The Grapevine Newsletter 16-06-2023

Principal's Report

Lots of great things to report in this newsletter.

Staff

Robinvale College has been lucky enough to introduce several new staff to the school this term.  Rex Handy who will be working with the Learning Through Connection Program alongside Orla Kavanagh. Elizabeth Monetti will be supporting the students in both primary and secondary classes. Pricilla Wilkult started a few weeks ago but is leaving at the end of the term due to family circumstances.  Pricilla has had a great start, so we are sad to see her go.  We will also farewell her two beautiful children Amy and Anthony. 

Phil Kettle is working with us 3 days a week.  Phil is a published writer as well as teaching 9/10 Humanities he will run Writer’s workshops with the Learning Through Connections class and in different literacy and English classes.  Sarah Hamence, our new school nurse, will be starting soon.   Sarah is a very experienced nurse who has worked in the Robinvale area when she was filling in as the Doctors in Secondary Schools practice nurse. We are lucky to keep Bev Thomson for the rest of the term and one day a week in term 3.  Lastly, this week we welcomed Sam Fangatua who will be supporting 9/10 students.

Year 7 & 8 Adventure Camp

In week seven I was privileged to attend the Year 7&8 Adventure camp to Trafalgar, near Moe and Gippsland way.  I want to commend out students for participating 100%.  It was a fun camp but tough at the same time.  The activities required courage and resilience and all our students demonstrated those qualities repeatedly over the week.  It was rewarding to get to know the students in a different setting.  So very proud of our students. Thanks so much to Jack Holyoake and Lueni Kolofale for accompanying us on the camp, they were as courageous as the students.

Winter, Attendance, and the Uniform

With Winter well and truly here I’m noticing that attendance is being affected and that students are wearing items other than uniform to school.  I’d like your support.  Attendance is extremely important.  Students should be at school all day, everyday unless they are sick.  This not only supports continuity of learning but supports stronger friendships and connection to school in general.  Every day away means students need to catch up on what was missed in class and in the yard, the schoolwork can be caught up on, but reestablishing friendship dynamics can be tricky. 

Please avoid making appointments during school time where you can. 

As for uniform, I have had several parents comment on how great our students look in their full school uniform.  Students who need extra layers should wear long black or white t shirts under their school polos.  Although the Football netball hoodies look great, I’d like to get one, they aren’t our school uniform and shouldn’t be worn instead of the school jumpers. Wearing school uniform with pride, sends a strong message to the community that we are proud to belong to the Robinvale College Community. 

Book Fair. 

Well done Wendy Walsh and to our wonderful staff who volunteered to help run with the Book Fair. The school raised $2000 in book sales which is an awesome effort, the money will go towards new books for our school library.  Thanks to everyone who visited the fair and bought a book.

GAT

Well done to our Year 12 students who sat the General Achievement Test (GAT) this week. I was told that our students approached the test with maturity and fidelity.  Thanks to Steph Fang for overseeing the process and to Jayne Watson and Lina Morgan for supervising our year 12s throughout the day.

Check out Facebook

Check out our Facebook page to see stories about all the great things that are happening at the College.  You’ll see photos of our students on school excursions on the 7 & 8 camp, students and staff participating in STOMP and the WALA Spirit of Ghana Africa Cultural Performance, Year 10 Work Experience, and other school activities. 

Wishing you all a warm and safe holiday break looking forward to another productive term in Term 3.

Nat Movett

PRIME HYDRATION DRINKS

We are aware that some shops have begun to stock Prime Hydration Drinks Prime is a drink made by popular youtubers Logan Paul and KSI.

Prime Hydration bottles carry the label

 “NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE”.

Students are not to bring these drinks to school or consume these drinks on school grounds during school hours

GAT

 Well done to all of our senior students who completed the GAT on Thursday. It is a busy time of year for the Year 12s with the GAT, the Year 12 Ball, SACs and discussions about the future. We wish you all the best over the next couple of months - you can do it!

Basketball Courts

The day has finally come! This past week the temporary fencing is being erected for the long awaited commencement of the schools new basketball courts. Students are super excited to see works underway.

ALTSA EXCURSION

At the beginning of the month, 12 students went on a laboratory visit to ALTSA (Analytical Laboratories & Technical Services Australia) in Merbein South. Students and their teacher were met by Mr Ray Harris the site manager. Students had a brief introduction to the site and its facilities and the work that ALTSA do for the local agricultural district.

Students visited the three working laboratories which were soil & plant, food water & environment and microbiology/molecular biology. Students saw detection techniques used for separating different components in soil, for quality testing as well as pH testing and pathogen testing for food quality. This excursion was a great introduction for students who may be interested in a career in science as well as the application of science in the agricultural industry.

WALA PERFORMANCE

WALA means “life” in their local language and the perfection of the name becomes clear as they explode into their breathtaking celebration of the Ghanaian Spirit.The Wala performance is a dynamic fusion of drumming, dance, percussion and soaring vocal harmonies. The two passionate, exuberant and talented performers present to students and staff  with an exciting display of Ghanaian culture. With hand-made African drums, flutes and stunning costumes, The performers engaged the students  in a call and response song, students were then given the opputunity to try out different instruments and to join in the dance. The performance was enjoyed by all the students and staff that attended.

STOMP WORKSHOP

The STOMP Workshops were held over the past week with students from Foundation to Year 8. The student were involved inthe dance workshops over the 5 days learning dance steps which included general hip hop, Indigenous, African, Bollywood dance styles and much much more.

YEAR 3/4 GEOLOGY

The Year 3/4 students are studying geology. This week, they made oobleck to help them understand the idea of solid rocks with enough plasticity to flow as magma or lava, which is what our Earth's mantle is made up of.

YEAR 5/6 PRE-SCHOOL VISIT

The Year 5/6 students visited the Robinvale Pre-School Victoria kids to teach them all about digi tech. Our students interacted with the preschoolers in teaching them how technology works.

L2P DRIVING PROGRAM

Massimo Tassone  another successful graduate of the L2P Driving program at the Robinvale College.   Any student living in Victoria and attending the Robinvale College,  who holds a Victorian Learner Permit is eligible to be apart of the L2P Driving program conducted fortnightly by Kelvin Newman from K Driving school Swan Hill at the Robinvale College. If your child is interested  please contact  Julie Kelly at the school to register.