2022 Edition 10 - 2/12/22

Important Dates

Principal's Message - Mrs Meyrick

As the term comes to a close, our staff will commence their summer vacations. I would like to thank them all for their work this term as we planned, created, collaborated and learned together. It has been a very rewarding journey for our team and I appreciate their commitment to ensuring we are ready for our opening next year.

From 9th December 3.30pm until 8.30am Wednesday 11th January 2023, our school mobile number will not be monitored, just like what would happen over a normal school vacation period.

We will, however, monitor our SRS email for Participation Agreement Forms (PAF) being returned and also our enrolments email so we can continue to support families who are just moving to the area. I know you will understand and appreciate that our office is officially closed, however we will monitor and support families over this period as best we can. 

Over the summer vacation, enrolments can be completed digitally and returned to enrolments@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au with the supporting proof of residency forms. If you are unable to complete digitally in the pdf, you can print, write and then scan back to us. There will be no way to return an enrolment to us in person until our school office opens. We will provide updates regarding this via Facebook. 

There will be more communication with enrolled families in January regarding uniform pick up/order, visiting the school and our first day procedures. Please keep an eye on your email and our Facbook page.

Thank you to everyone who has worked with us this term. It has been a very positive and productive term and I am excited for what 2023 will bring.

Mrs Wuanita Meyrick | Foundation Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Yager

Learn more about our Rock Band

What is the Ripley Central State School Rock Band?

The rock band is an extension to our Instrumental Music Program and is offered separately. The rock band will consist of students in prep or Years 4-6 who are passionate about music, performance and having fun while learning. Students must be committed to attending weekly rehearsals. The Prep rock band will run separately to the Years 4-6 rock band.

When do rock band rehearsals take place?

Students in 4-6 will rehearse for 1hr either before or after school during the school week. Parents will need to arrange for drop off or pick up.

Does my child need to know how to play an instrument or read music?

No.

Students in Prep will have fun toy-based instruments. The students will be learning the skills of performance, collaboration and play-based music while all singing to music played in the background. Please note they will not have professional instruments, rather toy-based instruments. Our prep rock band will be the opening act before our 4-6 rock band performs. 

Students in Years 4-6 will be taught to play their select instrument and will learn to play by ‘ear’ in the rock band. This means students will learn to play music in the rock band without learning musical notation. Most of our songs to begin with will only have 3-4 notes. Here is a little more about information for each instrument:

• Our guitar players will learn basic chords to begin with – e.g. C, G, Am, F, D and simply strumming in time with the beat.
• Our bass guitar players will learn the same notes (our bass player will only play one string/note at a time with very simple movement).
• Our drummers will learn a basic rock beat and may have 2-3 students playing the kit together until they are confident to play it on their own.
• Our keyboard player will play a bass line until they learn how to play chords.
• Our vocalists do not need to know how to play an instrument.

Does my child need to own their own instrument?

No.

For Term 1 students will not have the option to hire the rock band instruments. Students will have access to their instruments at school where they will remain.

If you choose to purchase an instrument, students are welcome to bring in their electric guitars and bass guitars to rehearsals and performances weekly (their amp can stay home). If students purchase a keyboard or drumkit to practise at home, these do not need to be brought into school for rehearsals or performances. Please seek advise from Ms. Yager before purchasing an instrument if you do not have a background in music. Some cheap guitars will not stay in tune or work in the school PA system.   

Ms Petra Yager | Foundation Deputy Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Swadling

English curriculum 

As part of our English curriculum we will be implementing a well-researched program for the teaching of reading and phonemic awareness.  PLD is dedicated to Promoting Literacy Development.  It is an Australian evidence-based approach to Structured Synthetic Phonics (SSP). Aligned with the Science of Reading, PLD’s SSP approach extends from the junior primary years through to upper primary years and thereby facilitating a whole school approach.  PLD’s method is derived from the disciplines of speech pathology, occupational therapy and education. It targets students Literacy, Oral Language and Movement & Motor skills.

