From the Principal

What a Splash! 

What a fantastic day we had on Wednesday March 10 for our Colour Splash. Students came decked out in lovely white shirts and returned home looking very different!

It was a day of great fun and an awesome way for our new Buddy Trios to get active together. 

For parents of students in other year levels, this year we added a Year 3 buddy along with a Year 6 student to support new Preps, aiming to help students build even more connections across the school to help them feel safe and supported. 

Along with this, we were fortunate to have raised a good amount of funds to help get our gardens up and running in Years 2 and 3. Thank you to all those families who donated. 

A huge thank you also to the many parents who gave up time either on Wednesday or the previous Friday to help set up the course and fill the bottles. We had more than 40 parents volunteer their time to help make this a great event. The students' smiles were hopefully evidence enough that it was time well spent. 

I have included a small selection of photos below along with our final fundraising tally for this year and a photo of the new garden wicking beds that our Year 3 students will tend. 

Did a family member miss out on donating? The platform is open for a few more days for anyone who would like to make a last-minute donation. 

Click on Donate Now or share the link below to help out. 

Share this link: 

https://www.mycause.com.au/events/rnpscoloursplash

Clean Up Australia Day

On Friday March 5 we participated in the Clean Up Schools Day, part of the Clean Up Australia campaign. Students banded together to clean up all around our school. 

I have been heartened to see a number of students since then who have taken it upon themselves to continue this cleaning of the environment, often volunteering part of their lunch play to do so. 

A reminder that where possible, it is great to be able to reduce waste that comes into the school. This event may be a good chance to talk with children about how they might be able to reduce the amount of packaged food they bring to school.  

Parking disruptions and paths

I would like to thank everybody for their patience at the moment as we have a number of contractors working around the school. The temporary fencing has been quite imposing and restrictive in how we move around, especially for those attending OSHC. 

We are expecting the fencing near the Prep area to be removed next week, though the cleared area will remain out-of-bounds until the rubber surface is poured in the holidays. 

The fencing on the basketball court will remain for a couple of weeks more before they move into the middle of the school and start significant works on improving access from the hall up to the senior classrooms. 

Further works will begin soon near the fence on Oban Rd outside the new building, making way for a safe pedestrian entrance, though this is unlikely to impact parents and students.  

Again, we thank you for your patience and hope you will see the benefits of these works as they come to fruition. 

Student Counselling

onPsych is now available at our school!

Do you find that your child is having emotional or behavioural issues? Are they struggling socially, academically? RNPS now has a registered psychologist / accredited mental health social worker to support your child.

OnPsych will provide a registered psychologist / accredited mental health social worker who specialises in child and adolescent mental health. Their services are provided at the school at NO COST through Medicare bulk billing. They will work collaboratively with you, your child, and the teachers to maximise opportunities for positive growth.

If you believe that this might benefit you child, please contact the school administration staff to discuss or read the Parent Pack below for further information.

Thank you so much for all the parent input this term. On top of our volunteers for the Colour Splash, there is a list in this week's newsletter of our Parent Reps, which is a valuable contribution so many parents make each year. I would also like to acknowledge this year's School Council.  

School Council 2021

Staff: Ken Chatterton, Jess Mann, Nick Burley, Ricarda Lillis, Ben Allen

Parents: Michele Whitby, Lainie Berka, Meg Keogh, Travis Matheson, Cameron Haig, Mark Fairweather, David Barrington, Karina Stocker, Sam Fearn, Jacqueline Ferguson  

Warm regards

Ken Chatterton