Student Leadership

CALENDAR OF EVENTS - STUDENT LEADERSHIP EVENTS - TERM 2

One of the most exciting developments this term has been watching leadership opportunities continue to grow across all year levels at Ripponlea Primary School. Our student leaders have been working alongside their teacher mentors to help promote student voice and leadership opportunities within the junior school.

Over recent weeks, our senior leaders have been helping organise and promote the upcoming Junior SRC and Junior Sustainability Leader voting process. Students have been visiting classes, speaking with younger students about leadership opportunities and encouraging students to put themselves forward to represent their peers and contribute positively to our school community.

This process has already generated enormous excitement amongst our younger students, with many eager to become involved in helping shape school initiatives, support sustainability projects and share ideas that matter to them. These opportunities are an important part of building confidence, responsibility and leadership capacity from an early age.

Since returning from the Year 5/6 Canberra Study Tour, our Student Wellbeing Leaders, House Captains, SRC representatives and Sustainability Leaders have quickly returned to planning an exciting Term 2 calendar of events. Meetings and planning sessions are already in full swing, with students enthusiastically developing activities and initiatives designed to strengthen connection, engagement and school spirit across the community.

Our student leaders would like families to keep an eye out for upcoming events and opportunities throughout the term. They are passionate about ensuring all Rippers feel included, engaged and connected through a variety of wellbeing, sustainability, house and community-focused activities.

We are incredibly proud of the initiative, enthusiasm and sense of responsibility our student leaders continue to demonstrate. Their willingness to contribute to school life and encourage others to become involved reflects the strong community spirit we value so highly at Ripponlea Primary School.

Student Wellbeing Team

Date	Event	Activity
Monday 22 June	This special day is all about encouraging every student to be proud of who they are to celebrate their strengths, personality, interests, talents and individuality. At Ripponlea, we want every Ripper to know that they are valued for being themselves and that our differences help make our community strong, creative and connected. The message behind Be Yourself Day is simple: Be true to yourself. Love the person you are. Celebrate your strengths, character, interests and talents because no one can dull your bright light. Students are encouraged to express themselves in positive and creative ways, whether through conversations, classroom activities, art, writing or sharing the things they are passionate about. The day will focus on confidence, belonging, kindness and self-acceptance, while also encouraging students to appreciate and celebrate the uniqueness of others. Our Student Wellbeing Leaders have been passionate about developing this initiative because they want all students to feel safe, included and proud of who they are both inside and outside the classroom. More information about Be Yourself Day activities and celebrations will be shared with families soon.	Our Student Wellbeing Leaders have been passionate about developing this initiative because they want all students to feel safe, included and proud of who they are both inside and outside the classroom. More information about Be Yourself Day activities and celebrations will be shared with families soon.

Date

Event

Activity

Monday 22 June

This special day is all about encouraging every student to be proud of who they are to celebrate their strengths, personality, interests, talents and individuality. At Ripponlea, we want every Ripper to know that they are valued for being themselves and that our differences help make our community strong, creative and connected.

The message behind Be Yourself Day is simple:

Be true to yourself. Love the person you are. Celebrate your strengths, character, interests and talents because no one can dull your bright light.

Students are encouraged to express themselves in positive and creative ways, whether through conversations, classroom activities, art, writing or sharing the things they are passionate about. The day will focus on confidence, belonging, kindness and self-acceptance, while also encouraging students to appreciate and celebrate the uniqueness of others.

Our Student Wellbeing Leaders have been passionate about developing this initiative because they want all students to feel safe, included and proud of who they are both inside and outside the classroom.

More information about Be Yourself Day activities and celebrations will be shared with families soon.

House Captains

Date	Event	Activity
Friday 15 May	Active Paths Project Launch We are incredibly excited to officially launch our new Active Paths initiative on Friday 15th May. Active Paths are for safe, fun and community-focused walking and riding routes designed to encourage students and families to actively travel to school. The project has been developed through a wonderful partnership between our student leaders, staff, local council and Bicycle Network, with students playing an important role in helping identify routes that are safe, accessible and enjoyable for families. You may have already noticed some of the colourful ActivePaths markings appearing around the school, including near the Foundation gates and basketball entrance. These visual markers help guide students and families along the recommended routes while also promoting road safety, physical activity and community connection. To celebrate the launch, school staff and representatives from Bicycle Network will lead students and families along each of the four ActivePaths routes on the morning of Friday 15th May.	Families are invited to join the walking or riding group of their choice, with all groups meeting at their designated starting point at 8:10am and departing promptly at 8:15am to travel together to school. This initiative is about much more than simply getting to school. Active travel helps students arrive feeling energised, connected and ready for learning, while also supporting wellbeing, independence and environmental sustainability. We look forward to seeing many of our Rippers walking, riding and travelling together as part of this exciting new initiative. We also have a special assmebly presentation.

