From the Principal's Desk

Welcome to Week 8, Term 2!

Rocky River Public School has had a busy fortnight! As you will see if passing by the school, work for the new build is well underway and we are very excited to see and hear such progress! Anne and I recently completed our full First Aid refresher at Kingstown Public School with our alliance colleagues, Mrs Harper (Kingstown PS) and myself attended an Athletics Officiating Workshop in Inverell, and Mrs Burton (our APC&I) recently attended the Armidale Network Phonics Workshop at Uralla Central School. In weekly professional learning sessions, our teaching staff are all engaging with an ongoing inquiry cycle process with a focus on explicit teaching, and how effective feedback improves student growth and attainment in the classroom. It's a pleasure to model how to be a life-long learner for our students, as we continue to maintain and improve our professional practice in a range of areas which benefit the school.

School Re-build Project Update

We have movement on the ground! We are awaiting our next project update but are pleased to see lots of earthworks happening onsite. As new machinery arrives, NSW Infrastructure are conducting noise and vibration testing to ensure no disruption to students working in classrooms whilst this important work occurs. We are looking forward to watching our new build come to life!

The department can be contacted by phone on 1300 482 651 or by email schoolinfrastructure@det.nsw.edu.au

Congratulations to the Rocky River Clarinet Trio

Ivory, Romy and Lucy performed in the Armidale Eisteddfod at NECOM on Sunday 31st May, competing with other students in Years K-6, with 3-8 players, a 5 minute time limit and no conducting allowed. Performing as "The Rocky River Clarinet Trio", our girls performed the titles; Yellow Bird  and Little Brown Jug with composure, alignment and confidence which earned them second place on the day scoring a beautiful 92/100. Judges feedback: "Good ensemble balance and very well together. A great performance. Keep improving on your individual clarinet playing and your trio will sound even better. Well done!". Rocky River are very proud of the progress and achievements of Ivory, Romy and Lucy, working hard in our weekly school-based orchestra program and applying their dedication and passion to competing in such events as the eisteddfod!

Semester One Reports

Student Semester One reports (Term 1 and 2) will be ready by Week 11. We are aiming to share these with families electronically on Monday 29th June via School Bytes, as done so previously. The reports provide an overview of your child's progress throughout the semester and insights into their next steps in learning. We look forward to sharing these reports with you at the end of the term.

Curriculum Policy Monitoring (CPM)

This year, our Stage 3 HSIE team (Miss Miller, Mrs Burton and myself) have been actively engaged in the Curriculum Policy and Monitoring (CPM) process to ensure the highest quality learning experiences for our students. Our APC&I, Mrs Burton, and teaching staff have been collaboratively gathering evidence of student progress and achievements, carefully aligning their assessments with curriculum standards. We have now submitted the comprehensive CPM report, which will be discussed at our upcoming CPM meeting scheduled for Week 10. We appreciate the dedication of our staff with the extra workload this process requires, and look forward to engaging in valuable discussions around our curriculum compliance and areas we can grow in, as we continue our pursuit for continuous improvement at Rocky River!

School Photo Day Success

Last Friday, we successfully held our school photo day indoors, sheltered from the rainy weather we were afforded! Damien from MSP Photography said this must have been the first year in over a decade that Rocky River had a school photo day indoors. We thank Damien and the team for their flexibilty and commend our students on arriving to school on time, and managing the photo day schedule well. We look forward to receiving our wonderful photos soon and are excited for our photo day in 2027 which will feature our brand new school building!

Next Assembly

Our next whole school assembly will be on Friday 19th June at 11:30am. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Gabi Gabun - Term 2

We love seeing little ones aged 0-5 attending the Gabi Gabun service at our school. Sessions are held on even weeks this term on Wednesdays between 10am-12pm. The resources from Gubi Gabun are wonderful, we encourage all to take up this enriching and FREE service to all! Please spread the word to ensure everyone can make the most of this fantastic offering.  The next play session at Rocky River School will be on Wednesday 24th June.

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.

Enrolling Now for 2027

We are enrolling now for our 2027 Kindergarten intake. Please contact the school office to chat with Anne or myself or visit our website to complete an online enrolment application https://rockyriver-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/ 

Kindest regards,

Dani Clyde-Smith

Principal