Specialist News
WEETBIX TRY-ATHLON
Well done to our three Ripper representatives: Lucy Morris, Tom Morris and Bec Keon-Cohen who completed the weet-bix TRYathlon on the 10th March. The weather was just perfect for the day and there was a fabulous atmosphere with thousands of children taking part. Jo only managed to spot Lucy and Tom down there:
JUMP OFF
A massive thank you to all of the community supporting our students raise $7,010 for the Heart Foundation. This money will all go towards vital health research and education programs.
We’ve loved seeing so many smiling faces skipping on the playground and in P.E lessons. We learnt that skipping is great for our stamina, heart strength, co-ordination and helps make us happy.
Our Jump Off day that was held last Friday was a huge success ran by our tremendous House and School Captains All students completed 6 different skipping activities, some of which were competitions and won some prizes. House points were also collected and the results were:
1st Furneaux – 342
2nd Carrington – 319
3rd Loch – 301
4th Orrong - 290
You can see a few action photos from the day below:
Here’s our school leaderboard:
https://www.jumprope.org.au/fundraising/schools/ripponlea-primary-school
Congratulations to our top fundraisers who all raised over $540 each: Ivy Whyte (3/4C), Clea MacDonald (1/2C) and Evelyn Alpuerto (5/6B). All the 49 students who participated will receive their prizes in the next month or so, as soon as they arrive at school.
GRIP
On Wednesday the 12th March me and my fellow leadership students met at Ripponlea Station and took the train to the City and then walked down the busy streets to the Exhibition Centre for the GRIP Student Leadership Conference. We had an excellent time meeting new people from different schools and learning a bit more about leadership. I enjoyed meeting new people and getting lots of leadership tips. I learnt that there are four destinations on the people pathway; character, contribution, culture and cause. We listened to several different speakers talking about making a difference to a team and making a difference to a school. The day ended with a question and answer session and then we took the train back to Ripponlea.
- By William Russell and Max McQuoid (Student Council and House Captain).
DIVISION SWIMMING
Congratulations to our Age 11 boys relay team: Cohen S, Wynn A, Finley B, Henry K who represented the Balaclava District at the Division swimming and came a tremendous 4th. Miyabi had a green 50m butterfly swim, but is unsure of her placing. Well done everyone!
HOCKEY
Last week our Grade 3-6 students took part in a Hockey Clinic ran my Rachel from MCC Hockey Club. We learnt valuable skills and had tips from an expert hockey player to help us prepare for our 5/6 Inter-school sport and extend our skills in Grade 3/4 SEPEP.
Students went home with a flyer containing information about the club. If students are keen to get involved, they are welcomed to attend any of the sessions as per the information below:
5/6 SAILING
On Monday of this week, the Grade 5/6’s had their first of three sailing sessions as part of our swimming programme this year. The weather was absolutely spot on for our first attempts and it was incredible how much students learnt in just three hours. By the end of the session students were sailing away on topper boats in groups of two or three all having a great time. We look forward to seeing the developments over the next few weeks and wonder whether we will develop some future champion sailors.
GYMNASTICS
In the last week of term students in Grades F-2 will take part in gymnastics lessons over 4 days. This is ran by gymnastics4hire and is funded by a grant that the school has received. Students in Grades 3-6 will have this opportunity later in the year. If your child is interested in pursuing this outside of school, please check this out:
2XU TRIATHLON
The end of the triathlon season is upon us, and on Sunday31st March is the final one at Catani Gardens, St.Kilda. We’d love to see some more students having a go: (100m swim /3km bike/500m swim). If you’re interested then please check out this link and sign up: http://www.2xutriathlonseries.com.au/race-6/
ART NEWS
After a massive trip across the Pacific Ocean I am somewhat landing on two feet back in the classroom….just. I spent two months over summer traveling Central America then finishing in one of my favourite cities of the USA, Austin. It was a very inspiring trip and I have enjoyed sharing the highlights with students. The wildlife in Costa Rica was truly captivating. The biodiversity museum designed by Frank Gehry in Panama City was a surprising highlight.
So the last four weeks in art has been spent catching up, reconnecting and rewiring our creativity for 2019. Year 1&2s have had a short investigation into the work of one of the modern masters Henri Matisse with an emphasis on his famous paper cut outs. Their work is looking spectacular.
Year 3&4s have completed an introduction to weaving with paper…even made their own paper to cut up and use (see images below). This week they have independently constructed a cardboard loom to explore weaving with yarn and wool.
There are some pretty crazy looking wire sculptures appearing in the art room as the year 5&6s prepare a frame for their Giacometti inspired sculpture study. I love Giacometti’s work and speaking of travel, I went all the way to London in 2017 to see his retrospective at the TATE Modern. It’s wonderful to be reliving the experience back in the art room at Ripponlea.
