From the Office

Welcome to the start of a new school year at Raywood Primary School! We are delighted to welcome both returning families and those joining our school community for the first time. It has been wondering to see how our students have settled back into their routines and how they have welcomed new faces into our learning spaces. At Raywood PS our school's values of Being Respectful, Resilient and Responsible guide our practice and interactions and support our school community to be the nurturing, inclusive and supportive environment we know our students require. We look forward to working in partnership with our families and local community throughout the year.

Summer Holiday School Works - It is exciting to see some greenery appearing at the front of our school after the works that occured over the summer. We will be having a Working Bee on the morning of Saturday 28th February to plant out the garden beds and mulch, please consider coming along if you are available to help out.

Allergies - A reminder to families that whilst our school is not a 'nut free school', we do have a number of students enrolled with allergies of different kinds, including one child who is at risk of anaphylaxis. Please be mindful when sending foods to school that contain nuts and we ask that families please don't send along messy foods that may contain peanuts and other nuts. E.g. sending along left over chicken satay for Warm Up Wednesday.

Prep Rest Days - It has been wonderful to see our new Prep students soaking up everything there is to life at school! A reminder that Wednesdays at the beginning of the year are Prep Rest Days. The first Wednesday at school for Preps will be Wednesday 25th March.

2026 Parent Contributions - Thank you to those families who have already processed a payment towards this year's voluntary financial contributions. A reminder that schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard curriculum requirements and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary. We want to thank each of our families for your continued support, whether that is through fundraising or volunteering your time. This makes a big difference to our school and the programs we can offer to our kids.

At Raywood PS we do not operate a ‘book list’ system like many other schools and as such, curriculum contributions from families go towards the provision of the materials, workbooks and bits and pieces our students require throughout the year. This year, our School Council has again agreed to set the contribution amount at $170 per student. This includes $125 towards Classroom Materials and a $45 Library/MARC Van levy.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) - This year the CSEF has increased from $125 per student to $400 per student. If you hold a valid concession card or support an out of home care student, then you may be eligible.

If your child received CSEF at our school last year, you DO NOT need to fill in a new application form. This will automatically roll over. If you are a new applicant to CSEF or a previous recipient whose child has changed schools this year, please see James or Taylah for an application form. If you are unsure if you are eligible, please see James at school.

School Preparations for Fire Season - A reminder that each year, our school undertakes a range of activities to ensure the safety of our school and to prepare for bushfires and grassfires.

An important part of this process is communicating to parents what will happen when certain fire danger ratings are issued to help ensure the safety of students and staff.

Our school has been identified as being at risk of bushfire or grassfire and is a Category 3 school. Our school will close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating. Closure of the school due to a Catastrophic fire danger rating will be enacted when the Bureau of Meteorology forecast and related public safety messaging are confirmed. Due to uncertainties in the forecast, the timing of this confirmation may vary. Information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to families by text message and through uEducateUs.

It is also important to be aware that:

No one will be on site at school on days where the school is closed due to a forecast Catastrophic day.
All bus routes that travel through the Catastrophic area will be cancelled.
School camps will be cancelled if a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast for fire weather district in which the camp is located, or if the travel involves passing through areas that have Catastrophic fire danger.

Myki Cards - We have been given a small number of Youth Myki Cards which I would like to pass onto families who may use them. If you're family regularly uses Vline or other public transport and you haven't yet purchased a new Youth/Child Myki for your child, please see me at school and I'm happy to pass them on if I've still got them.

Annual Privacy Reminder - Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice. Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents.

Gr 1-6 Swimming Program - Swimming kids off for our Grade 1-6 students on Wednesday next week. Prep students will be able to join us in Term 3 when we plan on swimming again. Please ensure you have provided permission through uEducateUs and have completed the swimming ability form for your children if you haven't already: CLICK HERE Hopefully the swimming packs we have ordered arrived in time but please plan for alternative options in case they don't make it by this week.

School Council Elections - A reminder to families that our School Council elections are fast approaching. This year we will have a number of vacancies in the Parent Member Category. If you are interested in nominating for School Council and have any wonderings, please have a chat with James at school. We will have one more meeting with the existing group and then our AGM will be help in March.

From the start of this year, all newly elected School Council members will require a Working with Children Check so this may be something to organise if you are interested and don't have one already.

Thanks Everyone,

James