The Grapevine Newsletter 30th April 2024

Principal's Report

Welcome everyone to Term 2 2024.  What a fabulous start we have had – I hope you and your family have also had a smooth transition into or back to school. The last 2 weeks have certainly been a whirlwind for me as I settle into  your wonderful school and community. The welcome, support and help I have received from our students and staff has made my job not only easier but so enjoyable.

Welcome to new staff.

This term we have a 2 new staff commencing at our school.  We welcome: Sipiwe Nyathi and Neelam Kumar.  And why it is a huge move and change for them they are all enjoying meeting everyone and getting into their classes to teach.

Cross Country

We had perfect weather for the whole school cross country held last week. I was pleased to see not only the participation of most of our students but also the effort they all put in to finish the course. It was  such a close finish for the overall House winner. This year Blue House won with a total of 300 points. Well done Blue House.

Congratulations to our age winners and good luck to those  who will be representing Robinvale College at the Primary School Inter-School Cross Country in Mildura on Thursday. See the full list of winners in this newsletter.

 A gentle reminder to parents whose children chose not to attend school on the day: not only is it part of our curriculum they also missed most of their normal classes.

Anzac Service

I was very proud to walk with our school captains for the laying of the wreath at the towns 10:00am Anzac Service. What exceptional role models and great ambassadors: Nida Babu, Salote Fangatua, Lucy Alderson, and Christina Ale are for our school. Once again, the students in the brass band represented our school and community with distinction. They really are amazing. Thanks so much to Siua for the work he puts into to the band.

Community involvement

Three of our students; Amos, Charlie, and Mahino danced at the official opening of the new building at St Mary’s School last Thursday. Several of our band members also performed at the opening to help make their day a success. Well-done Robinvale College!

Curriculum Day

The whole school curriculum day last Friday was exceptionally valuable. I was impressed with the level of commitment by our staff to help improve your child’s learning and wellbeing.

The morning session involved a getting to know you session with Celeste for all our new staff. We then worked on what makes an effective teacher which will lead to our school developing a whole school instructional model to ensure consistency of teaching across every classroom. The final part of our morning session was student support. In the afternoon teachers worked on assessment and reporting and planning time. Our support staff focussed on student classroom support and how to make help students with adjustments to make their learning successful. A very busy day for everyone involved!

Attendance

Please remember that if your child is going to be away for any reason you must make a note on Compass (see us if you need help) or call the office on 5026 3704. Any unexplained absences will be followed up with a phone call from a teacher or wellbeing staff member.

Public Education.  State Schools are Great Schools.

Lyn Coulter

Acting Principal

DAVID SCHWARZ VISIT

On Wednesday April 17^th the Robinvale College hosted former Melbourne AFL Player and reformed gambling addict David Schwarz.

Young people today are growing up surrounded by gambling advertising.  They see gambling ads at least once a week, especially on TV during sports and racing, or through online or social media.  Understanding when a fun pastime that seems so much apart of the Australian way of life slips into behaviour that causes harm to yourself and others can be challenging and confronting.

  David spoke for over an hour discussing with the Year 9 -12 Students to

• Be aware of the situations and people who put you in a position to gamble.
• Support your mates and look out for them.
• The effects gambling has on a community.
• He also touched on the risks of vaping.

The Year 9 -12 Students were engrossed in his very personal story and the impact that gambling had on his family, friends, career and community.  David was very approachable and spent time chatting with the students and staff after his presentation.  The feedback from students of what they learnt over the presentation was great. 

Special thanks must go out to Mallee Family Care and Gamble Aware NSW for bringing David to Robinvale,  what an experience.

CROSS COUNTRY 2024

FOUNDATION (Boys):

1^st   Kingston Manu

2^ndNorman Baxter

3^rd   Charles Eroi

FOUNDATION (Girls):

1^stOla Tu'uta

2^ndRaily Felipe

3^rd  Aleesa Agselamat

GRADE 1 (Boys):

1^st   Zaviar Baxter-Smith

2^nd   Vy Nguyen

3^rd   George Tran

GRADE 1 (Girls):

1^st   Siaola Mounga

2^nd   Katlyn Dixon

3^rd   April Bowden-Briggs

GRADE 2 (Boys):

1^st   Kasyah Amirul

2^nd   Austin Chittasorn

3^rd   Stanley Baxter

GRADE 2 (Girls):

