RIPPONLEA PRIMARY SCHOOL

Principal Team Message

AFFIRMATION TO HELP HARNESS THE DAY

You can rise up from anything. 

You can completely recreate yourself.  

Nothing is permanent. 

You're not stuck. 

You have choices. 

You can think new thoughts. 

You can learn new habits. 

All that matters is that you decide today and you never look back - Anon

 

VIRTUAL CURRICULUM INFORMATION NIGHTS

We know that our families are extremely busy and if COVID-19 did something positive, it was to arrange alternative ways for our families to receive information on the school’s delivery of curriculum through using technology to facilitate meetings from the comfort of your homes. 

 

Last Friday, we posted links to videos of our specialist programs and this evening at 5.30pm, all four specialist teachers – Andria, Susie, Rob and Danielle – are looking forward to meeting with families and responding to questions about their programs. 

Later this month, our classroom teachers will similarly present their curriculum information – stay tuned! 

STUDENT SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING – POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT

It comes to us as no surprise that our student’s social and emotional wellbeing has been heavily impacted by the last two years. Whilst our students are extremely settled in their learning spaces and communities, navigating the playground can often be overwhelming when ‘big emotions’ take over in managing their friendships and interactions with others. 

In our classrooms, we use positive language to frame our expectations of each other and we wish to transfer this same approach to the playground. The wellbeing and PBS leadership team are consulting with staff and students across the school on the behaviours that they would like to see more often in the yard. 

 

In many ways, we are teaching our students social skills and etiquette, something that has been missing for a very long time as schools (particularly playgrounds) build social citizens of the world. 

 

We never use the word ‘don’t’ do something but instead we reverse the statement into a positive. We thought as families you might like to try these at home. 

For example:

If your children are exhibiting physical behaviour towards their siblings, we would build an expectation around the positive behaviour we would like to see and make connections with the inherent values and what we want to teach. 

For example: 

  • “In our house we are gentle with each other to stay safe and be respectful” instead of “Stop!” or “Don’t fight.” 
  • “We wear our seatbelts in the car to stay safe” instead of “Put on your seatbelt now”. 
  • “We wait until others have finished talking before we talk to show respect and good manners” instead of “Don’t interrupt”. 
  • “We use kind words towards each other” instead of “Don’t be mean”.
  • “We use respectful language in this family” instead of “Stop swearing”. 
  • “We take turns setting the table each night because we are responsible and care about each other.” 
  • “We knock before going into each other’s rooms’ to respect everyone’s privacy.” 

We unpack any behaviour that children exhibit as this helps them to better understand what they do, say and how others might feel. Then we start teaching what positive behaviours look like and the values that link to these.  Most of all, we always acknowledge the positives (and not the negatives) of what our children do so that we are not shaming children for not demonstrating the expected behaviour. Positive Behaviour Support always comes from the position of an opportunity for learning.

LIFE SKILLS GO

We are excited as a school to trial Life Skills GO, an online platform with blended learning opportunities to teach and reinforce social and emotional skills. The platform has the capacity to tailor learning to a student’s individual needs by taking a ‘weather report’ of their emotions over a period of time and aligning activities to suit. 

 

The platform has won the Life Skills Group national recognition and is evidence-based whilst linking to the curriculum, specifically to areas such as social and emotional learning, physical education and health. Independently it has been reviewed by the Be You program affiliated with Beyond Blue. 

 

We are so excited by Life Skills GO and invite you to learn more by looking at their website: https://www.lifeskillsgroup.com.au/go If you have any specific questions about the program, please contact Dominique Wimpole or Jess Grey at the school.

INDIGO ART THERAPY 

 

After the introduction of Indigo Art Therapy in 2021 our students haven't had enough opportunity to experience the benefits. Therefore, later this month students from Years 1-6  will have weekly sessions. 

 

Arts Therapists are mental health professionals who use art, media and the creative process – drawing, writing, sculpting, drama, clay, sand, dance, and movement – to facilitate the exploration of feelings, improve self-awareness and reduce anxiety. 

