Principal Team Update

Creativity on Display at Book Week Parade

Last Monday our community once again put on a fantastic show for the annual Book Week Parade. It was wonderful to see so many students celebrate their favourite books and characters through their creative costumes. We spotted plenty of Dr Seuss characters, lots of Spidermans and even a very impressive Wild Robot!

A special thank you to all the students and families who put extra time and effort into creating their own costumes. We also loved seeing so many staff members get involved and dress as their favourite book characters!

CLASS PLACEMENTS POLICY & PRACTICES 

At Ripponlea Primary School, we understand how important class placement decisions are for families and students. Each year, our teachers dedicate significant time and effort to ensure that every child is placed in an optimal learning environment where they can thrive both academically and socially.

The process our staff undertake is extremely thorough and carefully considers a range of factors, including:

• Academic needs and learning styles
• Social and emotional development
• Student voice – we provide opportunities for students to nominate peers they work well with
• Teacher insights into classroom dynamics, learning behaviours, and peer relationships
• Equity across classrooms in terms of gender balance, additional needs, and leadership opportunities

We welcome parent and carer input into the process, particularly if there are factors we may not be aware of that could influence your child’s placement. If you would like to provide input, please email Mrs. Rose at natalie.rose@education.vic.gov.au to begin the process.

While we value friendship groups and recognise that supportive peers can contribute to a positive school experience, we are equally mindful that certain combinations may create distractions that impact learning. For this reason, we cannot guarantee that all parents/carers or students' requests will be met.

We thank families for their trust in our process and the professionalism of our teaching teams. By working together, we can ensure balanced, supportive, and dynamic learning environments for all students in the year ahead.

Class Placements Policy

PLANNING AHEAD FOR 2027

Who can believe that planning for 2027 is already underway? As a school, we are already making a range of strategic decisions that impact staffing, school finances, new initiatives, teacher placements, class sizes, enrolments, events and activities, camps, and future resourcing.

One of the most important factors in our planning is having accurate enrolment numbers. Knowing how many students we have ensures we can be well-prepared and also know whether we can offer places to new families in different year levels.

ANNUAL PARENT/CAREGIVER/GUARDIAN OPINION SURVEY - ORIMA RESEARCH

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education, and we are seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to help schools understand families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement.

While the survey is optional, we encourage all families to participate. Our goal is to have at least 80 families respond, giving us a strong and representative sample. Your input will help us identify areas for improvement, guide professional development priorities, and shape our school planning and improvement strategies.

When answering, we also appreciate families making firm decisions on key questions. Responses of ‘neither agree nor disagree’ can be difficult to interpret and may limit our ability to identify patterns for improvement. If you are unsure about a question, please feel free to ask us for clarification. We understand that some questions may be tricky.

Survey Details

📅 Open: Monday 17 August to Friday 18 September

💻 Format: Online (20 minutes to complete)

📱 Devices: Accessible on desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone

🌏 Languages: English plus Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Additional translated resources are available—please contact the school if you require a guide in your preferred language.

How to Complete the Survey

We want our parents, caregivers, and guardians to tell us what they think! Your feedback is important and will directly contribute to making RPS an even better place for our students to learn and thrive.

FREE COUNCILLING SESSIONS FOR STUDENTS

We will soon be joined by a Bachelor of Counselling and Psychotherapy student, Jess Hart, who as part of her studies, will be completing her community placement at Ripponlea Primary over the next 10-12 weeks.

Jess will be under the clinical supervision of Ikon Institute and will be involved in both Indirect Learning and Client Contact activities while on site, further supervised by members of our Wellbeing team.

Indirect Learning activities will include understanding policies, procedures and legislative frameworks; induction and safety awareness; learning about data recording and information storing processes; and observing and consulting with other mental health and wellbeing officers.

During Client Contact activities Jess can, with parent consent, facilitate individual or group sessions to address students’ worries, stress, self-esteem and friendship challenges, and provide a listening ear and companionship.

We would like to ask that any parents/carers interested in their child participating in sessions with Jess please fill out a brief  survey, for Jess to follow up over the next couple of weeks as she commences her work with us – CLICK HERE FOR SURVEY.

Until next fortnight!

                                       Marta Campbell                           Naomi Hoewel 

                                        Acting Principal                    Acting Assistant Principal