2025 Edition 51 18.07.2025

Principal's Message - Mrs Meyrick

What a great start to Term 3 we have had as a school community. We have welcomed many new families and also had some families move interstate or internationally. Our current enrolment is 560 students in our 23 classrooms. 

We are still trying to recruit a HPE teacher to support our HPE curriculum and we hope to have Ms Porter return soon following an injury recovery.

We are excited about the many events occurring this term and have details in this newsletter about some of them. 

Enrolments for 2026 are now open for all year levels. Please get your enrolments in early to help us with planning and staff recruitment. Visit our website for details  https://ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au/enrolments

Mrs Wuanita Meyrick| Principal (and Year 2)

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Yager

Book Week 2025 – Book An Adventure!

This term we will be celebrating our Book Fair and Book Week, and we are thrilled to invite our school community to be part of the fun! The theme for Book Week this year is “Book An Adventure”, and our students will be diving into stories that inspire curiosity, courage, and imagination.

Our Scholastic Book Fair will run from 15th to 19th August in the Curiosity Centre. Students can purchase books under parent or carer supervision before school between 8.20 - 8.40am and after school between 2.45 - 3.15pm. It's a great opportunity to build home libraries and foster a love of reading.

The highlight of our Book Week will be the Book Character Parade on Monday 18th August. Students are encouraged to dress up as their favourite character for the day.

• At 8.45am, students will attend class for roll marking and the morning routine.
• At 9.00am, students, parents, and carers are invited to come dressed as their favourite book character and join us in the school hall for the parade.
• Classes will return to normal from 10.00am.

We can’t wait to see the incredible costumes and share in the joy of reading together. Let’s Book an Adventure and celebrate the magic of books!

Ms Petra Yager |  Deputy Principal Year 3-6

Deputy Principal's Message - Mr Geeling

Welcome back to all students, families, and staff for Term 3. It has been a fantastic start to the term, with our EPIC students returning eager to learn and engage in their classrooms.

In Week 2, we will be celebrating NAIDOC Week. Students will participate in traditional games and explore First Nations arts. They will also have the opportunity to engage in cultural food tasting, including damper and jam. We look forward to deepening our students’ understanding and appreciation of First Nations culture through these activities.

At the end of Term 2, we farewelled Miss Zheng, our Prep A teacher. We warmly welcome Mrs Taupo (Mrs T) to our teaching team and congratulate her on her permanent appointment. Mrs T has been a consistent and valued member of our school community in various relief teaching roles, and we are pleased to have her join the team in a full-time capacity.

Mr Alex Geeling |  Deputy Principal Year P-1

HOD Student Engagement - Mrs Ashby

Welcome Back – Everyday Counts in Term 3!

Welcome back to Term 3! I hope the holidays brought your family some rest and renewal. We’re excited to welcome students back and continue our journey together through another term of learning, growth, and connection.

This term, we’re placing a strong focus on attendance, as every day at school truly counts. Regular attendance helps students stay on track with their learning, build strong friendships, and feel confident and connected in the classroom. Even small absences can make a big impact over time - that’s why showing up everyday matters.

We continue to promote our EPIC values - Empowered, Polite, Inclusive, and Careful - in everything we do. These values guide our students to be active participants in their learning, respectful members of our community, and safe and inclusive friends to others. Coming to school each day helps students practise these values in real and meaningful ways.

If your child is facing any challenges with attending school, please reach out to HODSE@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au . We’re here to listen and to work with you to ensure your child feels supported, connected, and ready to learn.

Let’s make Term 3 EPIC -together!

Year 5/6 Camp Adventure: Living Our EPIC Values Outdoors at CYC Numinbah Valley

Our three-day camp was packed with adventure, challenge, and a whole lot of fun—but more than that, it was a brilliant showcase of our EPIC values in action: Empowered, Polite, Inclusive, and Careful.

