Rozelle Public School Newsletter

Rozelle is a place where Aboriginal children learned, played and celebrated their culture for thousands of years on this beautiful, natural land. As we learn, play and celebrate together on this land, we honour the Wangal people of the Eora nation and pay our respects to elders both past, present and emerging.

COVID UPDATE FROM DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

As we move into the final four weeks of the school year, I would like to take this opportunity to remind the community,  we are still continuing our COVID-smart measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses such as the flu in our school community.

While we continue to live with COVID-19, NSW Health has advised that the unpredictable nature of the virus will continue to present a health risk to the community. As a response, our school will continue to operate with our baseline COVID-smart measures in place, for the remainder of this term, to minimise transmission while prioritising student and staff wellbeing. These includes a combination of layered safety measures such as:

• Staying home if unwell and encouraged to test for COVID-19 if showing any symptoms. Students and staff are advised to stay home until they are well, even if they have a negative COVID-19 test result. 

• Recommending masks to be worn by all students, staff and visitors, particularly when indoors or when physical distancing is difficult to maintain.

• Strongly encouraging up-to-date vaccinations for our students and staff, including COVID-19 booster shots and flu vaccinations for anyone eligible.

• Maintaining natural ventilation with windows and doors open whenever possible, including when cooling/heating systems are in use.

• Continuing to provide RATs to our school community, free of charge while stocks last. These are available from the office on request. 

Our school may be directed to temporarily reintroduce additional COVID-19 measures, including mask-wearing and postponing events and gatherings, or directing a cohort to learn from home for a short period to minimise transmission risks. The Department of Education’s Health, Safety and Staff Wellbeing Case Management team will continue to lead this work when it is needed.

For further information about the COVID-smart measures in place this term refer to the department’s COVID-smart measures at school on our Advice for families page.

KINDY 2024 TRANSITION MORNING 

This week the newest members of our school community paid us a visit, as part of their orientation program. While the little kids went to the classrooms, the big kids (parents) stayed in the hall for an information session. The morning ran smoothly and staff were impressed with the display of independence of the new Kindy group. The next time they return will be at the start of the school year, where students will participate in a transition day that includes the Best Start literacy and numeracy assessment. I would like to thank all the wonderful parents who volunteered their time and supported our newest families with uniforms and Sepfora for her coordination of this year’s orientation program. 

YEARS 3-6 PRESENTATION ASSEMBLY 

Mrs Svinos, our Deputy Principal, is planning for our end of year Presentation Assembly. This assembly is for our 3-6 students and parents are most welcome to attend. The assembly is planned for Friday 8 December commencing at 9.15am.

PLANNING FOR 2024

As we move into the final weeks of the school year, staff will spend hours carefully considering the makeup of classes for the following year. Forming a class is complex and many factors are taken into consideration. Academic, social, behavioural, complex needs, student combinations are all taken into account. Students will be asked to identify five friends who they would like in their new class. While all five may not be in the class, staff will do their very best to ensure at least one or two friends from their list are in their new class. At the start of the year, once classes are formed and announced, requests to move are not possible. Therefore it is important to communicate any concerns before the end of the school year. 

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

The last day of the school year for 2023 is Friday 15 December. The long standing tradition of the leavers arch will continue as will the special Leavers Assembly. For Year Six and those students leaving the school, the leavers arch will take place at around 2.45pm. 

We’re holding the Rozelle Pop Up Bookshop again this year with all money raised being donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF).

Books make the best presents!

Students can do their Christmas Shopping at the ILF Pop Up Book Shop on Wednesday 6 December in the Gallery Space - 8.00am to 3.30pm.

Prices range from 50 cents to $5 with surprise Christmas packages for $2 .

Start saving those coins now - soooooo much better for you than Candy Canes! 

The next and final P&C Meeting of the year is Wednesday 22 November - Join the P&C for just $1 annual membership, 7.30-9pm in the staff room - OR dial in from wherever, please contact the P&C for dial in details at 

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR FANTASTIC FAMILY, KIDS AND COMMUNITY EVENTS FOR 2024!

TERM 1

Welcome Picnic (families)- Friday 23 February

Trivia Night (parents) - Saturday 23 March

Colour Run (kids run & families watch) - Thursday 11 April

TERM 2

Main Event (parents) - Saturday 22 June

TERM 3

Outdoor Movie Night (families) - Friday 20 September

TERM 4

Halloween Disco (kids & parents) - Friday 1 November

NEW UNIFORM ORDERS

Please order new items online from LW Reid Made for Schools with deliveries direct to your home. New orders can be made using this link madeforschool

All uniform orders are delivered direct to your home address by Australia Post. Uniform orders are no longer available for collection from the office. 

SECOND HAND UNIFORM

Second hand uniform shop is looking for donations in particular sizes 6 & 8. Please drop off any uniform donations to the office, ensuring they are suitable for re-sale i.e. not rips, stains or tears

PARENT ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM
RPS is now using the upgraded School Bytes finance system for online payment and permission form consent. If you have not done so already, parents should access the School Bytes portal and register using https://portal.schoolbytes.education.

When logged online, go to the "Activities Section" to give parent consent and payment. PLEASE NOTE: Consent must be given before a payment can be made. 

You can access your portal at anytime, using the portal link https://portal.schoolbytes.education.

You an also access your portal via the Rozelle Public School website - by clicking on the button "Make a Payment" located at the bottom of the home page screen.

If you should have any questions, or have difficulty logging in, please get in touch with the School Office. 

SURF HATS

Rozelle has a supply of Small and Medium Surf Hats for sale from the office for $15 cash.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS
Helping out at school is a great way to get involved in your child’s education as well as get to know the staff and other parents and carers.

You can help by:

• listening to children read in the classroom
• volunteering on sports days
• helping supervise excursions
• getting involved in fundraising activities
• joining school committees.

Parent volunteers are not required to have a Working With Children's Number, however they are required to fill in a 'Declaration for Child-Related Workers' Form, as well as provide 100 points of ID to be photocopied at the school office (including either a passport OR birth certificate, along with drivers license OR Medicare / bank card.  

THE SCHOOL CANTEEN
The School Canteen operates as an order-only service five days per week. All orders are made online through Spriggy Schools app and delivered to the school in time for students to enjoy at lunchtime and recess. Orders need to be placed by 7:30am on the day or can be placed weekly in advance. Families will need to download the Spriggy Schools app and create a profile for their child. If you need assistance visit spriggyschools.com.au.

NUDE FOOD TUESDAYS
Nude Food Tuesdays are back! On these days, students are encouraged to bring lunch and recess that are not wrapped in foil, plastic or commercial packaging. Please be mindful of packaging that is put into lunch boxes each day to minimise any rubbish that needs throwing away. Instead, opt for reusable containers for packaging food. Each Tuesday, class nude food lunchboxes will be tallied so please help the Green Team with this great initiative to reduce the waste/rubbish in our school.

NUT AWARE
A number of students at Rozelle have been diagnosed with a life-threatening allergy to nuts. While it is not advised for the school to declare itself “nut-free” we are definitely a “nut-aware” school. This means that we ask parents/carers to carefully consider the food they provide for their child and avoid foods that contain nuts. Before sending in food for special occasions for your child’s class, please check with the teacher. The school appreciates everyone’s effort in keeping all our students safe and supporting their families to manage this difficult situation.

MORNING DROP OFF
Families are reminded that students should not be arriving at school before 8.30am unless they are attending OSH Club or a before school activity such as band rehearsal. There may be occasions where you need to drop your child off 10 minutes earlier. In these instances, students must go to the middle playground, where they sit and wait for teacher supervision to begin.