The key elements of the Science of Reading and PLD are Phonemic Awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

In the initial phonemic phase, PLD focus’ on recognising the sounds of letters in a very particular order as opposed to the letter name or every alphabet letter in order.  For early readers to be able to spell and blend words, recognising the sound of the letter is more important. Phonics is about recognising the visual letter and letter sound connection to blend sounds and letters to make words. Fluency is about putting it all together at the same time. Fluent readers sound out or recognise words effortlessly and are able to focus more on the comprehension and meaning of a text.  Vocabulary is about building word meaning.  The bigger our vocabulary the easier and more fluent readers become.  Comprehension is putting it all together and understanding the text as a whole.  The Science of Reading reminds us that comprehension is actually one of the earliest skills children learn. They practice this skill even when someone else is reading aloud to them.  So reading to your child at home discussing and explaining what is happening in the text, talking about the pictures, facial expressions, type of text it is and types of punctuation is a valuable source of early comprehension.

Ms Fiona Swadling | Foundation Deputy Principal

Business Manager's Message - Mrs Van Der Zee

Student Resource Scheme (SRS)

We have started to receive completed SRS Forms from families, for which I have emailed invoices home.  If you haven’t already done so, please complete your forms and send them through so we can give you as much time as possible for payment.

Thank you to those families who have already paid.

Remember that the Saver Plus Program is available to assist with educational expenses.  Please see details below of how to utilise this program.

The Saver Plus Program is a free financial education program for families which will match your savings up to $500. 

Saver Plus is a 10 month savings program which helps ease the costs of education. Whether you have children in school, or studying yourself, Saver Plus can help you get ahead of your educational expenses. This program provides free, online financial education workshops and gives you up to $500 to use towards educational expenses.

The $500 can be used to contribute to items such as:

• Laptops and tablets
• Uniforms and shoes
• Books and supplies
• Sports fees and gear
• Instrumental lessons and activities
• Camps and excursions

Eligibility criteria applies.

Please click on the following link to register your interest.

https://www.bsl.org.au/services/saving-and-managing-money/saver-plus/saver-plus-enquiry-form/

Recruitment

We are in the final stages of recruiting our cleaners to start with us in January 2023.  Just waiting on some formalities to go through the system and we will then be able to introduce them to our community within the next fortnight.

This week we are conducting interviews for the Senior Technical Officer position.  We look forward to meeting the applicants and will hopefully have recommendations made for this position early next week.

We have this week advertised for a part time AO3 - Executive Services & Marketing Officer and a part time AO3 - Administration Officer.  These positions are currently advertised on Smart Jobs.

Last fortnight we advertised for a permanent Teacher Aide to start with our team in January 2023.  Again, this position is advertised on Smart Jobs.

We have also advertised throughout the wider community for casual AO2 - Administration Officers and casual Teacher Aides.  We will require a pool of staff ready to commence with us early next year, so please forward your resume to bsm@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au if you are interested.

Mrs Danielle Van Der Zee | Foundation Business Manager

FISAF - Federation of International Sports Aerobics and Fitness

What is FISAF? 

FISAF stands for the Federation of International Sports Aerobics and Fitness. It is a blend of sport, strength, fitness and dance! FISAF is for both girls and boys! You can check out the 2022 School National Title Highlight Reel - https://youtu.be/_R0CGcvngJM  

Can my child participate in 2023?

Our school will be running a FISAF Dance Crew for students in Prep and Year 1 in 2023. Students do not need to have any dance experience.

What am I committing to if my child is in the FISAF crew?

Students will need to commit to training after school for an hour each week. Competitions throughout the year are on a Saturday and parents will need to commit to transporting their child to each competition. Competition dates include: 

• State Series - 10^th June
• State Championships - 15^th July
• National Championships - 9^th September for qualifying teams only.

Are there any costs involved?

Parents will need to purchase white shoes and socks. Girls will also need to have their own stockings. There will be a FISAF SRS fee that will cover the FISAF uniform for the year and competition registration fees. 

My child is keen to participate. What next?

If your child is interested in joining our FISAF Crew, send an email to our Deputy Principal Ms Petra Yager at pjyag0@eq.edu.au. You will then receive a file containing the dance routine for 2023. You can have some holiday fun together as your child learns the routine and decides if FISAF is for them. In the new year, further information will be provided on rehearsal times, days and team formation. 

