Things To 

Know

☕ Chat with Mrs Rose – Morning Tea

I would like to warmly invite Foundation families, as well as any other families who may be interested, to join me for a Chat with Mrs Rose morning tea.

🗓 Monday 23 March

⏰ 9:00am

📍 School Staffroom

This is an informal opportunity to connect, ask questions, share feedback and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee together. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

RPS Working Bee – THIS Sunday

We would love to see many families join us at the RPS Working Bee next Sunday.

🗓 Sunday 22 March

⏰ 10:00am – 1:00pm

The gardens are ready for a good tidy up and Colin and the committee have some great plans for the day. It’s always a wonderful opportunity to work together as a community while improving our school environment.

If you would like to know more, please contact Colin:📧 cojacsmith72@gmail.com

CUPCAKE RAFFLE - THURSDAY 02ND OF APRIL

Our first Cupcake Raffle of the year is here! 🧁

Please see details below and jump on Qkr! right now to try your luck. The perfect start for a good break! 

CELEBRATING CULTURAL DIVERSITY 

At Ripponlea Primary School, we are incredibly proud of the rich cultural diversity within our community. Over the past few weeks, a number of our families have been celebrating significant cultural and religious festivals that mark important moments of reflection, joy and renewal.

🧧 Lunar New Year 

Many of our families recently welcomed the Lunar New Year, a celebration observed across a number of Asian cultures, including China, Vietnam, Korea and others. Also known as the Spring Festival, this special time symbolises new beginnings, family unity, good fortune and prosperity for the year ahead.

Traditions often include family reunion dinners, red decorations symbolising luck and happiness, dragon and lion dances, and the giving of red envelopes as a gesture of good wishes. It is a joyful time centred around gratitude, hope and connection with loved ones.

🎭 Purim

More recently, some of our Jewish families are celebrating Purim, a vibrant and joyful festival that commemorates the story of Queen Esther and the saving of the Jewish people in ancient Persia. Purim is a celebration of courage, resilience and standing up for what is right.

Traditions include dressing up in costumes, reading the Megillah (the Book of Esther), giving gifts of food to friends (mishloach manot), sharing festive meals, and acts of charity. It is a time filled with fun, laughter and strong community spirit.

Other Cultural and Religious Celebrations in March

March is a particularly rich month for cultural observances across many traditions. In the weeks leading up to Easter, families within our community may also be observing:

• Ramadan (Islamic holy month of fasting, reflection and prayer)
• Holi (Hindu festival of colours celebrating the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil)
• Harmony Week (celebrating Australia’s cultural diversity and inclusiveness)
• St Patrick’s Day (celebrating Irish heritage and culture)
• The Christian season of Lent, leading to Easter

Each of these occasions carries deep meaning for the families who observe them — whether through prayer, reflection, celebration, fasting, feasting or time spent together.

🌏 Our Cultural Corner

To honour and celebrate the many traditions within our community, we have created a Cultural Corner just outside the school office. This space is dedicated to recognising the diverse cultural and religious events that are meaningful to our families.

We warmly welcome families to contribute artefacts, decorations, books, traditional items or small displays to mark special occasions throughout the year. Sharing these items helps our students build understanding, curiosity and respect for the many cultures that make Ripponlea such a vibrant and inclusive community.

At Ripponlea, our diversity is one of our greatest strengths. These celebrations provide wonderful opportunities for our children to learn about one another and live out our values of Respect, Open-mindedness and Community.

If your family is celebrating a special cultural or religious event, we would love to hear from you.

RPS LUNCH EATING PROGRAM - A WHOLE SCHOOL SHIFT (Launched 2025)

In 2025, Ripponlea Primary School proudly launched our RPS Lunch Eating Program, developed in partnership with Better Health Network through the Lunchtime Expectations initiative 

This is not simply a timetable adjustment it will be a cultural shift in how we approach eating, wellbeing and body confidence at RPS.

At the heart of the program is our Food Environment Goal:

“To foster a safe, inclusive, and positive food environment that respects diversity, models neutral language and supports the wellbeing of every student.” 

From “Recess & Lunch” to Break 1 & Break 2

One of the first visible changes was renaming the traditional terms recess and lunch to:

• Break 1
• Break 2

Why? Because language matters. These breaks are not simply about play they are structured wellbeing pauses in the day where nourishment, connection and regulation occur.

We also introduced an Eating Bell at 10:50am for Break 1 (and 1:20pm for Break 2).

When that bell goes:

• Learning stops
• Staff pause instruction immediately
• Students are given a protected 10 minutes to eat

No lessons running overtime. No creeping into eating time. No rushing.

This directly responds to what students and families told us that learning was sometimes extending into eating time, leaving students with less opportunity to eat. 

The Commitment: Protected Eating Time

Through our co-design process, we heard clearly:

• Families were seeing lunchboxes coming home full 
• Students felt they had to choose the “quickest to eat” food 

• Teachers found eating time was inconsistent and sometimes disruptive 

   

So we made a whole-school commitment:

✔ 10 minutes protected eating at both breaks✔ Clear bell signals for start and finish 

✔ No going past the bell✔ Outdoor designated eating areas✔ Students may bring food outside if they need more time. 

