PFA News
Dear RMPS Families,
We hope you are well and looking forward to the Melbourne Cup long weekend!
Thank you!
Kudos to Carolyn Steart for brilliantly organising a fun and scrumptious morning tea held on Friday 27 October in celebration of the World Teachers’ Day. A big thank you to Karla Bennett, Michelle Clark and Felicity Fairbairn who contributed their time to assist with this event. Not to forget, Melissa Khoury and Luciana Sanelli for helping us place orders for the food and decorations. Your dedication and support truly made the day special for our teachers. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Photos From World Teachers’ Day Morning Tea
Upcoming Events
Foundation Transition Program Morning Tea – Wednesday, 22 November
The 2024 Foundation children will commence their transition program, in preparation to join Robbie Mac next year. While the children are in the classrooms, the parents/carers will be offered morning tea on Wednesday, 22 November. This is a great opportunity for them to meet each other and have a chat and meet some existing families. Current parents and carers of RMPS students are more than welcome to attend, so mark your calendars and drop in to say hello.
School Colour Fun Run – Monday, 27 November
The PFA is offering all students the opportunity to participate in the School Colour Fun Run, our biggest event of the year, which will be held on Monday 27 November on the school oval between 1-3pm with Mr Watson and Mr Roche being slimed at 3pm. We will (hopefully) have Chase the mascot helping.
This is a much-loved event that gets the children outside and moving and it’s raising funds for the school’s planned inclusive sensory garden, on top of covering the costs of hosting it. We cannot wait to see the children revelling in getting blasted with colour while running around. And we welcome parents and family members to attend and cheer the children on, so put it in your calendar to come down and watch or help. We will be putting out the SignUp sheet soon calling for volunteers to assist on the day. Important: This is an event that requires a current Working with Children Check (WWCC) to volunteer to help. Please refer to the instructions below on applying for a FREE volunteer’s WWCC and see the links to the associated school policies if you plan on helping on the day and do not already have one.
The final day to fundraise for this event is Thursday 9 November. Currently, we are sitting at 85% of our $5,000 goal (excluding event costs), so we need everyone to pull together to help reach the school’s target. We currently have only 30% of students with donations raised. So, if you haven’t done so already, please go to schoolfunrun.com.au, create a student profile page and share your online fundraising link via SMS, email and social media. If you are currently fundraising, THANK YOU! We hope you will continue to share your link and fundraise for the school.
Prize Ordering opens today, Friday 3 November – On top of raising money for the school, students who raise just $10 will be able to choose a prize as a reward and the more money raised the better the reward and the more you help the school! Families can select prizes from today until Thursday 9 November but please note that all families can continue to fundraise up until that date. This will be handy for students that have not yet reached their fundraising target. The way to order the children’s prizes is through their online profile page.
For those not wishing to receive prizes such as toys or gadgets, there is the option to donate to some wonderful not-for-profit causes. Students can select their choice from these charities to donate some or all their prize money to. It would be fantastic if you can discuss this with your children and encourage them to help in this way. The two charities being supported are:
Daniel Morcombe Foundation, which combines with the school’s respectful relationships program. Help in their mission of KEEPING KIDS SAFE. The Foundation specialises in education programs for both children and adults in how to keep kids safe, while also directly supporting young victims of crime.
GreenFleet is a leading not-for-profit organisation committed to protecting our climate by restoring our forests. Donations will help create homes for Koala’s by planting trees throughout Australia.
ALL PRIZE ORDERS AND CHARITY DONATIONS MUST BE DONE ONLINE. If no prizes or donations are selected by the date above, a donation will be made on your behalf.
PFA
The PFA is a group of volunteer parents and carers who help organise events and fundraising activities for RMPS, welcome families and bring people together from within the community. This helps us all connect more closely with our school and to raise vital funds for school improvements. Without volunteers, there would be no PFA.
All RMPS parents and carers are welcome to register as PFA members, enabling them to receive copies of meeting minutes, vote on items/actions and the office bearer (executive) roles as applicable, and be elected to PFA office bearer roles. If you would like to register as a member, please contact us for a copy of the registration form. Note that you do not have to be a member to help on events or attend meetings.
Next meeting: Monday 20 November 2023 at 2:15pm – 3:15pm. This will be an onsite meeting at the school. We look forward to having parents and carers join us for this meeting.
Thank you for your continued support and involvement. Your dedication makes a significant impact on our school, and we are grateful to have such a supportive community. If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at: rmps.pfa@gmail.com
Best wishes,
Wen Li (President), Elizabeth (Secretary) and Bård (Treasurer)
The PFA Committee
FREE Working with Children Check (WWCC)
Ever thought about volunteering at a school (e.g., excursion, swimming, classroom) or PFA (e.g., disco, colour run) activity or event, or even at your child’s sports or dance club, but haven’t been able to because you don’t have a Working with Children Check (WWCC)? Well, you can get a volunteer WWCC for FREE! Applying for one takes about 15-20 minutes and you can do it online via Working with Children Check (service.vic.gov.au). Once you have completed the online application you will receive an application receipt, followed by a card after the check is completed. (Note: We recommend you do this using your mobile phone because of the photo process etc.)
What you'll need to do
- Prove your identity with documents using your phone. The online application shows you which ones.
- Fill out the online application form
- Consent to Service Victoria passing your info on to the Working with Children Check (WWCC) Unit Victoria (Department of Justice and Community Safety) to process your WWCC application. (Services Victoria does not keep your information, they just pass it on.)
Your Working with Children check
- The Working with Children Check Victoria screening process looks at:
- Your criminal record in all Australian states and territories, including any charges, regardless of the outcome
- Your professional conduct as determined by these groups, and
- Whether you're required to report under sex offender legislation
If you have applied for a WWCC but are unsure whether your card will arrive before you want to volunteer at an event, please speak to the school office about possible options. A check may take between 3-12 weeks to be processed.
Copies of WWCC cards are kept on file by the school for compliance and a Working with Children Check is required for doing child-related work which includes volunteering. Please provide the school office with a copy of your card.
If you would like to get a WWCC card but are not confident doing this yourself, please contact the school office for assistance by calling 9890 2372.
For RMPS related volunteering, please also read the school’s: