Principal Team Update

WELCOME BACK - TERM 3 BEGINS

Welcome back to all of our students, staff and families! We hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful break and had the opportunity to rest, recharge and spend quality time together.

It is hard to believe we are already halfway through the school year. As a school community, we continue to grow stronger every day, embracing opportunities to learn, connect and thrive together.

Judging by our first week back, it has been a fantastic start to Term 3. Our staff have commented on how quickly students settled back into school routines, demonstrating excellent readiness for learning and a positive attitude from day one. It is wonderful to see our school motto of Care, Create and Connect shining through in classrooms and across the playground.

We also enjoyed a fun and engaging whole-school assembly to kick off the term, along with our community coffee morning, generously sponsored by TheirCare. It was lovely to see so many families connecting with one another before school. Combined with some welcome bursts of winter sunshine, it made for a smooth and positive start to the term.

Thank you to our students for returning with enthusiasm, to our families for your continued support, and to our dedicated staff for creating such welcoming and engaging learning environments.

Here's to another wonderful term filled with learning, growth, friendships and new opportunities. We look forward to everything that Term 3 has in store.

GAGA MANIA AT RIPPONLEA PRIMARY SCHOOL

It didn't take long for our Rippers to be completely captivated by our brand-new Gaga Pit! One of the largest school Gaga Pits installed, it can accommodate up to 20 players at a time, making it the perfect addition to our playground and a fantastic way for students of all ages to play together.

For those new to the game, Gaga Ball is a fast-paced, fun and inclusive game played inside the octagonal pit. Players begin by tapping the ball as it bounces before trying to strike it with an open hand below the knees of other players. If the ball touches a player's knee or below, they are out for that round. There is no throwing, catching or kicking the ball, and players must keep moving while demonstrating good sportsmanship and fair play. The last player remaining in the pit is the winner. It's a game that encourages quick thinking, agility, teamwork and resilience, while ensuring everyone has an opportunity to join in.

The excitement was so great that some families even joined in for a game with their children before and after school! It quickly became the place to be during both break one and break 2.

With such enthusiasm from our students, we quickly reviewed and refined our playground timetable to ensure every year level had fair and equitable access throughout the week. As with any new playground attraction, there were a few moments when we needed to remind students of the rules and expectations. By the end of the week, however, those conversations had become far less frequent as students embraced the spirit of the game, demonstrated excellent sportsmanship and simply enjoyed playing together.

From our youngest Foundation students through to our Year 6 leaders, the Gaga Pit has brought smiles, laughter and endless enjoyment to the playground. It has already become a wonderful example of students connecting across year levels.

A huge thank you to our incredible school community. This exciting addition has been made possible through your fundraising efforts last year. Every dollar raised helps us continue to enhance our playground and create engaging, active and enjoyable spaces where our Rippers can learn, play and thrive together.

HOUSE ATHLETICS CARNIVAL - TUESDAY 28 JULY 

The countdown is on for our annual House Athletics Carnival 2026, and Mr Rambaran and Susie have put together an exciting program that promises a fantastic day of participation, teamwork and House spirit.

This year's carnival will be held on Tuesday 28 July at the Duncan Mackinnon Athletics Track, North Road. All students will travel to and from the venue by bus, ready to represent their House with pride.

Students are encouraged to wear their House Tops. as they compete for valuable House points. Our House Captains have already begun preparing their team chants and are looking forward to leading their Houses with enthusiasm and encouragement throughout the day.

Students will participate in a variety of track and field events including sprints, relays, long jump, high jump, shot put, discus and much more. The day is always one of the highlights of the school year as students challenge themselves, celebrate personal bests and cheer one another on.

We Need Your Help!

We simply cannot run this event without the support of our parent volunteers.

As a small school with a small staff, we rely on our wonderful community to help make the day a success. Volunteers are needed to assist with:

• Awarding ribbons
• Recording times and laps
• Collating House points and scores
• Assisting with field events such as discus, shot put, high jump and long jump
• Supporting staff while they supervise and care for students throughout the day

Even if you are only available for a few hours, your assistance will make an enormous difference. Every volunteer allows our staff to focus on running events safely and ensuring every student has a positive experience.

If you are able to help, please contact the school office and speak with Lee as soon as possible. Your support is genuinely appreciated and is essential to making the day a success.

Now all we need is great weather and plenty of enthusiastic spectators! We warmly invite families to come along, cheer on your child and support our four Houses—Bemin, Tunparrim, Warren and Booring—as they compete for House glory. We can't wait to see a sea of House colours, hear the chants echoing around the track and enjoy another memorable day together.

ELWOOD COLLEGE PRESENTS HONK! THE MUSICAL

We are excited to share an upcoming performing arts opportunity with our school community. Elwood College proudly presents HONK!, the heartwarming and hilarious musical adaptation of The Ugly Duckling.

We are delighted that our Year 5/6 students will attend a special preview performance on Wednesday 29 July, where they will enjoy an engaging live theatre experience celebrating friendship, kindness, courage and the importance of embracing what makes us unique.

Families are also warmly invited to support our neighbouring school by attending one of the public performances. Filled with memorable songs, colourful characters and plenty of laughs, HONK! is a wonderful production for audiences of all ages and highlights the outstanding talent and creativity of Elwood College students.

We encourage our Ripponlea community to come along and enjoy this uplifting musical while supporting the performing arts in our local community.

BOOK WEEK CELEBRATIONS AT RPS COMING SOON!

Get ready to celebrate one of the most magical weeks of the school year as Book Week 2026 arrives from Saturday 22 August to Friday 28 August. This year's Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) theme, Symphony of Stories, celebrates the wonderful way stories come together like the instruments in an orchestra, each unique, each important, and together creating something truly magical. 

