From the Principal Team

Upcoming staffing changes

We are excited to welcome Michael Peslis to our wonderful staff. Mr Peslis was at the school for a significant portion of last year in Year 4 and Prep and will be taking the reins of Prep W when Ms Webb finishes up at the start of August. 

Also, Sue Waddell, our brilliant art teacher has elected to take extended leave until the middle of 2025. Two familiar faces will be occupying the Art room with Stacey Abbruzzese and Jorja Trewella sharing the art room. Mrs Trewella will teach students in Prep, Year 1 and Year 2, while Mrs Abbruzzese will teach Years 3 to 6. Classroom teachers will share an updated timetable for year levels early next term. 

Chloe Woods in 2BW will also commence leave in Term 4 to extend her young family and will be replaced on Mondays and Fridays by Jo Fragiacomo (Ms Como). 

Interschool Sports Success

Congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 students who have enjoyed amazing success in Interschool sports this term. Students have been battling it out with local schools in sports such as Footy, Soccer, Volleyball, Softball and more. Despite a range of dramas and disruptions, as well as Melbourne's glorious weather, they have competed every week with enthusiasm and great sportsmanship. I am so proud of the way they have represented our school. On top of that, many of the teams have won many of their games and are in the running to qualify for Division. 

Regardless of the final outcome, well done to those students for their wonderful efforts and feats of athleticism. 

Cold Weather

An annual reminder to please encourage students to wear pants to school on cold days (i.e. every day in winter). I know many students live in shorts and it is an uphill battle to convince them but there are also many others who dress in shorts and then spend their recess and lunch times huddled up cuddling their knees. If you suspect your child may be one of those, I strongly encourage you to revisit the topic and maybe lose their shorts in the wash until we start to see some warmer weather. 

Government announcements regarding the curriculum

Recent announcements from the Victorian government have signalled changes to the requirements for Victorian schools in the teaching of reading and requirements around the inclusion of 'explicit teaching'. 

As you are all hopefully aware (following our information night in February), RNPS is already very advanced in the provision of all these teaching strategies and content within our curriculum. We do not anticipate that these announcements will lead to any required change in our curriculum or instructional models. However, we await further detail from the department of education and will of course incorporate any additional changes that will benefit our students. 

It is reassuring to know that governments are reaching the conclusion that they should provide a more clear definition of effective teaching that can support all teachers to have the best impact on student learning. However, it has been disappointing to see the rhetoric in the media that presents all teachers as being outdated and ineffective or entire systems as 'being broken'. Our government system includes 60,000 teachers across the state, the vast majority of whom work tirelessly to support student learning and to meet their needs. It is not easy work, and schools or individual teachers may fall short at times, but that is certainly not a full or accurate picture. 

At RNPS we are constantly in a state of working towards improving our curriculum and teaching approaches. We are never at 100% perfection, we know that, but accepting that reality means we are always ready and willing to learn and grow. Change takes time though and we have been working towards our current methods -  as a whole school - since 2018. I am immensely proud of the work our teachers have done in this time and the current state of our classroom practice and curriculum. 

On Thursday July 25, we will be hosting our Maths Parent Information Night. It is designed to provide the same level of information and insights about our mathematics program as you received in February for reading. I encourage all families to set the date aside to attend. I know that some people have an aversion to mathematics and may not be excited at this prospect but I would say that especially for these families, we would love to have the chance to share how we are trying to teach mathematics in a way that promotes confidence and excitement in mathematics. We would be thrilled to have the opportunity to share with you some ideas about how to ensure your lack of confidence (or even traumatic experiences) don't need to impact your child's learning or attitude towards mathematics.