WORK PLACE VISITS

Students from the VPC class travelled to Mildura for a Work Place visits to the Mildura  Fire Brigade and Suni TAFE Mildura Farm. The students also were given the oppurtunity of using drones at the Suni TAFE Farm.

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ROBINVALE BALLET GUILD

Register NOW for Come and Try Week!!

Click the link below for more information and to register

https://forms.gle/a9bxxdr11C6yLALm7

Registrations close Saturday 23rd March at 12pm

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CLONTARF YEAR 4 -7 DATE NIGHT

Well done to the young crew of Year 4-7s who were able to celebrate their good behaviour and steady attendance with a Date Night to Mildura on Wednesday afternoon. The boys started off with mini-golf, followed by a play in the arcade. Finishing off the night, they all played around of ten pin bowling, and even got pizza. Everyone had a great time, but hopefully someone can knock Ryan off his bowling throne
next time!
Thanks to all the boys for a great time.

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VCE ART VISIT

VCE Art Making and Exhibiting students visited the Mildura Art Gallery to research three temporary exhibitions. They spent time drawing the artworks that appealed to them and looking at the types of materials and techniques that each artist used.  

The main exhibition was called ‘Collective Movements’, by numerous First Nations Art Groups. Students enjoyed looking at a range of traditional and modern techniques. Another exhibition was called ‘The Object of Labour, the Place of Redemption’. It is a contemporary multimedia exhibition by a South Australian artist, Emiko Artemis. She investigates the charcoal burning industry of the Riverland region in the late 1800’s to the early 1900s. And the last exhibition was called ‘ABLOOM’ by Rhian McLeod and displayed a more traditional style of artwork of images of still life, flowers, and birds, using mainly ink on paper

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PRINCIPAL REPORT

Week 8 Term One Newsletter

Harmony Week

The term will end with Harmony Week Activities. Harmony Week celebrates and acknowledges not only our cultural diversity but also signals that, at Robinvale College, all students, staff and our families are accepted as they are as we grow towards being the best we can be.  This year activities include a Cultural Flash Mob, which was a whole school activity coordinated by Deb Ford. Georgie Kelly has been working tirelessly to organise the whole school Food Fight.  On Monday a whole school assembly will be held to parade Robinvale Flags that have been designed by individual and class groups and to showcase a video clip that will be shared through social media of students saying hello in different languages.

Staffing Update

Last week we wished Fay Mulada well as she began Family Leave.  The college is very grateful to Fay for returning this term to provide support to our students and more recently to our new teachers.

Another valued staff member who will be leaving us but for very different reasons is Annie Evans.  Many of you will know Annie, our Business Manager. Annie has formed very special relationships with everyone, from our youngest students through to our tradies. Annie will be taking some well-deserved leave before heading to Merbein Secondary College in early June.  We are very happy for her and wish her well for this next phase in her career. We look forward to showing her how appreciated she is in the weeks before she leaves.

We will be also farewelling our relief teachers Laura McGowan and Mark Bonner.  Laura has been the year 5/6 teacher and Mark has taught Year 7-10 students in English, Humanities and Maths. We are grateful to them both for extending their time at the college from 4 weeks to 9.

Lastly, we will be farewelling Molly Handy at the end of the term. Molly has been a valued contributor to our primary team.  She will be missed greatly by the staff and students she supports every day.

We are grateful to Bridgette who will be remaining at Robinvale for another term. Bridgette has taught the Year 3/4B class since mid-term. Her extended placement will provide our students with the wonderful gift of continuity of learning.

As I mentioned in the last newsletter, this week we welcome Karusha Naidoo as an English and Humanities teacher who will be joined by Sipiwe Nyathi next term. These two teachers will complete the English Humanities team. 

The college is still waiting for the arrival of two maths and science teachers who we hope will be arriving next term and join Neelam Kumar, once they arrive, we will have a strong maths science team who will remain with the college for the next four years.

The only vacancies to fill will be two primary teachers.

