From the Leadership Team

A lovely day

A big thank you to all the parents, staff and students who very kindly acknowledged Principal's Day today. It was so lovely having so many students take a detour during the day to say something kind or share something they had worked hard on. 

It is a unique privilege to be the Principal of a school and it can be very easy to get caught up in the budgeting, facilities and politics of it all, so any event that breaks me out of that rut and brings me back to focusing on the individual students is a welcome diversion. 

Thank you.  

CCTV at our school 

Ringwood North Primary School has decided to use a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system at our school.

Our school has an obligation to ensure the school environment is safe and secure, and fulfil our duty of care to students, staff and visitors.  The CCTV system will assist our school to fulfil these obligations and to prevent and manage other inappropriate behaviour on school grounds. CCTV will also provide enhanced capability to protect our school’s assets against vandalism and theft.

We will follow Department of Education and Training policy requirements for the design, installation, management and use of the CCTV systems. This policy is available at: CCTV in Schools – Installation and Management.

We will also place a CCTV Privacy Notice on our school website with more information about our school’s use of CCTV before it is rolled out in Term 4 2026. 

If you have any questions or concerns at this stage, please complete this form: CCTV - Request for Community Input – Fill out form 

Thank You to Our Working Bee Volunteers

A sincere thank you to everyone who joined us for our Working Bee on Wednesday 5 August. Even though the weather wasn’t on our side, an outstanding team of parents, students, and staff came together, tools in hand, ready to give our school grounds some care and attention. It was wonderful to see families from Prep to Grade 6 working side by side, with staff, students and parents alike contributing to a fantastic afternoon of teamwork and community spirit.

Volunteers shifted and spread what felt like half a mountain of mulch, planted new shrubs and flowers, trimmed and tidied garden beds, and refreshed our outdoor spaces. A special thank you to Kristie, who generously donated a selection of plants for the area outside the Grade 3 portables, and arrived fully prepared to help get them into the soil. We also hope our dedicated team of mulch movers have had a chance to recover after all their hard work! 

We are grateful to everyone who was able to give their time, energy, and enthusiasm to help make a difference to our school environment this week. Thank you also to our Parent & Friends Association for supporting and promoting this valuable community event, and to PFA President Lucy for ensuring our volunteers were well looked after with pizzas after all their hard work.

RNPS is incredibly fortunate to have such a generous and supportive community. Your willingness to pitch in and work together helps make our school an even better place for every student.

Planning an extended absence in 2027?

Many of our students are fortunate enough to be able to take extended family holidays at different points in their lives. We understand that these are important events in a family's time together and help people connect to each other and to country and disconnect from the hectic routines of everyday suburban life. 

However, it is important that we ensure children maintain their learning development and are well-positioned to reintegrate with their peers when they return. 

If your family is planning an upcoming extended absence in 2027 (more than 6 weeks), please let the school know early so that we can make arrangements for your child's continuing education. For most families, we will develop an 'Absence Learning Plan' that will help ensure your children are remaining in touch with their learning and won't return to school with large gaps. These are not arduous and can be adapted to work within your family's plans and goals. 

To inform us of an anticipated absence, please email the school at ringwood.north.ps@education.vic.gov.au and include myself, kenneth.chatterton@education.vic.gov.au .