FOUNDATION 2023 - STEPPING UP

Last Friday, we welcomed future Rippers and their families to their first transition session. The excitement from the children was heartwarming. Everyone was introduced to our new Foundation teachers for 2023 and the well-hidden secret is now out there. We are delighted to have Stef Hoffner and Matthew Blake step into these vital roles next year. This is a most critical year for students as their teachers lay the foundations for academic learning, social skill development, love of learning and building their self-confidence, self-belief and resilience to succeed.

We have a large cohort of students who already have siblings in the school and no doubt their familiarity with our school community helps to ease them into school life. We extended a welcome to new families who we know will be well supported by everyone at RPS. By all accounts, Stef and Matthew reported that the children were so settled and many smiling faces were leaving the school grounds last Friday. On Thursday we have our second "Stepping Up" session in the afternoon.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE DAY - THIS COMING MONDAY 14 NOVEMBER

The Department of Education and Training has provided schools with the opportunity to nominate a day for all teachers to undertake their allocated Professional Practice Day. These days provide teachers with a release from their scheduled duties to focus on the improved delivery of high-quality teaching and learning.

The staff have nominated Monday 14th November to ensure they have adequate time to undertake assessments, focus on reporting and begin planning for 2023. This day is NOT a Curriculum Day, but students will NOT be attending school. Our School Council approved this date at the last meeting.

HALLOWEEN DRESS-UP DAY

Given the public holiday last Tuesday, we were pleasantly surprised with the majority of students attending school on Monday and dressing up for Halloween. This year was a hit with everyone and the costumes were sensational, creative and some even frightening. Ripper staff and students love dressing up for special occasions and we hope to have more dress-up days next year.

A huge congratulations to Elena in 56 who won the Halloween Cake Raffle! Our resident baker and chef Lee made an amazing white chocolate and raspberry-tiered cake, completed with spooky skeleton heads for the occasion.

SCHOOL COUNCIL - POLICIES APPROVED

At the last council meeting, the Governance Committee presented policies for endorsement. Policies are regularly reviewed for specific changes made by either the DET or reflective of the school's current practices/needs.

All school policies can be found on our website and we encourage families to provide feedback and participate in the consultation process. The Governance Committee convenor is Kara Merrin, so please reach out if you are willing to join or provide valuable input.

The following policies were endorsed. Please follow the link to read the updated policies:

* Yard Duty Supervision

* Animals on School Grounds

* RPS Child Safety Code of Conduct

* Volunteers

* Cyber Safety and Use of Digital Technologies

'EL DIA de LOS MUERTOS' OR DAY OF THE DEAD

From the 1st to the 3rd of November the Mexican 'El Dia de Los Muertos' translated as 'The Day of the Dead' is traditionally celebrated. Luna in 3/4A helped the class understand more about the cultural festival that is celebrated in her family. Despite its name, it is nothing to be scared of. It is a festive holiday.

A long time ago, the holiday was celebrated to give thanks for the harvest. Later, it became a day to give thanks and remember and honour the loved ones who have died.

Here is a description by Luna and Evi, who enjoyed getting to know more about the celebration with her friend. Thanks, Luna, The 3/4s appreciated the opportunity to learn more about your culture!

We hope it inspires other students to share the special things about their culture too!

'Marigolds fill the graveyard as people celebrate with delicious food and gifts to share and remember our ancestors. They put down their blankets to sit and spread marigold petals.

As they light their candles, each and every one of them shared funny stories about their ancestors who they will always remember. ‘El Dia de Los Muertos’ or ‘Day of Dead’ is a time to thank and remember our ancestors.

Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and South America. Many people still celebrate the ‘Day of the Dead’ in other places around the world.

People wear colourful patterned clothes, flower headbands and have their faces painted as skeletons. ‘Pan de los muertos’, bread of the dead, tamales and sugar skull cookies are given to children as treats. It is a special honour to have your name on one of these little sugar skulls.'

-Luna and Evi 3/4A

PLANNING & PREPARATION FOR 2023

We want to thank all families who provided feedback on their child's class placements and for being so understanding of our school's practices. Our teachers are now prepared to commence the process of allocating students into their classes for 2023. This takes a lot of time and consultation within a year level team, across teams and with the school's leadership team.

As we have indicated in previous correspondence, we want to create classroom learning communities that are harmonious in design and supportive of all student needs. Our teachers have in-depth knowledge of each student and are best placed to make these decisions. We understand the last two years have been difficult for our students, but moving into 2023, we have a firm belief that our students will be resilient in any class they join and expand their friendships and peer and teacher connections.

We would also like to advise the following classroom structures for 2023. We are conscious of the high numbers in a particular year level and have decided to allocate an additional class. This is the reasoning behind our decision to only accept two Foundation classes for 2023. We have a firm commitment to reducing class sizes, despite the financial ramifications. We are also dependent on families informing us if they are leaving Ripponlea, as this significantly impacts the employment of additional teachers and class sizes.

	Foundation	Year 1/2	Year 3/4	Year 5/6
Number of classes	2	4	4	3
Predicted student numbers	40	84	85	68
Average class size	20	21	21	22
Total enrolment	277 students

We are currently in the recruitment phase of the school year. Jobs are being advertised and panels have been formed to conduct merit and equity processes to ensure that we employ teachers who align with the school's values and vision and meet the DET's employment standards.

Families might form the assumption that there will be a large number of teachers leaving Ripponlea, however, that is not necessarily the case and such employment considerations are subject to confidentiality.

Once we have completed our selection process, we will be able to inform our community on which teachers will be placed in each year level.

SEMESTER 2 REPORTING

Our teachers are completing final assessments, reviewing learning data, collating a range of student work samples, and moderating with other teachers within and across their teams. This will enable our teachers to finalise each student's efforts, progress and achievements against the Victorian Curriculum Standards.

It is very important that families understand that comments in a report are a basic summary of skills, so we decided to be more explicit in our feedback to families. You will find we are reporting against other curriculum areas this year such as Science across all year levels and Technology.

We will release Semester 2 reports via COMPASS on Friday 16th December.

RPS SPORTS STARS STRIKE AGAIN

This year has been a massive year for sports at RPS! Our mixed Year 6 softball team is off to STATE finals !!!

Yesterday they took to the pitch in Cheltenham to play 3 games. In the first game, RPS drew, in the second they won, and in the last game the team came together to win by one run. Now that's what we call teamwork!

A huge thank you to our Year 6 parents for driving the students to the game and for cheering them on. Another shoutout to Mr. Leech who was our coach for the event.

We look forward to seeing our unstoppable team at States on the 28th of November.

Lets all wish them best of luck!

INTENSIVE SWIMMING PROGRAMS 2023

We are currently in the process of working with Caulfield Grammar School to organise our Intensive Swimming Program for Years F-4. We are very pleased that this has been offered which will significantly reduce costs for our families. Our Year 5/6 program is slightly different with a range of water sports and a Water Safety course. Learning how to swim is a very important skill every child should develop to reduce the risks of drowning and injury.

By the end of primary school, it is anticipated that students should be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills identified in the Victorian Water Safety Certificate. The certificate is awarded when a student can:

swim 50m continuously
answer water safety-based questions
perform simple rescues.

Until next fortnight!

Natalie Rose & Marta Campbell

Principal Acting Assistant Principal

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