Dear Robbie Mac Families,

Welcome back all students and families! We hope that you had a wonderful holiday season and are settling into the rhythm of the new school year. As we embark on an exciting journey that 2024 has in store for us, the PFA is thrilled to kickstart the year with a plethora of engaging events and opportunities for our school community.

2024 PFA Events and Fundraisers

At the end of 2023, we were very grateful to have had some keen parents indicate their willingness to coordinate some of our planned 2024 PFA events, which means we can get things happening in Term 1. The following 2024 events are currently scheduled:

School Welcome Morning Tea (Term 1, Friday 9 February)
Parents/Carers Trivia Night (Term 1, Saturday 24 February)
Family Event (Tentatively Term 2, Date TBC)
Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser (Tentatively Term 2, Date TBC)
Student Disco (Tentatively Term 3, Date TBC)
World Teachers Day Morning Tea (Term 4, Friday 25 October – event TBC)
School Colour Fun Run (Term 4, Friday 15 November)

Other events and fundraisers may also be run throughout the 2024 school year.

Class Reps Still Needed

We are still in need of Class Reps for 5B and 6R.

We are also looking for a second Class Rep for: FC, FS, 1F, 1R, 4S, 4V and 6T.

As a Class Rep, your key responsibilities will be to:

Be a point of contact for families in your class. It’s up to you how you choose to communicate with families; i.e., email, Facebook and/or WhatsApp
Arrange a couple of social occasions for class families. These can be specifically your class, or you can organise an event with the other classes in your year group (e.g., Foundation, 1/2, etc). Popular choices include “a play at the park” or a “parent evening”.
Communicate information regarding school events as sent through from the PFA or other Class Reps

It is a very rewarding role and a great way to get to know your class. Each class requires two Class Reps, and no prior experience is needed. If you are interested in becoming a class rep, please sign up here: https://signup.com/go/BByGhfW

If you have any questions, please contact Kim Jones on rmps.classreps@gmail.com or reach out to the PFA via rmps.pfa@gmail.com.

School Welcome Morning Tea

Join us as RMPS kicks off the new school year with a warm and welcoming morning tea on Friday, 9 February from 8:30am – 9:30am, with a coffee van onsite. It is an excellent opportunity to connect with other parents, meet teachers and get a glimpse of what’s in store for the year ahead. This is a school organised event, supported by the PFA. Further details to come via Compass.

Parents/Carers Trivia Night – Grab Your Tickets!

Get ready to put your knowledge to the test and enjoy an evening of friendly competition at the Robbie Mac PFA Trivia Night that will be held on Saturday, 24 February 2024! After a highly successful trivia night in 2022, we are looking forward to welcoming all parents and carers to join us for a night of brain-teasing fun and laughter. You do not need to be good at trivia though to come along and have a fun night. This is an adult only event for us to enjoy unwinding and catching up with other adults … and you might even learn a thing or two on the night. If you are a new family at the school, this is a great way to meet other parents/carers.

Tickets are limited so get in quick and purchase them via Compass.

Find a team of 8-10 people or let us allocate you to a table. Once you’ve ordered your tickets, please fill in this form to let us know who you would like to be on a table with: https://forms.gle/ai1XeEpWNvDjanNCA

PFA

The 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 to raise vital funds for school improvements. Without volunteers, there would be no PFA.

All RMPS parents and carers are welcome to register as PFA members, enabling them to receive copies of meeting minutes, vote on items/actions and the office bearer (executive) roles as applicable, and be elected to PFA office bearer roles. If you would like to register as a member, please contact us for a copy of the registration form. Note that you do not have to be a member to help on events or attend meetings.

Next meeting: Monday 19 February 2023 at 2:15pm – 3:15pm. This meeting will be held onsite at the school.

Put it in your calendar – PFA Annual General Meeting (AGM): Tuesday 19 March. Details to come.

As always, thank you for your continued support and participation in making Robbie Mac a thriving and vibrant community.

Best wishes,

Wen Li (President), Elizabeth (Secretary) and Bård (Treasurer)

The PFA Committee

FREE Working with Children Check (WWCC)

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 about possible options. A check may take between 3-12 weeks to be processed.

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. 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

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