The Grapevine Newsletter 15-12-2023

THANK YOU TO OUR ACHIEVEMENT NIGHT SPONSORS

 Robinvale Waste: RSL; N&L Tolley; REBA; B&J Leorke; MVAC; Robinvale Appliances & Furniture Zone  Olam Orchards; Rotary Club; Alby Farms; Pioneer Ford; Zaffina Bus Lines; Robinvale Bridge Motel – Dean & Alison Mitchell; Select Harvests Lions Club; Ampol Tasco Petroleum; Robinvale Golf Club; Robinvale Mallee Aboriginal Covid Response MADEC; Australian Defence Force ; Robinvale District Health Services; Campion

PRINCIPAL REPORT

Achievement Night

I hope to see you all on our last night of celebration together.  This year we are holding the event in the Community Centre Theatre, hopefully this will be more comfortable and will minimise movement throughout the ceremony.  I want to thank in advance the work of Georgie Kelly who has led the Achievement Night team which consists of Sue Burkinshaw, Romany Adcock, Georgia McGinty, and Travis Bussell.  They’ve been working on the event all term so we hope it will be fun and seamless.

Staffing

Congratulations to Mel Kupper who will be leaving Robinvale College next year to work at St Patrick’s Nhill Primary.  Mel has been much loved by her students and will be missed by them.

Next year we will welcome a former student Alexandra Geroulis and Chelsea Masila-Liutolo who will be joining our staff as Education Support staff with the Primary students.  Chelsea will be partnering with Stacey Ingram to build on the great work of Sharon Urquhart to develop a KGA program for 2024.  Stephanie O’Bree, Steph taught at Robinvale College in the Covid years, will also be joining us next year as a member of the primary team.  Megan Zaffina will also be starting next year and will working closely with Julie Kelly to support the senior students as well as taking over the the Disabilities and Inclusion administration role.  Sam Mitchell will be joining us as our school chaplain for two days a week and student support for the rest of the time. Mia Doherty is a Science graduate who will be working as an Education Support staff member while she completes her master’s in education.  Last but not least Damien Plonsker a local chef will be supporting the delivering cooking as an elective.  He will also be supporting the sports program.  Very exciting times on the staffing front.    All we need is another Primary teacher and a PE teacher and we will be set.

Principal’s Position Update

This week I was updated on the progress towards the appointment of a principal for the College.  At this stage it is hoped that the position will be advertised towards the end of the holidays and will be decided by the end of Term 1.  I have agreed to extend my appointment until the end of Term 1. 

Koorie Girls Academy End of Year Celebration

Congratulations to our Koorie Girls who were acknowledged for their participation in the Koorie Girls Academy program this year.  To celebrate they hosted a lunch for their mums and grandmothers.  They were presented with certificates to acknowledge their personal achievements. Thanks to Stacey Ingram for organising the event.

Our Koorie girls dance troupe did a wonderful job performing for the kinder children last week.  Thanks to Stacey Ingram, Janelle Ricker, La Tarnya and Daryl Singh for preparing our girls for the event.

Year 6 Graduation 

We had a lovely afternoon celebrating our Year 6 Students' graduation last Thursday afternoon at the Robinvale Golf Club.  Thank you  to Rikki Johnson, in collaboration with Andre MacDonald and Rebel Burkinshaw for coordinating the event. The higlight of  the graduation was the student's dance peformance. 

Tongan Achievement Night

On Thursday night our Tongan students were acknowledged by their community for their school-based achievements.  I want to acknowledge the students for their achievements this year.  They were required to meet the school’s high expectations in terms of uniform, attendance, and behaviour to be eligible to represent the college at several events.  I also want to acknowledge their families for actively supporting their children to meet these expectations.

Carols at the Pre School

Thank you to Ava Best, Rea Hatt, Hamish MacIntosh, Cayden Jolly, Moana Soni, and Mary-Jo Lingwoodock-Togo. The students peformed christmas Carols  at the Robinvale Pre School for the students and parents end of year christmas party.

Reports

Reports can be collected from the front office.  Staff have been phoning parents to make a time for a parent teacher interview if it was warranted.  Parents and legal guardians are invited to make a time for a parent teacher interview if they would like one.

This will be the last newsletter of the year.  I want to thank you all for your partnership with the college this year.  It has been the most rewarding year in my professional career.  I attribute that to being part of a wonderful nurturing community made up of staff, parents, extended family and of course our beautiful children.  Robinvale is truly a special place. I’m very grateful to have been a part of the 2023 story.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday period.

Nat Mouvet

KWONG LEE DOW YOUNG SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Congratulation Elizabeth Chirchiglia from the Robinvale College,  who has received the Kwong lee Dow Young Scholars Program. Each year, high-achieving Year 10 students from Victoria are encouraged to apply for the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program.

