2023 Edition 10 15-06-2023

Principal's Message - Mrs Meyrick

As we approach the end of yet another wonderful term, I would like to take a moment to appreciate all our students and families for their continuous efforts, dedication, and support. We have journeyed together through numerous learning experiences, and it's always an honour to see each child grow and blossom into EPIC learners.

I am excited to announce that enrolments for 2024 are now open! We have already had our first 2024 enrolment!

We look forward to welcoming new students into our vibrant and thriving community. For detailed information regarding the enrolment process, please visit our school website at https://ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au/enrolments.

We invite all families to join us for our next Parents and Citizens (P&C) meeting on the 20th of June. These meetings play a critical role in shaping our school community and your voice matters! A heartfelt thank you goes out to our hardworking P&C members who put together the Billy G's Cookie Dough fundraiser. A whopping 481 tubs of cookie dough were sold, raising $1924, which will be used to purchase our new School Mascot! Your efforts truly make a difference.

In sporting news, we want to wish the best of luck to our talented Cheer team as they prepare to compete in the State Championships this weekend. We know you will do us proud. Go Ripley Central Cheerettes!

We're also excitedly anticipating the Passion Project Fair on Thursday, 22nd June at 2pm. Our students and staff have been pouring their hearts into these projects and we can't wait to see their innovative and creative outcomes. We look forward to sharing this moment with you, celebrating our students' talents and passions.

As the term winds down, we hope you all have a safe and relaxing holiday break. May it be filled with rest, joy, and precious family time. Thank you once again for your unwavering support and commitment to our school community.

Mrs Wuanita Meyrick| Foundation  Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Yager

This term our Year 3 students have been embarking on an inquiry-based exploration as part of their HASS unit, demonstrating exceptional engagement and enthusiasm.

In the true spirit of problem-based learning (PBL), students chose real-life issues within our school community that mattered to them. This approach empowers learners to understand the world around them by exploring genuine problems and seeking potential solutions, thereby forging stronger connections with the community.

Their journey began with understanding the importance of rules and decision-making processes, illuminating the pivotal role each one of us plays in our community's wellbeing. This exploration laid the foundation for our students to build on, illustrating that every member's voice counts in a democratic society.

In the pursuit of solutions, our students adopted research strategies that include seeking information and engaging in insightful conversations with fellow students and community members. The process has been enriching, providing them with a comprehensive perspective on their chosen problems. It is heart-warming to observe their curiosity and commitment to social responsibility.

Currently, our Year 3 students are brainstorming solutions to address their chosen problems, reinforcing their critical thinking skills and team collaboration. The next phase will see them draft a plan detailing how their potential solutions could make a significant difference in our school community.

We are incredibly proud of the progress they've made so far. Their proactive approach in addressing these community issues has allowed them to grow in confidence and truly engage with the school community in meaningful ways. It is exciting to see how these young minds are stepping up to foster a positive environment within our school.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is grounded in the belief that education should not only be informative but also transformative. Your continued support and encouragement play a key role in making these learning experiences even more enriching and empowering for our EPIC learners.

Ms Petra Yager | Foundation Deputy Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Swadling

Letter Reversals – PLD Parent Information

Many young children reverse letters because they lack familiarity with the symbols.  While this is a common occurrence in the Early Years, Foundation and early Year 1 when learning to write letters, ideally, reversals should not be present beyond seven years of age.

Verbal Cues and Starting Points

It is valuable to learn letters as movements rather than as visual shapes.  This gives children a mechanism for remembering visually confusing letters. If the letters are taught effectively, with starting points and verbal cues, the motor memory of each letter will be paired with the phoneme and reversals will be minimised.

Tips for Dealing with Reversals

Remember, ongoing practice copying the letter is always preferable to continuing to practice it incorrectly.

1. Ample practice is important to enable over-learning of new movements to occur.
2. Choose one reversal per session to focus on, demonstrate first, then your child imitates.
3. Verbal cues are crucial to reinforce correct letter formation.
4. Use starting points and direction arrows.
5. Use the non-dominant index finger (as well as the dominant index finger) to trace the direction of the letter.
6. Teach ways to discriminate confused letters.
7. Use a multi-sensory approach to teach the letters eg. Students write letters in the air with their pointer finger the large arm movements (try it with eyes open, then eyes closed).
8. For children with persistent reversals, the use of a desk template is helpful as it provides a model of the particular letter(s) to copy as required.

Children who Continue to Reverse Letters

Students who continue to reverse letters may experience difficulty with positions-in-space.  The confusion relates to the position the parts of the letter(s) occupy in relation to one another (ie. Is the circle to the left or the right of the line?) and the position the symbol occupies in the overall space of the paper (ie is the symbol formed above or below the writing line on the paper?)

