Principal's Message

We are finally at the end of the term and we know that many of our students, staff and families will be relishing the break that is just around the corner. The exhaustion levels have reached a peak and for many of us Friday couldn’t come any quicker. So let’s bring on the best holidays ever for everyone and rejoice in all the accomplishments and successes of this term, despite our set of circumstances. 

Our students have been incredible in their engagement throughout remote learning. They have adapted and embraced a new set of learning challenges, persevered when things got a lot tougher in some circumstances, developed new skills and discovered character strengths that may have lay dormant if they did not get called upon. Throughout all of this journey, our students have stayed true to themselves and relied on their teachers to guide the process. They have developed in so many ways and we are excited to witness and celebrate these changes when we finally see them back in our classrooms.  

Our staff had to pivot their practices to a uncharted spaces in their teaching careers. Their collective wisdom, openness to learning, knowledge and collegiality allowed for incredible collaboration and the development of a powerful remote learning program that met the needs of our community. Our staff continuously sought feedback and responded to this by adapting and evolving the delivery of all aspects of the program. Recently this was recognised by our Senior Education Improvement Leader - Stuart Andrews who praised the high quality program delivered by RPS staff. We thank all of our wonderful staff for their commitment throughout this period. 

Our families placed their trust in every staff member and student and willed the success of our learning community during such a difficult health crisis. You have stood by your children at every step, supporting the learning from home whilst juggling a myriad of other responsibilities. At times you had to sit side by side and at other times you had to let go. You placed an emphasis on the wellbeing of your child as much as we did and trusted us that things will be okay and that we will get through this together. 

Our leadership team have consulted with their teams and brought richness to discussions based on what is best practice. They have sourced, developed and shared resources, provided feedback on practice,  developed protocols and shared in robust professional learning. Although physically distanced from the students and one another, they have bridged this divide through creative and determined means to retain a full focus on the power of learning and the development of a growth mindset.

There is a powerful African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” which means that an entire community of people must interact with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. Collectively we are that village here at Ripponlea and every child means the world to us and they can succeed because we are all working together to make this happen.

This is because at Ripponlea we CARE, CREATE and CONNECT in everything that we do, even if it is in a remote environment. We will one day look back on this and remember the positive times, and hopefully so will our children.

END OF TERM 3 

We will finish the school term at 2:30pm this Friday 18th September. If children are attending onsite they are able to access TheirCare for additional care from 2:30 pm until late. Please make sure that arrangements are made for the collection of children on this day. 

On Friday we will be holding our last Virtual Assembly for the term. We have moved this assembly to commence at 2:00pm instead of 2:30. We look forward to seeing all our students, teachers and families online as we bid a very happy holiday to all members of our school community. 

TERM 4 ARRANGEMENTS 

Term 4 commences on the 5th October for all students and staff. Subject to the advice of the Chief Health Officer and as announced by the Victorian Government, Victorian government schools will commence a phased transition back to on-site learning during Term 4.

Week 1: 5th – 9th October

Remote and flexible learning will continue for all students from Foundation to Year 6. Our teachers will take the opportunity to return to school on different days to plan and set up classrooms in order to help facilitate the return of our youngest students. Please be aware that some teams will be nominating a day for their preparation and will be unavailable for online feedback during this period. It will be very important to plan for the key priorities of Term 4. 

On-site supervision for children of permitted workers and vulnerable students will continue to be provided consistent with existing guidelines for this first week of school. If you require this supervision please email the attached form to Mrs Rose. 

Please see the attached form:

We will be providing all families with a Return to School Plan in the first week of Term 4. There will be increased safety measures such as temperature checks, social distancing, room ventilation and safe arrival and departure of students from our school site. Additional information is still being updated by the DET, as advised by the Chief Health Officer. Your patience on this matter is extremely appreciated. 

Week 2: Monday 12th October

All students in Foundation to Year 2 must return to full-time on-site schooling. The existing remote learning program will not continue for these year levels. All students are expected to attend on-site once their year level has returned to on-site learning.  

Exceptions may exist for medically vulnerable students. It is recommended that parents/carers of students with complex medical needs, seek advice from the student’s medical practitioner to support decision-making about whether on-site education is suitable. 

All students from Years 3 to 6 in metropolitan Melbourne will continue with remote and flexible learning. A date for the return of these year levels to face-to-face learning will be subject to further health advice. We are hopeful of a safe return to school for all students by the end of October.

RUOK DAY SHOULD BE EVERYDAY AT RPS

Last Thursday was an important day for many staff, students and families of RPS, as we took the opportunity to reach out to others and simply say three important words. R U OK inspires and empowers everyone to meaningfully connect with people around them and start a conversation with anyone who may be struggling. You don’t need to be an expert to reach out but just a good friend and a great listener. You don’t have to solve your friend’s problem but simply start a conversation that might help. 

Before you can look out for others, you need to look out for yourself, and that’s ok. If you're not in the right headspace or you don't think you're the right person to have the conversation, try to think of someone else in their support network who could talk to them.

To help you decide whether you’re ready to start a meaningful conversation, ask yourself:

AM I READY?

• Am I in a good headspace?
• Am I willing to genuinely listen?
• Can I give as much time as needed?

AM I PREPARED?

• Do I understand that if I ask if someone is ok, the answer could be: “No, I’m not”?
• Do I understand that I can’t ‘fix’ someone’s problems?
• Do I accept that they might not be ready to talk? Or they might not want to talk to me?

PICKED MY MOMENT? 

• Have I chosen somewhere relatively private and comfy?
• Have I figured out a time that will be good for them to chat?
• Have I made sure I have enough time to chat properly?