Day One
We kicked things off by setting up tents, and while there were a few tangled ropes and some creative approaches to construction, students showed great teamwork and perseverance. It was a perfect example of being Empowered-jumping in, giving things a go, and helping each other through.
Then came the crate climb, where students pushed themselves (and stacks of crates) to new heights. The cheers from the ground said it all-every effort was celebrated, and everyone felt supported. That’s what being Inclusive is all about.
Later, we got hands-on in the kitchen and over the campfire cooking a delicious chicken curry. From chopping to stirring, students pitched in politely and worked together to create an excellent meal. We wrapped up the night with spotlight, full of giggles, torchlight, and some very creative hiding spots!

Day Two
After a bacon-and-egg breakfast that hit the spot, we headed into a full day of activities. Mountain biking brought out our inner adventurers, with students showing courage and responsibility, especially when navigating bumpy terrain and helping out their mates-perfect examples of being Careful and Empowered.
Next up was archery, where students took turns, supported each other, and celebrated even the near-misses-showing respect and encouragement every step of the way.
That evening, we cooked nachos over the fire, followed by the much-anticipated s’mores session. Safe to say there were sticky hands, big smiles, and a whole lot of sugar-fuelled happiness!

Day Three
Our final morning started with initiative games-team challenges that brought out creative thinking, leadership, and plenty of laughs. It was great to see students stepping up and working together, showing how far they'd come in just a few days.
Then came the big task: packing down tents. What started as chaos turned into a surprisingly smooth process thanks to teamwork, patience, and everyone chipping in.
We ended camp with a group reflection, where students shared their highlights and what they were proud of, like facing fears, making new friends, or just giving something new a try. It was clear how much growth had happened-not just in skills, but in living our EPIC values throughout the whole experience.

A huge thank you to the amazing teachers who gave up their time, energy, and sleep to make camp such a success. Your support, encouragement, and good humour helped create an unforgettable experience for our students-we couldn’t have done it without you!

Camp was more than just fun-it was a chance to challenge themselves, look out for one another, and build stronger connections. We couldn’t be prouder of how our students represented themselves and our school.

Mrs Kirsten Ashby | HOD Student Engagement

Business Manager - Ms Mitchell

Sick Bay Procedures – Keeping Our School Community Healthy

We would like to remind families of our school’s procedure regarding the use of the sick bay.

The sick bay is not a rest area—it is designated for students who are genuinely unwell and need to go home. If your child presents to sick bay reporting that they feel unwell, our staff will contact you to arrange for them to be collected promptly.

This procedure helps us:

• Minimise the spread of illness among students and staff
• Ensure students are properly cared for in a suitable environment
• Maintain a calm and efficient flow of care during the school day

We thank you for your understanding and support as we continue to prioritise the wellbeing of our school community. Your cooperation enables us to provide a safe and supportive environment for all.

Supporting a Calm and Safe End to the School Day

To ensure the wellbeing of both students and staff, we kindly ask for your support in following our end-of-day procedures.

Where possible, please try to arrange appointments for after school, allowing your child to complete their school day without disruption.

While the school gates open at 2:40pm for your convenience, school does not finish until 2:45pm. Teachers are actively engaged with students during this time and are unable to release children from class early.

To minimise disruptions and maintain a calm learning environment:

• From 2:20pm onwards, students will not be released from class for non-urgent reasons. This allows teachers to finalise learning activities, hand out communication box items and messages, mark rolls, and prepare students for home time.
• If you do need to collect your child early for an unavoidable reason, please do not do so during school breaks. Students are eating and playing and are unable to access their belongings from locked classrooms and unsupervised areas. First break is 11.05am-11.45am and second break is 1.15pm - 1.45pm. 

To help us maintain a careful and polite school environment please do not walk in corridors or go upstairs until after 2.40pm. Your child will be dismissed at 2.45pm. 

These procedures are in place to ensure that all students have a settled end to their school day and that staff can carry out their duties without unnecessary disruption.

We appreciate your ongoing cooperation and understanding.

Canteen Update

Please note that the canteen will now be closed on Mondays due to low ordering numbers.
Canteen will be available Tuesday to Friday as usual.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

Ms Karen Mitchell | Business Manager 

Head of Department - Curriculum

Learning Walls: Making Learning Visible in Every Classroom

At our school, every classroom proudly features an English learning wall - an evolving space that both supports teaching and learning. More than just a display, the learning wall acts as a ‘third teacher,’ co-constructed with learners and used daily to make learning visible, accessible and purposeful.