Meet and Greet with the Parent Teacher Interviews on Wednesday 27 from 3.10pm - 6pm.
Interim reports will be available next week.  These can be collected on Wednesday from 3.10pm.  This is an opportunity for parents and carers to make a time for a parent/teacher interview as well as to get to know our new staff. There will be novelty events for students and icy poles in the piazza.


Congratulations to Matt Phajongdee.

Matt participated in the SSV Loddon Mallee Regional Swimming Competition.   We are very proud of Matt who came 3rd in the Boys 14 Yr. 50M Breaststroke and 5th in the Boys 14 Yr. 50M Freestyle event.  An awesome effort.  Thanks again to Jonathon Michaels for accompanying Matt to these events.

I want to thank our whole college community for their collaboration, support, and patience this term. The disruption caused by staff shortages will be greatly reduced from next term. Please stay safe over the holiday break.


Robinvale Euston Junior Footballer Representives

Congratulations to our students Noah Garreffa, Matthew Phajongdee and Christian Garreffa who are also Robinvale Euston Junior Footballers,have been selected to represent Sunraysia in this Saturday's match against Wimmera Mallee in Ouyen. Game Times ~ Under 14's commence at 11.30am / Under 15's commence at 1.30pm. Well done and all the best for Saturday.

Nat Mouvet

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There will a Mother's Day stall Thursday 9th May in the F-4 Area at recess the children will have the opportunity to purchase a gift for their mum, grandmother, aunty or a special friend. The gifts price range will be $2:00 to $5:00 

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WELCOME TO OUR NEW STAFF

Bhawini Narayan

Bhawini is from Ba, Fiji, she has a Bachelor of Education majoring in Biology, Post Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in General Managers   master’s in business administration. Bhawini has 24 years of teaching experience with 12 years of Vice Principal and Principal roles in Fiji. She is finding the environment at Robinvale College very pleasant and very friendly staff and students at the College.

Pretty Munodawafa

We welcome Pretty with her daughter Samantha from the city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. Pretty has a Masters in inclusive education, Honours in Inclusive education, Bachelor of Education degree (majored in teaching Year 4 to Year 9 learners) and a diploma in primary education.

She has taught in 5 different schools in South Africa since January 2008 until 2024 making it 16 years. Pretty was at her last school for 7 years before coming to Australia.  She will be teaching year 5/6B (Middle School community) Maths, Literacy, and IBL. Pretty’s first impressions of the school is that it is a very welcoming community, the teachers, learners, and the community at large. Parents have stopped her for interesting conversation which she will forever cherish. She is thankful for such an amazing community and would thank the school management team. They have been so welcoming from the first day they interviewed her till date. Pretty is grateful for allowing her to be part of School. She will be forever grateful for this opportunity and is looking forward to many decades if not a century in this community.

Desire Zireva

We Welcome Desire from Harare, Zimbabwe South Africa. He is a vibrant Mathematics and physical science teacher with an exciting and impressive track record of excellent performance.

He has an Education Honours in Mathematics Education (Current), Honours in Educational management University of Pretoria 2023, Bachelor in Education (Mathematics and Physics) University of South Africa 2015 and his Diploma in Education  University of Zimbabwe  2004.

Desire will be teaching mathematics and science (year 9, 10 and 11) here at the College. He was awarded winner of Best Mathematics teacher award in King Cetshwayo District  of South Africa 2021, 2022 and  2023.  Desire’s Philosophy is never leave no one behind.

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SWIMMING CARNIVAL 2024

The College Swimming Carnival was held on Wednesday.Congratulations to the students that particpated on the day and to the student who supported their team. To Sports Team, A lot of the work and preparation was done well before the day and behind the scenes so a special thank you to Jono MIchaels Tim Walsh, Travis Bussell, Sunny Handy, Adam Jealous, Georgie Kelly and Georgia McGinty.

