Farewell Mr Moss

It is with much sadness that we farewell Nick Moss who will be departing the College at the end of this semester to take up a promotion position as Head of Senior School at Barker College in Sydney. Nick commenced at Radford 1 January 2007 in a permanent full-time capacity as a Geography, Studies of Society and its Environment (SoSE) teacher and Science teacher. He has continued to teach in the SoSE department over the past 17 years, with Global Studies becoming his main teaching subject in the last few years.

During his years of teaching SoSE, Nick was always looking for the opportunities to bring the units of learning in the classroom to life for his students including through trips to Timor Leste and the USA. He has taken senior students to Wollongong for the World Cities unit, Bombo for Coasts, and Montague Island for The Greening of Tourism. Perisher Valley, Cooma or Goulburn and the Cotter also featured in Geography field trips for Years 7–10 students. On one of the field trips to Montague Island on the south coast, I still remember hearing about when a class got marooned on the island due to inclement weather. His Head of Department at the time, Mrs Alison Steven, believes Nick was able to “navigate this situation (metaphorically and literally) showing great leadership and demonstrating his capacity to work with the unexpected, be dependable and stay calm in the face of trouble.”

Other SoSE Colleagues have said of Nick as a teacher:

Thoroughly enjoys being a teacher, getting to know his students as individuals, working with them to improve learning outcomes.

Nick and I would often team teach in the Lecture Theatre, especially with our Year 10s and it was through this period that I became aware of the extent of his teaching capabilities. His presence, capacity to pace and differentiate content and process within that larger audience were second to none. I would sometimes leave the Lecture Theatre feeling both envious and a tad jealous.

Nick has also been involved in several co-curricular activities during his years at the College, including his beloved Cricket, as a manager of Rugby teams and helping put Year 10 students on the road to getting a licence through Road Ready. Never an NRL team though, only because the College does not offer the code. Many of us are wondering how he will cope with getting to watch Raiders games from Sydney. He assures us he will be down for all games. He is Canberra Raiders for ever!

Nick has also held several significant leadership roles in the Secondary School including Administration Co-ordinator in 2012, permanent Head of Year or Year Coordinator from 2012, Acting Head of Middle Years Term 4 2014, Dean of Senior Studies and IBDP Coordinator from 2022 and Assistant Principal Curriculum from 2023.

Nick was a caring, approachable, fair and kind Head of Year. As Dean he supported the pathways for all students, invested and grew the IBDP program and most significantly of late, led the IBDP five-year evaluation. Colleagues have remarked that Nick has a “meticulous eye for detail and streamlined numerous senior processes related to Year 11 and Year 12. His focus was on students developing skills for lifelong learning and preparing them for our changing world. This meant valuing the whole person, and ensuring they were guided and challenged through senior years.”

It is as Assistant Principal Curriculum (APC) that I have most worked with Nick and have appreciated his professionalism, strategic vision and his determination that everything we do in teaching and learning should be with the needs of the students in mind. He has led many projects to fruition over the past year and half as APC including our Approaches to Learning (ATL) and hurdle task rollout. The ATL initiative has shown his understanding that we need to focus as a school on providing feedback to students about how they are learning not just what they have learned. A key part of his focus over the past 18 months has been leading with the Dean of Studies and IB DP Coordinator, Mrs Alison Steven and the Director of Digital Learning Ms Lisa Plenty, student and staff understanding of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) and its potential impact on student learning. This included the transition to Nexus and new learning summaries, data dashboard, review of and changes to our curriculum, GAI response and numerous policy updates. Nick has shown his ability to cut through to the main issues and develop a balanced informed view. Similarly, his leadership and support for interdisciplinary learning has demonstrated his insight into what skills our students need for their future working lives.

Nick is personable, possessing a great sense of humour and has a genuine care for others. He will be greatly missed by the Radford community including students, staff and parents. The job of Head of Senior School at Barker is made for someone of Nick’s calibre. It is as if his experiences at Radford were all building to this role. Farewell Nick from us all.