Principal Team Message

Edition no: 5, 2023

As we head into the final few days of this term, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing staff for their commitment and care for our students, especially for supporting them to have such a positive start to the school year.

Everyone is feeling very connected to each other and optimistic about the year ahead. Our students have been very active this term engaging in many sporting, well-being and unique learning opportunities.

Please encourage your child to celebrate their success through the following prompts:

TERM ONE - STUDENT REFLECTIONS

What have you learnt about yourself this term?
What have you enjoyed about school this term?
What have you learnt this term?
What are you most proud of?

We never do things on a small scale at RPS and we thank our families for supporting all the events and activities planned. We hope our families are becoming increasingly comfortable coming onto the school grounds and into our classrooms. We hope to hold many more open mornings to share how our students learn and how we teach.

In Term 2, parents and carers are invited to attend a number of workshops.

Save the Dates: See things to Know

Writing Well Matters - Online free session
Raising Kids in a Digital World - onsite

CLASSROOM HELPERS PROGRAM

We are so grateful to have seen parent volunteers onsite throughout this term. Our second-hand uniform sales continue each Friday as well as the much-loved treats of Snack Shack on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Parent/carer volunteers have been incredible in supporting the school and students by organising our Welcome Picnic, assisting at the House Swimming Carnival and most recently cooking up sliders for our special food day. We hope to continue to see more volunteers as we have House Cross Country and more special food days for our students coming up.

Now we reach out to our wonderful volunteers to support our classroom programs.

Depending on the level, volunteers assist by participating in a range of activities.

These might include:

reading to children
listening to children read
leading a discussion or book chat
facilitating a literacy game
maths revision and practice
computer tasks

The range of activities is endless! Teachers will explain what they would like you to do and after a few visits, you will understand most routines.

If you have time to help out in our classrooms or around the school in any way this year we would love to hear from you.

You can get involved in the following ways

Productive Garden
Working Bees
Ripper Families - Fundraising & Social Events
Classroom Representatives
Sporting Events
Excursions
Intensive Swimming Program

The partnership between school and home can never be underestimated and we encourage parents/carers, grandparents or other family members to become active members of the RPS community in any way they can.

We do have guidelines and expectations developed for Classroom Helpers which are important to be aware of. These will be discussed at all training sessions held with Mrs Rose next term.

STEP 1: All volunteers must have a WWC - Working with Children’s Check.

Your WWC must be kept at the office.

https://service.vic.gov.au/services/working-with-children

STEP 2: Register for training in the Classroom Helpers program F-2.

NB: Registration is only required for one session.

Term 2 Dates:

Monday 15th May @ 9:30 am
Friday 19th May @ 2:00 pm
Monday 22nd May@ 2:00pm
Thursday 25th May@ 9:30 am

Please register in the following google form:

https://forms.gle/HYexbc3CMowisyMt7

OPEN CLASSROOMS - MATHS FLUENCY

We would like to thank all families who visited our classrooms for the open learning sessions and 'Curriculum Information' presentations. Many families observed and participated in our maths fluency sessions.

Mathematical fluency is the combined ability of students to recall mathematics facts and concepts activating their thinking, their number sense, the flexibility of thinking, appropriate and efficient responses to problems, the accuracy of their answers, and their understanding of representations in mathematics. Fluency skills help students think faster and more clearly, giving them the energy, attention and focus to tackle complex problem-solving and reasoning questions.

Strong fluency allows students to work and see success independently, growing their sense of autonomy and confidence, and helping them see whole problems as small, achievable steps.

CURRICULUM INFORMATION SESSIONS & SEESAW CURRICULUM BLOGS

We have released recordings of these 'Curriculum Information' sessions via COMPASS for those families who were unable to attend. The feedback from these sessions has been invaluable for our teaching teams.

We hope this provides our families with a deeper understanding of our curriculum delivery, year-level specific information and home learning opportunities throughout the year.

We encourage families to stay connected on Seesaw for our fortnightly Curriculum blogs and updates.

ANNUAL REPORT TO SCHOOL COMMUNITY

The Annual Report allows principals and school councils to share the year’s achievements and progress with the school community.

This includes reflecting on the school’s performance and explaining the impact of school improvement efforts on student outcomes. We held a special presentation to the community facilitated by members of our School Improvement Team.

The 2022 Annual Report has been endorsed by our School Council.

Ripponlea Pimary School 2022 Annual Report.pdf

SCHOOL COUNCIL - UPDATES

Last Tuesday, we all met as the official School Council of 2023. We decided that many members were happy to remain in their current roles and continue the great work undertaken over 2022.

Tarryn Holland – School Council President

Suzete Ribeiro – Vice President

Lee Wallace – Treasurer

Tarryn Holland – Ripper Families

Marta Campbell – Governance

Colin Smith – Facilities & Environment

Julie Pearce– Sustainability

Other DET Members: Natalie Rose- Executive Officer, Julie Nield, Braden Leech

Other Parent Members: Isabel Lasala, Kara Merrin & Romany Tauber

Meetings are open to all members of the school community and we look forward to many community events and celebrations. Most importantly we all work hard to ensure the best resourcing, learning opportunities and experiences for every child at RPS.

ENROLMENT 2024 & SCHOOL TOURS

We are reaching out to members of our school community to start the process of planning for 2024. Families with younger siblings are encouraged to download an enrolment form via the school’s website or collect a form from Jac Holzer our enrolment officer.

Please pass on information about our wonderful school and encourage any neighbours or friends with young children living in the school zone to reach out and come on a school tour.

Our School Captains, Millieand Aurorawould be delighted to meet them and relish the opportunity to promote our little school.

STUDENT VS TEACHER END-OF-TERM SOCCER MATCH

RPS was the host of the most awaited game of the term with our Year 6's taking on the teachers in a soccer showdown! We had some new teacher recruits showing us their skills, with the Year 6's giving them a good run for their money!

In the end, the teachers reigned supreme for another year with a score of 9 vs 2.