Congratulations to

1st – Green House (697 POINTS)

2nd – Blue House (598 POINTS)

3rd – Gold House (462 POINTS)

Age Champions:

9 YRS & UNDER: DORRIS LEA’AETALA & VINCENT MAFI 

10 YRS: GWENDOLINE MASILA-LIUTOLO & DARCY JENNER

11 YRS: MOANA SONI & JED MACINTOSH

 12 YRS: AVA BEST & HARRY PETTIT

13 YRS: LISITA TALASINGA & JAI AKID 

14 YRS: AMYLEIGH REYNOLDS & MATT PHAJONGDEE

15 YRS: SASHA TOGO & HAMISH JENNER

16 YRS: SULIANA MAFI, RUBY HINGANO & SHANNON MARLOWE-COOK

17 YRS & OVER: CHRISTINA ALE & TYLER GRIFFITHS

Mary Gaides's Award Sam Backus  

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SRC Recycling fundraiser Congratulations!!

Thanks everyone for the great effort over the last fortnight. We nearly doubled our total of containers!

$32.40 raised making a total so far of $49.50

192 plastic bottles, 30 softdrink cans, 96 juice cartons and 4 glass bottles

Thanks 1/2A students for doing lots of sorting and counting of containers.

Thanks also to those who brought containers from home.

Here are some of the containers you can recycle ( Insert pictures)

I would love some volunteers to help with soring and counting containers Friday lunchtime prior to delivering to Robinvale Trash and Treasure/Recycling

In appreciation of your efforts

Janice Purcell
Container recycling organiser

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SALT PROGRAM

School-age girls and women across Australia will have the opportunity to try a trade and learn basic tool skills as Supporting And Linking Tradeswomen INC (SALT) travels across Australia over the next couple of years.

SALT, in conjunction with the National Careers Institute, will be running workshops over the next six weeks in Victoria and South Australia to encourage young women to consider a career in a trade.

20 students from years 5-9 took part in the SALT workshop last Monday. They were given hands-on experience of tools used in most trades and gain great skills which will help them in the future for their own lives. 


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VIC VICE GOOGLES


Students studying the VCE Vocational Major, and the Victorian Pathway Certificate experienced a revolutionary new careers education platform. VIC VICE is a virtual reality platform that allows students to see, touch and experience different workplaces. Students were given the opportunity to view 360-degree videos with interactive touchpoints and video-game style simulations and activities in the career areas of Agriculture, Community Services, Transport and Logistics and Health.

Student also participated in learning how to use the NMLLEN (Northern Mallee Local Learning & Employment Network) Portal, to search for a Structured Work Placement in either Robinvale or Mildura. This is a site where businesses have expressed their willingness to give students the opportunity to experience different types of work over the course of their certificate. Some employers may be looking to offer a School Based Apprenticeship or even a full-time apprenticeship. Both sessions were run by Dale Harvey the NMLLEN Structured Workplace Co-Ordinator.

Students appreciated these opportunities.

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PRINCIPAL REPORTS

Week 6 Term 1

This week we welcomed two special new members to our Robinvale family. Congratulations to Ata and Laota Lemani for the birth of their beautiful baby girl Eseta! Congratulations also to her proud Grandparents Filimone and Lesieli Afa.  Our other new addition is Junia Laeh, the precious daughter of Elizabeth and Albert Minoneti. We can’t wait to meet our new babies in person.

Staff Update

A lot has happened since the last newsletter. This week we welcomed Pretty Munodawafa and her daughter Samantha to the college.  Pretty will take over as the Year 5/6 teacher and Sam has joined the Year 8s. Pretty and Sam come from South Africa. Another teacher from South Africa, Desire Zivera, has arrived this week.  Desire comes to us as a highly credentialed Maths and Science teacher.

A third teacher from South Africa, Karusha Naidoo will start with us. Karusha is an English and Humanities teacher. Neelam Kumar and her two children will be joining us in week 1 Term 2. Neelam is from Fiji and will join our Maths team.  Stay tuned for more staffing updates.

We are still madly looking for homes. Please let Maria Chirchiglia know if you know of any rentals that might be coming to market. Also let her know if you have household items to donate or lend.