These walls are built throughout each unit of work, allowing students to take ownership of their learning. They don’t just show what students are learning - they support them to think about their learning. Students engage with five reflective questions that guide them through their learning.

1. What are you learning? Why?
2. How are you doing?
3. How do you know?
4. How can you improve?
5. Where do you go for help?

In many classrooms, you’ll see students referring to the learning wall during conferences, group discussions, and independent work time. They use it to clarify success criteria, revisit modelled examples, and reflect on their own progress. Teachers use it to anchor explicit teaching, unpack assessment tasks, and co-construct learning goals with students.

These spaces also evolve to showcase student voice - with annotated work samples, shared strategies, and co-created vocabulary banks added across the unit. As the wall grows, so does students’ understanding, confidence, and ownership of the learning process.

Learners interact with the wall daily. It is a dynamic, working tool that reflects the class’s collective learning and thinking. By being part of its creation, learners feel empowered, informed and engaged. It is a powerful way to build learner agency, clarify expectations and celebrate progress.

At our school, learning walls are more than visual displays - they are thinking spaces, feedback tools, and springboards for deeper learning. When learners know what they’re learning, how to achieve it, and how to reflect on their journey, they become empowered to succeed.

Mrs Tammy Ward  | HOD - Curriculum 

Student Free Day

Our school will be closed on Friday 5th September for the statewide, state school, student free day. Please make alternative arrangements for the care of your children for that day. 

School Zone Road Safety

A message from the Department of Education 

As school gates reopen, so do school zones. Please remember to slow down to 40km/h during designated times and stay alert around school areas. 

 It’s also a great time to have a chat with your children about pedestrian safety, especially when crossing roads near busy school zones. Together, we can help create a safer environment for every student. 

EPIC Lessons Week 1 & 2

EPIC Value of the Week: Problem Solving - Big or Small?

This week at Ripley Central, our EPIC focus is on becoming Careful and Empowered problem solvers by learning how to recognise the difference between big problems and small problems.

Across the school, students are learning how to:

• Identify whether a problem is big, medium or small
• Understand how they are feeling when problems happen
• Decide who can help solve the problem – can I solve it myself or do I need help from a friend, teacher or adult?
• Use helpful strategies to calm down and work through challenges

By becoming more aware of their emotions and problem-solving tools, students can respond in safe, respectful and thoughtful ways - a great way to show our EPIC values!

Coming Up Next Week:
We’ll begin exploring the Zones of Regulation, starting with the Blue Zone. This includes feelings like sadness, tiredness, or boredom. Students will learn ways to recognise when they’re in the Blue Zone and how to help themselves feel more alert and ready to learn.

Music News

Congratulations to the students who proudly represented Ripley Central at the Ipswich String Workshop this week. You demonstrated our EPIC values every step of the way.

Your dedication, teamwork, and love for music made us all incredibly proud. Well done!

What's happening in our classroom

PREP

On the last day of Term 2, all of the Prep classes came together for a cosy movie session to celebrate a fantastic term of learning. Students enjoyed freshly made popcorn, warm hot chocolate with marshmallows, and watched 'the secret life of pet'. It was a fun and relaxing way to wrap up the term!

On Tuesday, 24th June, Prep D students had a blast bringing their Big Idea to life from the story ‘The Gruffalo’! As part of our classroom experience, the children visited the Koala Kitchen to make their very own Scrambled Snake. They used green-coloured spaghetti, added lolly decorations, including eyes, and had so much fun creating (and eating!) their delicious creations. Afterwards, they visited other classrooms to have a look at the creations of the characters from the story ‘The Gruffalo’.

Passion Projects

Our Term 3 Passion Project Fair will be held on Thursday 18^th September at 2pm in our Curiosity Centre. All students are invited to participate, by creating their Passion Project to share and have on display. You can learn more about Passion Projects on our school website. 

Headspace - supporting a young person's mental health

Need help supporting a young person’s mental health? headspace has a range of expert resources and services that can help. 

