Principal's News

Dear Parents/Guardians, 

Parent Opinion Survey (29th July -30th Aug)

The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. Often a random sample of approximately 30 per cent of parents/guardians have been selected to participate, this year we are again inviting all families to participate in the survey. Invitations with survey links and log in details will be emailed to families via XUNO on Monday 29th July. Last year we had a record 54 parents log on!

Raffle Ticket offer - Once again families who complete the survey will enter our raffle as a thank you. To enter, please screen shot or print the screen to show the office you have completed the survey. You will then receive a ticket in the draw to win a $200 RBN  voucher. (Rochester Business Network)

Curriculum Day

Friday 2nd August is the next Curriculum Day. Students do not attend school on this day. Staff will be attending Day 2 of the BSEM - Berry Street Training.

Hand, Foot & Mouth disease

Please be aware we have been notified of a case. 

Symptoms:Fever, Sore throat, Feeling sick, Painful, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums and inside of the cheeks, A rash on the palms, small watery blisters usually on hands, feet.

Exclusion:  Students are not to be at school until all of their blisters have completely dried.

School Fundraising 

Our newly formed fundraising subcommittee has been busy working on a plan for fundraising activities for the remainder of the year. 

Shancakes Cookie Drive

Students received information last term explaining how to order cookie packs.   

 All order forms & money will be due Friday 26th July.

Monster Raffle: 

This term we will launch our 'Rochester Primary School Monster Raffle' with great prizes such as RBN vouchers, kitchen goods, Lego, Yeti items, Sporting equipment, Shanscakes basket/voucher. Families will be encouraged to sell and purchase tickets. All funds raised will go towards supporting students, programs and activities at our school.

Elmore Field Days: 

Once again we have offered to support the Elmore field Days as one of our major fundraisers and have 7 shifts to fill. Please contact the office if you or a friend, grandparent or neighbour is able to help us out. The Field Days are on the 1st, 2nd & 3rd of October (During the school holidays). The jobs could include- food production, Food preparation, delivering, serving, cleaning, dish washing, or stationed in the main shed or food van. No experience required. Please note the shifts can be split into half day sessions if that helps. 

Collecting Students Early 

If you are collecting your child/ren from school early it would be great if you could do this at the following times if possible: 

11:00am start of recess 

11:30am end of recess

1:30pm start of lunch 

2:20pm end of lunch. 

As you can appreciate this avoids interruptions to classrooms and learning and it can be difficult to find students in the playground at recess and lunchtime quickly. Of course we understand this is not always possible in emergency situations. 

XUNO - Not receiving XUNO messages?  

If you are not receiving email notifications and messages or have trouble logging in to XUNO, there is a very big chance there is an issue with the email we have recorded on the school system or your password needs resetting. Please contact the office to have this checked and fixed.

Prep enrolments for 2025 - overdue 

A final reminder for any siblings or prospective 2025 prep enrolments, you are encouraged to submit your enrolment application to our school ASAP. In doing so, this ensures that the school can effectively plan for 2025 class sizes and provides us the opportunity to begin planning our transition sessions.

Kate Whitford