Things To 

Know

SAVE THE DATE - RPS WORKING BEE

At Ripponlea, we value the environment where our students play, learn, and socialize. With the support of our families, we can come together for a working bee to not only prepare the school for the upcoming fete but also enhance the overall presentation of the grounds for students and the wider community to enjoy.

Working bees offer many benefits:

• They give students and families an opportunity to meet and enjoy spending time at the school.
• They foster a sense of community, collaboration, and school pride.
• Together, we can create a cleaner, more vibrant space for everyone.

To keep everyone energized, we’ll provide a sausage sizzle lunch and treats for students and families. Colin Smith will lead the day’s activities from 10:00am to 1:00pm.

The weather is improving, so let’s make the most of it! Tasks will include pruning, weeding, cleaning, topping up the sandpit, caring for the gardens, and more.

If you can lend a hand or spare an hour or two, we’d greatly appreciate your time and effort.

Please put your name on this Google Form with your details if you can attend, and Colin will be in touch.

Save the details:

📅 Date: Sunday, 24th November

⏰ Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there for a fun and productive day!

FRIENDLY REMINDER - CURRICULUM DAY & STUDENT REPORT ADDITIONS 

Monday, 4th November, is our final Curriculum Day for the school year. Students will not attend school on this day, but TheirCare will be offering a full-day program to support families who need it.

While students enjoy the extended break, teachers will continue working through the maths curriculum and prepare for the end-of-year reporting cycle. This year, families will notice new additions to the reporting templates based on feedback from earlier surveys.

The current reports detail your child’s progress throughout the school year, comparing their growth from the mid-year report to the end-of-year report. In some cases, progress will also be measured against the same time last year, offering a broader view of growth. Reports continue to reflect a matrix of skills, placing students on a four-scale progression: Beginning, Consolidating, Established, and Extending.

New this year are future learning goals or areas for improvement, along with recommendations for families on how to support their child’s learning at home.

We hope everyone enjoys the extended weekend, and we look forward to seeing you back on Wednesday, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for Week 5 of the term!

RIPPONLEA PRIMARY SCHOOL - GET READY FOR A SPOOKY HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION  

🎃Date: Thursday 31st October👻

At Ripponlea Primary, there's nothing we love more than a good dress-up day – and Halloween is one of the best! It's the perfect chance for our students to show off their creative costumes, enjoy some spooky fun at school, and head straight out for a night of trick-or-treating.

This year’s Halloween celebration will kick off with a fabulous costume parade in the morning, and we invite parents and families to join us for the fun! It’s always a treat to see the unique, imaginative outfits our students (and sometimes even staff!) come up with – from creepy creatures to movie characters, and everything in between.

After the school day wraps up, students can jump right into Halloween festivities without missing a beat. We encourage everyone to fill up on a hearty dinner before indulging in a few (or many) treats during the evening’s candy hunt! 🍬🍭

So, dust off those witch hats, superhero masks, and pirate patches – we can't wait to see what spooky surprises our school community has in store for this year's Halloween! 🎉

Let’s make it a day of fun, creativity, and community spirit – because at Ripponlea, any excuse to dress up is a good one!

SCHOOL SAVING BONUS

 In Term 4, 2024, families with a child enrolled in a government school from Prep to Year 12 in 2025 will receive the one-off $400 School Saving Bonus.

The $400 School Saving Bonus provides families with support for education-related costs, such as school activities and/or school uniforms and textbooks.

The School Saving Bonus is not available for full-fee international students, home-schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.   

Actions for parents and carers

Before 18 October 2024, the Department of Education is asking parents and carers to:

• Complete enrolment: If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025. For more information, read about Enrolling in School. 
• Check your contact information: Ensure your email address and phone number is up to date with us. You can check this information by contacting us directly.

We need to ensure your contact information is up to date as the Department of Education will email you twice:

• in October, to verify your email address
• in November, with your $400 School Saving Bonus and access to an online system.

Please check your junk mail regularly to make sure you do not miss an important email.

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, download the School Saving Bonus Information sheet for government school parents and carers or visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus

SMILE SQUAD - YOUR FEEDBACK MATTERS

Dear Parents/Carers,

As you might be aware, we have had the School Dental Program - ‘Smile Squad’ – attend our school to give the students information on good dental health, undertake dental examinations and, where required, organise follow-up treatment. While the program is voluntary, many of you consented for your child/children to participate in the Smile Squad program. 

To better understand the delivery of the Smile Squad program including benefits and challenges, an independent firm (Abt Global) has been engaged to evaluate the program. This is your opportunity to provide feedback on your experience of the program. If you didn’t consent for your child/children to participate in Smile Squad they are also keen to hear from you. The evaluation team want to understand why you chose not to participate. So, whether you participated or not, this is an opportunity to provide feedback so that improvements can be made to the Smile Squad program.

To participate in the evaluation, you can complete a confidential 5–10-minute survey. The survey does not require you to provide any information to the evaluation team that identifies you, however the survey does ask what school your child/children attend. Here is the link to the survey.

https://abtassoc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bf6YJUMs3NkfHWm 

We encourage you to participate in this short survey and provide valuable feedback on Smile Squad. If you would like to provide more detailed feedback to the evaluation team, please contact Eleanor at smilesquad_eval@abtglobal.com .