The images below are the correct formation of some of the tricky letters learned so far this year along with the verbal cues for the letter formation.  If your child is still writing their name in capital letters, this is the perfect starting point for correcting at home as well.



Ms Fiona Swadling | Foundation Deputy Principal

Business Manager's Message - Mrs Van Der Zee

HR

On behalf of everyone at Ripley Central SS, I would like to wish our Cleaner Ray all the very best with his new endeavours.  Ray has been a part of our cleaning team during semester one.  Thank you Ray for your help around our school this semester, we wish you well.

A big thank you also to Mrs Mason and Mrs Fletcher who have been working at our school over the past six weeks as Teacher Aides. Mrs Fletcher's last day with us is this Friday and Mrs Mason’s final day with us is next Friday.

Money Days

From next term the office can only accept payments on a Tuesday and Thursday.  EFT only will be accepted on Tuesdays and EFT and correct cash will be accepted on Thursdays.  If you wish to make payments outside of these days, please use QParents or BPoint.

If you or anyone you know would like to be a part of our cleaning team on a relief basis, please forward your details to me at bsm@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au

Mrs Danielle Van Der Zee | Foundation Business Manager

Support staff recognition week

This week we say a special thank you to our school support staff. Thank you to our Cleaning team, our Admin team, our Senior Computer Assistant and our School's Officer. You are all EPIC!

We love having you all as part of our team and value the work you do each and every day to make our school cleaner, safer, beautiful and well managed. 

2024 Enrolments Prep to Year 6 open now!

In-catchment enrolments for 2024 are now open! You can download the 2024 enrolment pack  from our website and return via email (or visit our school administration if you are unable to complete it digitally). We will be only accepting 2024 in-catchment enrolments at this time.

Prep/ Year 1 Larrikin Puppet Show

On Wednesday 21st June, Prep A, Prep B and Prep 1/C students have the opportunity to participate in an exciting incursion involving Larrikin Puppets.

Larrikin Puppets will present a colourful and exciting puppet show featuring zany Muppet-style characters performing skits, jokes, catchy original songs and live interactions with the audience.

The puppets encourage the audience to dance, sing and play along. Larrikin Puppets will also demonstrate how all their puppets work.  This performance is a fun way to finish our English unit on story telling for this term.

If you would like to learn more about Larrikin Puppets, please visit their website www.larrikinpuppets.com.au .

There is still time to pay! Payment is due by 19th June. 

Term 2 Passion Project Fair

We will be hosting our term 2 Passion Project Fair on Thursday next week from 2pm. Your child can bring their Passion Project from home on Wednesday or Thursday ready for it to be set up. You are invited to attend and we look forward to sharing this moment with you!

FISAF Dance Team

We are so proud of our Ripley Central FISAF Dance teams! They represented our school with pride, courage and empowerment as they took to the stage. The sportsmanship they showed towards other teams was commendable and we can't wait to cheer them on as they have progressed to the State Championship in July. See here for the highlights video! 

Pyjama Day Success!

Last Friday our Student Council held their first school fundraising event! Thank you to those that participated, our school raised just over $200! These funds will be used to purchase sports equipment for the upcoming opening of our hall, outdoor multipurpose court and oval. 

Prep A

Prep A loved pyjama day and completed a number of activities. They made dream catchers and sleep masks, designed their own pyjamas and quilts, built beds for toys, did relaxation yoga and enjoyed a movie in their PJs in the afternoon. Check out the pictures below!

P & C News

Cookie Dough

We would like to thank everyone for their Cookie Dough selling. As a School Community we sold 437 tubs with a profit of $1748.00 towards purchasing our school mascot costume. 

Orders are due to arrive at the School on Thursday 22nd June 2023 (Passion Project Fair Day). With orders being able to be collected after School on this day – Around 2.30pm

Father’s Day

After a hugely successful Mothers Day stall the P&C are now looking to hold a Father’s Day Stall next term. We are on the lookout for local businesses who would like to sell their products to the students. If you are or know of a local business that may sell suitable products please email pandc@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au for more information.

Our next P&C Meeting is Tuesday 20th June – 5:00pm to 6:00pm. We would love to see you there.

Contacting our School

Our school phoneline for outgoing calls will come up on your phone as No caller ID, or Private number. We are unable to change this at this point as our phone lines are being diverted until Telstra connection occurs for our standard landline. You can call us on 07 3819 5777  phof if you need to contact us.

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

Phone - 07 3819 5777  (between 8.20am-3.15pm Monday to Friday - or school days) 

Please no longer use the mobile number that we used to use so please delete it from your contacts in your phone.