Rylstone Review Term 2, Week 4, 22 May 2025

MOTHER’S DAY BREAKFAST

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Mother’s Day breakfast so successful. Thank you to the daddies who came along to help and an enormous THANK YOU to Mrs H Grant who organised the whole thing and whipped up more than 200 pancakes!

ZONE CROSS COUNTRY

Thank you to Mrs Rankin and our dynamic P&C for once again organising an amazing Zone Cross Country. Mrs Rankin, Mrs Morris, Mrs McCouat and Rylstone staff worked tirelessly to set up and prepare for the day. I am always so proud to host the event here in our town as it brings hundreds of students and their families to our area. Leaving the showground, I noticed our main street was filled with parents, families and students from other schools taking in our sites and visiting our local shops. Even those who could not stay, mentioned coming back another time!

Our P&C are so professional, and their canteen was inundated with hungry runners and their families. Multiple people mentioned how delicious the food was and how well it was run!

PERMISSION TO FILM AND PUBLISH

It was brought to my attention over the recent school holidays that some people had taken videos of our Easter Hat parade and posted on a variety of social media platforms. While we love parents coming to school and participating in events, we ask that you be mindful that not all students have permission to be photographed, and for that matter there are staff who also do not want their photos taken or to be posted on social media.

In our school community, it’s essential to foster an environment of respect and understanding, especially when it comes to using social media. As students interact both online and on school grounds, here are some important points to remember about respecting each other's privacy:

1. Think Before You Share: Before posting anything related to school events or students, consider whether it involves others and if they would be comfortable with it being shared. This includes photos taken during school activities or personal stories about classmates. Only focus on your own child, when in doubt about other students it is easy to blur faces out.

2. Ask for Permission: If you want to share a photo or video that includes students, always with their teacher if they have parental permission first. Everyone has the right to decide how their image and personal information are shared online. This applies to adults at school as well.

3. Be Cautious with Tags: When tagging in posts or photos, ensure they are okay with being tagged. Some students may not have parental permission to be associated with certain content, and it's important to respect their choices.

4. Respect Boundaries: Understand that everyone has different comfort levels regarding their online presence. Be respectful of those boundaries and understand if someone asks you to remove or take down an image you have posted.

5. Consider the Impact: Remember that once something is shared online, it can be difficult to remove. Think about the potential long-term effects of sharing information about others, especially in a school setting where relationships are important.

6. Create a Positive Environment: Use social media to uplift and support our students and school rather than to engage in negative behaviours. Encouraging a culture of respect and kindness online can strengthen our school community.

By being mindful of each other's privacy and practicing respectful online behaviour, we can create a safe and supportive environment for all students on school grounds. Let’s work together to ensure that our social media interactions reflect the values of our school community!

BUS HOME TIME

Changes in a student's home routine can introduce various safety concerns that families and schools need to address. Whether the change involves a different pick-up schedule, new caregivers, or adjustments to after-school activities, it’s crucial to ensure that students remain safe and secure.

Bus lines have been becoming more chaotic as the term progresses. Every afternoon there is a student claiming to have a different home routine than normal and the school has not been notified. It creates an unnecessary level of stress for the student and staff member involved. As mentioned previously, if we have not received formal messaging from parents about the change, we will insist the student follow their normal home routine, be it on the bus or going home some other way.

Please be aware, we will not allow students to go home with anyone other than their identified pick-up person, unless formally notified. This includes Nan, aunties and neighbours. Your child’s safety is our only concern.

1. Altered Pick-Up and Drop-Off Protocols: If a student's routine changes regarding how they get to and from school, it’s important to communicate these changes to the school. This includes notifying the school of new individuals authorised to pick up the child, ensuring that staff are aware and can verify identity for safety.

2. Changes in Transportation: For students who typically travel by bus or carpool, any changes in transportation arrangements should be carefully managed. Parents should communicate with the school about new transport methods to ensure that students are not left waiting alone or at risk of getting into the wrong vehicle.

3. It is preferred that changes to routine and methods of transportation are submitted in writing, eg. note or email. Please only use phone calls for emergency / last minute changes.

For parents who wait for pick up in the school playground, where possible please wait near the front gate and not outside the classrooms as this is distracting for students and makes the home/ bus transition difficult in the playground.

By proactively addressing potential concerns, maintaining open communication with the school, and involving children in discussions about safety, parents can create a supportive and secure environment.

THE ANXIETY PROJECT

We will be revisiting the anxiety lessons from last year and starting a new series of lesson later this term. In the meantime, please access the Parent newsletter found here: Parentshop eNewsletter for updates and articles.

