From the Principal's Desk
Welcome to Week 8, Term 4!
With our final weeks of the year ahead of us, I am excited to end the year well with all of the special activities we have planned for our very deserving students. As always, the past fortnight has been eventful, filled with lots of rich learning and wonderful extra-curricular activities.
I am very proud to share the wonderful news of our very own Anna in Year 6's Christmas Card artwork which was selected as Deb Summerhayes, Deputy Secretary of Public Schools NSW Christmas Card for 2025. The artwork will be developed into Mrs Summerhayes' card for the festive season ahead, with acknowledgement of our wonderful Anna's artwork. Please see the excerpt from Mrs Summerhayes regarding Anna's work below:
It gives me great pleasure to inform you that I have chosen the artwork of one of your students, Anna Kirkaldy, to feature on my Christmas card for 2025.
The Hon Prue Car MP, Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning, received hundreds of artworks created by students from public schools across the state and I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to select an artwork from the submissions.
Anna’s artwork really stood out to me because of the beautiful detail she put into the festive green frog.
...
Thank you again for supporting the 2025 Minister’s Christmas card artwork competition by endorsing Anna’s submission.
I look forward to seeing her artwork featured on my cards this year. It is a reminder of my lovely visit to Rocky River Public School this year."
Recent Storm
The vicious storm to tear through Uralla last week left Rocky River without power for approximately 24 hours, but thankfully no damage to our school or surrounding gardens. Our school day on Thursday was challenging without power, however, with gratitude to our wonderful Asset Services Officer; Roy, our school was wired up to a generator by early morning which also gave us back communication lines.
We focused on supporting the students who were at school, some who had endured a tumultuous night in the storm with various forms of damage and impacts on their families. Hot toast with spreads, cooked eggs from our very own chooks and bottled water courtesy of our wonderful P&C ensured we had the supplies needed to help our students start the day right! We hope our community are safe and well, with minimal damage to homes as we soon enter the holiday period.
Back Pack Venture Donations
We were honoured to receive a very generous donation to our school from the Back Pack Venture - a charity group who endeavor to provide school supplies to many school children in small rural towns in NSW. The group were travelling through our region and delivered a supply of resources to the Uralla Police Station for distribution. Police officer Chris Jordan reached out to our school and visited yesterday with a range of pack backs, stationary supplies toiletries and personal hygiene products. We are coordinating the distribution of these items equitably across our student cohort, so don’t be surprised if your child comes home with some extra supplies over the next week! We thank the Uralla Police Station and the Back Pack Venture for their generosity and support for our students.
Teaching Rounds: A Focus on Explicit Teaching
Last Wednesday marked our final session of the Thunderbolt Alliance of Small Schools Teaching Rounds for 2025, and what a fantastic learning journey on explicit teaching it has been! Miss Miller and myself delivered two high quality writing lessons, to our respective Stage 2 and Stage 3 class groups, modelling elements of the 'NSW DoE Explicit Teaching Flower', with a specific focus on the implementation of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria (LISC) for high impact teaching and learning. Colleagues from Kelly's Plains Public School, Kingstown Public School and Kentucky Public School visited to observe, after delivering their lessons in previous weeks at their own schools.
We have enjoyed working so cohesively with our small school colleagues this year, and especially enjoyed demonstrating excellence in teaching across our Upper Division classrooms last week. We look forward to moving forward together in 2026 with shared priorities across our small but mighty public schools
Tillbuster Winds Ensemble
It was such a pleasure to see six of our talented students play at NECOM's Beginner Music Program Christmas Concert last Tuesday evening. Mr Ridley and I were excited to attend the highly anticipated show, and it absolutely did not disappoint. Anna, Lucy, Ivory, Phoebe, Harrison and Henry are members of the Tillbuster Winds Ensemble. They rocked five awesome unique pieces and as always, entertained the crowd with their quirky and humorous performance.