Award-winning author and illustrator Briony Stewart has brought this year's theme to life with a colourful cast of imaginative characters, reminding us that every story has its own special voice.

Meet all the Symphony of Stories characters

I decided to try and show what stepping into a symphony of stories might be like. A huge colourful collection of characters bursting out of a book representing their different stories with weird and wonderful instruments.

– Briony Stewart

Maestro Pebbles is a well-respected conductor of songs, stories and formalwear. A regular musical arranger for fashion shows, Pebbles also owns and runs London’s foremost ethical-tailoring business ‘Penguin Suits’.

Pixie Pip is a piccolo piper who hates pickled peppers, but loves handmade tassels and coordinating outfits. A renowned collector of macramé plant holders, Pip has cultivated over a dozen rare mosses at their toadstool house in the woods.

Foxgloves, honeysuckles, jonquils… Phineas isn’t picky, he loves to play all the flowers in the garden. Whether it’s with the brassy sound of dewdrops inside a morning bud, or the sweet notes of scented night blossoms, he finds a beguiling tune to play at all angles of the sundial.

Grok is plying the Fahloodle Toungueflute. It is the celebratory instrument of the fishkeeper folk of the Lagoon Isles. It is a well-used instrument as celebrations are made for many daily tasks including greeting someone you have not already greeted once before that day or successfully moving your sea cucumbers to another patch of the lagoon.

Ember is a bright spark in the red-hot jazz group, ‘Brass Inferno.’ Primarily playing the harmonic horn, the sarussaphone and occasionally the spoons, Ember hopes to achieve a lifelong dream of playing a set on the top of Mt Vesuvius.

Brunhilda is a master of the lesser-known musical skill of ‘humming-whilst-reading’. She can get through thirty chapters of a moderately heavy literary novel and most of Paul Simon’s back catalogue without missing a single beat or plot point.

Boom! Bap! Bang! Taco is a tiny mouse with a big heart. He only just got his new drum as a Mousy Whiskmas gift from his Aunty Tequila. His parents tried to hide it on top of a high cupboard, but he found it and now the world is his stage!

After a life of petty crime stealing picnic baskets Bearnard discovered a passion for classical cello music. After forming a connection with a wayward young warbler named Figaro, the duo became famed for their operatic duets. They now tour constantly thought the summer and hibernate in winter at an undisclosed forest location.

Like the sound of flying by the seat of your pants, tooting your own horn in your favourite catsuit? Or do you get butterflies even thinking about performing? Either way, why not join your local Butterfly Bugle Brigade! Sign up today to meet our best-loved brigadiers, Lutz and Lofty!

Mezzo soprano, Prince Polliwog, comes from a long line of royal singers. His eight-times great grandfather, Prince Chambray of Pantaloon never received ‘true loves kiss’ after being transformed into a frog by a witch and turned to a life of melancholic ballads that spawned (quite literally) a long legacy of musical offspring.

Last Monday Borris decided to go and scavenge the bins of his local kabab shop, next thing he knew he was keeping beat on a tambourine, the head of a never-ending procession of strange creatures. It may not look like it, but it has filled his heart with more joy than a stale a falafel ever could.

Winston is a Dutch-lop rabbit best known for her exuberant acrobatics combined with phenomenal accordion playing. She holds the world record for most cartwheels done whilst playing a polka, and is an ambassador for the Leporid Aerophone Society.

At Ripponlea Primary School, we are excited to celebrate the joy of reading, imagination and creativity throughout the week. Our annual Book Week Character Parade will be held on Monday 24 August, and we invite every student and staff member to come dressed as their favourite book character.

Whether you choose a classic storybook hero, a modern favourite, a magical creature or an inspiring character from Australian children's literature, we can't wait to see our school transformed into a living library of wonderful stories. The most important thing is that your costume celebrates a character from a book—it doesn't need to be expensive or elaborate. Homemade costumes and creative ideas are often the most memorable!

Book Week is about much more than dressing up. It is an opportunity to inspire a lifelong love of reading, discover new authors, share favourite books with friends and celebrate the incredible power of stories to spark imagination, build empathy and connect us with one another.

So start thinking about your favourite book, dust off your imagination and begin planning your costume. We look forward to seeing our Ripper community come together for another unforgettable celebration of books, reading and the Symphony of Stories!

Happy reading!

CELEBRATING 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL

There is plenty of excitement building in our Foundation classrooms as our youngest Rippers prepare to celebrate a very special milestone, 100 Days of School on Friday 31 July!

Reaching 100 days of learning is a wonderful achievement and provides the perfect opportunity to reflect on just how much our Foundation students have accomplished since their very first day of school. Over the past 100 days, they have grown in confidence, developed new friendships, learned to read, write and solve mathematical problems, and become valued members of our Ripponlea Primary School community.

The day will be filled with fun, laughter and a range of engaging 100-themed learning activities that celebrate this important milestone. Students will have the opportunity to dress up as if they are 100 years old or wear a creative outfit inspired by the number 100. 

We can't wait to see the wonderful costumes and smiling faces!

While the celebrations will be lots of fun, they are also a chance to recognise the incredible growth, resilience and determination our Foundation students have shown throughout their first 100 days of school. It is a milestone that deserves to be celebrated by students, staff and families alike.

We look forward to sharing photos of the day and celebrating this special occasion with our Foundation students as they mark their first 100 days of learning at Ripponlea Primary School!

Until next fortnight!

Natalie Rose             &                        Marta Campbell 

      Principal                                         Assistant Principal