From the Principal's Desk

Welcome to Week 4, Term 4!

What an exciting fortnight we have had at Rocky River Public School! We saw almost all of our 41 students attend the Thunderbolt's Festival on Saturday 25th October. This was the first year that we had a truck to turn into our school float, which made the street parade all the more festive and enjoyable for our students! It was exciting to have such a strong school presence at the well-loved community event, and the students enjoyed all the festivities. Thank you to our dedicated P&C who ran their annual sausage sizzle which is a major fundraising event each year and thank you to all of the wonderful Uralla community who supported us with purchasing lunch, or even just giving us a wave and a cheer as we drove past.

A MASSIVE thank you to:

• The Swilks family for coordinating contributions from the Danieli Family and Williams family, supplying us with a truck and hay bales to transport our students, as well as Steve who safely drove us.
•  Stef Cook for bringing out their Shetland pony which led us in the parade.
•  Every parent who baked cakes and sweet treats or made donations for today.
•  Every P&C member who dedicated their time to set up and run the BBQ today.

Friendship Garden

The P&C-funded friendship garden seats have officially been installed by Mr Hine. This inviting space is now complete with lots of seat space for students to gather and socialise in a comfortable and friendly way. We are looking forward to adding our NAIDOC themed painted rocks to the base of the lemon tree in the coming week.

LISC Teaching Rounds

Miss Miller and I enjoyed visiting Kingstown Public School last Wednesday to participate in teaching rounds with our Thunderbolt Alliance colleagues who also teach Years 3-6. We watched a beautiful English lesson delivered by Mrs Harper and analysed how Learning Intention and Success Criteria (LISC) is implemented into teaching and learning. It is such a valuable experience to visit each other's schools and explore explicit teaching to ensure continued excellence in teaching and learning occurs across the Thunderbolt Alliance of small schools.

Building A Update

• A contractor has been appointed to undertake the demolition of Building A.
• We are working on a Review of Environmental Factors which is an essential part of the planning process. Once approved we will be able to confirm dates for the demolition.
• Demolition timing will be confirmed in consultation with the principal and DEL to align with school operations.
• We are continuing ongoing heritage negotiations with heritage authorities.
• We are nearing completion for the design of the new building.
• 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 NSW Department of Education is working on a project update with further details and examples of the finalised design. We’re expecting that within the next fortnight and I will share it with the school community.

Thank you for your cooperation during this important work. 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.

Canberra Excursion

I'd like to highlight the possibilities we as a school, working in partnership with the P&C, create for the students here at Rocky River. We pride ourselves in offering every opportunity available to students enrolled in a NSW public school, and beyond. It's my vision that students enrolled in small schools are never disadvantaged, and I pride myself of bringing this to life in all of our planning and organisation each school term. We, as a staff, make this possible through strategic budgeting and use of school funds, creativity in transport (teachers offer their own vehicles to get small groups of students to events, use of the Kentucky and ASC buses coordinated and driven by our staff), P&C provide financial support of events through dedicating time and personal resources to facilitate fundraising opportunities, and we apply for grants and welcome other community donations which are available to us. 

We are so pleased that our Stage 3 students were able to participate in our recent Canberra Excursion and such a valuable educational tour of our national capital. 

Our students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational

 programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy. The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. In making the Stage 3 Canberra excursion possible this year, something I believe to be a rite of passage for primary aged students in an Australian Public School, we drew on numerous financial supports to ensure equity in participation. We had 100% of our Stage 3 group attend, and I believe removing the financial barrier for families whilst we experience such high cost-of living demands, hopefully removed the pressure of potential financial burden. I'd like to acknowledge the following sources of support which significantly reduced the cost of the excursion for parents to about a quarter of the actual cost we paid for each individual child.

Pacer Rebate

We would like to acknowledge that to assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion, the Australian Government is contributing funding to our school in the amount of $67.50 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

Rocky River P&C Contribution

The Rocky River P&C contributed a generous $150 per Rocky River student which contributed to the equivalent of about a third of the accommodation and catering costs for Rocky River students for the week.

ACEN Grant

We worked in partnership with the Rocky River P&C to write a comprehensive application for the ACEN Social Investment Program 2025 Round Two Community Grants. We were pleased that the ACEN panel invested time and consideration in supporting this opportunity for our Thunderbolt Alliance of Smal Schools, awarding us with a $5000 grant which significantly reduced almost 50% of the cost of the coach hire for the week.

Additional donation

An extremely generous donation from a supportive company who recgonises the value in rural students attending a Canberra trip in Stage 3, donated $3000. Although not seeking public recognition, we recognise this amount contributed to approximately 30% of the entire coach fee.

School Contribution

As a school, we contributed $100 per Rocky River student, which reduced the accommodation and catering fees for the week, subsiding another 20% approx. of this portion of the excursion cost.

As this was my first time organising an excursion of this nature for our small schools, the planning and organisation was not linear and straight forward, with many moving parts and a lot of planning coming together as close as a week out prior to departure date, as I found out most Canberra bookings need to be made two years in advance. As a small school alliance, we recognise how powerful the experiences of the week were for our students and look forward to running this excursion every two years in Stage 3, moving forward. Understanding the financial support required to make this such a success, and so accessible to our students, we thank the generous groups listed above for their contributions, and look forward to continuing positive partnerships in supporting full attendance at the Canberra excursion of future student cohorts in the years to come.

Term 4 Assembly Dates

Our final regular school assembly for 2025 is Friday 7th November 2:15pm (Week 4). Our Presentation Day assembly is Tuesday 16th December 9:00am (Week 10). We look forward to parents, families and friends joining us to celebrate the achievements of our students!

Gubi Gabun Play Session Trial - Term 4

I am pleased to announce that Rocky River Public School have been offered a permanent play session booking with Gubi Gabun in 2026! There is high demand for this service offering to the community and we are so pleased to be able to host such a valuable  service in our lovely school setting.

Term 4 Promotional Play Session Dates:

Tuesdays 10am - 12pm

• 11th of November & 25th of November

• 9th of December

   

Each fortnight, Gubi Gabun mobile play service is visiting and transforming the K-2 room into a wonderful and inviting community play group space. We had five families participate last Tuesday - it has been exciting to welcome some new little faces onto our school grounds. We look forward to their return next Tuesday and welcome any parents with little ones who are not yet school-aged to join the free play group sessions.

Please spread the word so that we can share our beautiful school with local families looking for opportunities to connect and enrich their child's life. 

Kindergarten 2026 Transition Program

Our Kindy Transition program is running on Mondays this term! Enrolments are still open for Kindergarten 2026. To support children in familiarisation with basic school routines, and beginning to build some social connections and familiar faces that they can look forward to seeing on their first day of Kindergarten, we invite students to attend our Term 4 transition days. 

If you are thinking of enrolling your child to start school next year, or know someone who is interested, please contact our school office (02) 6778 4122 or pop in for a visit! 

We look forward to welcoming lots of smiling, new faces to our beautiful school.

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