1^st   Elizabeth Filimone

2^nd   Charlene Le

3^rd   Aanvi Prasad

GRADE 3 (Boys):

1^st   Isaac Ikafanga

2^nd   Jett Dunrobin-Rowe

3^rd   Sifa Lea'aetala

GRADE 3 (Girls):

1^st   Roselyn Eroi

2^nd   Loveila Havea

3^rd   Gurevelyn Kaur

GRADE 4 (Boys):

1^st   Darcy Jenner

2^nd   Flynn Milne

3^rd   Henry Nguyen

GRADE 4 (Girls):

1^st   Dorris Lea'aetala

2^nd  Ameekah Peterson

3^rd   Shakya Jones-Kennedy

11 YEARS & UNDER (Boys):

1^st   Jed Macintosh

2^nd   Cayden Jolly

3^rd   Austin Smith

11 YEARS & UNDER (Girls):

1^st   Laisani Waqabaca

2^nd   Cattaleya Pettit-    

        Lingwoodock

3^rd   Moana Soni

12 YEARS (Boys):

1^st   Harry Pettit

2^nd   Aiden Le

3^rd   Brocky Tran

12 YEARS (Girls):

1^st   Molly Bivolcheff

2^nd   Pauline Taualupe

3^rdReanne Hatt

13 YEARS (Boys):

1^st   Dylan Costa

2^nd   Riley Jenner

3^rd   Leini Fanua  

13 YEARS (Girls):

1^st   Naomi Ale

2^nd   Priscilla Fehoko

14 YEARS (Boys):

1^st   Andre Anand

2^nd   Logan Smith

3^rd   Ajay Akid

14 YEARS (Girls):

1^stKlara Hatt

2^nd   Amyleigh Reynolds

3^rd   Sze Qing Poh

15 YEARS (Boys):

1^st   Hamish Jenner

2^nd   Siosifa Sauaki

3^rd   Tonga Hafoka

15 YEARS (Girls):

1^st   Maggie-May Alderson

2^nd   Lilah Best

3^rd   Giaan Egan

16 YEARS (Boys):

1^st   Jack Healy

2^nd   Mahino Paola

3^rd   Shannon Marlowe Cook

16 YEARS (Girls):

1^st   Bella Brigante

2^nd   Ruby Hingano

3^rd   Elizabeth Chirchiglia

17 YEARS & OVER (Boys):

1^st   Ioan Togo

2^nd   Jacob Pulvermueller

3^rd   Cooper Jenner

17 YEARS & OVER (Girls):

1^st   Diyana Babu

2^nd   Lucy Alderson

3^rd   Jordan McKenzie 

HOUSE:

1^st   Green       (300 points)

2^nd   Yellow      (294 points)

3^rd   Blue        (204 points

HARMONY DAY

Late last Term the College  ran a flag competition in the light of Harmony week that had just passed, on one condition; that the flag represent inclusivity within Robinvale. We would like to acknowledge the amount of effort that went into the creating of the flags and the many students who had participated. We would also like to express our utmost gratitude to Jess from the Robinvale Corner Store, for having sponsored this year’s prizes - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd; and to REBA (Robinvale Euston Business Association) for organising these. COngratulations to  1st Prize Katherine Taulango, 2nd prize to Latai Masila-Liutolo and 3rd prize to Pauline Taualupe.

YEAR 7 / 8 LATROBE UNIVERSITY VISIT

Students from Year 7 and 8 visited the Mildura Campus of Latrode University.  The tour was through the VET Classes at Sunitafe this was an oppurtunity for them to  familiarise themselves with how VET Classes are conducted. After  lunch they had a tour of the  Mildura Sporting Precinct to discuss all the career opportunities involved in sports.

KGA ARTWORK

The KGA girls were approached by Mallee CMA, which offered the KGA girls the opportunity to submit an Aboriginal Artwork piece that would acknowledge the importance of working together to care for the Mallee's land, water and biodiversity. This artwork would be on the cover of the Mallee CMA Reconciliation Action Plan. The KGA girls attended a Aboriginal artwork with Aunty Sharon, which got the girls started.

We had 3 artist that submitted an Aboriginal Artwork piece, Ava Best, Marley-Jo Lingwoodock-Togo and Ileita Bradely, which all three girls' art pieces were selected to be on the Reconciliation Action Plan and were gifted a certificate and artwork supplies.

