Principal Team Message

AFFIRMATION TO HELP YOU HARNESS THE WEEK 

A positive mind finds a way it can be done.

A negative mind looks for all the ways it can't be done.

- Napoleon Hill

EDUCATION SUPPORT (ES) WEEK CELEBRATIONS 

This week we acknowledge the tremendous work of our Education Support (ES) staff. These individuals are indeed very special to our students and teachers. They are often a school's unsung heroes, yet so many of us depend on the support they provide. 

They demonstrate unwavering commitment to the school, our students, your families and to their colleagues. Some of them work directly in classrooms, on the administration team or provide direct learning support. If you get the opportunity, please thank them and acknowledge their significant contributions to our whole school community. These are just a few of our ES staff. 

In addition we've had new members join our team - Lucy Cochrane, Jack Rogers & Jac Holzer.  We will include profiles on these great new staff in our next newsletter. Tomorrow the rest of the staff will putting on a special morning tea to celebrate and thank our incredible team of ES staff at Ripponlea.

HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY 

It certainly didn't look promising last Friday with rain on our doorsteps. Yet we took a chance and the result was fabulous with the whole school cheering on their houses at the grounds of Caulfield Grammar School. 

Thanks to Caulfield Grammar, all the staff and parent volunteers for supporting this event and ensuring that everyone had an an opportunity to represent their house, have lots of fun and for others, some serious competition.  

A big shout out to Susie for the smooth running of this event alongside our House Captains. We are excited to find out which students will qualify for the district next week and which House - Carrington, Loch Furneaux or Orrong - was the winner on the day.  

RIPPER FAMILIES DOES IT AGAIN!

By all accounts, Friday night's trivia was an absolute blast. With Stephen Curry on the mic it was sure to be a great success and of course it was. Laughs were aplenty and it was just the ticket to bring our community members together for good times. Huge thanks to Robyn Cooney and her Ripper crew for putting on the event. Please see the Ripper Families page in this newsletter for highlights.

YEAR 5/6 CANBERRA TOUR 

If there is one highlight our students recollect at their graduation ceremony, this tour and experience is certainly one of them. From Monday 30 May to Friday 3 June, our students and some staff are spending a week in the nation's capital. 

This tour aligns with their Unit of Inquiry on Government.

After three years of cancelling this opportunity, we are just days away from flying out with some very excited students. This tour would not be possible without families supporting their children and our staff volunteering their time away from their own commitments, classes and loved ones. 

Joining Mr Leech, Sarah and Mr Blake will be Mrs Nield, Mr Bremner, Mrs Rose and Emily. Jess Grey will be our Acting Principal for the week as we all bid a farewell to our little school.

Our tour is jam-packed with exciting places to visit such as Questacon – National Science & Technology Centre, MoAD (Museum of Australian Democracy), High Court of Australia, Ian Potter Foundation Technology Learning Centre, Royal Australian Mint, Parliament House, a swim at the AIS and so much more! 

 READING HELPERS PROGRAM - SEEKING PARENT VOLUNTEERS

Research has shown that parents who take an active role in their child’s school life increase their child’s ability to learn and have a positive effect on their social and emotional wellbeing as well as academic achievement. 

At Ripponlea Primary School we encourage parents and carers to actively support student learning by becoming involved in a range of school and classroom based activities and greatly appreciate all community members who volunteer and support our programs, now that this is a possibility once again without restrictions.

Come along and learn basic skills and strategies in effectively helping small groups and individual children as they begin their literacy journey. While the knowledge and skills gained are valuable for supporting students in the classroom, it also provides insight into helping your own children at home.

STEP 1: All volunteers must have a WWC - Working with Children’s Check. 

Your WWC must be on record at the office. 

STEP 2: All volunteers must be triple vaccinated to come onsite to work with the children.

STEP 3: Register for training in the Reading Helpers program at RPS. 

NB: It is a requirement to complete this course so that parents and carers can effectively support the classroom program from Foundation to Year 2. 

NB: Registration for only one session is required. 

Term 2 & Term 3 Dates:

• Friday 17 June 2:00-3:00pm 
• Monday 20 June 9:30 - 10:30am 
• Friday 15 July 9:30 -10:30am

Please register via the following google form: 

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES AT RIPPONLEA

Restorative practice is a whole school teaching and learning approach that encourages behaviour that is supportive and respectful.

It puts the onus on individuals to be truly accountable for their behaviour and to repair any harm caused to others as a result of their actions. A restorative approach focuses on building, maintaining and restoring positive relationships, particularly when incidents that involve interpersonal conflict or wrongdoing occur.

Conflict is an inevitable part of life. How we work to resolve conflict impacts on our school’s climate and culture and ultimately on our students’ social and academic outcomes. We want our school to be a safe place where young people can learn and thrive in a supportive, enriching environment. 

At Ripponlea we:  

• value quality relationships 

• model empathy and respectful relationships 

• value student voice and utilise collaborative problem solving 

• view inappropriate behaviours as opportunities for learning 

• apply procedural fairness 

• recognise the importance of repairing damaged relationships 

• separate the ‘deed’ from the ‘doer’ 

• use active listening and positive language and tone 

• avoid scolding, judging, lecturing or blaming 

• foster self-awareness in the student 

• implement consequences that are proportional and fair 

• remain future focused.

Parent and carers are welcome to try this approach at home. Here is a little script to help you with your questioning when any wrongdoing has occurred even amongst siblings and other family members.  

1. What happened? Value your child's voice and perspective, focus on the timeline of events without blame, understand and identify triggers.
2. What were you thinking about at the time? Develop emotional literacy by linking thoughts, feelings and actions. 
3. What have your thoughts been since? Assess reflection following the incident when emotions have de-escalated. 
4. Who has been affected by what happened? The key question to trigger empathy and remorse. Think beyond those directly involved to see the ‘ripple effect’ of actions and consider the personal impact. 
5. In what way have they/you been affected? Name or describe the impact and acknowledge the consequences.
6. What do you think you need to do to make things right? Devise agreed, realistic and meaningful resolutions to heal the harm. 
7. If the same thing happened again, what would you do differently? An opportunity for learning and verbalising alternative strategies.  

At all times avoid interrogation or asking “Why?" You are likely to not get an answer or a defensive response. 

Restorative Practice is more than a series of questions. It is a non-punitive approach which accepts that we all make mistakes and have the ability to 'fix' the problem together and learn from our experiences. Restorative Practice is inclusive and concerned with maintaining and building connectedness between students, parents, teachers and the community . 

WE’RE TAKING IT IN OUR STRIDE ON FRIDAY 27 MAY 2022 

Well it’s that time of year again when our school seriously starts talking about walking! Walk Safely to School Day asks that we all consider our transport habits and try to incorporate more walking as part of a healthy, active way to get around. And although walking all the way to school isn’t realistic for many of us, it’s quite easy to figure out how you can build a walk into your family’s daily routine.  

You can teach your child the healthy habit of walking more by: 

• Walking with them the whole way to school 

• If they get the bus or train, walk past your usual stop and get on at the next stop 

• If you have to drive, park the car a few blocks away from the school and walk the rest of the way. 

Regular exercise like walking with your child not only helps them (and you!) beat chronic problems like obesity, heart disease, behavioural and mental health issues and diabetes. It also gives you a great opportunity to teach your child safe ways to behave around roads and traffic.  

Remember to go to the student leadership page and find out what our students are planning for this day. 

Until next fortnight!

Natalie Rose Principal

Jess Grey Assistant Principal