From the Principal's Desk
Welcome to Week 10
Here we are in our final week of Term 2! For a small school we have A LOT happening!! Please see the information below regarding specific updates around the school.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our fantastic P&C for all of the work they do for our school. I've been here for half a term now, and the commitment, enthusiasm, and energy I've seen from the P&C is truly inspiring. We have a number of parent volunteers who give up their time every Thursday to run lunch orders for our students, Matt who has been running training every Tuesday afternoon for our Zone Athletics finalists, the parents and community members who offer their time to run community BBQs to raise funds for the school and the list goes on. It truly is an honour to work so closely with you all and I am proud to see the difference your commitment makes to the lives of our students at Rocky River Public School.
Building A - Community Update
On Monday, we received an update from School Infrastructure NSW regarding Building A (the original school building at the front of the school). The announcement confirms the plan to demolish and rebuild a new building. If you missed it, please see the community notice attached below. I have been advised that SINSW will be in contact with us to organise community consultation around the plans for the building.
If you have any questions you can contact SINSW directly:
Email: schoolinfrastructure@det.nsw.edu.au
Phone: 1300 482 651
www.schoolinfrastructure.nsw.gov.au
Missing Uniform Items
Some parents have indicated they are missing school uniform items.
As we near the end of term could you check if your child has brought home a jacket or jumper that you don't believe is theirs and if so send the item/s in to school so they can be returned to the correct owner. Thank you for your assistance.
Premier's Spelling Bee Champions
Last week we held the Premier's Spelling Bee school competition. Congratulations to all students who were brave and got up to have a go. Well done to our champions who will go on to compete in the regional final next term. The runner up for each division will compete in the regional finals in the event that the Junior or Senior champion is sick or unable to participate.
Junior Champion - Ivory
Junior Runner Up - Toby
Senior Champion - Lionel
Senior Runner Up - Naomi
We will receive details of our allocated session in Term 3, Week 1. Regional finals will be conducted online. A zoom link will be sent to schools and we will facilitate participation onsite. We have been given the following timeframes with the date TBC.
- Juniors 9:30 - 11:00am
- Seniors 1:00 - 2:30pm
Term 3 Staffing
We have farewelled Amberley Burton as she ventures out on maternity leave. Thank you for all of your work at Rocky River this year. Amberley has contributed extensively to our EV work and overall curriculum organisation for Literacy and Numeracy. We are excited to welcome Leah Miller into the relieving position one day a week as of Term 3. Leah will still maintain her classroom teacher position outside of this role.
Many families have asked about the relieving principal position. I would like to confirm that Mr Matt Hobbs (Director Educational Leadership, Armidale Principal Network) has asked me to continue relieving in the Principal position for Term 3, despite the outcome of the merit selection process which is currently underway. This is to ensure continuity for the school. I am pleased for the students and broader school community that we have some consistency heading into Term 3, and am extremely honoured to continue teaching and leading at the beautiful Rocky River.
P&C Sausage Sizzle Lunch
The P&C have generously offered to run a BBQ sausage sizzle for student lunches this Friday, in celebration of the last day of Term 2. There will be some seconds available but we cannot guarantee this for all students (depending on numbers). If your child will need more food, please feel free to send something extra in with them. Thank you to the P&C for your generosity.
Student Reports
Semester 1 reports have been sent home to families on Tuesday. If you wish to discuss your child's report please touch base with their teacher or drop in to see me. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the academic achievements of all students at our school.
Breakfast Club
Every morning, the staff toast a loaf of bread and offer a variety of spreads for our students to eat in the morning. This is currently funded by the school and we have welcomed the generosity of the P&C who have recently been donating bread loaves used from recent BBQ fundraisers. I am pleased to announce we have secured funding through Foodbank Australia for our breakfast program. This will relieve the financial cost of running this initiative, allowing us to continue offering breakfast or a top up snack before class to all students. I would like to acknowledge the importance of breakfast for students to feel focused and ready to learn, so I am happy we can look forward to continuing this initiative into the future.
External Validation
Every 4 years, all public, high and central schools undertake an external validation. This is a process where we assess ourselves against the School Excellence Framework and provide evidence and examples to justify our assessments. The process is not an audit, rather an opportunity to reflect and make on-balance judgements about our programs and systems. As a staff, we are all working hard on preparing our submission which will result in a panel discussion in September. Once we have completed the process, we will have a very clear direction in creating our new school plan for the next four years.
Attendance
There is lots of sickness spreading at the moment and we understand if your child must stay home to get better. We look forward to students attending school again when fit and ready to do so. Well done to all of the committed students and families who continue to maintain their best attendance possible at our school.
I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday break! We are looking forward to seeing everyone's smiling faces return on Tuesday 23rd July 2024 for the start of Term 3.
Dani Clyde-Smith
Relieving Principal