From the Principal Team

‘Active learners: move, make, motivate’

This week across Victoria is a celebration of education with a variety of activities and events recognising the importance of public education. This year's theme follows the above motto, 'Active learners: move, make, motivate'. 

One of the longstanding beliefs at RNPS has been the critical role of students being active agents in their own learning and as citizens of their community. 

Learning is not something that is done to a person, it requires the active engagement of the person learning and therein lies the joy and challenge of schools. 

Teachers can try to create environments that are conducive to learning, that encourage and motivate students to want to learn and then design learning sequences for the students to participate in that result in growth and evolution. 

However, as the old saying goes, "you can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink." 

That critical moment, the most valuable part of the learning process relies on the student taking that step forward. 

I am always so proud of the students at RNPS as I move through classrooms and see how they approach challenges and get involved in their learning. I will often ask students what they are learning at that moment and without fail the students are able to articulate what they are developing or practising and can describe what has come before and what they are working towards in the learning sequence.  

I am sure that for many parents you receive little more than 'nothing' or 'not much' to queries about what they have been doing, but hopefully with a little digging they can elaborate more for you. 

This year's theme also leads me to thinking of the work we have been doing with the TransformEd team at Deakin University. This research unit has been developing guidance for teachers about how to create more physically active pedagogies that avoid the extreme sedentary nature of traditional learning. Through a variety of simple innovations and inclusions, teachers develop teaching and learning approaches that promote physical activity and movement, avoiding long periods of sitting that lead to disengagement and fatigue. 

For so long, education has been portrayed as a passive process - 'sit, stay quiet, learn' but nothing could be further from the truth. I'm pleased to see that examples of this are being celebrated throughout the state this week. 

Enrolments Open

A reminder to any families with children ready to start school in 2024 that enrolments are now open. We encourage all sibling enrolments to be completed in Term 2. See the office for more information. 

If you have friends, neighbours or family members whose children are starting school next year, please encourage them to choose RNPS. Each Prep enrolment in future years helps ensure the continued provision of programs and services for all students year-after-year. 

Sheen Panel Services: Platinum Sponsor

A massive thank you to Sheen Panel Services (one of our school community businesses) who we are thrilled to announce as the Platinum Sponsor for the Ringwood North Family Festival. See our RNFF page for more details.