This week I met with our new school nurse Rachel Mc Dowall.  Rachel comes to us with extensive knowledge and experience as a community and acute nursing. She will be collaborating with school leadership, students, teachers, wellbeing staff to build capability and improve health outcomes for our students and broader community. I’m looking forward to Rachel influencing our Healthy Eating Program and will support teaching our students about good sleeping habits.

STARS Coming Soon

I’m very pleased to announce that the STARS program will begin at Robinvale College in term two.  The Stars program provides a holistic program that supports Indigenous girls and young women to attend and remain engaged at school, complete Year 12 and move into work or further study.  It is an equivalent to the Clontarf Boys program.  This is an exciting opportunity not only for our Indigenous students but for Robinvale, the benefits for our girls and young women will have a ripple effect for our families now and for generations to come.

Robinvale Team Spirit alive at the Swimming Carnival

We held our annual Swimming Carnival on Wednesday March 6.  It was an enormously successful day with just about every student participating in the swimming events.  Green Team won on the day ahead of the Blue and Yellow, but it really wouldn’t have mattered.  Our staff, led by Jonathon Michaels who was supported by Tim Walsh, Travis Bussell, Georgia McGinty, Sunny Handy and Georgie Kelly to organise and coordinate the day did a fantastic job of making sure that every student was included in one way or another to make the day a success.  Our students were tremendous in the way they participated in event after event and in the way they supported each other. A very proud day for us all.  Thanks again to Jonathan’s team and to the parents who came along to enjoy the day with us.

Congratulations to Matt Phajongdee

Congratulations to Matt Phajongdee who competed in the SSV Mallee District Swimming competition.   Matt came first in the Boys 14-year 50m Breaststroke, Freestyle, Backstroke and 100m Freestyle races.  He won the Boys 14 Age Champion award at the Robinvale College House Swimming and SSV competitions. Matt, you are a legend! Well, done! The College looks forward to supporting you in the SSV Loddon Mallee Regional Swimming Competition this week.  Thank you very much to Jonathon Michaels for accompanying Matt to these events.


NAPLAN Testing Begins

Positive observations made by staff about students’ attitude to their learning are increasing.  Over the past 12 months the college has been administering PAT Testing for Maths and Reading.  The results are shared back to the students who are excited to see their progress and interested to know what to do when they don’t.  Staff use these results to plan and deliver curriculum. 

One set of data is not enough to base whole school decisions about how to support our students more effectively.  This week our students in years 3,5,7 and 9 will sit the NAPLAN.  Staff will compare results to the PAT data and other sets to inform us about how to support students in their learning.  We look forward to having 100% participation, please reassure your children that this test is just another gauge of how they are progressing, there is nothing to feel nervous about.

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Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you have all had a positive, safe start to the year.

This letter is to inform you of the work we have done behind the scenes to ensure that your child has consistent education and opportunities to learn. This is despite the difficulties we have had, alongside all schools across the state, in regards to staffing.

Firstly, we are excited to inform you that we have a number of experienced teachers joining us from overseas, the first of whom have already arrived. We are expecting five more to join us, across Primary, Math, Science, English and Humanities teaching areas.

We are also actively recruiting across all learning areas, and have been supported by the government in offering Targeted Financial Incentives and Graduate Grants to attract experienced teachers join our team. In the mean time, we are a priority amongst agencies across Victoria that supply casual relief teachers.

We have also been responsive to new staffing situation and have had to think creatively to ensure that all students receive consistent education. One of these solutions has involved merging some classes in both the primary and secondary spaces. This involves merging:

  • The Foundation classes, with Mrs Louw being the Foundation teacher.
  • The VPC and VM classes, with Ms Fang teaching Literacy, Mr Afa teaching Numeracy, Ms Ford teaching Work Related Skills and Ms Yates teaching Personal Development.

Whilst we appreciate this is not necessarily ‘Plan A’, we are proud of our students’ demonstration of our school values – given the calm learning environments that we saw at the start of the school year, we are confident that students can support one another to continue being respectful, responsible, resilient learners.