STUDENTS BRINGING TOYS TO SCHOOL

While we love the fact students want to bring their toys to school, we would like to remind you that they are responsible for them. If they are broken, lost or taken, we are unable to help. Please don’t send expensive or important toys to school. There are plenty of toys and equipment for students to have here, they do not need to bring in their own special toys and run the risk of them being damaged or lost. This is also the case for football/ soccer balls.

STUDENTS EATING TIME

Just a friendly reminder we cannot make your children eat their lunch. Each break all students must sit and eat in the eating area together for 15 minutes. This time is supervised by 2 teachers. Students are encouraged to eat what they can, and the leftovers are sent home. If students take longer than the allocated 15 minutes to complete their lunch they are permitted to stay as long as they wish.

As it gets colder, we are finding some students are eating a lot of their food as soon as they arrive in the mornings, so you may wish to pack a little more or some extra snacks. Staff are not able to heat or warm up food, so please make sure any hot food is stored appropriately - and don’t forget to pack a spoon or fork if needed!

NEW REPORT FORMAT

This semester we have been working hard on developing a newer ‘parent -friendly’ report format. There have been a few changes to our current format to create an easy to read and understand document. More information will be published in our next newsletter.

We encourage all families to get involved in our school community. Your support and participation are important for the success of our programs and events. Please keep an eye on our school calendar, Sentral, Facebook and newsletters for updates on activities and volunteer opportunities.

As always, any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 6379 1404 or jodee.burcher@det.nsw.edu.au

Kind regards,

Jodee

In the classrooms

Kookaburras

We have had a wonderful start to Term 2 in Kindy Kookaburras. We have settled back into routines and are off to a fantastic start.

Kookaburras are actively engaged in our phonics lessons, and we have learned 23 sounds so far. We are sounding out and blending our words and reading well. Our focus is to read without sounding out so we can become more fluent. This is coming along so well.

In Maths, we have learned about the friends of ten, and are now learning about our teen numbers and what that means. We are practicing recognising and writing our numbers from 0 to 20, as well as counting forwards and backwards to 20. We are also beginning to explore 3D shapes. In our daily review lessons, we are so excited to see that we are making our brains stronger by transferring information from our short-term memory to our long-term memory.

In our writing lessons, we have been working on writing a sentence unassisted. We start by thinking of our idea, then drawing it so we don't forget, then writing our sentence by sounding out words we don't know, and finally, we can colour. All students have taken to this so well, and we are excited to see that we can write on our own. We just need to remember that it is okay to make mistakes.

We have also been reading some really funny and strange books lately. We read a book called "A Book with No Pictures." We thought this would be really boring, but it was so funny as it made Mrs. Rankin say, “I am a monkey who taught myself to read.” We then did some fantastic drawings of the robot monkey with a head made of blueberry pizza. We are now reading a book called "This is a Ball." It is a funny book because when it says "ball," the pictures are not what the words say they are. So, we made a balloon into something else. There were some really creative balloons made into kites, frogs, people, princesses, pizzas, and even a car. We are very creative in Kindy Kookaburras.

In Science, we are learning about living and non-living things. We were very surprised and disappointed to learn that a transformer is not living, although it can move. We have discovered that living things need sunlight/warmth, water, food, shelter, and air to survive, and that we do not need a TV or iPad to survive.

As you can see, we are superstars in Kookaburras! Each day brings new adventures and discoveries, and I am so proud of how our little learners are growing in confidence and capability. The creativity and joy they express in their work is truly inspiring.

We can’t wait to continue our journey through this term, especially with our upcoming excursion to Red Hill, where we will explore living and non-living things in a fun and engaging way. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Mrs Rankin

Goannas

We are thrilled to kick off an exciting Term 2 by embarking on a journey with the picture book Sophie Scott Goes South. Through this story, we have been exploring the adventures of Sophie Scott aboard the ice-breaking ship, the Aurora Australis, as she journeys around Antarctica. We have looked at specific vocabulary and examined the different parts of the ship. We worked in teams to write paragraphs of each of the areas we looked at.

In Maths, we're currently diving into a range of fun topics! Right now, we're focusing on reading, writing, and ordering numbers to strengthen our understanding of place value. Students are becoming time-telling experts as we practice telling time to o'clock and half past. Our measurement skills are being put to the test as we compare and measure lengths, and we're sharpening our addition skills with engaging number bond activities.

In Science we are investigating the external features of various animals and discovering how these features help them survive in their environments. It is a very engaging unit and we are enjoying learning about the incredible adaptations that help animals thrive.

