2023 Edition 11 (14-07-2023)

Principal's Message - Mrs Meyrick

Welcome to Term 3!

This term we continue to build our school curriculum development and improvement in the learning area of English. As a school, we look for deliberate connections between our teaching and learning and our school motto, ‘Passion and Purpose’. We work with our students to include their voice and agency in developing English units that allow them to show our school value “We are Empowered”. We look forward to another successful term in our classrooms.

At the end of last term,  we engaged in moderation of our English task to ensure we have consistency in making our student assessments. To commence the term, teachers engaged in a process of updating our school data wall. This helps us add a name and face to our data, to track our progress towards our goal of 90% students achieving A, B or C in English and 50% of our students achieving and A or B.  At the end of semester one, we have 80.5% of our students achieving and A, B, C in English and 40.5% of students achieving an A or B. We celebrated an improved achievement from term one to term two and looked for further ways to continuing improving this as we head into semester two.

As we move into term three, I direct you to our school website where you can learn more about the curriculum for your child’s year level (see the related links). If you have any questions, please see your child’s class teacher. https://ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au/curriculum

Mrs Wuanita Meyrick| Foundation  Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Yager

As the students return from their well-deserved holidays, I want to extend a warm welcome to all of you, marking the commencement of Term 3. I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable break, and I am looking forward to the exciting new term ahead of us.

With the recent school restructuring, I'm now overseeing 1A, 2/3B 4A, 4/5B, and 5/6A. It is a delight to have the opportunity to work more closely with the students from these classes and their families.

A fundamental learning area in our curriculum, English, is not merely about the absorption of information but more importantly, about understanding the purpose of learning. We believe that knowledge is most impactful when it is contextual, relevant, and purposeful.

Reflecting on last term, our Prep/1C students developed their storytelling skills, through words, images and speech, with their final task being the creation of puppets to retell familiar stories to their whole class. This activity not only enriched their narrative skills but also ignited their creativity and imagination.

Our Year 3 students from class 3A crafted compelling book reviews, attached to wrapped books. These peer-recommendations will soon be displayed in our Curiosity Centre, encouraging their classmates to venture into new literary journeys.

Meanwhile, our senior students in 5/6A delved into real-world ethical dilemmas, formulating compelling questions, and responding by creating their own persuasive TED Talks. These activities weren't merely academic exercises; they were empowering experiences that connected learning with the world beyond school.

Each year level's final task aimed to be purposeful, fostering a culture of authentic learning and empowering our students. As we continue to inspire our students, we help them understand the purpose of their learning and how it applies to their lives.

In this new term, we'll continue this focus on purposeful learning and the significance of understanding why we learn what we learn. I'm excited to witness the continued growth of our students and the innovative ways they'll engage with their education. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Ms Petra Yager | Foundation Deputy Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Swadling

One of our PLD key focus areas is developing Oral Language. There are milestones for oral language for young children.  PLD collaborates with speech pathologists and Occupational Therapists, and the following information is a milestone guide to identify areas of need, and some tips for helping to develop oral language at home.  This is a link that you can also access with useful information as well. https://www.pld-literacy.org/jp-parent-playlist%20

Now that I am 6 years old...

I should be able to:

Understanding/Listening

• Listen to lengthy picture books.
• Sit and focus in a class-based mat discussion.
• Follow a series of instructions independently.
• Listen to a story without a visual aid.

Speaking

• 6 year olds should be independent communicators with adultlike grammar and a spoken vocabulary of over 2500 words.
• Speak with no articulation or speech sound errors.
• Use language which contains few or no grammatical errors.
• Ask complex questions to find out information.
• Provide detailed answers to questions about the things they have done.
• Explain reasons for things happening.
• Retell a story without the need for someone to prompt them along the way.
• Independently generate ideas and sentences for assigned written tasks.
• Tell detailed news without assistance.

Play and Social Skills

• Keep themselves occupied alone on a task or activity for 20 - 30 minutes.
• Play fairly in complex games with rules.
• Talk easily with familiar people.
• Be able to maintain a conversation with someone about a topic for at least 5 turns in the conversation.
• Use words to explain emotions such as anger, sadness and anxiety rather than physical actions.

