PFA News

Dear RMPS Parents and Carers,

Here we are at the middle of the term already. Hope everyone is enjoying the lengthening days as we approach the start of Spring!

News

The next PFA meeting will be 10th September at 7:30pm – details to follow in the next newsletter.

Notices and events

Our overall current list of planned events for the remainder of the year is as follows:

Date	Activity
Sep	Disco
TBD	Parent/Carer event

The disco is fast approaching, see the details below, please read the information underneath the flyer.

Our parent/carer event has been put on hold as we seek a coordinator.

If you would like to take this opportunity to work with the PFA to host this event please let us know, it would be great to hear from you. rmps.pfa@gmail.com

Thank you for reading and we look forward to continually building our school community.

Lindsay Gamble (President), David Wingate (Secretary) and Beij Xu (Treasurer)

(PFA Exec Team)

RMPS PFA 2025 ‘Across the Decades’ Disco—It’s time to boogie, bop, rap… The student disco is back and will be held after school on Friday 12 September in the school gym. We are counting down the days, and it is just three weeks from today! All students are invited. There will be two separate discos running for an hour each:

F-Y2: 5.30pm to 6.30pm

Y3-Y6: 7.00pm to 8.00pm

Child registration on the night will start 15 minutes before each disco’s start time. We ask that you arrive in time to check your child in, ready for their disco to begin promptly.

The theme is ‘Across the Decades’. Pick a decade, any decade! Get groovy, glam, grungy, emo or something else. Children can come dressed in a fun outfit from their favourite era and rock the look at the disco—is it roaring '20s, ‘50s rockabilly, groovy '70s, big and bold '80s, '90s grunge or 2020’s K-Pop or now? Remember, soft-soled shoes are required and please make sure to bring a full, named water bottle and any needed medication.

Make sure to get a ticket. Tickets cost $10 each per child and are on sale now through Compass Course Confirmation/Payments, which is under each student’s Profile. Tickets will not be sold at the door on the night and need to be bought via Compass by 4pm on Friday 5 September.

New in 2025… Request a Song by Friday 5 September and children may win a prize on the night… but they need to be there!

Go to https://www.kidsdiscos.com.au/songs.html and fill in your child’s first name, applicable RMPS disco as the event, song choice and click ‘Submit’!

A winner will be announced by the DJ at each disco.

We have a fantastic DJ lined up and the children are in for a great night. We hope to see them there! Check out the poster and purchase tickets now. Tickets and more detail are available on Compass.

If you have any concerns or queries, please contact the PFA at: rmps.pfa@gmail.com.

Help on the Day—Are you available to help on Friday 12 September in either the afternoon and/or evening? We are seeking volunteers at various times to help with activities like collecting balloons, setting up, supervising the discos, and packing down at the end of the night. We're using SignUp to organise our volunteers, and we need your help to make this event successful. Pick your slot/s and sign up as a volunteer using these 3 easy steps:

Click this link to go to our SignUp page: https://signup.com/go/CJGHnkX
Enter your email address (You will NOT need to register an account on SignUp)
Sign up! Choose your spots—SignUp will send you an automated confirmation. Easy!

Note: SignUp does not share your name, mobile number or email address with anyone other than the organisers. If you prefer not to sign up online though, please contact rmps.pfa@gmail.com and we can sign you up manually. You can still use the online form to see what spots need filling.

Important: For this event, all volunteers need to have a current Working with Children Check (WWCC). Please refer to the information below on applying for a FREE volunteer’s WWCC, if you do not already have one, and links to the associated school policies. A volunteer WWCC can be organised quickly. Please show your WWCC to the school office for their records by Tuesday 9 September. If you lodge a WWCC application and are concerned about not receiving the card in time to volunteer, please contact the school office to discuss your circumstances.

We are super excited and looking forward to a fun night!

Class Representative Coordinator Role Description

We are seeking a class representative co-ordinator – Please let us know if you are interested.

Role activities:

October/November (For Prep Families)

Create a survey for new Foundation parents. Microsoft Forms worked well last year—just delete data once finished with.
Request the school office to send the survey to all Prep parents to gather contact details of new families.
Attend the first and possibly second Foundation morning tea for new parents with iPads to assist them in completing the survey.
Begin updating the master spreadsheet with survey responses while awaiting class allocations.

December

Whole School

After the whole school "Meet the Teacher" session, request the office to provide a report of class allocations.
Update the master spreadsheet with new class allocations for all students.
Remove any students not continuing next year (including Year 6 families).
Re-filter the spreadsheet and create individual tabs for each class.
Generate updated class lists.

Foundation Classes

Once pre-Foundation class allocations are mailed to parents (typically a week before "Meet the Teacher"), request a copy from the office.
Use survey data to create entries for new families in the master spreadsheet.
Use the updated spreadsheet to create class lists for Foundation students.
Aim to finalise Foundation class lists before the end of the year so families can plan playdates over the holiday break.
Confirm Foundation Class Reps as they sign up, ensuring Foundation classes have reps early for coffee/park catch-ups.

