Principal's Message

RPS COMMUNITY ROCKS 

What an incredible feat for our community as we transitioned to Remote & Flexible teaching and learning only a mere five weeks ago!

Throughout this process we have all been learning in a new way, stepping outside our comfort zones, challenging the way we think and do things and developing strategies and skills that have never been explored before. We can all understand that there are both benefits and disadvantages to remote learning, but in a such a health crisis, we are all doing the best that we can with flexibility, optimism, our community spirit and values at the core of each and every day.

We really want to say a big THANK YOU to the RPS families – you have rallied around our staff with immense warmth and support which has meant so much to us. You have endured the challenges of this crisis with outstanding levels of resilience and optimism and we cannot thank you enough for the reassurance and encouragement this has given to not only our children, but also to us as adults. Again you have proven what makes our school such a special place: the RPS community. You rock!

FOUNDATION ENROLMENTS 2021

Given the current circumstances and the difficulty in conducting school tours for the remainder of this term, we are kindly asking all current families who have a child/ren commencing Foundation in 2021 to please download an enrolment form and complete this form as soon as possible. The enrolment form can be found on our website - on the home page click 'enrolments are now open', once on the new page scroll down to find 'download our school's enrolment form'.

As part of the enrolment process we will be offering ‘Meet the Principal’ sessions via Webex Meetings, including a soon-to-be-released virtual tour of the school. If you have neighbours or friends who are interested in enrolling their child at Ripponlea, can you please spread the word regarding this opportunity? Please let them know they can contact our office Administrator Meagan Brake to organise a virtual meeting.   

ES APPRECIATION DAY

On Friday, we will be recognising and acknowledging the very important contributions made by Education Support staff at Ripponlea.

These special staff have many roles and responsibilities in our school and their dedication and support to all students, staff and the school is invaluable. Our fabulous integration aides – Mark Soroczynski, Natalie Pfaller, Fred Rubinstein and Kim Fitzgibbon – assist students with additional learning needs across the school, whether on an individual level or in a small group. All of them work alongside our teachers ensuring that all children are supported even when learning remotely.

Tania Watts-Hall, our incredible Intervention Specialist, facilitates learning support for all students in literacy acquisition from Foundation to Year 6. We are very fortunate that Tania offers both our MacqLit and MiniLit research-based programs. At this time, Tania is delivering online intervention classes to students and the feedback has been immensely positive.

Our office staff, Meagan Brake and Rachel Helyer, undertake a myriad of administrative and financial tasks that help run our school so smoothly. They are so welcoming and friendly and support our parents with all their queries each and every day. As our ‘front-of-house’ staff, Meaganand Rachel do so well to epitomise the values that we, as a school, hold dear.

This group of staff members make a tremendous contribution to the development of our students and put the CARE, CREATE & CONNECT into every day at Ripponlea and no words can truly show our appreciation.

RPS WALL OF GRATITUDE

As we remain at home for the last few weeks (and for some a little longer) there are always things we can do to improve and maintain our health and wellbeing. One of the most powerful tools to achieve this is to practise gratitude.

There are always things to be grateful for even in these current circumstances. Gratitude reminds us how special, beautiful and fortunate our lives can be under stressful and perhaps challenging situations.

What is your silver lining and what are you grateful for?

Jump onto our RPS WALL OF GRATITUDE on padlet and leave your message. One day we will look back at this, life will return to a new kind of normal and this will be hopefully a positive memory in your life.

Made with love https://padlet.com/natalierose1/wt7ct5egiic3gqgt

MS LUCA – YOU ARE A TREASURE!

Experts tell us to look for a silver lining to help cope in a crisis and we certainly don’t have to look very hard to find our hidden treasure. Many hearts sank at the end of last year when Ms Luca (or Ms D as she has been known) announced that she was planning to spend much of 2020 travelling. Like so many others, Ms Luca’s holidays have been sadly put on hold; however, this misfortune has opened up an unexpected and exciting opportunity to have her come in to school to supervise students who need to access learning onsite.

Having Ms Luca onsite means that our students are really well supported with their access to remote and flexible learning and this, in turn, has not only been a great help to those students to be engaged remotely, but also a huge benefit to all of the RPS staff. With Ms Luca’s sure-footed supervision onsite, teachers have been able to maximise their time to focus on their online teaching and learning programs. There is no doubt that this has relieved pressure from teachers as they have quickly adapted to this new realm of schooling. On behalf of us all – children, families and the staff – we say thank you Ms Luca for your wonderful support.

Stay Safe...... 

                                  Natalie Rose                              Jess Grey

                                     Principal                            Assistant Principal