QUIZ NIGHT FOR STUDENTS - HOSTED BY MRALFRED CALLEJA & MRBRADEN LEECH

Calling all Ripper students to log on to a live QUIZ show with Mr C and Mr Leech this Thursday 17 September between 4:00pm to 5:00pm. Take a little bit of a backseat while your children get their brain cells pumping on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” Ripponlea style. If your children have favourite topics that you would like Mr C to add to the quiz, please tell them to notify him via Seesaw. 

Children must be supervised by adults at all times. To participate children must download the Kahoot! app on an iPad or phone. You will then get a secret code to begin the game. 

To Download Kahoot!

Step One: Open Google

Step Two: Type in Kahoot in the Search

Step Three: Click on the first link which is: https://kahoot.it/

Step Four: Once you are logged into WebEx Alfred will share his screen so you can put in the code

The families will need a computer logged into WebEx and a separate device to log into Kahoot.

TEACHER FUN FACTS – GUESS WHO?

As one of our staff wellbeing sessions, we held a fun facts trivia session. During this period it has been increasingly important for our staff to maintain positive connections with one another and thanks to Mr G, we took part in a Kahoot! quiz to guess fun facts about one another. 

Here is a selection of some of the fun facts that we discovered about our staff:

“I have an Eidetic memory, commonly known as a photographic memory.”

“I’ve shared a stage with Hugh Jackman!”

“I did the Oxfam walk a few years ago, and walked 100 km in 25 hours 19 minutes.”

“I am an assistant coach at Riding for Disabled Association.”

“I worked in a Surf shop for 10 years.”

“For two years running, I performed my own act in a cabaret as part of the International Comedy Festival.” 

“I’ve had afternoon tea with the Speaker of the House of Representatives in her Parliamentary office in Canberra.”

“I once beat Joel Selwood (Geelong Cats captain) in a 1500m race.”

“I was a child model for Chadwick’s.”

“I once had an ATP (Australian Tennis Professional) ranking!” 

“I once worked with Joanna Lumley.”

“I had the same role as Julia Gillard in high school and when she was Prime Minister she returned to school to interview me.”

Can you believe these amazing people are among the staff at RPS? It’s true! 

Can you guess who they might be?

EXCURSIONS/INCURSIONS/ SWIMMING/CAMPS

All school camps and excursions cannot take place in Term 4 based on recent DET advice. The School Council will be meeting next term to discuss a streamlined process to facilitate refunds or account credits for events that have been paid for but are now cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

PLANNING FOR 2021 –TRANSITIONS

Who would believe that this needs to begin already? We are beginning to finalise our enrolments for our 2021 Foundation year level and hopefully those across the rest of the school. Next year we anticipate that there will be 3 Classes in Foundation. Families have received a confirmation letter and will be receiving a transition pack and all correspondence at the start of next term. 

Whilst school tours cannot take place next term, the DET has been very clear that school transitions will be a key priority. Term 4 is a critical period, particularly for the children moving from Kindergarten into Foundation and from Year 6 into Year 7. 

Students in other year levels will also prepare for a change of teachers and new classmates.

A key focus of Term 4 will be to make every effort to ensure each of these end-of-year and beginning-of-year transitions occur as successfully as possible, whilst also being mindful that all activities operate within limits on large gatherings that apply in the broader Victorian community. 

LIBRARY NEWS

There’s a few surprises in store in the library. Well, actually a few hundred surprises! While we’ve been in lockdown, the school has received so many new books that are all shelved and waiting for students to borrow and read. Plus, there’s been a little further remodelling – stay tuned next term to see photos of the results.

WELLBEING PRACTICES -MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

While mindfulness is something we all naturally possess, it’s more readily available to us when we practise on a daily basis.

Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodelling the physical structure of your brain.

The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes.

At school our teachers use a range of mindfulness practices and activities such as meditation, breathing, yoga and mindful colouring just to name a few. One the tools often used across homes and schools is the Smiling Minds app. Recently we were alerted to some very important resources that families can use and our teachers will be using to help our students during these challenging times. 

We are providing you with a copy of the Smiling Mind Care Packs for different age groups. 

These packs focus on the following: 

• Recognising and Managing Emotions
• Looking after Worry & Anxiety
• Focusing on the positives

Each pack is a downloadable PDF containing:

• Topic introductions – to give you a clear understanding of the topic and how the meditations and activities can support the mental health of your child
• Smiling Mind mindfulness meditations – to listen to together. These can be accessed from your smartphone, tablet or computer.
• Printable activities designed to be both fun and to support conversations with your child. Each set of activities includes questions to help you kickstart important conversations.

Ages 5-7:

Ages 8-10:

Ages 11-12:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

To everyone who celebrated a birthday over Term 3 we hope you had an amazing day:

FINAL WORDS

Once again we wanted to send out our deepest THANKS to all of our students, staff and families for everything that has been managed during this term and the list is endless. We hope you all take the opportunity to relax and avoid reaching out for any devices over the next few weeks. We hope you balance your days with walks, exercise, relaxing in the sun, reading a good book and just being you! It’s a great time to reconnect virtually with other friends and families without the added pressure of remote learning for anyone. For those parents who continue to work from home, please look at opportunities to seek support from those around you who can help with care. Nurture yourself and then you can be your best for others. Reach out!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE – THIS WILL BE US ON FRIDAY & WE KNOW THIS WILL BE YOU TOO!

                                                 Natalie Rose                              Jess Grey

                                                    Principal                         Assistant Principal