All Goannas put in a fantastic effort in training for and running in the Cross Country! It was a great success, and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone for giving it their all. Students have now turned their attention to tennis and are showing enthusiasm to improve their skills.

Mrs Grant

Quolls

It’s been a smashing start to Term 2 in 1-2 Quolls!

In English, we have been building our phonics knowledge, learning about suffixes and thinking about nouns and verbs.

We listened to a book called Sophie Scott Goes South. We were captivated by what we heard and did lots of investigation into a ship called the Aurora Australis and the vocabulary we heard in the text. Here’s what we found out…

We’ve been doing lots of work with adding, subtracting and measuring length and mass in our Maths lessons this term.

In Week 2, we channeled our energy into creating something for Mother’s Day. We learned how to wrap our own gifts and we’re very proud of the finished products! Our next exciting Art project is underway.

Last week, we had our first tennis lesson for the year. It was a HIT.

Mrs Mulvaney

Kangaroos

Class Kangaroo have jumped into Term 2! We have settled into our new routine of Ms. Burcher and Mr. Langdon and our days are super busy doing everything! We are so happy to have another young teacher who is super enthusiastic and excited to be on class!

We have been studying the novel ‘Bindi’ which is all about drought and bushfires…which we know all about! We have learned about how poetic and narrative techniques, such as foreshadowing and personification, how to build tension toward a climax in the text. We also experimented with using subordinating conjunctions to help form complex sentences about the text

We have been looking at the difference between metaphors and similes. Here are some metaphors we have written:

Please unmute the video before pressing play.

In History we are looking at Country and Community and are learning about how significant historical individuals, groups and events change our community over time

In Science we are looking at Earth’s Changing Surface and using Minecraft, but we are all working together to create an environmental township with Mr. Langdon.

Maths is getting tricker, but we are mastering time, 3D shapes and lots of multiplication and arrays!

All this work and it’s only Week 4! We are so excited to go to camp in a couple of weeks and are looking forward to completing all the challenges!

Ms. Burcher says it’s lucky Mr. Langdon is going too- so Ms. Burcher doesn’t have to do any of the sporty stuff!

Ms Burcher and Mr Langdon

Magpies

We have been exceptionally busy with our work, sport and extra curricular activities. The students have jotted down a few things they have been excited about. Our text, Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad is high on students’ lists of things they are engaged with. Here are a few student contributions.

I'm excited for Touch Football Gala Day and our games coming up. I'm also interested in our book called ‘Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief’. On Tuesday we joined a Webinar with Dr Karl where he answered questions about biodiversity. It was pretty exciting to see how he explained everyone's question. Also, I have been improving on my times table because we do a thing called Daily Ten.

Brody

This term we have been reading ‘Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief’. It is a really good book. I would recommend it to people who are interested in WW2.

Charles

This term we have been reading ‘Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief’. It is a very engaging book. I recommend you should read it. On Wednesday most of the year 5 / 6 are going to a touch football gala day at Glen Willow playing Kandos, Cudgee, and Mudgee Public.

Lachie

So far this year for technology we've been using the Lego Spike Essential program in science. It's been pretty fun creating windmills and sensors out of Lego. This year students at Rylstone have been doing really well at sport. Lots of us have gone to the zone and western for swimming and cross country and some are going to soccer or touch days.

Wyatt

This year I have been doing some maths with subtraction algorithms. As well as science with the Lego brand called “Spike”. We have been reading the class book “RABBIT, SOLDIER, ANGEL, THIEF.” It’s been really fun to read and find all the details about the author, ‘Katrina Nannestad,’ and how she uses descriptive language, such as similes and metaphors.

Caitlin

This term we have been reading a book called Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief - I recommend you to read it. Tomorrow most of 5/6 have touch football to represent our school and on Monday some of us might be going to the zone trials at Glen Willow where we play to represent our school.

Pat

This year I am looking forward to working on our class book, RABBIT, SOLDIER, ANGEL, THIEF. It is about a young boy named Sasha who joins the Red Army at the age of 6. It is a great book and I recommend it for people who are interested in WWII. I am looking forward to representing the school in sport this year - I have recently competed in zone cross country and I am excited to move to Western again this year to run the three kilometre race.

Will

This term we are reading a book about a young boy named Sasha. He is only 6 when WWII happens. His dad and older sister die in the Partisans, and it is only him and his mama and sister. But the German monsters come and destroy his village, so he runs into the forest and the Red Army soldiers find him and take him to the Red Army camp.