Our Mantra:

“Choose any food that nourishes your body and brain.”

This mantra reflects our move away from “good food/bad food” language.

Research tells us that children as young as 3–5 are already developing weight bias and ideas about restriction 

We know that negative food talk and body talk can contribute to harmful self-judgement 

So instead, at RPS we:

• Use neutral language around food 
• Avoid labelling foods as “healthy” or “unhealthy” 
• Redirect judgement with phrases like:
  • “Let’s not yuck someone else’s yum.”
  • “Everyone eats differently.” 

  • Focus on what bodies can do, not what they look like 

     

Students are encouraged to tune into their bodies and eat in a way that supports learning, energy and wellbeing.

What Students, Staff & Families Told Us They Wanted

Through surveys and co-design:

Students wanted:

• Time to chat respectfully with friends 
• Clear routines
• Flexibility to finish food outside

Families wanted:

• Adequate eating time 
• Respectful connection during meals 
• Inclusive language around food and bodies 

Staff wanted:

• A consistent whole-school structure 
• Clarity around expectations

• Support navigating body image conversations 

   

The RPS Lunch Eating Program reflects all of these voices. Stay tuned for more information and updates.

OUR NEXT FOUR YEARS AT RIPPONLEA PRIMARY SCHOOL 

Here we are at the beginning of a new school year and the beginning of a new 

Strategic Planfor Ripponlea Primary School.

Many of our families will remember that last year we undertook a School Review. In simple terms, a School Review is when an independent panel works alongside the school to reflect on the past four years looking at:

• Student learning growth and achievement
• Wellbeing and engagement
• Teaching practices
• Leadership and school culture
• Feedback from staff, students and families

It is not about “passing or failing.” It is about asking:

What are we doing well? What impact is it having? And where can we improve next?

Following our School Review, we developed a new four-year Strategic Plan. This is our roadmap for where we are heading as a school and how we will continue to grow.

The review confirmed that Ripponlea is a strong school with high achievement, strong wellbeing systems and a positive culture. Our next step is not to “fix” things but to refine, strengthen and stretch ourselves further.

Over the next four years, our focus is on two big goals:

Goal 1: Maximise Student Learning Growth

We want every student regardless of their starting point to make strong progress each year.

This means:

Stronger Consistency in Teaching

• Clear, structured lessons across all classrooms
• Consistent literacy and numeracy approaches
• Refining our Instructional Model so every classroom feels familiar and focused

Smarter Use of Assessment

• Using assessment not just to measure achievement, but to drive growth
• Stretching high-ability students further
• Clear feedback so students know their next steps

Stronger Student Voice & Agency

• Students setting learning goals
• Students reflecting on progress
• Students being challenged intellectually

Goal 2: Enhance Wellbeing to Improve Learning

We know wellbeing and learning are deeply connected.

Over the next four years, we will:

• Strengthen respectful relationships between students
• Maintain high attendance
• Ensure classrooms are calm, focused and predictable
• Continue embedding whole-school, evidence-based wellbeing practices
• Build leadership capacity across staff

In simple terms:

We are building a school where expectations are high, learning is explicit, wellbeing is strong, and every child is challenged and supported.

And as always, everything is grounded in our vision:

They care. They create. They connect.

2026 Annual Implementation Plan

(What This Means Right Now)

While the Strategic Plan sets our four-year direction, the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) outlines what we are doing this year.

Priority 1: Strong, Consistent Teaching in Every Classroom

In 2026, we are focusing on:

• Refining our Instructional Model
• Strengthening explicit teaching practices
• Ensuring literacy and numeracy blocks are structured and consistent

What families might notice:

• More structured lesson routines
• Daily review practices
• Stronger reading and maths focus

Priority 2: Assessment That Drives Growth

In 2026, we are:

• Improving formative assessment practices
• Using data more precisely
• Strengthening moderation across year levels

What this means for students:

• Clearer feedback
• Understanding their goals
• Knowing what “success” looks like
• Being stretched beyond “just finishing the task”

Priority 3: Student Voice and Intellectual Challenge

Students told us they feel happy and connected but they want to be challenged.

So in 2026 we are:

• Embedding goal-setting routines
• Increasing intellectual stretch
• Strengthening learner agency

Students will:

• Reflect more on their learning
• Track their own growth
• Develop independence and resilience

Priority 4: Strengthening Respectful Learning Environments

In 2026 we are focusing on:

• Consistent behaviour expectations
• Clear classroom routines
• Linking wellbeing explicitly to learning success
• Strengthening respectful peer interactions

Families will notice:

• Predictable structures
• Strong language around respect and resilience
• Clear expectations in classrooms and playgrounds

Why We Share This

We believe families should know:

• What your child is experiencing in the classroom
• What our teachers are working on professionally
• Where our improvement journey is heading

Improvement is not accidental — it is deliberate.

2026 is our first strong step in this four-year journey.

Together, we are building:

• Deep thinkers
• Confident learners
• Respectful citizens
• Independent problem-solvers