From the Principal's Desk

Congratulations Mrs Fortescue

We are thrilled to hear the news of the safe arrival of Jess and Jock Fortescue's little baby boy, Gus Fortescue, born on Wednesday 5th April.  Everyone is well and we look forward to meeting Gus when he is a little bigger.  Here are a couple of photos Jess has offered to share with the community:

Book Fair

Our Scholastic Book Fair is well under way and will remain open until Friday morning.  Thank you to the many students and parents who have come along and had a browse and purchased our products this year.  Any profits made from the purchase of books, are used to purchase more resources for our library.

Cross Country 

Thank you to everyone for helping to make our cross country such a success yesterday at the Uralla Sporting Complex.  Our school was asked to coordinate this event late last term but due to the rain, we had to change our date and venue.  I sincerely thank Anne Miller for going above and beyond to make sure our programs and paper work were ready to go. Thanks also to our amazing staff for being so adaptable! Thanks also to our P&C for providing a BBQ and to those parents who baked items to sell.  Great job all round! 

The SkoolBag App is now called "Audiri"

We have been informed that the SkoolBag app we currently use, has been upgraded to a new version called "Audiri". This will mean very little change for your app usage however, I suggest you search for "Audiri" in the Apple Store or Goolge Play Store and and install this onto your phone to ensure you have the updated version.  Please see some further information below.  If you need some help installing this onto your phone, please ask a staff member.

Welcome Oscar Ward

We welcome Mr Oscar Ward to our school from UNE.  Mr Ward is a pre service teacher who will be working with Miss Brown and Lower Division for the next three weeks.  We trust Mr Ward will enjoy his time with us and learn lots about teaching multi grade classes!

Principal's Meeting on Friday

I will attend a principal's meeting in Sydney on Friday.  Miss Miller will take Upper Division as normal.

ANZAC Day

Thank you to the many students who joined our school at the ANZAC Day march last week. I was so impressed with how well our students were able to march so respectfully and then sit throughout the service at the park.  Thank you again to you all.

An Evening with ACOS

Our Upper Division students will be offered the opportunity to be a part of the combined choir for the upcoming An Evening with ACOS.  This is a major event for the ACOS (Armidale Community of Schools) group.  In the past, this event has been held every second year however, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, this was not able to be held.  It is a creative arts event which involves all public, high and central schools in the ACOS group. Our school will join the combined choir section. Students from Rocky River who wish to be involved will be learning their songs with Miss Miller and will be required to attend full rehearsals and workshops every now and then leading up to the event to practice as a whole choir.  An Evening with ACOS will be held during week 4 of next term at the Armidale Secondary College with a dress rehearsal and performance for local schools on Wednesday 9th August and the concert for parents and the community on Thursday 10th May from 6pm.  I will provide more information as it comes to hand.  Thank you to Leah Miller for coordinating our students and for attending the ACOS meetings on behalf of our school.

Sydney Excursion Expression of Interest Due Friday

Please remember that the expression of interest for students in Upper Division to attend the Sydney excursion is due this Friday with a non-refundable deposit of $50.  It is essential we find out if the excursion will be able to go ahead before we confirm further tickets and places as many of these are non-refundable deposits for the school.  Please contact me if you would like to discuss any aspect of the excursion, including financial support if you need some assistance.

CPR Training for Students

Last Friday, students in Upper Division were provided with a follow up lesson on using CPR/emergency care when faced with an emergency situation.  These are such valuable lessons for our students and I thank the Royal Life Saving Association of NSW for providing our students with this opportunity.  There was no cost to students as this was covered by the school. 

Attendance in 2023

We aim to increase our daily attendance back to 100%, or as close to this as possible, each and every day.  This is a major focus for every public and high school in 2023. COVID, lock downs and restrictions brought a lot of uncertainty for many of us and impacted on our ability to attend school/work each day.  Of course, there are times when we are unwell or we need to take leave and this is understandable and completely normal.  Classes start at Rocky River at 9am and finish at 3pm and it is important for students to be here on time to start classes each day. I thank you, in anticipation of your help, in making sure all students are at school each day, for a full day of learning!

Have a great fortnight!

Brad Hunt

Principal