Employment Opportunities

We have some new employment opportunities that are detailed below.

You can expect to see advertisements on Smart Jobs shortly. One position is for another permanent Teacher Aide to join our team. We will also advertise for an A03 with two roles (part time A03 Administration Officer / part time A03 Executive Services and Marketing Officer. Both of these positions will be on Smart Jobs. https://smartjobs.qld.gov.au

We are also locally recruiting for a temporary/casual A02 General Administration position. If you are interested in temporary (short term contract in peak times or to replace leave) and/or causal A02 General Administration work (in the event of staff absence) please send your resume and cover letter to bsm@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au as soon as possible. We are initially seeking a short-term contract for 4 weeks at the commencement of the year (week beginning 16^th January) to assist with the peak office administration time of opening a new school. The ideal applicant will have prior school experience, be familiar with One School, Pass tab, One School roll marking and general administrative tasks in a school office. They will be able to work in a team and also work independently, show initiative and strong time management skills. The will show care and compassion in working with families and students and have highly efficient communication skills.

If you are interested in casual or temporary Teacher Aide hours (to replace leave or absences), please send your resume and cover letter to bsm@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au

The ideal applicant/s will be local, available at short notice (sometimes called on the morning of absence) and share the same passion and purpose as our school. Interested applicants should send their details ASAP for consideration as the successful applicants will receive induction and training as well as support to obtain a Blue Card. No formal qualifications are required to apply, however people with qualifications and experience in schools may be selected over those who do not.

Our cleaning team recruitment is almost complete, through the transfer process, and we look forward to introducing them to you. 

The advertisement for the Senior Computer Assistant has closed and the panel are processing the applications. 

We will keep you updated! 

Koala Joeys

Lawn Picnic 

On Saturday the 28^th of November, pre-preps and their families came together for our Koala Joey’s Lawn Picnic.  We had fun in the sun and heat, climbing, parachuting, cubby colouring and getting wet with water play.  Thank you to all our wonderful new families who came along to meet and greet other future prep students and their parents. Our new staff who attended enjoyed getting to know everyone as well.  We look forward to seeing more of our families across all year levels at our next school community event on the 14^th January, 2023, for  our ‘What we’ll build day’.

Uniforms

UMS had their pop up fitting days last week and this saw many families visit to try on and order. These orders (as well as any online orders) will be available for pick up from our on-site uniform shop before school commences. UMS will communicate directly with families who have ordered. Please also keep an eye on our Facebook page (or our website Facebook feed if you do not have a Facebook account) for details of opening hours and how to book. 

OSHC - Outside of School Hours Care

We are excited to introduce our partnership with Camp Australia, our new OSHC provider. Registrations and pre -bookings ARE NOW OPEN for 2023. Download the Camp Australia Parent Portal from the App Store or Google Play to access. You can also do via Camp Australia website www.campaustralia.com.au 

Any difficulties registering or booking, contact Camp Australia on 1300 105 343 between 5am - 9pm, 7 days per week. 

Camp Australia encourages every family to register, and then just those families who require planned bookings to go to the next step of booking. In the event of an emergency or casual booking next year, your child will need to be registered. By registering now, you are prepared for the unexpected next year. 

Licencing provision does have an enrolment limit, so do not delay, register and book as a matter of urgency. 

Our partnership with Camp Australia will be a long and positive one, with them now having an agreement with us for nine years. They are excited to be an extension of our school day, teach and uphold our school values and expectations and work with us to provide opportunities for our EPIC Learners. We welcome them as an integral part of our Ripley Central State School team. 

How to contact us

At this stage, you can contact us by phone, email or Facebook message.

Email – principal@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au  OR for all enrolment matters please email enrolments@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au 

Phone - 0499 818 125 (between 8.30am-3.30pm Monday to Friday *you may need to leave a message for later attention  *This service closes at the end of the school term at 3.30pm on Friday 9th December and re-opens on Wedneday 11th January 2023. 

Facebook message – via our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RipleyCentralStateSchool

As our team is currently small, please allow a reasonable response time. Your patience is appreciated.