We're so proud of our Rocky River students who demonstrate discipline, perseverance and commitment to learning an instrument; performing outside of school and attending after hours rehearsals. But most of all, what a pleasure it is to see them all have so much FUN while playing.
Frozen Orange Wedges
A fond memory of my own primary schooling years was the frozen orange wedges we would receive as a special treat on a hot Summer's day. As a result, at Rocky River we love to keep frozen orange wedges on hand for special occasions, as a whole school reward or just as a way to brighten our students' day with a healthy and refreshing treat. The latest round of oranges were very popular amongst the students - thank you to Mrs Morris for cutting and preparing this batch!
Uralla Christmas Street Fair
Thank you to all the families who dedicated their evening to supporting their child’s involvement in the combined small school carols performance at the Uralla Christmas Street Fair. We were disappointed that the event could not go ahead at the last minute due to the unfortunate weather but thank everyone for their support none the less. A special thank you to Miss Miller and Jess (our NECOM Vocal Tutor) who were on standby on the night. We heard lots of stories of students busking, Year 6 selling handmade items to fundraise for the Year 6 gift, and some gingerbread decorating success!
Congratulations Charlotte
Congratulations to Charlotte in Year 6 for winning 1st Prize in the 11 Years Age Group Division of the Fairy Festival Colouring In Competition. We were proud to present Charlotte with a special gift which we believe may have come straight from Ollivander's Wand Store!
Presentation Day
Our Presentation Day assembly is Tuesday 16th December 9:00am (Week 10), at Uralla Central School. We look forward to parents, families and friends joining us to celebrate the achievements of our students!
P&C Raffle
Please consider donating an item for the very successful annual P&C raffle, to be drawn during morning tea after the Presentation Day assembly event. All donations can be handed in to the front office and we will pass on to the P&C. We had so many wonderful donations last year which made the raffle a huge success. Thank you all for supporting our school in this way, and for your continued generosity.
Building A Update
It was a pleasure to welcome our Project Manager; Peter Richardson, Relieving Senior Group Leader; Amanda McManus and Acting Director North Western Asset Management Unit; Konrad Harvey to our final P&C meeting on Monday 1st of December. Peter shared the plans for the new school building and answered questions regarding the project which was very exciting to see the wonderful new facilities Rocky River will soon have.
Please see the points below with the most up to date information regarding the demolition of Building A and the rebuild of our school:
- The contract has been awarded to the contractor who will demolish the building. An initial meeting was held on Tuesday 25 November 2025.
- Construction can start on site once the project has received planning approval to proceed.
- We will issue a project update to the community this term, before the summer school holidays, to share more information about the awarded contractor.
- The timing of demolition starting will be confirmed in consultation with the principal to align with school operations.
- We are continuing ongoing heritage negotiations with heritage authorities.
Once demolition is completed and planning has been approved for the new building, we will begin the procurement process to appoint a construction contractor.
The department is the best point of contact if you have questions about this project. The department can be contacted by phone on 1300 482 651 or by email schoolinfrastructure@det.nsw.edu.au. While these processes take time, the department is proceeding as quickly as possible. Thank you for your cooperation during this important work.
Gubi Gabun Play Session Trial - Term 4
We welcome you to bring your children under school-age to attend the final Gubi Gabun Playgroup session at Rocky River next Tuesday. Due to the popularity of this playgroup, we are organising a permanent timeslot with Gubi Gaban for 2026 with the day of the week to be confirmed. We are very excited to be able to offer this service to our community in a permanent capacity.
Term 4 Promotional Play Session - Remaining Dates:
Tuesdays 10am - 12pm
9th of December
Attendance
Please ensure your child's absences reasons are logged with the school. It is important that this communication comes through to the school via the correct channels:
- Absence submission through the School Bytes app (preferred method)
- Phone call to the school office: (02) 6778 4122
Email to the school email address: rockyriver-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Extended leave
Please remember to complete the extended leave or travel form if you are planning to take your children on holidays during the school terms. This must be completed prior to the planned travel.
Kindest regards,
Dani Clyde-Smith
Principal