Welcome to Week 9, Term 1!

Today we celebrated Epilepsy Awareness Day by wearing purple. We had a mufti day and students wore their best purple items to showcase their support, raising $27 which we will donate to Epilepsy Action Australia. Purple Day, or Epilepsy Awareness Day, held annually on March 26th, aims to raise global awareness about epilepsy, reduce stigma, and support those living with the condition, encouraging people to wear purple and participate in events to spread information.

Meanwhile, our Stage 3 group attended a New England Junior Drama workshop at Uralla Central School. This offering from the NSW DoE Arts Unit provided our students with an exciting experience around street theatre and characterisation as well as a drama tool bag, delivered by a specialist tutor. Thank you to Mr Hunt for extending the offer to our school and to Mrs Tobler for welcoming and supervising our students today.

Year 6 Gift

I am pleased to share the news of the wonderful Year 6 gift installation in the playground, from our 2024 cohort. The Rocky River "Friendship Garden" was installed earlier this term and has provided our students with another inviting area to sit and connect with their peers. It's been lovely to see the yarning space re-energised and I often think of our lovely, (now Year 7) 2024 student cohort each time I visit this space. Thank you to all of the 2024 Year 6 families who contributed to this gift.

NAPLAN

Last week, our Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in the NAPLAN assessments, which are national tests that capture a snapshot of student reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and numeracy skills. While we encountered some unavoidable technical errors during the testing process (some of which were system-wide errors), we are proud of how our students persevered and gave their best effort despite the challenges. Their determination and resilience are commendable, and we appreciate the support from our families during this time.

Lost Property

We have a few good quality jackets that were in our lost property collection for quite some time that have no names on them and weren't claimed when all students were asked. These have now been washed and placed into the clothing pool. These include one size 14, two size 6 and one size 8.

Please make sure that your child's name is clearly marked on their hats, jumpers, jackets etc so that when found they can quickly be returned to the rightful owners.

If you think your child has lost a jacket please let us know asap.

If unclaimed by the end of this week, these jackets will also be available for purchase at a reduced price.

World Down Syndrome Day

On Friday 21st of March students wore crazy socks and raised $52 for World Down Syndrome Day. It was an exciting way to raise awareness of people with down syndrome. Our contribution will go towards Down Syndrome NSW's work towards advocacy for better resources and support for individuals with down syndrome and their families, ensuring their inclusion and wellbeing.

PSSA

We have had lots of students involved in a range of PSSA sports this term. Phoebe, Harrison C, Sarah and Ivy competed in the North West swimming carnival on Monday, representing our school in the Peter Dobson relay. Today, Phoebe is competing in the North West Hockey competition in Tamworth. We are so proud of our sporting superstars!! It is a pleasure to see our students trying their absolute best and maintaining comradery and good sportsmanship during these events.

Our next assembly - Easter Hat Parade!

Our next assembly is on Friday 4th April at 2:15pm. On this day, we invite students to bring their own Easter hat or wear a crazy hair-do to parade at the assembly. The P&C will hold an Easter Egg hunt after the hat parade, before home time. This will be an exciting event for our students and we look forward to seeing families join us on this day. Again, please do not feel pressured to buy an expensive hat, or accessories. An Easter hat or crazy hair do can be as simple as a cardboard creation. We will offer all students an opportunity to create something in class so all students have something exciting to wear on the day.

Attendance

Reasons for absence

Thank you to all who are prompt in notifying the school of their child's absences both full day and partial day, including the justified reason of why their child was away. It is important that this communication comes through to the school via the correct channels:

Phone call to the school office: (02) 6778 4122
Email to the school email address: rockyriver-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Notification through the school Audiri app

Soon, this will be able to be done through the School Bytes Parent portal, which will be a much easier way between families and the school to log and record student absences.

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.

Kindest regards,

Dani Clyde-Smith

Principal

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