💚 Partners in Parenting e-learning 

💚 Adults Supporting Young People text-based group chat 

💚 eheadspace 

💚 Self-help resources 

You’re not alone. Sign up today to support your young person’s mental health.

Canteen News

Upcoming School Events

Get ready to shine, Ripley Central!
We’re celebrating 100 Days of Glowing and everyone’s invited to join the fun! Dress up as a 100-year-old legend or come in your brightest, most glowing outfit.

Let’s light up the school as we celebrate 100 days of learning, laughter, and being EPIC together!

When: Thursday 24^th July

MADD Night – Celebrating the Arts at Ripley Central!

This term we will be hosting our very first MADD Night (Music, Arts, Dance, Drama) and we invite the whole community to come along and celebrate the amazing talent of our students.

Join us on Wednesday 13th August, 2025 in the Ripley Central State School Hall for an evening of entertainment, creativity, and fun. The performance begins at 6.30pm, with entry by gold coin donation. The amazing P&C and marvellous Maria (our canteen convenor) will have light refreshments for sale from 6pm, and again at intermission. 

The event will showcase performances from:

• Cheer
• Choir
• Rock Band
• FISAF teams: Razzles, Allstars & Comets
• Drum Corp
• Drama Skit Squad
• String Ensemble
• And more!

There will also be contributions from our Photography Club, an exciting Art Auction, and special guest performers.

We can’t wait to see you there as we shine a spotlight on the passion and purpose of our Ripley Central performers and artists!

Year 6 Graduation Dinner – Save the Date!

We are excited to announce the details for our Year 6 Graduation Dinner, a special evening to celebrate the incredible journey of our graduating Class of 2025.

The event will be held on Thursday 11th December 2025 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Brothers Leagues Club Ipswich, located on Wildey Street, Raceview.

Students are asked to dress in smart attire and can look forward to an evening filled with celebration, laughter, and memories. There will be photo opportunities with an open-air photo booth to capture the night.

Tickets for our Year 6 students will be available to purchase this term at approximately $45 per head. Invoices will be sent to Year 6 families shortly. Please note that only students will require a ticket.

Parents and carers are invited to attend from 6.30pm – 7.00pm for the formal component of the evening. Please note this will be standing room only, and we kindly ask that parents depart at 7.00pm to allow the students to enjoy their dinner and celebration. This adjustment has been made due to the large growth in student numbers and limited venue capacity. Families may like to consider booking a table at Brothers for dinner while they wait for the evening to finish. 

We look forward to celebrating this important milestone with our Year 6 students as they get ready to take their next big step into high school!

Student ID Cards

Last year we trialled the use of student ID cards to support purchasing at the canteen. We will not be continuing them this year as they cost our school $5 per child, many parents don't use them as they don't have the need and many children were trying to use them but parents hadn't attached them to their Flexischool account. Students who still have one from last year can keep as a keepsake or destroy. 

Parents not wishing to send their child with cash, can purchase via Flexischool app or website. 

Enrol now for Prep 2026

Second Hand Uniforms

As children grow, or families move from the area, families have the opportunity to sell their second-hand uniforms via a Facebook page created by our P&C. You can join via Facebook on the below link.

You are also welcome to donate any uniform items to our school, and we support families who are in need.

Student Departure

If your family is leaving our school, please email admin@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au with departure date and new destination school. This allows our administration staff to commence processes to support your departure. This includes ensuring books and musical instruments are returned, checking your family’s financial status with the school and also updating your child’s class teacher so they can prepare to send home their books and belongings. While we are sorry to see you go, we also want to help make the process smooth for you.

Reporting Student Absences

Please be reminded that the way to report student absences is 
* by phone 3819 5777 (you can do this before office hours and leave a message).
* via QParents (if you have not yet registered for QParents, please contact administration). This is our school's preferred method of reporting absences. 
* in person at administration (especially if you know a date in advance). 
Please do not email absence notifications. Our school receives a large volume of emails and your message may be missed as we process absences each morning. You may then receive a text message that you will need to respond to. This inconveniences you, and also increases our staff workload.  

Contacting our School

You can call us on 07 3819 5777   if you need to contact us. Please save the number to your mobile so you know if we are calling you. 

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)