Principal's Message
WELCOME BACK
Welcome back to Term 3. Amidst the changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been asked to dig deeper once again and enter another lockdown period. Now more than ever we recognise that our staff, students and families need to come together once more to ensure the delivery of a successful remote learning program, whilst also maintaining high levels of safety and mental health and wellbeing.
Despite facing our own adversities and circumstances, we have launched the RPS model of Remote and Flexible Learning 2.0 with a strong commitment from all members of our community and there is a deep sense of support and optimism despite what is happening in Victoria.
WE CAN DO THIS! - YOU’VE GOT THIS! - I KNOW YOU WILL MANAGE THIS! - I’M HERE TO HELP YOU! - I KNOW THIS IS NOT EASY, BUT I BELIEVE IN YOU! – YOU DID SO WELL LAST TIME – STAY THE COURSE AGAIN! – STAY POSITIVE, I'M HERE FOR YOU!
The words above echoed through the corridors and classrooms as students collected their resources from school. Air hugs, elbow pumps and air high fives were flying high and commitments were made between teachers and their students.
Mr Calleja took a special video of our staff sending our positive messages to our students. Message from the Staff of RPS
We are so grateful to our staff who have maintained their relentless energy levels and enthusiasm and immediately started connecting with our students online and delivering the Victorian Curriculum through engaging learning opportunities.
We are forever indebted to our families for the positivity and support you have provided to your children, juggling everything including remote learning. We hope that our students' familiarity with our program and their ability to navigate their technology, has eased some of the support required in the previous delivery of remote learning.
We have acted on previous feedback and introduced increased online interactions to help provide this additional support, but also recognise that helping children sign into WebEx interactions can be challenging. We have introduced a new offline day of learning through a creativity matrix and we seek feedback on how this is working for our students and families. We are once again seeking your feedback to keep adapting and supporting our community. Feedback surveys will be distributed via Compass on Friday.
CURRICULUM DAY 7 TH AUGUST - CANCELLATION
There will be no Curriculum Day, but the professional learning for our staff will continue remotely with Professor Misty Adoniou. We have planned a series of afternoon sessions, focussing on the teaching of non-narrative texts. We are delighted that Misty will continue to work with our staff through this virtual professional learning opportunity, which we can start to offer through the remote learning period to our students.
PARENT TEACHER VIRTUAL MEETINGS
Parent-Teacher Conferences – A Virtual Experience
To facilitate parents/carers to meet with teachers to discuss the progress of their child/ren, we are running parent-teacher conferences via Webex (or phone call if preferred).
These conferences will allow the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and share information to support their learning. It is not expected that your child attends this meeting with you.
Shortly, you will receive instructions (via Compass) to book an appointment with your child’s teacher. We will again be using the School Interviews booking website.
When making the booking, you will be prompted for your preference between either a Webex (virtual) meeting or a phone meeting.
Appointments will be 10 minutes in duration and run at the following times:
Foundation – Year 2: From 2pm-6 on Wednesday 5 August
Years 3-6: From 3pm-6 on Tuesday 4 August and from 1pm-3 on Wednesday 5 August
In case of technical issues, we ask that parents log on (or have their phone handy) a little early and keep to the 10 minute appointment time. If you think you will need more time, please discuss this with your child’s teacher. Similarly, if the times listed above are not suitable, please email your child’s teacher to make alternative arrangements.
If you select a WEBEX appointment, PLEASE KEEP THE CONFIRMATION EMAIL SOMEWHERE SAFE. You will need to return to this email on the day of your appointment. It is recommended that you download the WEBEX MEET app, however, it is not essential. When you click on the link, you will be prompted to enter your name and an email address. The email address does not need to be a genuine address and will not be used for any further purpose.
If you have selected a phone appointment, please check that the phone number you have provided is correct and have your phone near you for around 5 minutes before your appointment is due to start. Please be aware that teachers may be calling from numbers without a caller ID.
If you have any further enquiries, please contact the school office on 9527 5728.
Furthermore, to allow our community to enjoy a similar experience with our Specialist Team, we will be running forums. Parents will be emailed a form to confirm their attendance, as well as given the opportunity to submit any questions or comments which will be responded to by the specialists during the forum. Follow up phone calls can also be arranged after the forums have taken place if required.
PRESENTATION TO COMMUNITY - ANNUAL REPORT
The Annual Report is a public document which reflects the school’s financial activities and the school strategic plan. Its publication provides an opportunity to communicate and publicise the achievements and longer-term directions of our school.
