Dear RMPS families,

Current Events and Fundraisers

‘FUN’raising Bites Fundraiser, ends Tuesday 15 August – This simple fundraiser will get families involved in raising funds to go towards new 2023 play equipment such as soccer goals (requested by students) or a Gaga Pit for the children to enjoy, and we will also be helping the Bite Size Kids Appeal. Our goal is to raise $6,000 from Gourmet Bites Box sales for Robbie Mac.

Yesterday, the bitesize ‘FUN’raising Bites carry boxes were sent home with the children. Each carry box contains 15 gourmet biscuit boxes. There are:

• 3 flavours – Choc Chip, Salted Caramel and Raspberry

• 5 gourmet biscuit boxes per flavour

• 8 individual bite size biscuits per gourmet biscuit box

• Allergen information included on each gourmet biscuit box.

Next Steps:

1. Get selling … safely! Please don’t send the kids out to sell unsupervised. You have approximately 4 weeks to sell the boxes. Each individual gourmet biscuit box is to be sold for $5.

2. Let us or the office know if you would like another box as we have some extras.

3. Let us know if you need help.

4. Return the included envelope containing the money made from sales to your eldest child’s classroom teacher along with any unsold gourmet biscuit boxes in the carry box. Leftover boxes and money are due back by Tuesday 15 August. Please ensure you complete the details on the envelope and enclose the correct money.

5. If you sell all 15 gourmet biscuit bites boxes, recycle the ‘FUN’raising Bites carry box as we won’t need it back.

Important Note:

• The total value of a ‘FUN’raising Bites carry box is $75. So, if you sell all 15 gourmet biscuit boxes, there should be $75 in the envelope provided when you return it.

• If you only sell a portion of the gourmet biscuit boxes ($5ea), then the envelope needs to contain the amount of money covering the sold boxes, and the carry box needs to contain the remainder of the unsold gourmet biscuit boxes, with the total value being equivalent to $75 of gourmet biscuit boxes and money. For example, where a family has 5 gourmet biscuit boxes left ($25 value @ $5/box), then their envelope should contain $50, and their carry box needs to come back with 5 gourmet biscuit boxes in it.

• People do not need to pay for what they don’t sell, but they do need to return them.

The Prize:

Make sure you are selling those boxes and remember you can ask for more. We have two scrumptious ‘hampers’ to give away for our ‘FUN’raising Bites Fundraiser – check out the photos. The lucky winners will be the two families who raise the most money from biscuit sales overall by the end of the fundraising activity. We will tally the sales after

Tuesday 15 August, when all money (and leftover boxes) have been returned to us.

If you have any queries or would like another carry box (or more) please contact us at: rmps.pfa@gmail.com

Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser, Saturday 5 August – We have our date and our coordinator, Lindsay Gamble, and work is well and truly in progress to make this a successful fundraiser for Robbie Mac. Please put the date in your calendar to either come by and buy a snag or two and/or to lend a hand. We will be circulating a SignUp form soon seeking volunteers to help out at Bunnings.

PFA Student Disco, Friday 25 August – Save the date! We will be holding the annual PFA Student Disco on Friday 25 August, with separate discos for the F-2 and years 3 to 6 students. Plans are underway, the DJ is locked in, and more information will be coming out soon. Watch this space!

Parent/Carer Night … Last Chance – Last newsletter we advertised for a coordinator for the Parent/Carer Night, as we didn’t get one through the Volunteer Sheet completed earlier in Term 2. This callout was unsuccessful and so we remain without one. At the last PFA Committee meeting held on 14 June 2023, there was discussion about the viability of hosting the Parent/Carer Night this year and it was agreed that we would do one final callout for a coordinator to help organise this event and that if we do not get one, unfortunately we will have to cancel it. We are really hoping though to run a Parent/Carer Night in Term 3 but could be hope to holding one in Term 4.

The primary purpose of the Parent/Carer Night is to hold an adult social event to help build community engagement and a sense of belonging and provide parents and carers with an opportunity to meet other RMPS families in a relaxed, fun setting without the children. These usually prove to be popular and enjoyable evenings. Examples of past events include:

2022 Trivia Night

2021 Drinks and food at Rosa Mexicano, Brickworks (cancelled due to Covid)

2019 Finger food, drinks and music at the Box Hill Golf Club

Other ideas could include a bingo night, private event at the movies, 10 pin or lawn bowls, or more drinks and nibbles. Also, note that we promote this as an evening event, but we are open to other times such as a Sunday afternoon.

Have an idea you would like to run supported by a team of helpers, let us know.

It’s not too late just yet. Please email us by COB Friday 21 July (Term 3 Week 2) at rmps.pfa@gmail.com, if you can assist. If we do not find a coordinator by then, the event will be cancelled, which will be a shame.

Callout for other Coordinators

In addition, we are still looking for coordinators to help with organising the following:

As a coordinator, you will be liaising with us, the school, providers (as applicable), and families to ensure we have enough people to help and that what is needed is organised. Most of the work can be done from the comfort of your home and these events have been run before. You will not be doing it all by yourself. We and the school are here to help! If you can take on a coordinator role to support the school and PFA, please reach out to let us know at rmps.pfa@gmail.com.

Term 4 PFA Events and Fundraisers

The following events and fundraisers are currently planned for Term 4:

World Teachers’ Day Morning Tea (Friday 27 October) – we need a coordinator Foundation Transition Morning Tea (Wednesday 22 November) – we need a coordinator School Fun Run (Colour Run) (Monday 27 November) – we need a coordinator Referendum Day Fundraiser (anticipating Term 4)

Other small fundraisers may also be run throughout the remainder of the year.

PFA

The PFA is a group of volunteer parents and carers who help organise events and fundraising activities for RMPS, welcome families and bring people together from within the community. This helps us all connect more closely with our school and to raise vital funds for school improvements. Without volunteers, there would be no PFA.

All RMPS parents and carers are welcome to register as PFA members, enabling them to receive copies of meeting minutes, vote on items/actions and the office bearer (executive) roles as applicable, and be elected to PFA office bearer roles. If you would like to register as a member, please contact us for a copy of the registration form. Note that you do not have to be a member to help on events or attend meetings.

Next meeting: Friday 21 July 2023 at 9:00am – 10:00am. This meeting will be held onsite at the school. We look forward to having parents and carers join us for this meeting.

Signing off for now,

Wen Li (President), Elizabeth (Secretary) and Bård (Treasurer)

The PFA Committee

Numeracy at RMPS