Wellbeing & Engagement

Welcome back to another wonderful year at Rangeview! We are so excited to have all of our students from Foundation to Level 6 learning, playing and engaging here at school. A special welcome to our new Foundation students of 2020.  

The start-up program

In Term 1 teachers focus strongly on the Start-up Program. The Start-up Program is a great way for teachers and students to get to know each other and to make the transition for students into their new levels easier. Lessons are designed to build teamwork and develop character strength. These kinds of activities build trust in the classrooms and allow students to have agency in their classroom agreements and expectations. Teachers discuss learning dispositions with their students and what it means to be a good learner. Many classes have been focussing on a growth mindset, building on students’ self-esteem and resilience when approaching new and challenging tasks. This links strongly with our Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships curriculum.

Cultural Diversity & Ability Diversity

We will look at cultural diversity and ability diversity this term. We are very proud of our cultural diversity here at Rangeview and we celebrate the traditions, customs, costumes and languages of many of our families. We will display a giant world map in the school foyer and each student will be invited to place two coloured dots on this map. These will represent the birthplace of each parent. We will hold a celebration day called Harmony Day on Thursday 26th March and we invite all students to come to school in the traditional dress of their heritage, or in orange which is the Harmony Day colour. More information will come out from your grades about this special day.

Ability diversity is the range of physical, cognitive and emotional abilities that people can experience and we will focus this year on hearing impairment. Students will learn about the challenges and strengths of living with a hearing impairment and we will all learn some AUSLAN. A better understanding of the challenges that face other children, will build our able bodied students empathy, inclusion and gratitude. Maybe you could learn some AUSLAN at home to practice with your child? There is a great website called Signbank. Choose Victoria as there are some variations between states. This website is a search dictionary which provides video instruction for words or phrases.. http://www.auslan.org.au/

Buddy Sessions

This week our Foundation classes met their Level 5/6 Buddies. It was a fantastic first meeting with the students playing games, working on puzzles, chatting about their hobbies and just getting to know each other. The enthusiasm was evident in all the grades.

Community Piano

Rangeview has an out of use piano that we have re-purposed into a Community Piano. This is now in the senior breezeway and can be played by students, parents, teachers and other community members. We are asking the students to play this piano respectfully and only in break times. Already it is wonderful to hear the music floating through the playground each day.

Children in Cars

Finally – a reminder of some safety around pickups and drop offs. Last year Ambulance Victoria responded to 1562 calls about kids locked in cars. One in eight were toddlers. One in five needed medical attention. Fifteen were taken to hospital. If it is 30 degrees outside it could be 50 degrees in your car. Please be aware of the dangers and don’t leave any children in cars.