Dear Parents and Carers
Community of Achievers
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome back to what promises to be a wonderful 2024 school year! A special welcome also to all our new families and new staff to our community.
New Staff
Welcome to our new teachers; John Morton (Maths), Tiffany Zheng (Maths), Chloe Gent (Humanities) and Megan Hughes (Humanities) to the Dripstone Community. We also welcome our returning teachers Peter Bader (Science) and Luke Delahay (Maths).
Meet and Greet Parent Evening & School Council AGM
This year’s annual Meet and Greet Parent Evening is being held on 28th of February between 5.00pm – 6.00pm. This event will allow parents and carers to meet their child/rens teachers, gain information regarding their courses and pick up a Parent Outline for each course if they haven’t already received it through Compass. This is not a parent teacher interview, but rather an opportunity for you to meet staff who will be working with your child/ren.
Following the annual Meet and Greet Evening, our School Council AGM will be held in the library starting at 6.00pm. Please attend if you are interested in playing a role as a Parent Representative.
Wellbeing
Every Monday morning your child participates in a Wellbeing Program in their Personal Learning lesson where students, using the School Diaries, are taught explicit skills and competencies to build the brain’s ability and social and emotional resilience. The School Diaries are essential to this class as learning materials are incorporated within it. Diaries are available to purchase at the Book Room.
Car Park Safety
In the last few weeks, we have had some near misses of staff and students almost being hit by cars. Please help keep everyone safe by taking care and only dropping students off in the designated areas. There is a designated student drop-off and pick-up zone via the carpark off of Delamere Street, or on Tiwi Gardens Road.
Please note that the Staff Carpark off of Willeroo Street is not a designated drop-off and pick-up zone. This area has become a safety risk during drop-off and pick-up times as staff try to park their cars and students need to access their bikes and scooters from the Bike Cage that is located near this carpark.
Like most schools, pick up and drop off times can be quite busy and require everyone to take care and be patient.
Mobile Phone Policy – Off and Away All Day
As you may already be aware, in 2023 the NT Government introduced a new mobile phones policy for the use of mobile phones within Northern Territory Government schools. Student mobile phones are not permitted to be used in Northern Territory Government schools and are to be off and away all day. This policy applies to mobile phones, smart watches and all other devices that allow electronically based distractions.
At Dripstone Middle School students are not permitted to have mobile phones in their possession during the school day. Smart watches must be placed on flight mode so phone calls and messages cannot be sent or received during the school day.
Mobile phones owned by students at Dripstone Middle School are considered valuable items and are brought to school at the student’s or parent’s risk. Please note that Dripstone Middle School does not have accident insurance for accidental property damage or theft of personal items. Students and their parents are encouraged to obtain appropriate insurance for their personal items.
The only exemption that is available under this policy is if a student has a health condition and their phone is used to monitor it and the student has a medically approved documented Health Care Plan.
Please see our policy.
School Photos
Our School Photos will be held on Wednesday 28th of February. Order envelopes will be coming home soon and will need to be returned to the Front Office no later than the 27th of February. Details of payment options available will be listed on the order envelope.
Parent Contributions
In 2023, we officially opened our brand new STEAM Centre. This state-of-the-art space is utilised by our STEAM, Science, Technology, Art and Media classes.
In 2024, all money raised in Parent Voluntary Contributions will go towards the purchase of all new tech equipment to fit-out the STEAM Centre. We are aiming to raise a total of $20,000 in 2024. If you’d like to make a contribution, you can do so at our Bookroom, or by calling the Front Office on 8983 7777.
Student Leadership
Student leadership opportunities within the school are now available for those wanting to sign up. Nominations are now open for the School Ambassadors program and House Captain positions.
Elected students will be announced later in the Term.
STEAM News
Mr Joey Uddon’s Year 7 STEAM class have started coding a Micro-controller which will allow for an automated self-watering Green House Kit.
