From the Leadership Team

2025! When did that happen? 

It's a pleasure to have everyone back for another year at Ringwood North Primary School and for those joining us for the first time, Welcome. 

We are now one quarter of the way through the 21st Century and children starting school this year are likely to be around to see the 22nd Century. It is a little mind blowing how rapidly time passes and things change. 

But at the same time, familiar organisations such as schools, help to ground us and slow the perception of that rate of change just a little.

For the children, especially, we hope that school can be a little protective bubble for them that drowns out the noise of everything happening around us and allows them to learn, grow and flourish into the wonderful people they are and will continue to be. 

Our Leadership Team

To start off this year, I'd like to introduce you to the full leadership team for 2025. 

To begin with, we need to thank Nick Burley (former Assistant Principal) for his long service at the school. Mr Burley has accepted a position at a school closer to home and wanted to extend his thanks and gratitude to the staff, students and parents who he got to know so well over his 17 years at RNPS. We will miss Mr Burley's big smile and excitement at student achievements and his brief flashes of brilliance on the basketball court. 

In place of Mr Burley's role, we now have a larger leadership team who share their time between classrooms and whole school tasks. 

Merryn Platt (Inclusion Leader) - Merryn supports staff, students and parents with challenges that may require additional planning, resources and understanding. 

Jono Trend (Health & Wellbeing Leader) - Jono works closely with Teresa Smith (Student Wellbeing Officer) to help students, staff and parents to promote, teach and build understanding about health and wellbeing. 

Kate Seyer (Parent & Community Engagement Leader) - Kate works closely with staff to better collaborate with parents to build home-school relationships, resources and experiences that promote better student learning and wellbeing. 

Mark Pryde (Senior Curriculum Leader) & Pip Vera (Junior Curriculum Leader) - Mark & Pip interact with teachers across the school to ensure high quality teaching and learning practices are being embedded and refined. They support teachers in planning, in the classroom and through professional learning. 

Sara Jackson (Mentoring & Early Career Support Leader) - Sara works with new teachers and their mentors and support networks to help ensure staff wellbeing and professional growth. In an environment where many teachers are opting out of the role in favour of less-demanding jobs, Sara plays a critical role in ensuring we continue to have engaged, stable staff who understand what a wonderful job and school they have. 

Chantelle Trend (School Improvement Leader) - Chantelle works across our leadership team and with teachers to better understand student data and to effectively implement improvements that are necessary and relevant. 

Ricarda Lillis (Business Manager) - Ricarda needs no introduction to many but she plays an important role in our school leadership to ensure the finances and government funds are stretched as far as we can get them for the benefit of students and the programs we run. Ricarda can also work closely with families who require any alternative arrangements financially. 

If you do find yourself wanting to speak to someone other than your child's teacher, for whatever reason, the leadership team are all able to step in and help, either directly or by finding the exact person tasked with that job. Any behavioural concerns or responses to incidents you wish to discuss, you can ask for (or include in a Compass email) Jono Trend, Merryn Platt, or Chantelle Trend (Wed-Fri). 

Also, when I am absent or offsite for meetings etc., Jono, Merryn and Chantelle are the best contacts for parents needing to speak to leadership.   

We are fortunate at RNPS to have so many highly skilled and experienced teachers who love their jobs and the school. I am excited to be able to recognise and tap into their expertise so that we can continue to work together to build an even better school into the 22nd Century! 

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy , describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. 

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace forEducation safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using these products, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages. 

Government Schools Glossary

RNPS - Ringwood North Primary School

PFA - Our school Parents Association

DE - Department of Education

VSBA - Victorian School Building Authority

NAPLAN - National Assessments

SSB - School Savings Bonus

CSEF - Camps, Schools and Excursions Funding

IEP - Individual Education Plan

SSG - Student Support Group

DIP - Disability Inclusion Profile