From the Principal's Desk

Welcome to Week 4, Term 3!

Wow, we are almost halfway through the term already! We've had a cracking start to Term 3 with lots of enjoyable events each week. I am so proud to see our students working hard in classrooms, producing high quality work and demonstrating pride in their own efforts. It is a pleasure to see students doing their best at Rocky River, and even more so, the smiles on faces as I enter each classroom. 

Jeans for Genes Day

Thank you to everyone who donated for this worthy cause, all together we raised $213! That is a wonderful effort for our small community.

Year 6 Cake Stall

The year 6 cake stall held at our NAIDOC Day event last week raised a phenomenal $135! This money will go towards the Year 6 gift to the school. We thank all of the parents and students who baked away the night before to ensure they could contribute some delicious goodies. What a successful fundraiser this was! 

P&C Volunteers

During the [organised] chaos of hosting the Thunderbolt Alliance schools here for our NAIDOC celebration, our dedicated P&C members quietly came in, set up the BBQ station, cooked a sausage sizzle for students and staff, served us all with a smile on their faces, packed up and left. I am always just blown away at the humility that our P&C show, willing to dedicate time and energy from their day to make moments like this possible at our school, never asking for or seeking any recognition. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your dedication to our school - we are so lucky to have each and every one of you. A special shout out to Jen and Ali who were the faces of the efforts on the day!

Zone PSSA Athletics

Congratulations to all of our students who competed in the PSSA Zone Athletics carnival last Friday. Our relay team came second, with all students trying their absolute best to compete with passion and comradery. Well done to all of our students who were involved in the day. Thank you to Miss Miller for attending and a big thank you to Matt Peterson who trained the students each week in preparation for the event. We really appreciate the extra support and care our students are lucky enough to receive through our dedicated school staff, parents and broader community. 

The following students will go on to represent our zone at the North West Athletics Carnival in Tamworth on 4th September as part of the Nigel Bagley Relay Team: Naomi, Phoebe, Cailey and Harrison C. Naomi will also represent our school for the 200m sprint. Congratulations and goodluck.

Public Education Week (August 5-9)

Last week was public education week - a time to celebrate the success of our amazing students, staff and community who make public education the inclusive, world-class education system that it is. In celebration, we attended the inaugural Armidale Network Public Education week awards hosted by Martin's Gully Public School. I was proud to present the following awards: 

Outstanding student achievement: Romy (Year 2)

Outstanding contribution to the school by a member of the school community: Jen Philp (P&C President)

Outstanding contribution to the school by a staff member: Mr Brad Hunt

It was wonderful to attend the Armidale Network Education Week dinner event on Friday evening. This was a chance for the Rocky River staff to celebrate with the other amazing public educators from our network. We were glad to catch up with Mr Hunt again, as well as our Thunderbolt Alliance colleagues! What a great week it was.

Spelling Bee Regional Final

Congratulations to Ivory and Lionel for competing in the NSW Premier's Spelling Bee Regional Final on Monday. Our students competed against over 20 schools combined across the state. Congratulations to Ivory on making it through 5 rounds in the junior competition, placing as our regional division's runner up. Ivory competed with composure and grace - this achievement is so well deserved! Well done to Lionel who made it to the top 5 in the senior division. We are so proud of your determination and courage whilst competing. 

New England Sings

Tickets for New England Sings! are going on sale 9:00am NEXT Monday 19 August! There are only 500 tickets available per concert so NOW is the time to book seats to avoid missing out. Ticket prices are Adults $30, FT students $20 and can be purchased through the following link: www.trybooking.com/CUFFT

Which concert should I book for?

Rocky River Public School will be singing in Primary Choir 2 - Concert 2 at 2:30pm. Please view the flyer below for full event details.

2024 Presentation Day & School Musical

As our main building is currently closed off, we will be holding our end of year presentation day and school musical offsite this year. This event will occur at the Uralla Community Hall on Friday 13th December 9am-3pm. We look forward to making a day of it and celebrating the achievement of our students at this venue. The venue organiser, Katherine, has kindly offered to set up chairs the day before. We would like to invite any able and willing parents or community members to assist in the set up the day before (Thursday 12th December) and pack down (the afternoon of the 13th December) to show our gratitude to Katherine - many hands make light work! More details to come in Term 4.

Book Week Parade & Assembly

We are really looking forward to welcoming you all to our next assembly in Week 6. As previously mentioned, we will be combining this assembly at 2:15pm on Friday 30th August with our book week parade. This year's theme is "Reading is Magic"... we are excited to see what costumes our students all come dressed as! On that note.. please don't feel as though you have to spend money on your child's costume - get creative with every day items at home like a blanket as a cape or a handmade wand out of toilet rolls and some paint!

Attendance

Thank you to the families who ensure they diligently contact the school on the morning of to notify us of their child's absence. Please be aware that you can do this in a number of ways; submitting a form through the Audiri app, sending the school an email, ringing the school office or telling a staff member in person. Please reach out to Anne or myself if you need assistance in setting up the Audiri app on your phone as this is our school's main form of communication for parents and carers.

Wishing you all a safe and happy remainder of the week. Stay dry!

Kindest regards,

Dani Clyde-Smith

Principal