Wednesday 17th March 2021

Term 1, Week 8

From The Principal’s Desk

Principal : Brad Hunt

Teachers: Jess Brien, Emma Schaeffer &

Leah Miller

School Administration: Anne Miller

General Assistant: Chris Schaeffer

Sporting Success

Congratulations to Alex in Year 5 for being selected to attend the North West hockey trials in the coming weeks. Alex was

successful in competing at the Armidale Zone trials last week. Well done Alex!

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will take place from 11-21 May 2021 (Week 4, Term 2)

for all students in Years 3 and 5. The program will assess students in writing, reading, aspects of language and numeracy.

Students at Rocky River will complete the assessments using an online format. If you have any questions about the NAPLAN

process, please contact me at the school.

Tell them From Me Surveys

All public and high schools in NSW are asked to survey students, parents and the community about various aspects of the school

and the programs we offer. In the past, I have created the surveys myself, but this year, the Department of Education has

commissioned a program called Tell Them From Me to assist in this process. Our students in Upper Division will be asked to

complete two surveys, one this term and another in Term 4. Results from the anonymous surveys will be provided to schools to

support our planning.

Assembly Tomorrow

We will hold our next assembly for this term, tomorrow at 2.15pm. As it is Harmony Week, we will focus on this year’s theme of

Everyone Belongs. We are asking students to wear something orange, or a similar colour such as red or yellow. I invite all

members of our school community to come and celebrate the wonderful learning at Rocky River!

Cross Country Next Week

Students have been busy preparing for our upcoming cross country to be held next Wednesday 24th March at Bellevue Oval,

UNE. Just a reminder that the bus will leave at 9.00 sharp and will be back by 2.45pm.

School Leaders at Street Stall

Thanks to Ella and Alex for their help in supporting the P&C street stall last week.

Our school leaders worked for an hour to sell tickets and produce, while enjoying a

chocolate milkshake. Well done to our P&C members and parents who helped to

make the fundraising event such a success!

Brad Hunt

Principal

Look what’s happening in Lower Division

SCIENCE - In Science, we have been learning

about constellations and had a go at creating our own by planning

and using

spaghetti and marshmallows. We learned about the moon and

how the Sun lights up parts of the Moon as it moves around the

Earth. We used this knowledge to draw Crescent, Gibbous and

Full Moons on the concrete with chalk.

NEW DESKS!

Year 1/2 were lucky enough to

receive some new whiteboard

desks. They are loving being

able to practise their spelling,

work out maths problems on

them and stay organised! We

also got a brand new ‘Jelly

Bean’ table with a whiteboard

top for Guided Reading

ART WITH MRS SCHAEFFER - The kids are learning about Matisse the

artist and are recreating ‘The Goldfish’ which is one of his most famous fauve

paintings from 1912.

HARMONY WEEK

We look forward to

seeing you at assembly

on Thursday and can’t

wait to show you what

we have been learning

about for Harmony

Week! - Jess Brien

Classroom Teacher

Look what’s happening in Upper Division On Monday, students in Upper Division were fortunate to have a visit from Kristy from Birdlife Australia and

Struan from Southern New England Landcare. They spoke to the students about our local bird life and

especially the endangered Regent Honeyeater, there are only around 300 of these birds left in the wild.

Students were able to look at 3D models of the Regent Honeyeater and then went outside with binoculars

to see what birdlife they could find around our school environment. They saw an Eastern Spinebill, a Yellow

Rumped Thornbill and a magpie.

Our Year 5 Sports Captains were busy this

week completing a stocktake of our sports

equipment, removing old and worn out pieces

and then ordering new equipment to replace

what was thrown out. Students were given a

budget in which they had to stick to as part of

their maths work. They not only had to think

about their own interests, but also sports

equipment for our K-2 students as well. Well

done to our students on their responsible

approach to this activity. We look forward to

receiving our new equipment soon!

Community News

Harlequins Hockey Club

Harlequins Hockey Club are seeking expressions of interest

from players interested in playing junior hockey this year.

We will be fielding teams in Under 8s, 11s, 13s and 15s

girls and 13s boys/mixed comp. Girls can play in all divi-

sions and boys are welcome to play in the under 8 and 11s

girls competition.

The boys/mixed comp (11s, 13s and 15s) will be played on

Monday evenings and the girls comp Saturday mornings.

Please send an email nominating your child's intention to

play, which age division they want to play in, date of birth,

address and parental email and phone contact.

Please contact:

Louise Vaughan (junior co-coordinator) at

vaughan79@bigpond.com

Community News

ROCKY RIVER P&C STREET STALL

1st Prize – Load of wood donated by Melissa and Nathan Swan – won by Anne Hyatt

2nd Prize – PPP Electrical/Plumbing Voucher donated by Chris Philp – won by Joyce Goode

3rd Prize – Sweet box by Natalie donated by Peta & Stephen Swilks – won by Debra Kohn

4th Prize – Hamper (rug donated by Pat Philp, Wine donated by Crystal Peterson, Chocolates donated by

Erica Peterson) – won by Brian Weis

$100 club – won by Therese McGrath.

Thank you to all who donated their time and goods to make this such a

successful street stall, together we raised $1679.00!

We extend a big thank you also to our Uralla community for so generously

supporting us.

School News

THE URALLA ROTARY ART SHOW

Student absence submissions via SkoolBag

Just a reminder to parents and carers that you can

make an absentee submission for your child if they are

away from school using the SkoolBag app.

Select the school logo on the home page of the app

and then select EFORMS, then Absentee Form and

complete the details.

School News

Tomorrow: School Assembly 2:15 pm

Harmony Day

23rd March: Cross Country (at UNE)

1st April: School Assembly 2:15 pm

Easter Hat Parade

Last Day of Term 1

19th April: School Development Day

20th April: First day of Term 2 for students

School Calendar - TERM 1

CANTEEN

Price List: Macaroni & Cheese $3

Pizza Singles $3

Chicken Nuggets (4) $2

Beef Lasagne $3

Potato Bake $3

Fried Rice $3

Sausage Roll $3

Pie $3

Ice Cream $1.50

Popper $1.50

Milk (with flavoured straw) $1.50

Fruit Icy Pole $1

Our canteen operators are aware of the

COVID-19 regulations for food handling and

will adhere to them at all times.

Please send lunch orders in a clearly

marked bag with the correct money if

possible as change is not given out.

Our canteen is run by

parent volunteers. If you

are able to help with

canteen on any

Wednesday and would like to be included

on the roster please contact

Leanne 0432 779 291 or

Erica 0422 054475

Harmony Day Assembly

Thursday 18th March 2.15pm

Everyone is most welcome to come and join us!

Please note all visitors will need to sign in as part of

our COVID safe plan.

Rocky River School Annual Report

2020

The Rocky River School annual report is now available on

the school website for viewing -

https://rockyriver-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/

If you would like a printed copy please contact us at the

school .

School Hats

We currently have a lot of students who are misplacing

hats or forgetting to bring them to school. Please ensure

your child’s name is on their hat and we encourage

students to leave their hats in their trays in the classroom

at the end of each day. Due to our sun safe policy,

students who don’t have a hat cannot participate in

outdoor activities.