Date

Event

Activity

Friday 15 May

Active Paths Project Launch

We are incredibly excited to officially launch our new Active Paths initiative on Friday 15th May.

Active Paths are for safe, fun and community-focused walking and riding routes designed to encourage students and families to actively travel to school. The project has been developed through a wonderful partnership between our student leaders, staff, local council and Bicycle Network, with students playing an important role in helping identify routes that are safe, accessible and enjoyable for families.

You may have already noticed some of the colourful ActivePaths markings appearing around the school, including near the Foundation gates and basketball entrance. These visual markers help guide students and families along the recommended routes while also promoting road safety, physical activity and community connection.

To celebrate the launch, school staff and representatives from Bicycle Network will lead students and families along each of the four ActivePaths routes on the morning of Friday 15th May.

Families are invited to join the walking or riding group of their choice, with all groups meeting at their designated starting point at 8:10am and departing promptly at 8:15am to travel together to school.

This initiative is about much more than simply getting to school. Active travel helps students arrive feeling energised, connected and ready for learning, while also supporting wellbeing, independence and environmental sustainability.

We look forward to seeing many of our Rippers walking, riding and travelling together as part of this exciting new initiative.

We also have a special assmebly presentation.

Student Representative Council

Date	Event	Activity
Friday 26th June	As part of fostering a love of reading and giving books a second life, our Student Representative Council (SRC) leaders are excited to host a special Second-Hand Book Sale on the final day of Term 2 — Friday 26th June. Following an extensive clean out of our school library and classroom novel collections, we discovered many wonderful books that still have plenty of stories left to share. In addition, Ripponlea Primary School was fortunate to receive a generous donation of books following the closure of the Shelford Girls' Grammar library. Our SRC leaders have enthusiastically swung into action to sort, organise and prepare the books for students to browse and purchase. This initiative not only promotes reading and sustainability, but also helps students build their own home libraries and discover new authors and genres to enjoy during the school holidays. Students are invited to bring along a gold coin donation to purchase books. There will be a wide variety of titles available across different ages and interests, and all funds raised will support future SRC initiatives and student-led projects within the school. We thank our SRC leaders for their organisation and leadership in bringing this wonderful community event to life and look forward to seeing many students excitedly choosing a new book to take home.	Book Sale

Date

Event

Activity

Friday 26th June

As part of fostering a love of reading and giving books a second life, our Student Representative Council (SRC) leaders are excited to host a special Second-Hand Book Sale on the final day of Term 2 — Friday 26th June.

Following an extensive clean out of our school library and classroom novel collections, we discovered many wonderful books that still have plenty of stories left to share. In addition, Ripponlea Primary School was fortunate to receive a generous donation of books following the closure of the Shelford Girls' Grammar library.

Our SRC leaders have enthusiastically swung into action to sort, organise and prepare the books for students to browse and purchase. This initiative not only promotes reading and sustainability, but also helps students build their own home libraries and discover new authors and genres to enjoy during the school holidays.

Students are invited to bring along a gold coin donation to purchase books. There will be a wide variety of titles available across different ages and interests, and all funds raised will support future SRC initiatives and student-led projects within the school.

We thank our SRC leaders for their organisation and leadership in bringing this wonderful community event to life and look forward to seeing many students excitedly choosing a new book to take home.

Book Sale

Student Sustainability Team

Date

Event

Activity

Friday 12 June

World Environment Day

As part of our continued commitment to sustainability and caring for our environment, Ripponlea Primary School is excited to celebrate World Environment Day this term.

Our Sustainability Leaders and students have already started preparing for a large community planting day across our school gardens and outdoor spaces. Students are eager to help revitalise garden areas, plant new greenery and continue building beautiful outdoor environments that support biodiversity, learning and wellbeing throughout the school.

The planting day will provide students with a hands-on opportunity to connect with nature, learn about environmental responsibility and contribute positively to the school grounds they enjoy every day. More details, dates and ways families may be able to support will be shared soon so stay tuned!

There is also excitement building around another much-loved Ripponlea tradition the harvesting of our school olives. Students will soon have the opportunity to help collect olives from our trees and learn more about sustainable food production and the journey from garden to table.

These experiences are an important part of helping students develop environmental awareness, responsibility and pride in caring for their school and community. We cannot wait to share more of these exciting sustainability initiatives with our families throughout the term.