Charlee

Debating

In debating we have been practicing to do the best arguments possible for past debate topics. We have been doing this because past topics will not come up again.This will help the team develop better argument habits and skills. Debating is fun in a scary challenging way - it's hard to push through a fast persuading paragraph in so little time! But, it's exciting to overtake your fears and trackbacks with people you actually feel comfy around. Even though you know them, it doesn't mean you can't be scared talking about your ideas in front of them. However, the longer you talk in front of them, the more comfortable you get. This will prepare you for doing it in front of people you don't know at all. Just yesterday we were on a Q&A with Dr Karl with a lot of other schools and we brought a lot of questions. Sadly Dr Karl didn't answer any of our school’s questions, but some other scientists answered them in the chat.

Acacia

Sport

This Wednesday some of 5/6 Magpies are going to PSSA Touch Football Gala day. There are two teams - we have made up a girl team and a boy team and all of the players have played before. We will be playing at Glenwillow, in Mudgee. The teams will be playing 5 other teams over the day. Lets hope our teams go well. Go Rylstone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eva Croake

For sport this term we have been doing tennis, it has been really fun doing all the different activities like, skittles, hitting practice and other fun games and activities.This term we did cross country it was grueling fighting stitches and pushing through the pain in my legs, even though I didn’t make it through to western I still had lots of fun.

Jack

This year we have done lots of sports, and there is still more to come. I am excited for Western Running in Orange, but l think it is going to be really cold because l have to run three kilometers in bitter weather. It has improved my self confidence in talking to new faces, clearing up new bruises and fighting stitches. It has made me look forward to competing with other people in my years, trying my hardest in everything and pushing myself to the next level.

Bec

Robotics

Maths

GRIP Leadership Day at Bathurst

Webinar with Dr Karl

Mrs Newham

NSW Public School Survey

In Term 2, we are offering our students the opportunity to participate in the NSW Public Schools Student Survey. The survey gives students the chance to share their thoughts and feelings about life at school, including questions about their engagement, learning experiences and wellbeing at school.

Hearing directly from our students will help us understand what’s working well and where improvements can be made to our school. The survey is confidential, takes around 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and will be conducted online during school hours.

Participation is voluntary. If you prefer your child not to participate, please complete the opt-out consent form, which will be sent home, and return it to the school. Further information about the survey is available at https://education.nsw.gov.au/npss

Sport

School Cross Country

I would like to thank all the parent volunteers who assisted as marshalls on the course. A big thank you to the staff for their support, and to Mrs. Morris for marking the course, organising the ribbons and all the background work she does. Now, to the students: it was wonderful to see each of you challenge yourselves and give your best effort. It truly was a fantastic day!

Mrs Rankin

Zone Cross Country

The Zone Cross Country event was a fun and exciting day for everyone involved. All students ran like champions and showed incredible determination, giving their best efforts throughout the races. It was lovely to see such sportsmanship, with students congratulating each other and celebrating one another��s achievements.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the staff, parents, and KHS students who served as marshals on the course. Your efforts ensured the safety of our students and played a crucial role in making the event possible. A special thank you goes to Ms. Burcher for being our amazing announcer and DJ; your positive energy helped keep the carnival running smoothly and added to the overall enjoyment of the day.

I also want to express my appreciation to Mrs. Grant and Miss Burns for serving as our chief judges. Their roles can be quite challenging, but they did a fantastic job managing the events. Additionally, thank you to Mrs. Mac and Mrs. Morris for their help in setting up and ensuring that the day was a success.

I also want to thank the VRA for their support and presence, which helped ensure the safety of our students throughout the event. A big thank you to Mid Western Council and the Rylstone Club for allowing us to use their fantastic grounds for our courses.

Lastly, I want to thank the RPS P&C for providing delicious food and their overall support.

We've received fantastic feedback from staff from other schools, who remarked that "it was a fantastic carnival that ran like a well-oiled machine." Each year, the event continues to improve, and that is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved.

Congratulations to our five competitors who will advance to the Western competition and run in Orange on Wednesday, June 11th. We wish all the Zone competitors the best of luck!

Mrs Rankin

Many students are well underway with their reading and recording it in the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Congratulations to the following students who have completed the Challenge already.

Pat Regan, Year 5

Celeste Bonney, Year 6

Grace Bonney, Year 6

Janaye Keating, Year 6

Jack Lus, Year 6

The Challenge dates have been extended.

2025 Challenge Dates

Challenge closes to students: Extended to Friday 19 September 2025 (Week 9, Term 3)

What is the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge?

The PRC is a statewide Challenge that encourages students to develop a love of reading for leisure and pleasure and enables them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition, but a challenge to encourage each student to read, to read more, and to read more widely.

