School Council President's Message 

SCHOOL COUNCIL TERM ONE UPDATE 

Term one has flown by so quickly and I really can’t believe that we are already in April. It was an action-packed term with many events for children, families and teachers! A highlight was definitely the Welcome Picnic where it was so great to see many old friends as well as make new ones. The Welcome to Country and dancing were a wonderful way to start off our year at Ripponlea.

School council has been newly elected and I would like to say a massive welcome to our new member, Romany. Romany will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge as she supports the governance sub-committee. A thank you to our parent members, Suzete, Lee, Colin, Julie, Kara and Isabel as they stay on council for another year. School council is also made up of 4 committed DET members Julie Nield, Braden Leech, Marta Campbell and Natalie Rose - thank you for giving up your Tuesday evenings to be on the council. This thanks also extends to our business manager extraordinaire Kate, who gives up her evenings to take the minutes. 

This year the school council is committed to establishing a Reconciliation Action Plan working group. RPS is making the commitment to Reconciliation and ensuring that authentic and meaningful relationships are developed with the local Indigenous community. If you have expertise or interest in developing a RAP using Narragunnawali please reach out to myself on tarryn.holland@education.vic.gov.au or to Natalie Rose natalie.rose@education.vic.gov.au and we will ensure a strong and committed working group is formed. 

At our last council meeting, a decision was made regarding Mother’s day and Father’s day. After taking on board feedback from the community and also considering our sustainability policy, we have decided to do one joint event of Special Person’s Day in early Term 3. Doing one event allows all children to be involved and included in celebrating important people in their lives regardless of their diverse family structures. It also ensures RPS stays committed to reducing waste and plastic consumption. Please look out for more details closer to the event to ensure that all children and families can be involved in the RPS Special Person’s Day. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teaching team on behalf of the school council and the RPS community. You had an extremely busy term and topped it off by delivering amazing curriculum information & annual report sessions that I can only imagine took an extraordinary amount of time to put together. I once again walked away from these sessions feeling incredibly grateful to have my children being educated by the wonderful cohort of teachers at Ripponlea. I hope you all enjoy a well-deserved term break. 

I hope the whole school community has a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to a fun and action-packed term two. 

Tarryn Holland

School Council President