Tips for Home

• Encourage your child to retell you in order, a story that is read to them without reading the words, but remembering what happened.
• Ask your child to tell you what they did at school.(two good things that happened, 1 bad)
• Encourage your child to ask you when they don’t know the meaning of a word.
• Talk a lot about events that have happened giving detail and emphasise the sequence of events.

Causes for Concern

• Your child uses very short sentences.
• Your child makes regular grammatical errors such as when talking about the things that have already happened eg. I runned…
• Difficulty expressing themselves so that others understand their story.
• Child’s speech is difficult to understand.
• Does not sit and happily listen to a story.
• Has trouble following instructions and regularly forgets what they were asked to do.

If you have any concerns about your child’s language development, you might like to speak to your family GP.

Ms Fiona Swadling | Foundation Deputy Principal

Business Manager's Message - Mrs Van Der Zee

Job VACANCY

DEFENCE SCHOOL MENTOR

Temporary Part-Time - Eight hours per week

Available from July 2023 until 30th June 2024

Ripley Central State School is seeking to appoint a Defence School Mentor (DSM) who is passionate about the wellbeing of children and young adults as part of the Defence School Mentor Program (DSMP).  This program, delivered in schools is designed to provide practical assistance to Defence families and support the social and emotional wellbeing of Defence students within their schools.  The role is funded by the Defence Member and Family Support (DMFS) Branch of the Commonwealth Department of Defence.

This role provides specialised, on-site support to meet the needs of Defence students and their families.

If this sounds like a position you would be interested in, please see below for how to apply. 

Mrs Danielle Van Der Zee | Foundation Business Manager

Tour & Talk

Our next Tour and Talk is scheduled for 3rd August between 4pm-4.30pm. This is for families who are new to the area or moving to the area who would like a tour of our school, information and an opportunity to ask any questions.  You can check your address at the Ed Map website https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/maps/edmap/  There is no need to RSVP, please just meet Mrs Meyrick out the front of administration at the commencement time. 

'100 Days Older and Brighter Day'

Today, we reached a significant milestone in our academic journey - the 100th day of learning at Ripley Central State School! To celebrate this special occasion, our school community came together in style. Both students and staff showed off their creativity and enthusiasm by participating in our dress-up day. Our dress code was to dress up as a 100 year old person, or wear bright coloured clothing.

2024 Enrolments Prep to Year 6 open now!

2024 Enrolments open now!

We are now actively processing enrolments (Prep-Year 6) for 2024!

Start your child/s application now!

-Scan the QR code below

-Visit https://ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au/enrolments

-Visit Administration to collect a paper copy

What's been happening in 1A?

We have had a very exciting first week in 1A! This week we are getting to know our class and new teacher (Mrs Lawrence), we played some fun ‘getting-to-know-you’ games called “This is me”, “Simon says” and “Have you ever”. We have been establishing our routine and expectations and learning about our interests through writing. Our holiday recounts can be seen hanging up in the classroom.

Our class reward system has now been implemented. When Mrs Lawrence can see we have been an EPIC learner, the prizes we can earn are: iPad time (10 tokens), prize box (4 tokens), VIP Chair (11 tokens), Lego (8 tokens) and Free play for the whole class (5 tokens).

We have also started our PLD program and we are focusing on the sound “Sh”. The students were able to practice writing these sounds down on white boards and built words around these sounds such as “shop, shark and ship”.

In 1A we have already been able to enjoy our specialist lessons. Monday, the students will have Music, Health and Auslan. On Tuesday, the students have Drama and PE.

Introducing Mrs Lawrence, a new permanent member to our teaching team. 

HPE Update

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mrs Tolhurst and I am the HPE teacher. I will be teaching HPE to all grades this semester. What does HPE stand for? It stands for Health and Physical Education. Each year level will receive 30 mins of a Health lesson per week as well as 1-hour of Physical Education. I am very excited to be taking on this role. You may have seen me previously as our 4A teacher in semester one. 

About me: My love for sport started at the age of 4 when I started racing BMX where I raced at the Australian Titles. Since then I have developed a love for Athletics, Volleyball and Dance. Over summer, I volunteer my time to officiate for QLD Athletics. My dream is to officiate the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2024 and Brisbane Olympics in 2032. I was lucky enough to have been selected in 2018 to carry the Commonwealth Games Queen’s baton through Ipswich.