Should you have any questions about your child’s learning, please don’t hesitate to reach out to either myself, any member of leadership, or your child’s teacher.

Many thanks,

Natalie Mouvet

Acting Principal

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SRC FUNDRAISER

We have been recycling plastic bottles, soft drink cans and drink cartons at 10 cents each.  So far we have raised $17.10 for the SRC to use for a variety of projects and donations. Recycling bins are being organised for the F-4, 5-8 and 9-12 Communities In the meantime, please check your bottles, cans and drink cartons. If they have 10c on them please recycle and help us fundraise. Set up a container in your room or bring them to E2 for storage until next recycling day. Helpers are needed to sort the containers into categories before delivering to Robinvale Trash and Treasure.

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SAVE THE DATE!

Get ready to put your running shoes on and join us for the funnest, messiest school fundraising event EVER – Foodbank Food Fight!

Mark your calendars because on the 22nd of March, our school oval will be transformed into a messy, fun food fight – even better, no real food will be used! We can’t wait for the community to get involved and have an absolute blast!

We’re hoping to raise $5000 for Foodbank Victoria so please sign up at foodfight.com.au today to get involved!

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YEAR 6-8 INDUCTION CAMP

Clontarf camps are back for 2024 with a whole new crew!

To celebrate the start of the new school year, Clontarf's annual Year 6-8 Induction Camp came and went in Week 3.  All three Mallee Academies (Robinvale, Mildura and Swan Hill) came together for an overnight camp at the Mildura Motorcycle Club. As Clontarf’s first camp of the year, this was many of the student’s first time meeting each other, and for the Year 7’s of Mildura and Swan Hill it was their first ever Clontarf camp. While Robinvale Clontarf Academy members Corey Valinoti-Marks (Year 7) and Harry Pettit (Grade 6) have been a part of our Academy since our entry year Grade 4, both students were excited to meet their new Clontarf peers. Coming into the camp with more experience than the other boys, Corey and Harry showed great leadership with their exceptional behaviour. After leaving the Robinvale Academy Room on Thursday afternoon the boys touched down at the Motorcycle Club to set up swags and meet the other Academies. The afternoon was spent playing teambuilding exercises and activities, followed by a BBQ tea. After a feed, the boys enjoyed the evening swimming and fishing down the river. Friday morning, everyone was up early for a morning ‘s Super Training, filled with fun games for a bit of physical exercise. Finally, the camp was rounded off with a tour of the Mildura Police Station, complete with real police gear! Everyone involved had a fantastic time and the rest of the Clontarf boys can look forward to more events in the near future.

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WOW PROGRAM

As the new year begins, the fresh team from Robinvale College embarks on an exciting adventure through the WOW program. We extend our warmest wishes to them as they explore growth and learning 

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School Chaplaincy


      It's my privilege to be the new school chaplain of Robinvale College. I thought I would take this opportunity to let everyone know what school chaplaincy is and how it works.

Chaplaincy is a confidential service for anyone in the school community to come and talk to about things going on in there lives. School can be an extremely difficult time for many and sometimes we all need someone to talk through our problems to. As the school chaplain my door is always open for students, staff, and family to come and talk about the struggles you're facing. We can discuss options for services if you need, strategies to help you through, and ultimately be the safe space needed. Confidentiality is paramount and will only be broken when it is needed for safety and wellbeing purposes. 

      Over the coming days and weeks I will be starting up some programs in various year levels, aimed to help build relationships, strengthen resilience, and build mental and emotional wellbeing. If you want any information about these programs feel free to let me know.

      The school now has a wellbeing webpage. This webpage can be accessed by the link below or by scanning the QR code, the link is also available in the compass accounts quick links under "Robinvale Wellbeing." On this page you will find inspirational videos, forms to report bullying (anonymous or not), arrange a chat with me or someone else, wellbeing trackers that will give you tips on what to do when feeling various emotions. This webpage is being updated constantly so keep an eye out for new updates on the page.

 https://sites.google.com/education.vic.gov.au/rcwellbeing/home 

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