From the Principal's Desk
Welcome to Term 4!
We are very excited for the busy and enriching term ahead. The staff have been avidly planning fabulous learning and extracurricular opportunities for our students, to ensure our 2024 school year ends well. I'd like to recognise the outside of hours work and commitment our teachers are putting in to ensure our students have access to such fabulous programs. I'm glad to see that our students have settled in well and started off the term beautifully. We were pleased to have a visit today from Mr Hepi, Principal of Sawtell Public School. Mr Hepi is my Principal Coach Mentor (PCM) who is supporting my work in this role. He commented on the beauty of our rural setting, enjoyed hearing the animal sounds in the distance, and showed students some interesting card tricks as he toured our beautiful school. Be sure to ask your child about the 'tree of hearts' trick!
Staffing
As of Monday, Week 2, our fabulous Anne will be relieving in an Administrative Officer position at the Armidale Education Office, returning to Rocky River on Monday of Week 8. During this time, Toni Burton (School Administrative Officer at Sandon Public School) will be filling in for Anne. We are excited for Anne as she delves into this new opportunity, but are very grateful she is planning to return after her endeavours! We wish Anne all the best in this relieving role, and I know the parent and broader community will welcome Toni Burton with open arms, as she supports our school at this very busy time.
P&C - Thank You
Thank you to our wonderful P&C for everything they plan and offer for our students. I'd like to make a special mention to Ben Cain for purchasing and providing the school with the latest supply of our drinking water bottles for students. The P&C endeavour to provide water bottles onsite to ensure students have access to quality drinking water, when and if our tank water is unsuitable. Thank you to Ben who personally donated the latest supply for our students.
Thunderbolt Festival & NE Sings!
On Monday, a note was sent home for families to indicate their commitment to either the Thunderbolt Festival parade march or their child's involvement in the New England Sings rehearsal and concert, which are on the same weekend. We have asked that families please indicate their preference of either event, or non-attendance, to ensure we can plan accordingly. This information is due back to the school by tomorrow Thursday 16th October. Please see the note below in case you've missed it.
Calendar of Events
Families will have received a calendar of events this week to support their own
preparations and planning for the term ahead. Please keep an eye on the 'Dates for your Diary' section of this newsletter each fortnight to ensure you are across any changes which are made.
Centacare: Practical Parenting Workshop
Last term we shared information with the parent community about the potential to offer a parenting workshop hosted by Centacare, paired with a disco or supervised activities for students, to support parent attendance. We have had an underwhelming response to this offer, with many parents indicating this workshop is not something they'd like to attend. Therefore, we will not be going ahead with this offering. If you would like to access the parenting supports which are available, please contact Centacare as this service are more than willing to support families in our region. We will continue to share public offerings which come across our desk in our school newsletter.
Centacare Armidale
150 Rusden Street
T. 02 6738 7200
E. armidale@centacarenenw.com.au
Uralla Christmas Street Festival
Our students have been invited to sing in a combined school choir with all Uralla schools at the Uralla Christmas Street Festival on Friday 22nd November. This will be a momentous occasion, as Uralla lights their first ever community Christmas tree. The choir rehearsals will occur during school time, and students will collectively perform between 6:30pm - 7:30pm on the night. Families will be responsible to bring their children, and supervise accordingly. We encourage all families to support their children to be involved on the night, for what promises to be a wonderful, festive community event.
Attendance & Extended Leave
Last term, students who had fallen below 85% overall attendance received a note home to families. We understand if children are away due to illness, however, we will continue to monitor student attendance and inform parents, to ensure we are supporting your child to achieve their full potential. If you require support to motivate or encourage your child to come to school, please contact us. There are so many reasons for our students to be excited about coming to Rocky River, so please don't hesitate to reach out.
If you are planning on taking your children on a family holiday, outside of school holiday periods, you are required to complete an extended leave form, for approval prior to the scheduled holiday. Please see Anne or Toni in the office for a hardcopy form, otherwise I have attached a digital copy below.
Kindest regards,
Dani Clyde-Smith
Principal