Principal's Message
STUDENT WELLBEING
Student engagement, wellbeing and inclusion is a major priority at Ripponlea. Schools play a crucial role in supporting the wellbeing of young people at a time which is critical in developing knowledge, attitudes and skills for a healthy life ahead. Teachers dedicate class learning to these important areas through a range of activities each week. From time-to-time, however, students need extra support. This may be in the areas of speech pathology, counselling or psychological services amongst others.
As a school, we are well positioned to access agencies such as the Department’s Student Support Services which assist students who face barriers in achieving their educational and developmental potential. We have also formed partnerships in recent years to optimise access to professional help such as our recent venture to facilitate DBT in Schools. Please contact the Assistant Principal, Jess Grey, if you would like to find out further about specific wellbeing support.
COME ALONG TO HEAR ABOUT OUR 2018 ACHIEVEMENTS ON TUE 21/05 - ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY
The Annual Report is a summary of the school’s achievements and progress over the previous year. It reports on a range of school achievement data and survey results from the 2018 school year. Each year this report is presented to our school community and once again we welcome any parent/carers interested in this presentation by our Leadership Team to attend the Annual Report to School Community Meeting.
This will occur prior to our School Council meeting on Tuesday 21st May at 6:30pm in the staffroom. Please RSVP Natalie Rose on rose.natalie.m@edumail.vic.gov.au if you are going to attend this presentation.
CONSENT FORMS ON COMPASS
It has come to our attention that some families of the school have still not completed a range of online consent forms via the COMPASS portal. This situation causes concerns for our teachers, who would like to take children on local walking excursions and use a range of media platforms. Our class representatives – parent volunteers - are also unable to send important school correspondence to all families of a particular class. The consent forms are easy to access and only take five minutes to complete. We do not want any child to miss out on an activity.
NAPLAN
This week our students in Year 3 and Year 5 are undertaking a range of online assessments in Writing (paper based for Year 3 students), Reading and Language Conventions, including Numeracy scheduled for next week.
We are encouraging our students to take a “stress-free” approach to this testing schedule. There is no pass or fail in these tests, they are a point in time assessment and should not be considered as the only measure of student progress and learning.
Our students are already comfortable navigating online assessments, as this year we have introduced progressive achievement tests in reading and they have also completed On Demand testing.
This will be the school’s second year completing NAPLAN online. NAPLAN results are able to help teachers to extend higher performers as well as to readily identify those children who might need some extra support. It means that schools are able to map student progress and identify strengths and weaknesses in the teaching programs and to set measurable goals for future planning. However, it must be remembered that NAPLAN is only one aspect of assessment of a child’s learning and is not a replacement of ongoing and extensive assessment by each teacher
CABRINI HOSPITAL – EMERGENCY WARD EDUCATION DISCOUNTS
We submitted an application to Cabrini Hospital to be listed as discount school. Please see all attached flyers for further information.
SCHOOL PRODUCTION – A SNEAK PEAK!
Scripts and casting are finalised and rehearsals are about ready to begin! We are getting super excited about Sunnyville, this year’s whole-school production with our dance rehearsals beginning next week with Stomp on Thursdays. Sunnyville is a play written by one of our magnificently talented parents, Fiona Harris (who has generously penned our last two productions), with original songs written by the equally artistic Mike McLeish. Sunnyville seems like the perfect town – or is it? And how exactly do the Greek Gods influence the citizens of Sunnyville, especially after some space junk arrives unannounced? If you are curious to find out more, put 15 August in your diary now!
ALFRED CALLEJA – NEW STAFF MEMBER
My name is Alfred Calleja! I am thrilled to be joining the staff at Ripponlea Primary School.
Being brought up in a household where several languages were spoken, I have always been passionate about languages and the important role they have in a child’s development. Throughout my tertiary studies I focussed on Bilingualism and Young people; these in-depth units, my culturally diverse background and sense of humour will prove to very beneficial to your children and their learning.
My own flexibility in teaching allows me to work at any level and able to assist everyone. I take great pride in my responsibility as a teacher to shape, nurture and inspire the students in my care. I am committed to fostering a partnership between home and school and look forward to contributing to the Ripponlea community.
Prior to teaching at Ripponlea, I taught at Mount Eliza North Primary School and the Victorian School of Languages. I recently celebrated my engagement to my beautiful fiancée, who I proposed to on New Year’s Eve with both our families present. On the weekends, we enjoy going to the gym, seeing theatre shows, going for walks, trying new cuisines, watching documentaries and spending time with our families. I am currently teaching 1/2s and I will be teaching Italian from Term 3 onwards.
Please do not hesitate to say hello when you see me in the classroom or in the yard.
ENROLMENTS 2020
Our school has generated a lot of interest lately in the school community and school tours are filling up quickly. This is also a timely reminder to all families within the school community to see Sarah in the office and complete your child’s enrolment form. As you might have read in the school’s previous newsletter the school now has an official school zone. This zone does not impact on existing families or siblings.
HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY
Our students have been practising for this annual event and last Tuesday the weather gods were on our side and Ms Jo and our House Captains cheered on the runners. Thank you to the staff, students and parent volunteers. Without your support, days like these would not be possible. Many of our students qualified for the districts. For more on this, please see Ms Jo's section.
STUDENT COUNCIL PLANNING DAY
Last week, Miss Zoe gave up her Thursday to come into school to work with the Student Council to plan for upcoming activities and initiatives. The Student Council brainstormed around the promotion of nude food and event planning. They then formulated a list of priorities:
1) Environment – keeping Ripponlea beautiful;
2) Communication – keeping Ripponlea informed;
3) Activity – keeping Ripponlea active and healthy.
And their first big event is this Friday’s Walk to School Day – please see further details in this newsletter. Thank you to the Student Council, including our School Captains, and a big thank you to Miss Zoe for coming in especially to help out our students and simultaneously get preparations underway for Art Attack.
CURRICULUM DAY REFLECTIONS
The provoking and powerful messages of Dr. Misty Adoniou were heard by our teachers last Friday. She inspired and motivated everyone to think about how we can bring back the magic and rapture of writing.
We learnt strategies that will see us challenging our students to write with intent and to more deeply understand the craft of writing. This requires our students to be reading quality literature and to have knowledgeable teachers who can teach the way the English language works to entertain, inform and persuade the hearts and minds of readers.
We hope to share the impact of what we learnt with our community, and celebrate the craftsmanship of our writers.
Until next fortnight!
Natalie Rose Jess Grey
Principal Assistant Principal