 

Creative processes can be a way for our students to explore and express feelings that may be hard to put into words and to find new pathways to healing. A creative Arts Therapy session is therefore quite different to an art class or lesson. 

 

Art therapist Natalie Barron will provide parents a short summary of themes covered in these sessions. 

CLASSROOM REPRESENTATIVES 

Our Class Representatives have an important role in welcoming new families to our school. Starting school isn’t always just daunting for kids, it can be daunting for new parents too! Therefore a big thanks must go out to our parent volunteers who have nominated to be Class Reps to reach out with a friendly and positive welcome. 

RPS is proud of its strong positive community spirit amongst parents, teachers and children, and encourages the active involvement of families in the functioning of the school.

 

It’s time for our community to rebuild and organise some social catch-ups, not only for our students but perhaps for families as well. These can be dinners, morning teas, social drinks, movie nights and, would you believe, they now have axe-throwing! Our Trivia Night is always a highlight of the social calendar and hopefully this presents another opportunity for families of the school to meet. 

 

Whilst right now we can’t have all community members onsite, please remember that the beautiful Greenmeadows Gardens is just around the corner where picnics and get-togethers after school can be a great way for your children to connect. We also encourage our families to use the grounds at the front of the school on the weekends.

 

All families will receive a class list for contact information. If you didn’t consent for this on COMPASS, you will need to contact your class rep/s directly to include you in the class distribution list. 

 

Our class reps will be a conduit for other parents to keep track of information coming from the school. Our class reps will not distribute information but will encourage families to seek this via the school’s communication channels:

  • Fortnightly newsletter 
  • Compass Information/Alerts
  • Seesaw Year Level Updates 
  • Teacher emails/correspondence 

STUDENT LEADERSHIP AT RPS

Congratulations to our student leaders not only in Year 5/6 but across the school, representative of their year level as the RPS Student Representative Council (SRC). 

Josh Burns, Federal Minister for MacNamara officiated the badge presentation in front of proud family members and siblings. What an impressive group of leaders we have this year – truly! They have launched into their roles with enthusiasm and have already organised a range of school activities to benefit our students as well as engage in social service. 

 

Later this term their leadership learning will begin at the GRIP conference where they will build their skills on how voice, agency and leadership integrate to empower them to have a positive impact on our school community and upon themselves. 

 

This year we hope our leadership committees will have the opportunity to progress some of their initiatives in sustainability, wellbeing, special events and the SRC.   

CURRICULUM DAY – FRIDAY 11 MARCH

We hope our families take advantage of the Curriculum Day to extend their long weekend while our staff finally have the opportunity to undertake professional learning facilitated by Charles Lovitt.

 

Charles Lovitt has been involved in Mathematics Professional Development for many, many years. He has co-directed several Australian National and State projects including for the Australian Curriculum Corporation and generated initiatives such as The Maths Task Centre Project, the Chance and Data Project and, more recently, the Maths300 platform. He is now a consultant and a regular keynote and workshop presenter both in Australia and internationally. Amazingly too, he is a former Ripponlea student!

 

Charles strongly believes that the wisdom of our profession is held by practicing teachers and we must tap into this wisdom via captured images from classrooms that allow us to all professionally grow and learn from each other. These captured images essentially become design pieces: weaving the pedagogical knowledge of teachers into a coherent narrative for others to consider.

 

At Ripponlea we have been heavily focussed on developing the literacy skills of our students, particularly in reading and writing. Now we feel ready to turn our energies and focus towards numeracy so that our students engage in rich and balanced lessons where mathematics:

  • draws on a range of important concepts
  • allows all students to make progress by catering for a range of levels of understanding; 
  • can be successfully undertaken using a range of methods or approaches; 
  • provides a measure of choice or openness, leading to a sense of student ownership; 
  • involves students actively involved in their own learning; 
  • shows the way in which mathematics helps to make sense of the world;
  • makes appropriate and effective use of technology;
  • allows students to make meaningful connections between the concepts they have learned; 
  • draws the attention of students to important aspects of mathematical activity; and 
  • assists teachers to decide what specific help students may require in to support or extend their understanding.