Students will be using their Green Houses to grow Cress from seeds. They will test and compare different variables to see which growing methods produce the best results.
The Green House project will foster critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, collaboration skills and technical skills to be applied to real life applications.
Art News
Ms Kim Boardman’s Year 7 Art class have been introduced to the Art space procedures through exploring the elements of line and colour. These “sgraffito” (scratched) dragons were inspired by Chinese New Year with 2024 being the Year of the Dragon. It represents positive qualities such as power, strength, good luck, confidence and wisdom - which is a great way for the Year 7 students to start their middle school journey with!
Upcoming School Events
Early Departures
Just a reminder that permission for early departure will not be obtained unless the school has authorisation from a parent/caregiver. Parents/caregivers should notify the school, either through a note, Compass notification, email or telephone call to the school on 8983 7777. When students leave the school, they need to sign out at the Front Office before leaving the grounds.
Uniform Policy
As we start a new year, we just want to remind our community that all students should be wearing full school uniform. This consists of the Dripstone shirt and shorts. Black jackets with the school logo are available from our Front Office. If students are wearing alternative jackets or jumpers, they should be only black with no insignias/logos nor should they have hoods on them.
Communications
Dripstone Middle School uses the Compass Manager App to communicate important information, messages and newsletters to parents and families. Parents and carers can also report student absences, view reports and attendance, and contact teachers directly via the Compass app.
To set up your account, parents/carers should have received a notification via the email address supplied to the school. This notification contains your username and password. Download the Compass app and log in using the details listed, then follow the prompts. If you have changed your email address or phone number, please contact the school to update these details.
If you have any issues logging in, please be in touch with the Front Office on 8983 7777.
ATTENDING SCHOOL EVERY DAY
We have been working with the Attendance Team to ensure that all students are attending school every day, five days a week.
If your child is sick, they are to stay home. Please contact the school if your child will be LATE or ABSENT from school by calling the Home Liasion Officer, Mr Laqui Papalii on 8983 7758 or 0437 202 001; Ms Karen Newman the Aboriginal Education Officer on 8983 7759, Compass, email or text message. Please feel free to leave messages on our answer machine.
Please contact the school with the reason for their absence. If you child / student is sick for 3 days or more consecutively, the Department requires a medical certificate to cover the period of absence.
Immunisations - Nurse Mary will be offering vaccines in 2024. Forms have been given to students to take home and to sign. We ask that Parents and Carers fill in the forms and have your child/ren return the forms to the Front Office as soon as possible. Immunisations will not be given if you have signed NO for the selected vaccine or if your child has received a vaccine at a health clinic or GP clinic.
Dripstone Middle School Immunisation Dates:
May 13th - 15th: HPV, Boostrix and Mantoux (Year 7) and Meningococcal ACWY (Year 9).
May 17th: Mantoux Reading - only if the student or parents of the student was born overseas).
Please email Nurse Mary to advise if your child/ren will be away on these dates. mary.burnell@education.nt.gov.au
HEALTH CARE PLANS: Health Care Forms have been emailed to Parents/Carers via email. If you child has a medical condition (such as: Asthma, Diabetes, Anaphylaxis, etc) and you have not advised the school, please email dripstone.middle@education.nt.gov.au to receive a form to fill in.
HYDRATION AND SUN SAFETY - Please encourage your child to bring a water bottle to school and to wear sunscreen daily.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Saver Plus Program
Many families are experiencing cost of living challenges as well as increased education costs.
Saver Plus supports eligible families to take some control of their finances by offering a matched savings incentive and financial education workshops.
If parents commit to saving up to $50 a month for 10 months, ANZ will match their savings up to $500 for families to put towards school uniforms, stationary, camps, laptops, sports fees and music lessons.
*We accept Child Support, Carers Payment and Cash in hand as regular income.
If families join in February 2024, they can claim their matched savings in December 2024 in time for 2025 school costs.
To learn more about Saver Plus attend one of our online Information Session: Register here.