From the Principal's Desk
School Attendance at Rocky River
It’s been great to have our students back in classrooms and settling into the school year. Our teachers are looking forward to a successful 2024 and are excited to work with you to make this a memorable year for your child.
As of this week, only 62% of students at Rocky River School are attending school 90% of the time.
The evidence is clear that consistent attendance is the essential first step for your child to have a positive experience at school. Every day matters for your child’s learning. In recent years we’ve seen too many students miss a day of school here and there. Missing school for students means missing assignments, time with friends, an important maths lesson or getting picked for a sports team.
With days missed, years are lost.
Students are required to attend school every day, whether it’s the first or last day of the term, Mondays, Fridays or days dedicated to sports carnivals, school excursions and incursions.
Help us make sure your child is achieving their best and stays ahead in their learning with regular school attendance. The more time your child attends school, the greater their opportunity to learn, make new friends and improve their wellbeing. Together, let’s build positive attendance habits for a lifetime.
If your child is absent from school, please let us know why as soon as possible, even if it’s just a few minutes at the start or end of the school day. Of course, there will be times when your child is unable to be at school (like when they are unwell).
If your child is feeling anxious about coming to school and you need support, please reach out to your child’s teacher or me directly. Our staff are here to work with you and your child to help them attend school each and every day.
Thank you again for working with our teachers and support staff to make sure your child is at school, on time, every day. We all want to see our students learn, grow and belong in our equitable and outstanding education system.
North West Swimming
Congratulations to all students who competed at the recent PSSA Zone Swimming Carnival in Armidale. I also congratulate Ivy, Mackenzie, Naomi, Cailey and Phoebe on being selected to compete at the North West Carnival which will be held on Monday. Fantastic effort girls!
External Validation in 2024
Every 4 years all schools within the NSW Department of Education complete the External Validation (EV) process. This requires the school to provide an evidence bank that shows how the school is performing against the School Excellence Framework. The school panel submits the evidence and a panel, comprising of a Principal and a School Leadership and Peer Principal analyses the evidence provided and other school systems. The school team then participates in a meeting where clarifying questions are asked, and the school is validated against the NSW School Excellence Framework. This framework consists of 14 elements in the areas of Leading, Teaching and Learning.
The framework places schools on a scale of Working Towards Delivering, Delivering, Sustaining, and Growing and Excelling.
We have commenced our self assessments and we have started to build our evidence to support our on-balance judgements. We will meet with the panel in September. We will keep you all informed of our progress.
New Finance System
Our school has now migrated to the School Bytes Finance System. An email was sent out from School Bytes last Tuesday with a link asking parents to sign up to this new online Parent Payment Portal.
Please create an account as soon as you are able as this will enable you to make payments for excursions etc. online.
If you didn't receive an email you can create your account by going to our school website https://rockyriver-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/ and clicking on the 'Make a Payment' tab at the top of the home screen.
Alternatively you can go through the link below to register
https://portal.schoolbytes.education/auth/login
Information on how to register is provided in the attached document.
If you have any questions please contact Anne in the office.
NAPLAN Starts Next Week
Just a reminder for our parents in Years 3 and 5 that students will complete the NAPLAN assessments from next Wednesday onwards. There is no preparation needed from home. We will complete these as part of our normal timetabled lessons.
Assembly - Thursday 28th March
Thank you to all of our parents and community member who come along to last Friday's assembly. Our next gathering will be on Thursday 28th March. This is the day before Good Friday so we will use this opportunity to hold our Easter Hat Parade. Congratulations to our Year 6 students for hosting the first of many assemblies!
Oral Health and Growing Up
We have accessed resources from Health Wise to support our Personal Development and Health programs to provide workshops for students next Tuesday about personal hygiene such as washing and cleaning teeth. The team will also speak with students in Years 5 and 6 on growing up and body changes, including puberty. These workshops align and support the syllabus content we teach in schools. Students in Upper Division took home a note this week regarding these lessons. Please see another copy below:
Upper Division Excursion - Coffs Harbour
Last week, students in Upper Division were invited to put in an expression of interest to attend the Coffs Adventure Camp from Monday 9th to Wednesday 11th September.
The purpose of the note is to gauge interest from families who give permission for their child/children to attend. I have included another copy of the note in the attachment below. The school is subsidising the cost of the excursion to make this as affordable as possible. For this excursion to go ahead, we will need to have most students agree to go. If you have any questions, please contact me at the school.
https://coffscoastadventurecentre.com.au/
Best Start - Kindergarten Students
The Best Start Kindergarten Assessment identifies student’s literacy and numeracy skills on entry to Kindergarten. All Kindergarten students complete the literacy and numeracy assessment in the first 5 weeks of school. The assessments provide information to the school on your child's current achievements and give us advice on how to support their learning at school.
Our assessments have been completed for our Rocky River students and parents of children in Kindergarten will receive these reports this week. Mr Ridley will be offering all families the opportunity to meet with parents to discuss these reports.
Principal Meetings
I will attend the NSW Primary Principals Association State Council Meeting in Sydney tomorrow and Friday. This will be the last time I will be away at meetings this term. These meetings are essential for us to ensure we are keeping up to date with programs for our students. Leah Miller will relieve as principal while I am away.
P&C Disco and Meet & Greet Afternoon
Thank you to our P&C for organising a disco for students as part of their "Meet & Greet" afternoon. The next meeting of the P&C will be on Monday 8th April from 5.30pm. This will be the Annual General Meeting.
Personalised Learning Plan Meetings
We are currently preparing a Personalised Learning Plan (PLP) for every student at Rocky River, as we have done over the past few years. Our PLPs have targets in English and Maths as well as personal goals from students. We will once again invite you to be a part of these plans in a three way meeting Student - Parents - Teacher if you would like to discuss and have some input into your child's plan. Meetings will take place during the last two weeks of term from Tuesday 2nd until Friday 12th April. More information regarding available times will be sent home soon.
Moving into Year 7 in a NSW Government School in 2025
This week, I provided our students in Year 6 with an expression of interest in declaring where they will be enrolling next year for Year 7. We have completed some of the fields for you including student ID and local zoned school (Uralla Central School). Can I please ask families to complete the remaining sections and return this to school as soon as possible? If you have any questions about completing the form, or questions about the transition from Year 6 to Year 7, please come and see me.
Plan for Public Education
Please find below a link to the "Plan for Public Education" published by the NSW Department of Education. The plan sets our direction and priorities for the coming years, and harnesses the commitment of our teachers and schools to provide an outstanding education for every learner.
The Plan for NSW Public Education outlines how we will create an equitable and outstanding education system, and strengthen trust and respect for the teaching profession. Our approach has been informed by evidence and insights from engagement with our education community.
Please click the link below for further information:
Have a great fortnight!
Brad Hunt
Principal