The annual report provides an opportunity for our school council, leadership team, staff and students to share with all members of the school community the successful improvement strategies implemented in 2019 as well as determine how the allocation of resources informed planning for improvement in the following year. The completion of the annual report is required under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 and to meet Commonwealth requirements.
The annual report was officially endorsed at our school council meeting in March. Due to COVID-19 the school was unable to have a special public presentation of this report. We invite all members of the school community to join us for a presentation of the 2019 Annual Report held on Tuesday 18th August at 6:00pm before our School Council meeting.
Draft copy of the Annual Report which will be discussed at the presentation.
Rippon Lea is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: August School Council and Annual Report to the Community Presentation
Time: Aug 18, 2020 06:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86293933095?pwd=TEo3dXdaZTFqYVVFbEhHSUV2ZFcrdz09
Meeting ID: 862 9393 3095
Passcode: Ripper
FACE MASKS & COVERINGS
RPS - let’s get creative and send in a photo of your mask creations or patterns for other crafty people in our community. If you are able to sew masks for other families in the community, please let us know and we can pass on this support.
We also wanted to extend our gratitude to the Dyslexia Victoria Support (DVS) group who
kindly made masks for some of our teachers and students. We thank Kath D mother of Freya & Zahra for organising this. If you are unable to secure a cloth mask for you or your child please contact the school on 9527 5728 or email ripponlea.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Mask Cam
Need to stop those glasses from fogging up?
Victoria's current restrictions include wearing a mask when outside of your property. Whilst wearing our masks is important in keeping us together we have seen (or not seen!) some difficulties. The following link is written by health workers who have been wearing masks every working day in their careers. For tips on stopping your glasses from fogging, reducing the pain behind your ears and reducing the anxiety of wearing a mask, please see the following link:
Looking for a mask
Follow No Ordinary Jane styling on Facebook & Instagram: Fiona Quail.
Taking orders now. See Below:
DIY Face Masks
Do you have sewing skills? Below is a template for you to make your own masks. You can also see the impressive skills of Ms D's homemade mask.
ATTENDANCE DURING REMOTE LEARNING
In line with the DET guidelines, we are required to accurately record and submit student attendance data daily to the Department of Education and Training. This attendance data must include students present on-site and students who are engaging in the remote learning program from the home setting. All attendance continues to be recorded via the COMPASS portal. Please ensure you record your child’s absence due to illness or other parent approved activity with explanation by 8:30am. All other attendance will be recorded internally by our teachers and administration staff. Please remember that we only mark the roll once a day during the remote learning period.
VIRTUAL ASSEMBLY - FRIDAYS - 2:30PM
This Friday we are excited to hold a virtual assembly with our school captains Izzy A and Wynn A leading our assembly. To ensure that we have a smooth running assembly could all families please enter the Zoom meeting and switch off all microphones.
Topic: Friday Virtual Assembly
Time: Jul 31 at 2:30 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82009406303?pwd=T2xyOThHVm8xSURUQ2JmY3BRR0dWQT09
Meeting ID: 820 0940 6303
Passcode: Ripper
TRIPLE P POSITIVE PARENTING & SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD'S WELLBEING
Wellbeing comes from physical, mental and emotional health. For children and young people, there are many things that build positive wellbeing.
Wellbeing can come from:
- understanding and managing emotions
- having good relationships
- experiencing a sense of accomplishment
- using their strengths
- taking part in healthy activities, getting lots of sleep and eating well
Here is a booklet of great conversation starters and strategies to build your child’s wellbeing.
We have also included a link to a free online parenting program. This program has been developed as a valuable resource that provides parents with strategies to raise happy and resilient children. Children thrive when they are raised in a nurturing environment. The Triple P - Positive Parenting Program gives parents and carers ideas and strategies to help their child develop the skills and behaviours they need for a healthy childhood.
https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/vic-uken/triple-p/
A MESSAGE FROM MS DOM
To my RPS friends and community,
I would like to extend my sincere thanks for your messages of care and support to me and my family since the loss of my father, Andrew.
He had bravely, until the very end, faced a long struggle with cancer and I can say, I am the most proud daughter as I will always remember his positivity and love of life. I wish all of you, smooth sailing through these challenging times.
- Dominique
We know and understand that families are experiencing enduring hardship whether financial or emotional. We are also realistic that our students may not have the same mindset for learning as we experienced last time. Therefore, it’s ever so important that you reach out because one phone call or email can make the difference for you, your child/ren and your family.
Natalie Rose Jess Grey
Principal Assistant Principal