Wellbeing & Engagement 

Year 6 Camp - Coonawarra Farm Resort

What a week away at Coonawarra Farm Resort for our Year 6s!

It has been an absolute pleasure to spend the whole week away with such a wonderful cohort of students. I am so pleased to share that all students made the most of the opportunities offered to them on camp - many stepping right out of their personal comfort zone to try new things and face some fears, whilst others overcame some setbacks to show incredible grit and resilience to soldier on and keep participating.

Camp activities included:

• Canoeing
• Climbing wall
• Flying fox
• Raft building
• The labyrinth (giant maze)
• Archery
• High ropes course
• Hut building
• Giant swing
• Swimming pool
• A range of night time activities (bush walk, minute to win it, movie night, trivia comp)

... along with the occasional session of free time, which allowed students some additional freedom and free choice - and a chance to socialise, relax and refresh to be ready for the next adventure! We were also very lucky to have five straight days of beautiful sunny weather, which kept the smiles on the faces all week.

A huge benefit of a camp early in the school year is the friendships and bonds it can create. Whilst the activities are always amazing, my highlight of the week was seeing many students spend time - and develop friendships - with others that they might not have actually known very well before this week. Already having a huge event like camp and the moments they've shared sets this group up for a fantastic year together! 

Finally, I'd like to give a massive shout out to all the Rangeview staff and parent helpers who attended any part of the week to support these students on camp. Without the assistance of our parents, these camps just cannot go ahead - we are so grateful for your willingness to give up your time to ensure our students have these opportunities.

Some very tired kids are coming home this afternoon - lucky they have a long weekend to rest!

Berry Street Education Model - Staff Professional Learning

Last week on the student-free day, our entire staff group attended a full day professional learning course provided by Berry Street, who specialise in trauma-informed educational practices. 

This was a highly valued day for all staff and we are very thankful to our presenter from Berry Street, Lisa, for sharing information about their Educational Model. Staff received some fantastic hands-on, evidence-based strategies that are effective with all students to support their wellbeing and learning. We can't wait to see these rolled out and trialled in our Rangeview classrooms!

RAFT - Rangeview Fathering Tribe

We are very proud to have relaunched RAFT (Rangeview Fathering Tribe) at the Parents & Friends mixer last week. We are keen to get as many father figures involved as possible, so if you haven't yet registered your interest, please do so by scanning the QR Code here.

RAFT will be running a number of events this year, beginning on Saturday March 16th with a bike ride and BBQ. This event, from 2:00pm-5:00pm, is one for all family members - everyone is welcome. 

Please see the poster below for more information and to register for this event!

Following the bike ride and BBQ, RAFT will host a father figures only event (no children) at the Foragers Drop in Mitcham on Tuesday March 19th from 7:00pm-10:00pm. This is a great opportunity to get out and meet some other Rangeview dads and father figures.

Please check here for more information and to register for this event.

Finally, the highly-anticipated RAFT 2024 Camp Out has been locked in! The attendance at the camp out on the oval at the end of 2022 was incredible and we are hoping for a repeat of this. This will run in Term 2 on a Saturday night - please lock in April 20th! More information to come following the Term 1 events...

The Resilience Project

Working on gratitude helps us to be thankful and appreciate what we have in our lives, rather than focusing on what we don’t have or what we want. When we practise being grateful, we start to scan the world to look for positives – this only takes 21 days! 

Practising gratitude every day increases our levels of energy, and helps us to feel happier and more focused, determined and optimistic. It even helps us have better sleep, lowers levels of anxiety and depression and we are less likely to get sick. So many benefits – let’s all try to be grateful for the things and people in our lives every day!

Whole Family Activity: Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

As a family, create a scavenger hunt list of things that make you happy or you are grateful for. You can make your own list or use the examples below:

• Something that makes you happy
• Something you love to smell
• Something you enjoy looking at
• Something that is your favourite colour
• Something you like in nature
• Something that is useful for you

Each member of the family uses the list and has to find as many things as they can.

You can hunt for things inside or outside, or both. You can hunt for real things, or you can also do this using magazines or pictures from the internet.

After a set amount of time hunting, come back together, have a look at what each person collected and let them explain why they are grateful for each item.

Family Habit Builder:

Every night at dinner, have each member of the family talk about their favourite thing about that day. What went well? Try to be specific - model this to your children so they can participate to! It doesn't take very long for this to become a 'set in stone' habit that allows you all to share positives around the dinner table each night!

School Photos Day - Monday March 25th

Our school photos day is slowly creeping up on us - now just over two weeks away. All class and sibling photos will be taken on Monday March 25th, however due to our ever-increasing student numbers, the 'miscellaneous/group' photos - such as choirs, bands and JSC - will all be taken later this year on another date (to be confirmed).

Please find additional information about the upcoming photos day below:

Liam Sommers

Assistant Principal

Wellbeing and Engagement