FROM THE PRINCIPAL

A message from the Principal

2020!

Welcome back to the start of yet another new and exciting year at RNPS! For our new families in Prep and other year levels, welcome to our community, I'm sure you'll make a few friends quickly and get involved soon.   

It seems very odd writing the year 2020 but here we are, 20 years post-Y2K and the start of a new millennium. 20 years into the 21st century! Sorry, I'll stop making you feel old but it is an exciting time as we keep moving forward. 2020 will see the installation of our brand new building, with an expected completion date at the end of May. The students and teachers have all settled into their temporary spaces very quickly and teachers are working hard to ensure that their approach to teaching and learning is the same in February as it will be in June in the new spaces. I thank them for their adaptability. 

At the start of the year students will inevitably be going through a series of emotions: excitement, trepidation, relief, concern .... the list goes on. As a general rule, after a few days, often less, students will recognise that they have friends or people they would like to be friends with, a teacher who is interested in them, and a small community that they can rely on. Teachers will try to work with students to develop this sense of safety and belonging in their class, something that is so important if they are going to later be asked to take risks, be brave and challenge themselves. Often, as a parent, you will be given the supporting role in this process: reassuring your child that everything will work out in the end, that it's okay to try new things, and that just because something is different from last year that doesn't mean it can't be just as great. Thank you for your patience in this over dinner, in the car and on the walk home. 

To start the year with some small changes you might hear about a couple of things: students in certain areas of the school will now have access to internal toilets; previously, these had been restricted from student use but in an effort to reduce wasted learning time spent walking to and from the toilets and to make the best use of our new facilities, these toilets in the SMART building and the Year 5/6 area are now in use for students. We have also added an extra supervision duty at recess and lunch to enable the back of the Year 5/6 building to be accessed by children. Previously this areas was out of bounds. This area has been designated as a calm play space and children are able to chat on the grass or a bench or play a game of chess together. Children were very clear last year when we interviewed them about our grounds that they wanted a space like this. Please be aware that if your child has grass allergies or gets itchy when they roll around in it that they need to make good choices about where they will or won't play. Also, if your child has these allergies but they aren't listed as medical information with the school, please update this information. 

Thank you to staff for their flexibility in the increased duty, the students are loving the new space! Over time we will develop this area in consultation with the kids adding garden beds and features but it's a great quiet space with some lovely shady trees just as it is. 

New and returning staff

 A big welcome and welcome back to the following staff: 

Emma Webb (Prep W) 

Annaliese Hughes (Prep SH)

Beth Parker (2DP)

Renee Knoll (3K)

Alison Jan (3BJ)

Emma Bethune (4B)

Kylie Morrissey (Prep Music)

Also, please note the following name changes: 

Chloe Mitchell --> Mrs Woods

Lauren Costello --> Mrs O'Kane

Vanessa Morris --> Ms Sango

Instrumental music

Now is the time to get your kids enrolled in instrumental lessons. We have some wonderful teachers available who offer students the opportunity to learn almost any instrument. See the Instrumental Handbook (on Compass --> School Resources) for more information and contact the office to enrol. 

Students who are ready for an extra challenge will have the opportunity to be involved in one of our two school ensembles. Tom and Damon have both been working with ensembles of around 6-7 students to perform at school events and enjoy the experience of playing in a band.  Students are nominated by their instrumental teacher and selected based on suitability and readiness. 

Update: Corona Virus

Please see the following information sheet from the Department of Education regarding the novel Corona virus outbreak in China. 

Please note that we take these events seriously and will try our best to ensure that students are safe as always but limiting the spread of viruses requires strong cooperation from a community. Monitoring student health, visiting the GP when required and following the advice of authorities is really important.  As always, please don't send your child to school if you know they are sick.  

Commiserations

It is with tremendous sadness that we have learnt of the passing of two members of our community over the holiday period. I don't feel it is my place to announce these deaths through the newsletter but I did want to comment that as a school community we feel every loss and feel great empathy for the families, especially the students who have been impacted. I know that there has been extraordinary support offered by other school families as well as broader support networks, and I would like to express my thanks to those families. 

Annual privacy reminder

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website www.ringwoodnorthps.vic.edu.au

For more information about privacy, see: Schools’ Privacy Policy – information for parents. This information also available in nine community languages.