From the Office

Dear Families,

Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff here at Raywood PS! We are really proud of the learning community we are continuing to develop across our small school, and our students continue to thrive in an environment where they feel supported, valued and encouraged to do their best - it certainly takes a village. Over the first half of this term, it has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm our students bring to their learning each day, as well as the way they continue to grow in confidence, resilience and independence. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a supportive school community, and we thank our families for the important role you play in helping our students achieve their best.

We have many events and activities occuring across the second half of this term and it will be busy for all students, staff and families. All events requiring permission or payments have now been added to uEducateUs and we will continue to provide reminders and information as required. Please do not hesitate to pop in or give us a call if needed.

Student Learning Catch Ups - We will be holding our Term 3 Catch Ups on Tuesday 1st September. Bookings will open for these this afternoon on uEducateUs and students will bring home more information on how to book these with them today.

Student Individual Education Plans - Individual Education Plans for students for Term 3 & 4 will be sent home today. At Raywood PS, all students are provided with an Individual Education Plan which outlines current student learning goals in both Learning and Wellbeing. These plans are developed by your child's teacher and are an important part of supporting each of our student's individual growth and development. We encourage families to take some time to read through your child’s plan and discuss their goals with them. Your feedback and support are an important part of this process, and we welcome any questions or comments you may have about your child’s goals or learning. Our upcoming Student Learning Catch Ups are a great opportunity for this.

Early Pick Up/Late Arrival Procedures - In the office we are making some small adjustments to the way we document student attendance, including early departures/late arrivals. If your child is leaving early or arriving late, we ask that you families please:

Enter through the Front Office.
Fill in the Late Arrival/Early Departure form in the Pink Folder.

We will then enter this information into uEducateUs as appropriate.

We will also be beginning to send home unexplained absence letters at the end of each month. If your child has an unexplained absence across the month, you will receive a letter with the date of the absence. Please complete this note and then return to school.

Thank you to all families for helping us record accurate attendance for our students and to continue our priority on all of our students having great attendance at school.

Parent Opinion Survey - Our yearly Parent Opinion Survey will open next week. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. Whilst the survey is optional, we encourage our families to participate and appreciate your support. The survey will be open online from Monday 17th August - Friday 18th September. I will send home more information next week.

Cluster Athletics - On Wednesday our Grade 3-6 students went along to the Campaspe Cluster Athletic Sports in Bendigo. We are incredibly proud of all students for heading along and participating, along with their efforts to prepare and compete on the day! A special mention to Ryley S who excelled on the day, placing first in all of his events. A big thank you to Mr. Collins and Mrs. Light for supporting students on the day and also to Mrs. Hitchcock from OLSH in Elmore for organising another great event.

School Photos - A reminder that our school photos are coming up on Wednesday 26th August, first thing in the morning. Don't forget to get your orders in before photo day, online is the best way to do this. Please speak to James or Taylah if you need a hand.

2027 Prep Transition - We are looking forward to seeing our 2027 Prep students again for some further transition, starting next week! This term we are planning to run three transition sessions, from 9am-11.30am. These will be held on:

Tuesday 18th August: 9am-11.30am
Wednesday 2nd September: 9am-11.30am
Tuesday 15th September: 9am-11.30am

Upcoming Events

Please keep an eye on uEducateUs as this is where permissions and activity information will be communicated. Whilst at Raywood PS we make every effort to significantly reduce the costs of activities offered at school, some activities across this term will incur a cost to families. Where this is the case, we will make sure plenty of notice is provided.

Science Week Incursion Day - On Thursday next week, we will be holding a whole school Science Incursion Day with the team from Supreme Incursions visiting us at school. Over the course of the day, both classes will participate in fun and engaging Science and STEM based workshops. P-2 students will be participating in a Toy Science session, 3-6 students will participate in a Shelter Building session and then all students will come together in the afternoon for a Billy Cart building workshop. This activity will have a cost to families of $35 per student. Payments can be made either via a Bank Transfer or Cash payment to the school. Families may also elect to utilise CSEF funds to pay for this activity if applicable. We will still have a number of families who have not yet paid for this activity, please send this through before next Thursday if possible.

A big thank you to the Church of the Holy Spirit in Raywood who have made a kind donation of $23 per student to reduce the cost to families of this activity. Originally this activity was going to cost $58 per student, so we are very appreciative. Thank you!

Term 3 Swimming Program - In the last four weeks of term, all students will be heading to the Gurri Wanyarra Swimming Pool in Kangaroo Flat to participate in our Term 3 Swimming Program. We will be travelling by bus for our swimming program and as this program is supported by our school's yearly swimming funding, there will be no cost to families. Students will need bathers for swimming, a change of underwear, towel and we also ask that all students have goggles please. Please send all of this in a different bag to the normal school bag. Students will need to wear school uniform to school in the morning and then we will get changed into our bathers before heading across to the pool.

Book Week Excursion to Bridgewater PS (CHANGE OF DATE)- On Friday 4th September, our school will be travelling across to Bridgewater Primary School to join them for a joint Book Week celebration day with our shared MARC Library teacher, Mrs. Rees. Apologies for the inconvenience but we had to shift the original date as Mrs. Rees has a clash with her other school commitments at Lockwood PS where she works part-time. This will be our Book Week Dress Up day as well. Students are encouraged to come dressed as a character from a book or story they love! There will be a Costume Parade in the morning for those families who may wish to travel across to Bridgewater to join us. For the remainder of the day, students will participate in a rotation of activities based around short-listed picture story books from this year. We will be travelling to Bridgewater PS by bus, with a couple of students travelling across in a staff member's car as well. There will be a cost of $7 per student for this excursion which will go towards covering bus travel costs for the day. Payment can be made by:

Cash payment to either James or Taylah.
EFT Bank Transfer to school account.
If your child has CSEF funds, this amount can be deducted from remaining CSEF. Please let James or Taylah know if you would prefer this.

Further Term 3 Events - More information will be shared about these further Term 3 events in the coming weeks:

Rushworth P-12 Carnival Excursion ($11 per student)
Campaspe Cluster Science Day Excursion ($8 per student)
Bendigo Excursion Day (No Cost)

Term 4 Events - Some future notice as well about Term 4 events as we have a number of camps that will take place in the first few weeks of term:

Grade 5/6 Anglesea Camp: 19th-21st October
- Further information will be sent home about Grade 5/6 camp in the coming weeks. As communicated earlier in the year, we anticipate the cost to be about $400 per student.
Whole School Melbourne Camp: 2nd-3rd November
- Information was sent home with students last week, including a medical form to be returned to school please.
Grade 3/4 Kookaburra Camp: 9th-11th November
- Further information will be sent home about Grade 3/4 camp in the coming weeks. As communicated earlier in the year, we anticipate the cost to be about $300 per student.

Student Awards - Congratulations to Elliot, Lorelei, Ruby and Kai who have been recent recipients of our Friday awards. We love your work!

Thanks Everyone,

James