Ripper Families 

Dear Ripper Families, 

I can’t believe we are here at the end of Term 1. As a school council we decided to cautiously ease into the year with events in order to ensure that the community continued to be safe. However, it was so lovely to finally be able to have our welcome picnic and see that ripper community spirit come back to the school grounds. We are hopeful that we can continue to rebuild all of the wonderful connections between our amazing community as Melbourne continues to open further. 

As a council we understand that it has been frustrating not to be on school grounds, however the Department of Education (DET) guidelines have been really clear that this is still not allowed, particularly given the layout and size of our lovely little school. Fingers crossed this is eased in Term 2 so that we can all be back on the grounds we know and love. 

We have had a long think about how to bring that community spirit back over the following terms and are mindful that in Term 4 we have a very big event needing to be planned for our 100 year birthday celebration. This will take a lot of time and commitment from a lot of people and we would love to have as many people as possible help out with this event. Any time that can be given from an hour to 100 hours is helpful!

To ensure that we focus a lot of efforts in making this the best celebration that we can, we have decided that for term 2 & 3 we will have a few smaller events that will mostly involve the children and be held at the school. This way we can ensure they go ahead and that the children are engaged and connected. 

We also have our trivia night planned in May, which I know is a sell out event. I understand that there may have been disappointment over missing out on tickets, but we have absolutely made sure that we can fit as many people as possible in the Barrbunin for this event. I do need to mention a special thanks to Robyn Cooney for organising.

Lastly I am putting a call out, if you think you can contribute in any way to Ripper Families and help with any events, in any capacity, we would love to see you at our first Ripper families meeting. This will be held on the first day back of term, Wednesday the 27th of April, at 10am in the Barrbunin. 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday break, and for those of you going away, that your travels are safe. 

Happy Easter, 

Tarryn Holland