December – early February

Create a sign-up sheet for Class Reps (allowing two spots per class).
Announce the sign-up process via Compass and the school newsletter. Only send out once families know their allocated classes.
Once Class Reps are confirmed, send them the class list.
Edit the Class Rep tab in the master spreadsheet with their contact details (email and phone number).
Class Reps will distribute class lists and collect any updates from parents (e.g., phone number or email changes).
Ensure all updates are emailed back so the master spreadsheet remains current.
Once all Class Reps are confirmed, send their contact details to the PFA and school office (Melissa/Luciana).
Set up a central Class Reps WhatsApp group and add all Class Reps

Ongoing Responsibilities

Regularly update class lists as students join or leave the school.
Share updated class lists with Class Reps for distribution.
Maintain both the master class list and individual class lists to reflect all changes.
Process contact details submitted by new families.
Store all documents, including the master spreadsheet, individual class lists, and template letters, in Google Docs.
Update and save any new letters/templates created for future use.
Send final class lists to all Class Reps and request them to verify details with their class.
Include a newsletter reminder for parents to check their contact details with their Class Reps.

Appendices

Working with children check (FREE!)

All volunteers at events need to have a Working With Children Check (WWCC) registration.

These are available for free and only take about 15-20 minutes to complete.

You can apply online via Working with Children Check (service.vic.gov.au).

Once you have completed the online application you will receive an application receipt, followed by a card after the check is completed. (Note: We recommend you do this using your mobile phone because of the photo process etc.)

What you'll need to do

Prove your identity with documents using your phone. The online application shows you which ones.
Fill out the online application form
Consent to Service Victoria passing your info on to the Working with Children Check (WWCC) Unit Victoria (Department of Justice and Community Safety) to process your WWCC application. (Services Victoria does not keep your information, they just pass it on.)

Your Working with Children check

The Working with Children Check Victoria screening process looks at:

Your criminal record in all Australian states and territories, including any charges, regardless of the outcome
Your professional conduct as determined by these groups, and
Whether you're required to report under sex offender legislation

If you have applied for a WWCC but are unsure whether your card will arrive before you want to volunteer at an event, please speak to the school office. Sometimes a check may take between 3 to 12 weeks to be processed, although they are usually done quickly.

Copies of WWCC cards are kept on file by the school for compliance and a Working with Children Check is required for doing child-related work which includes volunteering at events with children attending or working on site during the school day (8.45am to 3.45pm). Please provide the school office with a copy of your card.

If you would like to get a WWCC card but are not confident doing this yourself, please contact the school office for assistance by calling 9890 2372.

For RMPS related volunteering, please also read the school’s:

Visitors Policy https://robmacps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Visitors-policy.docx
Volunteers Policy https://robmacps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Volunteers-policy.docx

Information: PFA – What is it? And why is it important?

The Parents & Friends Association (PFA) is a group of volunteer parents and carers who help organise events and fundraising activities for RMPS, welcome families and bring people together from within the community. This helps us all connect more closely with our school and each other while raising vital funds for school improvements. With every dollar raised, the opportunity for our children grows just that little bit more. Without volunteers, there would be no PFA, hence we encourage everyone to become a member and help us to kick some amazing goals this year!

It does not matter if you can spare 10 min or 10 hours, being involved will help you and your children to have the best environment we can achieve in our community.

Working in cooperation with the Principal and School Council, the PFA’s aims are to:

contribute to the wellbeing of the school community
encourage the participation of all parents and carers in the life of the school and the education of their children
provide opportunities for parents and carers to
- get to know each other,
- be informed about their child’s school
- extend their understanding of school operations
- build their knowledge of general education policy
contribute to proposals on school policy and other educational issues (as identified or discussed with the Principal or School Council)
raise funds for the benefit of the school

As a registered association, it is a requirement that the PFA has a minimum of three office bearers (executives) – President, Secretary and Treasurer. The current PFA executives are:

Lindsay Gamble (President) – father of Tahlia (2G)
David Wingate (Secretary) – father of Alister (FS)
Bård Sæter (Treasurer) – father of Madeleine (5G) and Aksel (1R)

About PFA Registered Members

All RMPS parents and carers of children attending the school, or any other interested individual of the immediate school community, are welcome to become Registered Members of the PFA. Registered Members can:

Receive copies of meeting minutes
Vote on items/actions at meetings
Vote to elect office bearers (executives)
Nominate to be elected to PFA executive roles
Be elected to PFA executive roles.

All members must sign and complete a MemberRegistration Form annually. After signing and submitting the form, a person becomes a Registered Member until the next AGM. If you would like to register or re-register as a member, please contact us via rmps.pfa@gmail.com for a copy of the registration form.

Note that you do not have to be a member to help on events or attend meetings.