Elizabeth was chosen from a pool of close to 2000 applicants,

She will take part in an exciting two-year program of events and activities that will expand her academic and personal horizons. Elizabeth will commence the Program in January 2024

2024 STATEWIDE MOBILE PHONE POLICY

A reminder that the Department of Education has in place a mobile phone ban that requires students who bring mobiles phones to school to have them switched off and securely put away during school hours.

The department is requiring all schools to ensure this ban is in place and enforced from the start of the 2024 school year.

The ban applies equally to all government schools right across the state.

This helps ensure that school is a learning environment free from unnecessary distractions and disruptions.

By ensuring mobile phones are kept away at recess and lunch times, students can interact with each other face-to-face, without the distractions and social pressures that mobile phones can cause.

I ask for the support of all our families, staff, and students in continuing to support the implementation of this policy in our school.

Further information

Exceptions: For a small number of students with particular health needs, an exception to the policy may be granted. Please contact Nat Mouvet if you would like to discuss this.

Emergencies: In the event of an emergency or if you need to immediately contact your child, I ask that families contact the school office who will pass on a message as required.

School mobile phone policy: A copy of our school’s local mobile phone policy, which implements the government’s mobile policy in line with our local context, is available here:  https://0082f58b-32b2-4bd7-9d8d-4790b1c6ebd3.usrfiles.com/ugd/0082f5_2a9b1e7aa4a94feea5f2b05e9142dc94.pdf

 Parent support: The Mobile phones in schools webpage provides links to resources for families to help them balance their children’s time using mobile phones.

If you have further questions, please contact the administration office.

Nat Mouvet

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer fermentum sagittis felis eu ullamcorper. Integer lobortis et leo ac molestie. Nunc malesuada tellus eu est commodo semper. Sed tempus placerat dapibus. Curabitur rhoncus convallis nisi, non ultrices mi sodales quis. Aliquam consectetur lectus at rhoncus iaculis.

YEAR 6 GRADUATION

Our Year Six students celebrated their graduation last Thursday afternoon at the Robinvale Golf Club. The afternoon was attended by the students and their families Congratulations to 

Christopher Le, Corey Valinoti-Marks, Fineasi Akauola, Georgia Dunrobin, Jai Akid, Korbin Lingwoodock, Lisita Talasinga,Naomi Ale, Priscillah Fehoko,Reanne Hatt,Riley Jenner and Scarlett Rose Dao.           

ROTARY AWARDS TERM 3 & TERM 4

Term 3 

Christopher Le

He has grown so much with his schoolwork, always volunteering in and out with classroom activities, and having a go even if the work is hard, he still tries his best.He is excelling with his maths, English and reading and he really enjoys the hands-on work with science this year.Chris is part of the SRC committee and strives to make our college an open community, he is constantly trying his hardest with everything he does.

Congratulations Christopher Le

Term 4

Andrew Kirby-Farrant 

Andrew Kirby-Farrant for the Prep award. He really likes Transformers, so anything to do with that or maybe a non-fiction book about cars, machines, how things work etc would be great.

Andrew is a role model student, who demonstrates maturity beyond his years. When Andrew walks into the classroom each day, he greets his teachers and classmates with a warm smile and a friendly 'Good morning!'. He also goes out of his way to say hello to some of the quieter members of the class. As the day goes on, Andrew's friendly demeanour does not fade. Andrew consistently demonstrates respect to his teachers and peers by listening intently when they speak, and often asks questions or shares his own thoughts about what they have said. He also loves to share interesting facts with the class daily, including sharing aspects of his Indigenous culture, of which he is so proud.

Andrew is kind, thoughtful and inclusive. He will happily work and play alongside any and all of his classmates, and makes sure other students feel they are welcome to join him at any time. Andrew uses his initiative to assist his friends or teachers in the classroom or playground, often offering to help them clean up, carry things or hold a door open for them. The F/1 class and Robinvale College are extremely lucky to have someone like Andrew as part of our community. This is why Andrew is this year's recipient of the Rotary Club Book award. 

Congratulations Andrew.

KGA NEWS

The KGA girls had the privilege of performing a Traditional Indigenous dance for the Robinvale Pre-school graduation on Wednesday, that Daryl Singh had been teaching the girls. 

 "Cook & Yarn" Activity 

The KGA have held Cook and Yarn Activities over the past weeks and they have  also had Elder, Denise Bowden come and teach the girls how to cook fried scones. All the girls that attended loved having her attend and help cook delicious food each week, such as, coconut curry chicken and beef stir fry. They had a competitive side, who made it best out of the primary VS Secondary student, which resulted in a tie.