2022 Edition 8 - 04/11/22

Important Dates

Principal's Message - Mrs Meyrick

Our learners will be EPIC Learners, who are Empowered, Polite, Inclusive and Careful. 

We invite our future students to join us for an online event (via Microsoft Teams) to connect with some of our key staff. It will be a time for our students to be EMPOWERED. A time for them to ask questions, show agency and ownership in their learning, connect with their school community and be a role model. All of which are expectations of our Empowered value. 

If you are interested in your child participating, please

1. Email principal@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au with your child's name and let me know they would like to participate. I will then send you the link. 
2. Ensure you have completed (in full) your enrolment application and provided all supporting documentation.
3. Book your Enrolment Information Session time (a link will be sent once you have completed step two).

This online session will be held on Thursday 17th November at 5pm and all future Ripley Central State School students are invited to participate. Parents and carers may need to assist with the online access and assist their younger children to navigate some of the features of Microsoft Teams.

We will utilise some of the features of Microsoft Teams to help us connect, so you might like to familiarise yourself with the platform before hand. Check you know how to mute your mic and turn it back on, turn on your camera, use the chat box, raise your hand, use the emojis and for fun change your background. 

I am excited to connect with our students in this way! 

Mrs Wuanita Meyrick | Foundation Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Yager

Our 'eSports Team' will be set to take on other students across the South East in the Fuse Cup using our Nintendo Switch devices. We will have our eSports Team ready to go in term 1, using games like Just Dance and Rocket League on our school owned Nintendo Switches. I will send out information about this extra-curricular club early term 1 and will talk with our students about the club, their commitment and how to represent our school. 

For those who want to train at home, the 2023 game release will be what we are using for training and competition. 

We look forward to also hosting staff v's student competitions in Just Dance and Rocket League. 

Ms Petra Yager | Foundation Deputy Principal

Deputy Principal's Message - Ms Swadling

Last week, I attended our Early Years Network Meeting (K..2..8). This is a group of Day Care Educators from various local centres and Educators from local schools. We discussed information shared at the last meeting from one of our Autism Coaches from Autism Queensland around raising children with Autism and some key supports that all children can benefit from in a school and home setting.  We shared and discussed transitions from day care to school and what has successfully helped all children and their families through this process. We also looked at a website called ‘Raising Children’ which gives lots of great information for parents and educators to help with understanding your child at different stages and also tips and tools to use. ‘I’ in our school’s EPIC values is; ‘We are Inclusive’,  and we believe very strongly in giving every student the best opportunities to succeed in all learning environments, and linking with Community Groups like our K..2..8, helps us provide continuity and connection across all educational sectors. This assists us in understanding, and supporting our EPIC learners.

Ms Fiona Swadling | Foundation Deputy Principal

Business Manager's Message - Mrs Van Der Zee

The Smith Family Saver Plus 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/

Mrs Danielle Van Der Zee | Foundation Business Manager

Curiosity Centre

Last week Mrs Smith and Ms Yager attended a training day with Softlink, to learn how to set up and catalogue our Curiosity Centre resources for our new school.

We are so excited to open our new school with a vast array of quality texts for students and teachers.

During term 1, these resources will be available directly in classrooms. Our Curiosity Centre will open in term 2. 

Meet our Teachers

We are excited to introduce our teaching team.

Our three Specialist Teachers will be ready to teach The Arts, Auslan (Languages) and HPE (Health and Physical Education). 
HPE - Zane Schirmer
The Arts - Bronwyn Wood
Auslan - Belinda Tolete

Our Inclusion Support Teacher will be a valuable addition to our team of EPIC Learners.
Inclusion Support - Sam Garrick 

Our Classroom Teachers are transferring to us ready to commence in January. Welcome to them all; Mindy Vines, Michaela Ward, Kylie Twiner, David McCarney, Madonna Tolhurst and Bianca Ellison.

Our teaching team will continue to grow, perhaps even before the start of January. These teachers have been working with us behind the scenes this year to prepare for our opening. They bring with them a wide range of experiences and passions and together will be EPIC Learners. We are really creating something very special at Ripley Central State School.

Meet our Teachers

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Koala Joeys

Last week in Koala Joeys, we had a bit of a dinosaur theme. We enjoyed attempting to do shadow drawings of dinosaurs, however, the sun, or lack of in some cases, meant that we had to improvise and come up with an alternate plan to problem solve, some chose the pre prepared shadow drawings, some used their phone torch to create the shadows, some just traced around their dinosaur to create their ‘Dinosaur Picture’ we then used plant trimmings, bark and dirt to create our master pieces. (If anyone has left theirs behind I have kept them to hand out next week.) We participated and explored lots of other activities throughout the session.

This week was ‘outdoors week’, the weather forecast wasn’t great for our Tuesday Group, however, this didn’t stop us from enjoying the inside activities. If weather permits we will have next Tuesday as our outdoor day.  Thursday group was met with better weather and our activities outside were great fun. Some being undercover, and we ‘dressed for mess’. Our Mud Kitchen was a hit and we created potions and recipes with all the great things in a garden, Mud was on the top of the ingredient list.  