All students who complete the challenge and have their reading record validated by the school’s PRC coordinator will receive a certificate signed by the Premier of NSW.

How many books do students need to read?

Students in Kindergarten to Year 2 are challenged to read or experience 30 books. 20 of these books must be from the relevant Challenge booklists, and up to 10 books can be personal choice books. Books can be read with a parent, carer, teacher or another student.

Students in Year 3 to Year 10 are challenged to read 20 books independently. At least 10 of these books must be from the relevant Challenge booklists, and up to 10 books can be personal choice books.

If a book is from an approved PRC series, students can enter up to 5 books as Challenge books, and can read up to 10 other books from the same series as Personal Choice books. More information on the rules of the Challenge can be found on the PRC website.

Books must be added to a student’s online reading record by Friday 22 August 2025 in order for their reading record to be validated and receive a certificate.

How do students log their reading?

Students can access the PRC’s Student Experience site using their DoE username and password, or can log into the site via the Student Portal.

How can students find books on the NSW PRC challenge lists?

Students can check on the Orbit site in their Student Portal which PRC books we have in the library. PRC books are labelled with a white PRC sticker.

If students, or parents, need any help or experience any issues logging their books or any questions, contact Mrs Newham.

PRC Coordinator

If you have any issues with logging books, please speak to Mrs Newham.

Mrs Rebecca Newham

SRC

Handball Coaching

This term the SRC have decided to do handball coaching during breaks. No coaching on Mondays. On Tuesday 1st break is Chloe and Charlotte, then 2nd break is Becca and Charlee. Wednesday 1st break Grace and Janaye, 2nd break is Abbi. Thursday 1st break is Celeste and Alyssa, 2nd break is Eva and Chloe. Friday 1st break is Lachie and Pat, 2nd break is Becca and Celeste. By Charlotte Morris

This term the SRC are doing handball coaching on the little courts at first and second break. If your kids would like to learn how to play handball please tell them, we would love to teach them.

The days we will be coaching:

Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday and Friday every week at first and second break. If no one is going to do the handball coaching the SRC will go and play and if they come and find us we won't be coaching in the middle of break so they will have to wait for the next break or the next day at first break or second break.

Tuesday: Chloe and Charlotte first break. Bec and Charlee are second break.

Wednesday: Grace and Janaye are first break. Abbi and Dotti are second break.

Thursday: Celeste and Alyssa are first break. Eva and Chloe are second break.

Friday: Lachie and Pat first break. Bec and Celeste second break.

Sentral

Please remember that Sentral is the go to place for all school information, permission requests, school payments, absences, newsletters, Parent Teacher Interviews.

Please note that SMS messages sent via Sentral from our school will come from a random phone number but we will always start our message with RylstonePS or RPS. We have limited characters use so messages may be brief and to the point.

Sentral Parent Help pages: https://www.sentral.com.au/parents

Please keep up to date with your child's absence explanations, as unexplained absences, as well as total absences, will be mentioned on your child's report. Red on your child's attendance calendar indicates we do not have an explanation.

Dates for your calendar

Don't forget you can find these dates on your Sentral Calendar too.

June

• 2nd-4th - Great Aussie Bush Camp
• 4th - Debaters Workshop in Orange
• 9th - King's Birthday
• 10th - School Public Speaking
• 11th - Western Cross Country
• 12th - K-2 Red Hill Excursion
• 16th - Anxiety Lessons Start
• 26th - The Wollemi COPS Speaking Competition

July

• 4th - Whole School Assembly
• 4th - Last Day of Term 2
• 23rd - Students First Day of Term 3

Reminders

• Students arriving late or departing early MUST come to the office to sign in/out.
• Parent helpers must sign in at the office for WH&S.
• Payments to school (not P&C) can be made online via Sentral Pay with a debit or credit card, or cash can be sent in an envelope to the school office. The school does not have an EFTPOS machine.
• Please check your child's attendance on the Sentral app and keep up to date with absence explanations. Explanations are required within 7 days of an absence. A text message will be sent if your child is absent and you haven't submitted an explanation.
• School Drive Subsidy and bus transport: Please keep your details current and notify the Dept. of Transport of any address changes at www.transportnsw.info/school-students

P and C News

Uniform Shop

The shop is open on Friday afternoons 3:20-3:45pm but don’t forget you can shop anytime 24/7 via our online shop and your order will be sent home with your child: https://rylstone-public-school-parents-and-citizens-association.square.site/

Rylstone PS Before and After School Care

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