PFA News

Dear RMPS Parents and Carers, 

Summer has arrived and you can feel the excitement of the children as the end of term is nearly here. The activities for the PFA have concluded for 2024 and the planning for 2025 is underway.

Thank you to those that previously nominated to support events, we will start to reach out and work with you on these as the calendar is mapped out.

We will also look to have a new volunteer survey sent out early in the new year, stay tuned!

The current draft of events is as follows:

(*) – depending on federal government election being called.

(#) - Noting that the fair committee will be holding the fair in November, the PFA is looking to minimise events in term 4 to allow the focus to be on what will be a fabulous event, keep an eye out for announcements from the fair committee!

There may also be an option to look at running a Bunnings BBQ, just have to figure out where fit that into the mix – if you have experience in doing so and are keen to do so again, please let us know!

The next PFA meeting is in the New Year - 17th Feb 2025, 7:30pm, both online and at the school, pencil it in! Everyone is welcome to attend, members and non-members, to become more involved and have your voice heard!

The meeting link will be available in the newsletter preceding the meeting.

If you have ideas for other events, please don’t hesitate to reach out as the committee is open to new ideas and variations. We are keen to hear from you!

You can contact the PFA committee by email for any input or questions : rmps.pfa@gmail.com>

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

Lindsay (President), David (Secretary) and Bård (Treasurer)

(PFA Exec Team)

Appendices

Working with children check (FREE!)

Ever thought about volunteering at a school (e.g., excursion, swimming, classroom) or PFA (e.g., disco, colour run) activity or event, or even at your child’s sports or dance club, but haven’t been able to because you don’t have a Working with Children Check (WWCC)?  Well, you can get a volunteer WWCC for FREE! Applying for one takes about 15-20 minutes and you can do it 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 Member Registration 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.