12th December, 2013 Vol 17 Issue 40 E: riddells.creek.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Newsletters: http://rcpsadmin13.global2.vic.edu.

au Phone: 03 5428 7277 Fax 03 5428 6981 69-77 Main Rd Riddells Creek Vic 3431

Kim Ryan - Principal

School Diary
DEC
12th -Grade 5 Discovery Day to Gisborne SC -Drums Concert 6pm -Christmas Stall

Hi Everyone,
On Tuesday students were told their classes for 2014. There was an excited buzz in both Banksia and Melaleuca. We do our very best to get the grades right for students, staff and parents. Teachers used their professional knowledge of the students and their learning needs to group them academically, socially and emotionally. I also asked parents to put any requests for special consideration in writing to me several weeks ago. However since Tuesday I have had many requests for changes of grade, which is very difficult after the lists have been published. Hopefully these will be sorted by tomorrow. Please remember that friendship groups change often in primary school and the opportunity to make new friends builds important social skills and fosters strong resilience. Next year I will remind you again to put your concerns in writing before the classes are announced. It makes for less angst all round. With regards to the combined grade three and four we are pleased to announce that Georgina Patterson and Patrice Dullard will be team teaching in the large room that was a grade five/six room this year. Both Patrice and Georgina work a four day week and the alternate days will be covered by Brigid Krohn. This team will have shared planning time and will work closely with the Cheryl and Flo (integration aides assigned to this room). A separate letter will be sent home to students placed in this room. Banksia Staff: Sandra Stewart, Tarryn Rymer, Gayle Ryan, Anna Paul, Erika Surdy, Gary Perrott, Leanne Cordy Melaleuca Staff: Georgina Paterson, Patrice Dullard, Carmel Lakey, Brigid Krohn, Alysha Bourne, Nick Gibson, Stacey Scott, Jason Fisher, Claire Davis, Thomas Craven PE: David Hughes Art: Brigid Krohn/Amelia Desormeaux (5/6) Japanese: Cathie McCulloch Support Staff: Cheryl Graham, Flo Wallace, Jennie Ballard Admin: Cathy Calder, Edwina Williams, Amber Vavallo (Riddell Round Up) Maintenance: Leith Picking Canteen: Robyn Bell Out of School Hours Care: Jackie Young (admin) Helen Halliwell, Barb Wersching, Michelle Webb The Grade 6 students are busily preparing for their graduation on Monday night. It has been a great team effort coordinated by Claire Davis with a wonderful group of parents, students and teachers. There will be no increase in fees for 2014. They will remain at $140 per student. A letter detailing payments will accompany this newsletter. Please note in your calendar for next year that all students will be returning to school on Thursday 30 th January. We are taking a curriculum/planning day on January 29th. Kim Ryan - Principal
13th

RIDDELL WRAP

- Banskia last swimming - Assembly 3pm MGP & BLC 16th 18th Grade 6 Graduation Dinner Afternoon Tea to thank our Parent Helpers 2.30-3.15pm -Grade 3/4 Excursion to Woodend - Assembly Staff Term 4 Ends NO BEFORE OR AFTER SCHOOL CARE NO CANTEEN NO BUSES School Starts at 8am School Finishes at 1pm 2014 Term 1 Starts

19th

20th

Jan 30th

Fantastic Friday!

Without and wonderful

the

generosity from the and

RIDDELL WRAP

PAGE 2

help

DEC 13th
Riddells Creek Twilight Farmers Market Riddells Creek Primary School 5 - 8pm. Friday Duneiras Annual Xmas Carols in the Garden 5 - 6pm. BYO Picnic gates open 3.30pm Bookings www.duneira.com.au Ho Ho Ho! Whole Riddells Creek Village Christmas Party Lions Park RC 2pm - 6pm Special Visitor from the North Pole coming at 3pm School choir 4pm Showbags, face painting, sausage sizzle and Jumping castle.

parents of

community

Riddells

Creek, we would not be able to run our programs as successfully at RCPS as we do. We would like to thank you for helping us this year by inviting you along to an afternoon tea and some Christmas songs performed by our talented students. Each class will be performing a song with a buddy class. The afternoon tea will be held in the Banksia building on

Wednesday 18th of December from 2.30 3.15.

Please rsvp Gary Perrott perrott.gary.f@edumail.vic.gov.au By tomorrow. We look forward to seeing you there.

Our Giving Tree

Our school is collecting gifts of toys to donate to the Salvation Ar my Christmas Appeal. This will help make a better and brighter Christmas for less fortunate families. The Salvation Army has asked that gifts donated are brand new. If you bring something please attach a tag stating the appropriate age range and gender of the present. The giving tree will be located in the corridor near the office. Presents will be collected by the Salvation Army on Wednesday 18 December. Attendance 02/12/13 - 06/12/13
Class Total days %

BAP BGR BLC BSD BSS BTR MCD MCL MGP MGS MJF MNG MPD

10 2 2 1 5 8 0 2 3 10 5 8

90 98 98 99 95 92 100 98 97 91 96 92

Its Not OK To Be Away!

Now that holidays are looming and children have extra time on their hands take some time to consider the following. Too much too soon How do we stop our children inadvertently viewing really explicit inappropriate images, whether on an internet search or on mobile devices? Here are some scary facts (source The Sunday Age magazine Nov 10th 2013 article Melissa Jacob Too Much Too Soon) 70% of boys and 53.5% of girls have seen explicit images by the age of 12 (primary source The sex lives Australian Teenagers by Joan Sauers) 67% of teens clear out their browser history or cache to stop detection by parents & 64% of parents dont use online parental controls or filtering software (source Microsoft 2011) This is concerning because as much as 88% of explicit sites contain physical and verbal aggression and of this 94% aggression is directed towards women. (source: Aggression and sexual behaviour in explicit videos university of Arkansas) WHAT CAN PARENTS DO ABOUT THIS?? Tips for parents source Too much too soon Melissa Jacobs- The Age *create individual logins, passwords and security settings for each member of the family. Microsoft recommends that passwords contain at least eight character and be a combination of upper-case and lower-case characters, punctuation, numbers and symbols *Employ security filters, such as Net nanny or Norton 360 Multi-Device *For apple iOS devices (iphone, ipads Ipod touch) you can change and control setting in just three clicks. For more information on parental controls go to support.apple.com/kb/HT4213 .REMEMBER THAT ONCE OUR CHILDREN SEE SOMETHING THEY CANT UNSEE IT Full blog see: Wellbeing@rcps

14th

14th

JAN 20th 21st

Hoopsmart Basketball Camp. Boys/Girls 6-14years. $105 Sunbury Boardman Stadium. 0406 488313 or admin@hoopsmart.com.au

WANTED!
A home for a very child friendly rabbit for the holidays. Rupert comes fully equipped with a small outside pen, a carry cage/sleeping quarters and he even brings his own food!

Please see
Mr Gibson if you would like Rupert to keep your children company in the holidays.

Parent Club
Dont forget our end of year lunch at Seasons tomorrow Friday 13th. RSVP Guinevere (0412 115293) Also dont forget the Christmas Stall tomorrow Friday 13th. There will be lots of presents for sale.

Library News Alice DVD

The front office has had several queries regarding the DVDs. We have been advised that the Alice DVDs will be distributed in the last week of term. As it approaches the end of the school year, I would be grateful if bookshelves at home could be searched for library books. Please return books to school as soon as possible. Jennie Ballard - Library Technician