What a great start to 2019 we have had!

Welcome back everyone and a warm welcome to all our new families starting at Rangeview this year. On Wednesday last week, it was great to see students and families return to start the 2019 school year. This year we welcome 101 new Foundation students and 12 new students from Levels 1-6 to the school.

We have 3 new teachers starting in 2019: Mitchell Clark in Level 4, Amber Somerville in Level 1 and Vikki Tzimos in Foundation. Lynette Ellis has joined the ES (Educational Support) team as the Library Technician. Welcome back to returning staff who have been on extended leave: Tania Balderston in support and Flora and Fauna and Khay Le in Level 3. Staff returned to work last Tuesday. I hope families and staff have had a chance to enjoy the summer holidays. 2018 was a highly productive year and 2019 is looking to be an equally exciting and productive school year.

New Newsletter Format- A Face Lift!

Our newsletter has had a facelift with a new format that is more compatible to smart phones and other devices. The View will be available through the Rangeview website fortnightly. You will see over the next weeks pages allocated to all the specialist areas (Performing Arts, Visual Arts, PE and Health, German) Library, Level teams from Foundation to Level 6 and Wellbeing. And contributions from RP&F, staff, Assistant Principals Kate McLeod and Marika Ferguson, OSHCLUB and so on. This is an exciting innovation with relevant information about what is happening in our great school.

Student of the Week (SOW) information is currently being explored on how to best alert families about up-coming assembly presentations with junior and senior assemblies. A letter will be sent home outlining the changes.

PUPIL FREE DAYS

All Victorian Government schools are allocated 4 pupil free school days per year.

The first pupil free day was Tuesday 29 January which allowed staff time to look at their targets and goals set in the AIP (Annual Implementation Plan), student wellbeing, start-up processes in schools and team meetings and classroom preparation for the start of the term. It is an invaluable learning time together and has also allowed a smooth transition for new and returning students over Wednesday and Thursday.

The second pupil free day is on Wednesday 20 February. We will be working on aspects of quality questioning by teaching staff to improve student engagement and learning. This will be off site at Park Orchards PS as part of the FISO network of schools. There are two remaining pupil free days for 2019 yet to be confirmed in term 2 and 3.

JANUARY WORKS

The school was a busy place in January with a number of projects undertaken. The massive clean-up of the grounds and veggie patches needed to be done in readiness for the start of the year. The installation of the new play equipment was completed and made ready for the first day of school. New carpet was laid in the corridors of the 2 main buildings and 4 classrooms. Carpet tiles will replace old carpet in the remaining classrooms over the year. The hall floor was re-coated and maintenance painting program completed. Unfortunately the replacement of junior boys’ toilet flooring impacted by flooding in November 2018 has not been approved by The Department of Education therefore Rangeview is now funding this necessary work. The work should be completely in the near future.

FOUNDATION 2019

On Thursday 31 January we hosted the ‘Cheers & Tears’ morning tea for Foundation parents, grandparents and other family members in the library. This important milestone was celebrated by parents and gave them the opportunity to introduce themselves to other families and ask any questions they still may have had. There certainly was more cheers than tears to celebrate the start of the year and the years ahead as members of our school community.

Reminder

Due to individual testing, Foundation students don’t attend school on the following dates: Wednesday 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th of February & Wednesday 6th, 13th & 20th of March.

Choir, Band, Lego and Chess

At Mondays' assembly staff informed students of the start-up of these extra activities offered at Rangeview. Information will be distributed over the coming weeks in relation to each activity regarding commencement date and times. Note the Lego Club Notice is included in this edition of The View.

School Banking

Rangeview Primary School has decided not to continue with the School Banking through the Commonwealth Bank this year. A couple of reasons for this decision is due to both our local branches at Brentford Square Vermont and Mitcham have closed and the number of students using the school banking has significantly declined over time.

SENTRAL

Sentral is an online portal for parents to approve absences, message their child’s teacher or teachers, book parent teacher interviews, receive notifications, access your child’s report. Foundation and new families to Rangeview will receive a letter with their access details shortly.

Parent Teacher Interviews

The ‘Getting to Know You Interviews’ will be held on Wednesday 13th February from 3.40 to 7.40pm (7.30pm last interview time slot) with a 30 minute dinner break. Families are required to book interviews online through the schools’ online system, Sentral. Information will be sent home with times and access information. New families to Rangeview will receive their unique access number to log onto the Sentral Parent Portal. ‘Getting to Know You Interviews’ are valued by parents, students and teachers. If you do not have internet access, please contact the school office on 9874 6381 for alternative arrangements to be made.

Foundation Families - Please note: there will be no Foundation interviews due to the interviews undertaken earlier in the year but an ‘Open Rooms’ will be held in the 5 Foundation class rooms on Wednesday 13th February between 6.00pm and 7.00pm at which time you are most welcome to attend.

SAVE THE DATE- TWILIGHT PICNIC EVENING Tuesday 19th February

Last year we introduced a modified twilight picnic on the oval with food trucks and entertainment. RP&F are working on plans for the evening so watch this space. More information will come home over the next few weeks. If you wish to help please contact the office.

CAR PARKING

Please be aware of the various parking restrictions around the school. The local council do enforce restrictions with infringement notices. The school car park off Churinga Ave., is for staff only, except for Out of School Hours Care usage or disabled parking.

PARENT CLASS AMBASSADORS

In recent years we introduced the Class Ambassadors scheme for Rangeview Primary School. If you are interested in supporting your child’s classroom teacher, please complete the form in this newsletter and return it to the office by Friday, 15th February 2016.

Flora & Fauna