MEET SOME OF OUR NEW STAFF

Talia

Hi everyone! I joined the Ripponlea Primary School community towards the end of last year as an integration aide.

 

Since then, I have fallen in love with the school due to the warm and dedicated staff, friendly and enthusiastic students, and fun and engaging curriculum and extra-curricular offerings.

 

I come to the school with a wealth of education experience, and have really enjoyed using my education skills to work within a range of different year levels and settings across the school.

 

Each week, I look forward to learning more about the school and how it operates, and am getting to know more and more of the students.

Thank you for being such a welcoming school Ripponlea!

 

 

Matt

Hello to all! My name is Matthew Blake and I am the new 5/6 C classroom teacher. It is wonderful to be joining the Ripponlea Primary School community. I am overwhelmed by the warm welcome I have received and look forward to working with students, staff, families and the wider community towards a prosperous and fulfilling year. 

 

I am an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher with over 10 years’ experience in education. I originally worked in early childhood education before returning to study to pursue a career in primary teaching. Before joining Ripponlea Primary School I worked at Christ Church Grammar School in South Yarra.

 

When I am not teaching I enjoy playing golf, gardening, reading (crime thrillers are my favourite), listening to my vinyl collection, and catching up with friends.  If you see me around the school, please come up and say hello! 

 

TRIPLE P- POSITIVE PARENTING PROGRAM 

Since 2020, the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program has been providing a range of supports to families in Victoria. These are self-paced learning modules on a range of topics to support our children. They have recently released a program to help children learn to manage and reduce anxious feelings. We know how difficult it has been to source additional mental health and wellbeing services. 

 

The link below might be a very good start to:

  • Online support for parents of anxious kids (6-14 years)
  • Find out the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of child and teen anxiety
  • Learn more about what’s helpful and what can accidentally add to anxiety
  • Start applying new strategies immediately
  • New online program based on proven principles
  • Improve your child’s emotional wellbeing in the long term
  • Reduce your own stress, too!

https://www.triplep-parenting.net.au/vic-uken/triple-p/

AND BABY MAKES THREE

From building their own home to walking down to aisle it's been a busy few years for Ms. Dom and her partner Robbie, and now comes the most exciting news of all. 

 

We are delighted to announce that Ms. Dom is pregnant and loving it! We cannot wait to meet the new Ripper baby later this year and we know that Ms. Dom is in good hands protected by her 22 little 1/2B bodyguards. 

FAREWELL & BEST WISHES

Kim 

We are hopeful that our good byes aren’t forever but it was with a heavy heart that we farewelled Kim Fitzgibbon recently. Kim joined the integration team (aka the A-Team!) at RPS in 2018 and has been an indispensable member since her first day onsite. 

 

Kim gave much of herself to the role including a selfless commitment to the students and the school during the lockdowns. In each and every way, Kim showed integrity, insight and care in supporting students across all year levels. Perhaps unknown to those outside the staff cohort is Kim’s legendary sense of humour; she could lighten a mood and ignite rapturous laughter with her quick wit and lively banter. 

 

We are indeed delighted for Kim who has been another person lucky to secure a sea-change for herself and her family but we are ever hopeful that she misses us as much as she says she does and makes the trip up the coast to see us, even if only every now and then. So long but not goodbye!

 

Meagan 

It feels really hard to break this news to the community because we know that as our ‘front-of-house’ administration officer, Meagan is often the first friendly member of our staff that our families get to meet. For that reason alone, it is going to be very difficult for us to say goodbye to Meagan at the end of next week.

 

When you have a person as warm and welcoming as Meagan, it doesn’t take long for others to catch on and that is exactly what has happened with her being offered a promotion at one of our network schools, Bentleigh West. Here she will, we know, be glad to work alongside her friend in Rachel Helyer and take on further responsibilities in her role.

 

Naturally Meagan will leave a big gap in the hearts of us at Ripponlea and we wish her all the very best in her new role and the new horizons that await. Always a Ripper, we are certain she will continue to be connected to our community!

Until next fortnight!

Natalie Rose Principal

Jess Grey Assistant Principal