Local sporting events:

The Rugby League Ipswich Under 12 Girls Program is back for 2023.  In 2023 RLI produced our first team in the U12 SEQ Challenge and in increase in teams in the U14-U18 SEQ Female Competitions.  The program will be run at new clubs this year, with a similar format to last program.

We encourage all female players (and non-players) aged 10-12 to come along and join in the fun.

Please see link below for parents to register:

The Arts

For their dance unit, the years 4-6 students are going to be investigating different cultures around the world through dance. They are going to be choregraphing short dances inspired by the different cultures and time periods. This week they created a presentation inspired by an Australian Indigenous dance about native Australian animals. Over the next few weeks they will be learning about New Zealand, Philippines, Hawaii and America.

For their music unit, the year 4-6 students are learning about the history of popular music. This week they looked into Soul Music and how it generally has a large horn section, a strong rhythm and lyrical melodies. Over the next few weeks they will be learning about Jazz and Hip Hop.

Year 2/3 for their Arts unit started looking at Life-Sized Puppets, but watching the behind the scenes of the Lion King and then they took on big character movements. Over the next few weeks they will be looking at finger puppets and stick puppets.

The 2A students for their Arts unit, started looking at photos and the different types of photos that can be taken. Long shots, close ups, extreme close ups, over the shoulder shots. Over the next few weeks they will be looking at the different angles and how it influences the viewer.

The 1A students for their Arts unit are learning about the elements of drama. This week we looked at freeze frames and miming. Over the next few weeks they will be looking at movement, voice and character.

For their dance unit, the preps are learning about the elements of dance through animals. They are learning about the fundamental movement skills such as skipping, running, crawling, galloping and will have a new animal focus each week. Over the next few weeks, they will be dancing like elephants, tigers and monkeys.

For their music unit, the Preps-3 are learning musicals and helping to create the choregraphy for their parts. The Preps are doing a musical called The Best Pet Show. The Year 1s are doing a musical called Cookies – the Musical. The Year 2s & 3s are doing a musical called The High Seas. The 2/3B will also be investigating Music in the Movies.

Cheer

On Sunday 18^th June, the cheer team went to the State competition for 100% Cheer. Whilst the team was nervous before they got on the stage, they did a great job representing their school and finished their routine strong. The team is now preparing for our hall to be opened so they can showcase their performance. New students who are interested in joining cheer, could you please email: dp@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au

FISAF Dance Teams

Our Prep and Year 1 FISAF Dance Teams will be setting the stage on fire this Saturday at the Queensland State Championships! They'll be showcasing their exceptional skills and months of hard work at the Nathan Arena in Brisbane.

Under the dedicated supervision of their coaches - Ms Yager, Mrs Tolhurst, and Mrs Vines - these young dancers have worked tirelessly. Their commitment has been nothing short of inspiring, and they are ready to dazzle the audience with their adorable routines.

In the lead-up to the championship, our teams had the fantastic opportunity to train with international sports aerobic coaches from FISAF Australia during the last week of school. This unique experience has undoubtedly honed their skills and filled them with more confidence.

We wish our dedicated and very excited Prep and Year 1 FISAF Dance Teams all the best for their big day. We know they'll shine brightly and do us proud.

Community

Protecting our Koalas

Look up, look down, and make a difference by reporting koala sightings to the Department of Environment and Science through the QWildlife app! 

Your sightings are invaluable in helping to inform conservation planning and action at Local, State and Federal levels.

The QWildlife koala sightings app is readily available for both iOS and Android users. To get started, just head over to the App Store or Google Play and search for "QWildlife

Positive parenting seminars

You are invited to attend three FREE interconnected online seminars to provide you with a toolkit of practical strategies that will help you guide your child’s behaviour, manage everyday worries, and build healthy peer relationships. Attending all three seminars will provide you with the strategies you need to best support your child’s development and help them thrive now and into adolescence. 

Seminar topics:

• Power of Positive Parenting (Triple P Seminar) 
• Helping Your Child to Manage Anxiety (Fear-Less Triple P Seminar) 
• Keeping your Child Safe from Bullying (Resilience Triple P Seminar) 

 These seminars form part of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program.

 For more information, visit the project website: 

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.