RIPPONLEA PRIMARY SCHOOL

Things to know 

ASSEMBLY FRIDAY 2 FEBRUARY AT 2.30pm

With a 95% predicted chance of a thunderstorm this Friday afternoon, we are conducting a short virtual assembly which will be “zoomed” into classrooms and homes.

Please use the link below to access this assembly which will be led by School Captains, Marley Elisha and Teddy Evans.

 

Topic: RPS Assembly Friday 5 February 2021

Time: Feb 5, 2021 02:30 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84801881755?pwd=d2dQelF0SmFKSjZ2VFd5RkxqSjc0Zz09

 

Meeting ID: 848 0188 1755

Passcode: Ripper

WHAT SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ARE BACK ON THIS YEAR

  • Excursions and incursions - These activities will be charged through a ‘Pay as You Go' process. Payment and permission must be received before a child can attend the activity. Permissions will be collected electronically via COMPASS, whilst payment is made through QKR. The school can no longer accept cash payments through the office. 
  • Camps - Regional Victoria is open for student camps.
  • School Photos - Monday 1st March for individual, family and class group photos (more details to come over the next couple of weeks).
  • School Tours -Dates will be made available on our website soon.
  • Sports - Both indoor and outdoor activities including interschool sports.
  • Assemblies - Limited density with external guests can now occur onsite.
  • Swimming Program - Indoor and Outdoor pools are accessible for our student programs.
  • All Service Providers' Fee Paid Programs - After school, before school and during school hours; this is inclusive of instrumental music programs (Red Notes, Irene's Music School - piano), Kelly Sports, Immerse Drama, Robotics, Lego Club and we are soon to start tennis. Advertisements for these activities are located in our community classifieds.

CONTACT WITH CLASSROOM TEACHERS

We value the partnership between our parents/carers and teachers and remind families that if you would like to speak to your child’s teacher we would prefer you email them directly for small matters (your teacher's email address will be distributed shortly) or schedule a meeting if you require a more detailed discussion. We also request that you consider our teachers' working hours and recognise that responses to your email may take 48 hours as our teachers have responsibilities teaching your lovely children throughout the day. Please ensure that emails are not sent after hours or on weekends. 

 

Staff are unavailable during the following days and times:

Tuesdays 8:30am to 8:45am (Staff briefing) & 3:45pm – 4:45pm (Staff Professional Learning Session) 

Wednesdays 3:45pm to 4:45pm (PLT Meetings)

Thursdays 8:30am to 8:45am (Staff briefing) 

PRIVACY COLLECTION STATEMENT – INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND CARERS 

During the ordinary course of your child’s attendance at our school staff will collect your child’s personal and health information when necessary to educate your child, or to support your child’s social and emotional wellbeing or health in the school context. Such information will also be collected when required to fulfil a legal obligation, including duty of care, anti-discrimination law and occupational health and safety law. If that information is not collected, the school may be unable to provide optimal education or support to your child, or fulfil those legal obligations.

 

For example, health information may be collected through the school nurse, primary welfare officer or wellbeing staff member. If your child is referred to a specific health service at school, such as a Student Support Services officer, the required consent will be obtained. Our school also collects information provided by parents and carers through the School Entrance Health Questionnaire (SEHQ) and the Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) Transition Form.

 

Our school may use online tools, such as apps and other software, to effectively collect and manage information about your child for teaching and learning purposes, parent communication and engagement, student administration and school management purposes. When our school uses these online tools, we take steps to ensure that your child’s information is secure. If you have any concerns about the use of these online tools, please contact us.

 

School staff will only share your child’s personal or health information with other staff who need to know to enable the school to educate or support your child, or fulfil a legal obligation.

 

When our students transfer to another Victorian government school, personal and health information about that student will be transferred to that next school. Transferring this information is in the best interests of our students and assists that next school to provide optimal education and support to students.

 

In some limited circumstances, information may be disclosed outside of the school (and outside of the Department of Education and Training). The school will seek your consent for such disclosures unless the disclosure is allowed or mandated by law.

 

Our school values the privacy of every person. When collecting and managing personal and health information, all school staff must comply with Victorian privacy law. For more information about privacy including about how to access personal and health information held by the school about you or your child, see our school’s privacy policy: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx 

 

Throughout this notice, ‘staff’ includes principals, teachers, Student Support Service officers, youth workers, social workers, nurses and any other allied health practitioners and all other staff at our school. This includes employees, agents and service providers (contractors) of the Department, whether paid or unpaid.

UPDATING CONTACT INFORMATION – 

FAMILY DETAILS 

With only a few days into the start of the year we can assure you that things are going to get extremely busy for you and your children. It is very important to us that we maintain the highest levels of communication with you and across our school, so with this in mind we would like to remind all existing and new families the important features of COMPASS and why updating your information on COMPASS is very important to us.

 

Please fill out the following form and return this to the office if you have updated your residential address, email address or contact phone numbers.  

Change of Details Form.pdf

ANIMALS IN SCHOOL GROUNDS

We love our four-legged friends at RPS and love to see the many furry family members that are involved in the before-school drop-off and the afternoon pick-up. For everybody’s well-being and safety, please ensure that you are familiar with our school’s Animals on School Grounds policy https://www.ripponleaps.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/animals_on_school_grounds_.pdf. It is essential that dogs are under strict control of an adult owner and distanced as much as practicable from unfamiliar children. Whilst we trust that you know your pet to be friendly and obedient, we have a significant number of students who find the presence of an unknown dog quite intimidating. So please do take time to read our policy if your pets are likely to visit the school.

IT’S STILL THE SAME SUN

 

Growing up in 1980s Australia means that the words “Slip, Slop, Slap” are fondly remembered for Sid the Seagull’s jingle but 40 years on, one message stays the same: exposure to UV is harmful. Today in Melbourne, the UV levels are peaking into the ‘extreme’ range which is not at all unusual for this time of year. This is why we take Sunsmart practices seriously at RPS. 

 

So, please ensure you are familiar with our Sunsmart Policy: Ripponleasunsmartpolicy and have your child’s hat named and packed every day between the start of September and the end of April. And if your child asks why, take a stroll down memory lane by visiting https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/sun-safety/campaigns-and-events/national-skin-cancer-action-week and reinforce their message: “Some things have changed since the ‘80s, but it’s still the same sun.”