Enrolment Messages

When submitting your enrolment application, please include all supporting documentation. Your application is only processed when we have all the details we require. This includes your proof of residency, legal documents, health plans and sighting of your child's birth certificate (if required). Please help us to help you. Your attention to detail allows us to quickly process your child's application and is appreciated. 
You can visit our pop up enrolment office on Wednesdays 9-11am at Ripley Valley State Secondary College to complete any of the above. We will be all set up in the Community Hub, just follow the signs form their main entry gate. 

Student Resource Scheme (SRS) including Booklists

Our school will offer SRS (Student Resource Scheme) that will include booklists. Families who opt-in to SRS will receive an invoice. The invoice can be payed in full or in instalments, and all of the booklist items will be provided to their child in the classroom. The SRS will also include online subscriptions, consumables for The Arts and Science, and copies of texts required for English. The SRS will provide families with substantial savings. Details about SRS will be on our website soon and also explained in our Enrolment Information Sessions. We are expecting our SRS to cost families between $110-$140 per year per child, we will confirm soon. Below are some FAQ about SRS that you might find helpful.

Uniforms

UMS, our uniform supplier, is currently establishing their online portal for our school. This will include images and prices of our uniform items. They will host uniform fitting and ordering days on Wednesday 30th November and Thursday 1st December, based at Ripley Valley State Secondary College Community Hub. There will also be an option to order directly online, if you are comfortable with size choices. 

Uniforms will be available for pick up in January, with more details to follow about where and when this will occur. 

Every student will require the school hat and school bag, these are compulsory items in our Student Dress Code.

Prep students do not require a formal uniform.

Plain black shoes (all black, no colour or white) can be purchased from your own choice of retailer. White socks will be available at the uniform store, however you can also purchase from any retailer.

You can learn more about our uniforms in our Student Dress Code, available in the related links of our website enrolment page. https://ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au/enrolments 

In your upcoming enrolment information sessions, we will unpack the Student Dress Code and provide you with a chart to take home for easy reference. 

UMS was the successful tender for the design, supply and sale of our uniforms based on their experience, quality, cost and value for money. We look forward to partnering with them to reach our standard of excellence. 

Early Writing Development

As we know, children develop at different stages at different times. There are developmental milestones that children reach throughout their life. These milestones can occur naturally or at times need more encouragement to reach or learn these skills. Early writing skills begin with the grip of the implement they are using (pencil, paintbrush, crayons), this progression through the grasp stages generally occurs in a natural developmental sequence until they settle on a functional tripod grip for handwriting. The developmental sequence is a result of neurological and physical growth in the child, and the natural progression develops as the child’s fine motor skills develop.

If you find that your child hasn’t quite reached their age stage yet, there are many activities that you can do to help and assist with developing their fine motor skills at home.

Pegs: (develops pincer finger grip)

• hang their clothes/washing on a clothes line
• using pegs around the edge of a paper plate to count (also helps with their one-to-one counting and counting in general)

Playdough: (lots of hand muscles used)

• Use scissors with the playdough
• Encourage them to squeeze, stretch, pinch and roll “snakes” or ‘worms’
• Make different sensory doughs or slime

Painting: (all grips)

• Cotton bud painting
• Painting with water outside on concrete
• Using different sized brushes

Playing with sponges: (perfect with warmer weather here, develops hand muscles)

• New clean sponge, water and two bowls, fill one bowl and leave the other empty they can time themselves to fill the empty bowl.
• Chalkboard and use a sponge to wipe the chalk off or you write a letter and they trace it with the wet sponge.
• Clean the car
• Or wash the dog with a sponge (maybe not the cat 😊)

These are just a few activities to help develop those muscles needed for fine motor development.

There are many more fun ideas to search online.

OSHC - Outside of School Hours Care

We are excited to introduce our partnership with Camp Australia, our new OSHC provider. Registrations and 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. 

Public Meeting to form a P&C

All future parents and community members are invited to our upcoming Public Meeting where the only agenda item is to form a P&C. At this meeting the attendees confirm their intention to support the school operating a P&C and then the election of interim executives is undertaken. The date and time of the first P&C meeting is then set. There will be information available for parents and community members to learn more about each of the executive roles and what their responsibilities are. 

Interested in nominating for one of our executive positions?

Learn more about each role here and attend the Public Meeting for more information.

President https://www.pandcsqld.com.au/the-info-place/role-of-the-pc-president-treasurer-secretary/president/

Secretary https://www.pandcsqld.com.au/the-info-place/role-of-the-pc-president-treasurer-secretary/secretary/

Treasurer https://www.pandcsqld.com.au/the-info-place/role-of-the-pc-president-treasurer-secretary/treasurer/

Join us on Tuesday 22nd November at 5.30pm. We will be at the Community Hub of Ripley Valley State Secondary College. Find out more on our website https://ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au/our-community/pandc 

How to contact us this year

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

Email – principal@ripleycentralss.eq.edu.au  OR 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

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

Enrolment questions can be in person on Wednesdays during Term 4, commencing Wednesday 2nd November. One of our staff will be at Ripley Valley State Secondary College's Community Hub between 9-11am. 

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

Community News - Tuffkidz Triathlon

On Sunday 6th November, Ipswich City Rotary will host the annual Tuffkidz Tiathlon. If your child can bike, swim and run, consider entering them in this healthy event.