From the Leadership Team

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 2. Autumn has finally landed and the trademark frosty mornings of Ringwood North are making themselves known. 

After a disrupted first week, we are definitely back into full flight over the next couple of weeks. 

Tomorrow, we will once again be a polling station for the Federal Election. Thank you so much to those families who have been able to commit time, effort, and energy into supporting the Bake Sale and/or the Election BBQ

If you do have some time available tomorrow to help out with the BBQ or Bake Sale, please put your name down, there are a few spots unfilled and every pair of hands on the day will be a great help for everyone.

Then next week we have a series of special events.  

PFA are running the Mother's Day stall on Tuesday, helping students celebrate those very special people in our lives. Don't forget to remind them to clear out the piggy bank for Mum! 

Cross Country on Wednesday is a really wonderful day to gather round and get to meet some community members while watching the kids challenge themselves. For families new to the school, this is a really wonderful and relaxed community day.   

For Cross Country, it can be hard to predict the exact start time of events, so we always recommend arriving earlier rather than later. Mr Trend has put together a schedule for the day but if we are running ahead of schedule, to avoid students waiting in the cold, we will proceed to the next event. Parent volunteering roles are very easy (but important), simply helping to keep students on course. See the Compass Event for all details.   

On Thursday, we have a PFA Working Bee after school where we will work together to help tidy up and fix up areas around the school, with a particular focus on our Junior Play areas: the rubber meeting spot and the sandpit. There are a variety of jobs that have been identified for people with all levels of skill and confidence, so if you've got time and a willing pair of hands, please come along to help out. Kids welcome. 

And then on Friday (I told you it's a big week!), we have the Year 6 Billy Cart Grand Prix, which is a lot of fun for all the school. If you're free on Friday morning, head up to Athelstane Reserve after drop-off and marvel at our students' creativity, energy and humour as they entertain the whole school with the longest-running event at RNPS (27 years in 2025, I believe). 

We are very aware that there have been a lot of requests for volunteers and parent time during this period. It is simply unfortunate how the timing has fallen this year with a late Easter, disrupted first week and the election weekend falling right in the middle. Please know that there is no expectation that one person will be available for everything, but if we can get a spread of volunteers from across the school, it will make everything run a lot smoother and take the burden off a few people. PFA, School Council and Staff are already considering how this period of time might be more evenly spread in future years. 

New School Crossing

We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to Maroondah City Council for installing a new School Crossing on Athelstane Rd. This has been a key request from the school community for decades now and we finally have a more managed, safer for children, approach to school. 

Please say hi to our new Crossing Guard, Sharon, who is actually a former parent at RNPS! 

Sharon wanted to let people know that the Council will be very strict about people stopping even briefly in the No Standing zones either side of the crossing, so please take the time to find something further along Athelstane, if required. 

Welcome (back) Sharon to our wonderful school community! 

Ken 

2025 Student Attitudes to School Survey

Ringwood North will be conducting the 2025 Student Attitudes to School Survey from May 19 to May 30. 

About the survey

The AtoSS is a voluntary student survey offered by the Department of Education every year to help schools and the department understand students' experiences of school. We will ask your child about their thoughts and feelings about their school, their learning, relationships with other students, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

ORIMA Research Pty Ltd has been contracted by the department to manage the collection of the online survey and will provide support to schools through a telephone hotline and email.

Eastland Shop for Your School

It is with great excitement and gratitude that we can share that Ringwood North PS finished THIRD in Eastland's Shop for Your School promotion -- a prize of $2,000! Thank you so very much to our supportive community for uploading your receipts and getting us over the line for one of the grand prizes. 

Chantelle