From the Office 

News From the Principal

Getting Our Hands (gloves) dirty! 

Raywood Primary School did their bit for our community last week by participating in the Clean Up Australia Schools' Clean Up Day. Last Monday we walked along the Bendigo-Pyramid Road and Sandhurst St towards the Recreation Reserve, picking up rubbish along the way. Bottles and cans seemed to account for the most rubbish collected, but we also found food wrappers, plastics and even some discarded orange barricade! 

Walk Safely to School Day

On Friday March 25th we will be participating in Walk to School Day. This is a statewide initiative that encourages students to walk or ride to school. Due to the logistics of arranging bikes etc, we have elected to do the walk.

The school bus will make its normal run on the Friday morning but instead of dropping the bus travellers at school it will drop them at the Recreation Reserve , we ask that non bus travellers meet us at the reserve at 8.50am. Teachers will also be present for supervision during the drop off and walk. We will then walk to school and upon arrival our students can partake in a breakfast of cornflakes, toast, juice and fruit. (We realise that for some students this may be a second breakfast, but that is ok). 

What a healthy way to begin our day! 

School Council 2022

A huge thank you to those parents who have indicated they are  nominating to be on our 2022 School Council. We really appreciate you giving up some of your time to help further improve and promote our fantastic  school and we will very much value your input. If you could please return your nomination forms as soon as possible it would be very much appreciated (if you have already done this - thank you). 

Our first meeting for the year and the AGM will be held on Monday March 28th at 5.00pm. It will be held at the school, but please let us know if you would prefer to join us via Webex (virtually) and I can arrange a meeting link for you to use to join. 

Swimming Sports

Our Year 4/5/6 students competed in the Campaspe Cluster Swimming Sports on March 4th. All of our students swam with with absolute determination and showed great sportsmanship. It was wonderful to see and hear them cheering each other on. Congratulations to Mason, Kiara and Clancy who all were place-getters on the day. 

A further congratulations to all of our swimmers for their wonderful efforts, exemplary behaviour and fantastic representation of our school. 

Rapid Antigen Testing

My understanding is that this program will continue until the end of term. Families are reminded that each box sent home contains five tests which is enough for 2 x 2 tests for your child for the fortnight. The next packs will be sent home next week. Thank you for your support with this. 

New Facebook Page

Now that we have uEducateUs as a communication tool between school and families, we have decided to make our Facebook Page public. This means we can reach a wider audience and showcase all of the fantastic things we do here at Raywood Primary School. You can find us by searching Raywood Primary School from your Facebook app or use the QR code below to be taken straight there. From there you can "follow" our page so that you do not miss out on all that is happening at Raywood Primary School. 

Thank you everyone, Lisa Duffy 

News from the Business Manager

CAMPS SPORTS AND EXCUR

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. A Special Consideration category also exists. Schools can receive applications from families over terms one and two.

Families can list more than one student in the one application form if they are attending the same school.

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:

• school camps or trips
• swimming and school-organised sports programs
• outdoor education programs
• excursions and incursions.

The CSEF payment cannot be used towards books, stationery, school uniforms. Schools will need permission before allocating CSEF funds and a credit note will stay on the family account until the family advises the school how they want the funds allocated.

Applications can be entered from 31 January 2022. Parents/carers wishing to apply for CSEF payments for 2022 must submit their application form to the school by 24 June 2022.

However, a parent/career will only be required to submit an application form to the school in the following circumstances:

• the parent/career is applying for the CSEF payment for the first time – i.e. an application form was not lodged with the school in the previous year; or
• circumstances have changed – e.g. there has been a change in the care arrangement of the student, a change of name or CRN, or a new sibling has commenced at the school and the parent/career wishes to apply for the CSEF payment for the new sibling.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              If you require a CSEF form please contact Bree at school.                                                                                         

That is all for this week, Bree Blake.