. Mrs Moore said COVID had created a lot of extra cleaning, like more regular cleaning of touch points like taps, sinks and door handles.
“It was very hard initially but we’re used to it now and more aware of what’s required,’’ Mrs Moore said. Mrs Moore is also big on people showing respect for the people trying to do the best job they can.
Judy Moore (Cleaning Supervisor)
“It’s always nice when everyone is a bit tidier. It doesn’t take much to just pick up some clothes off the floor or put rubbish in the bin.”
IT team
The RGS IT Department is helping make the complex things look simple.
Looking after service systems, running the tablet centre, helpdesk, audio visual needs and coordinating the School’s internal database – a team of six rarely has a dull moment.
IT Manager Mr Neil Nankivell said his team builds the landscape for people to work in. “We help design the technology that supports the business and then manage and maintain that technology,’’ Mr Nankivell said. “We’re creating and assisting an efficient, productive workplace.” A key focus area is cyber security. “We are constantly battling and thinking about cyber security,’’ Mr Nankivell said.
“The speed we need to keep up with, the breadth and specialisation we need to maintain is insane.” Major programmes at school are the laptop programme, accommodating approximately 2000 laptops, maintaining and keeping the technology functioning. Mr Nankivell said his team takes the complexity of managing technology and boiling it down to help the end user get the most effective and simple experience. That can range from professional staff and teachers to a four-yearold Prep student. Working in a world of constant flux, Mr Nankivell sill enjoys working with “a good mob of people”. “We enjoy the independence. We can innovate as required with a level of freedom. We can pick and choose what fits our school the best in different situations,’’ Mr Nankivell said. “If it’s working well we don’t hear from anyone. No one brings us a computer that’s working. We only see things when it goes wrong.”
Neil Nankivell (IT Manager)
School marshal
After an Army career of almost 10 years, Dan Becker was not sure what he was in for taking on the role of RGS School Marshal this year.
“I still remember my first school (Secondary) assembly. I was so nervous. I went to play the school song and it didn’t work. Just silence, with hundreds of students and staff looking up at me. But then they all had a bit of giggle and broke the tension. I still struggle with public speaking and I still have to get tips off some of the kids who are good at it,’’ Mr Becker said. He has gone from the “new kid at school” to someone who loves a chat with the students. “The School Marshal role can loosely be termed as “monitoring the tone of the School”. With the help of all other staff, I try to ensure that the standards expected of the School and its students are met,’’ Mr Becker said. It’s a bit of everything – from running Secondary School assemblies, coordinating lost property, ensuring the grounds are tidy, uniform checks, setting up events, coordinating lockers and fire warden duties. “The best part is the kids,’’ Mr Becker said.
“I get to spend every break talking with the students and if I can do that it helps make everything so much smoother and takes pressure off the teachers on duty.” Mr Becker is also Teacher-inCharge of Cadets. Focusing on Army tactics and techniques, Mr Becker brings his Army experience back to the level of the students’ ages while also giving them an insight into Army life. “I love it. The kids are so keen to learn as much as they can,’’ Mr Becker said. “I was very lucky, as many of the students had great prior experiences. I’ve added my own style and some of the newer techniques. They’re even starting to enjoy push ups as much as I do. Maybe?”