OUR PLACE

Our Place routinely run community engagement groups within the College and Library. We facilitate these groups to support community connection, promotion of the College as a welcoming, inclusive and familiar space for community members to attend. This is hoped to increase parent and carer awareness of the importance of children’s education and providing parents and carers the opportunity to become actively involved in their child’s education by being present onsite. 

Our Place Community Groups running during school terms:

• Monday: Coffee and Chat 9am- 10am
• Increasing participant networking
• This session includes a guest speaker each week from the community expanding on participants knowledge of our community
• Tuesday: Community Cooking 9am- 11am
• Supporting participants in cooking budget friendly healthy meals
• Enabling leadership for participants by offering them the opportunity to lead classes and share their recipes
• Wednesday: Coffee and Craft 1:30pm-3pm
• Term 2 we begin a knitting a scarf activity
• Participants are also encouraged to bring their own projects along
• Thursday:  Community Garden 9am-10am
• Participants can join in on maintaining garden beds and upskill their knowledge on food and how to grow it
• Food grown in the garden is also used within community cooking showing participants how to cook with it also
• Friday: Coffee and Chat (after junior assembly)
• An informal coffee after assembly
• Meet other families of the Robinvale College
• Encourage families to become familiar with Robinvale College site

Please do not hesitate to let us know if you think there may be anyone interested.  We would love to build on the capacity of these groups. Feel free to share attachment to support in promotion of these activities.

2024 STUDENT ATTITUDES TO SCHOOL SURVEY

Dear Parent / Caregiver / Guardian,

This letter is to inform you about the 2024 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS), which will be administered to all government school students in Years 4 to 12. 

About the survey

The AtoSS is a voluntary annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools and the department to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and will be asking your child about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

ORIMA Research Pty Ltd has been contracted by the department to administer the online survey and will provide support to schools throughout the survey period via a telephone hotline and email.

This year, the survey will be conducted at your school from 6^th May until 14^th June.

What are the benefits?

Young people enjoy having a say! This survey has been running for nearly 20 years and is invaluable in helping schools understand student views to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience. The survey responses also help the Department of Education understand how student’s learning experiences can be improved.

What are the risks?

While we do not anticipate many risks of participation, some students may find some of the survey questions personal and sensitive in nature. Should you agree for your child to participate, they are still free to skip questions or to withdraw at any stage if the survey makes them upset or uncomfortable. A teacher will be present during the survey to support students.

The questions are selected from validated survey instruments used in Australia and around the world, are strength-based, and tailored for each year level group.

What will my child be asked to do?

Your child will be invited to complete the survey online during class time using a purpose built secure online survey tool. It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Please note:

• Student participation in the survey is voluntary and students may withdraw at any time.
• The survey is available in a variety of different versions to enable all students to participate.
• The survey will take around 20-45 minutes to complete.

How is my child’s confidentiality protected?

Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey from their teacher. The student login is an assigned identifier that will be used by the department to link data for analysis and research purposes only. Identifiable information, such as student name or Victorian Student Number (VSN) is not used for linking datasets. Some student demographic data (i.e. year level, gender, age, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status) is derived from department-held administrative records and is linked to the individual student login ID during survey set up work to support survey administration.

ORIMA Research will only use student personal information for research purposes to facilitate the administration and data collection of the Attitudes to School Survey. To ensure the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times, personally identifiable data will not be recorded in the survey response file that ORIMA Research provides to the department. All data is stored on servers located in Australia and access is restricted to staff who are working on the project.

All information collected about your child will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Data and Protection Act 2014 (Vic), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic), as well as the Department’s Schools’ Privacy Policy. Please note that consistent with the above legislation and our policy, there are instances where we may be required by law to share information provided by your child. For example, where there is a threat to your child’s health and safety.

How will results be reported?

Aggregated state-wide survey data will be used to report on initiatives and may also be used in public discussions of issues relating to student engagement and wellbeing. An example of how survey data has been previously used includes reporting levels of student engagement in the Performance Summary in the Annual Report to the School Community.

The survey results will also be reported back to the school in aggregate form throughout the survey period. Data or results about individual students will not be shared with schools. All survey data that is made available in reports are for groups of students only so that no individual student can be identified. Where there are low numbers of students, the data will be suppressed so that the school cannot view the results for that group.

Your school may share the results of the survey with parents and carers.

Further information about this survey, including the questions your child will be asked to answer, please visit the department’s survey information page.

If you would like more information, please speak to your child’s teacher, or contact the department at school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au.

Yours sincerely,

Department of Education, Victoria