Rylstone Review Term 3, Week 7, 31st August 2023

RYLSTONE ROCKETS KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION

Tomorrow, Friday 1st September, is our first Kindergarten orientation for 2023. Mrs Fielder will be running the program again this year. Students are to come at 9:30am.

PARENT INFORMATION session will begin shortly after, once the littlies are settled. This will be for all new Kindergarten parents, returning parents, or any parents who are new to the school and would like a bit more clarification. All are welcome. Our fabulous P&C will provide a light morning tea and an opportunity to mingle, have a chat and get to know each other.

FATHERS DAY BREAKFAST

Friday 1st September will also be our Father’s Day BBQ, again provided by our amazing P&C. Fathers, Grandfathers, uncles and significant role models were encouraged to complete an RSVP by Monday to ensure catering numbers. Brekky will be served from 8am for those Dads who need to get to work. For those who don’t need to run off, you are encouraged to stay and maybe demonstrate your handball skills!

ATTENDANCE LETTER WEEK 5

As part of our new Attendance initiative, letters would be sent home in weeks 5 and 10 in Terms 1 and 3. This was in lieu of the Student Progress Report in Terms 2 and 4, which states total semester student absences. We have found in the past parents only saw the total absences in the semesterly reports.

Although with Sentral, parents have a variety of attendance reports at their fingertips, some parents were not accessing the information.

The letter sent home recently, just stated total days, not unjustified or not explained. As the letter initially stated, “We wanted to take a moment to address the importance of communication regarding your child's attendance at Rylstone Public School. Regular school attendance is crucial for your child's academic progress, social development, and overall success. We appreciate your ongoing support in ensuring your child's consistent attendance. In an effort to keep you updated about your child's absences, we would like to let you know your child, XXXX has been away for a total of X days, since the beginning of term.”

The letter did not require a response or reply and was sent simply as an information communication. There was, however, a small issue (that would be me…) and I had set the cut off date incorrectly and some students had had a day or two more than was indicated. Thank you to those parents who reached out to clarify and I apologise for any confusion. There will be another letter sent home in Week 10. It will say exactly the same as the previous letter but will have (hopefully correct) updated absences. It will require no action from you, and will just be an update for your general information.

STUDENT-LED / THREE WAY CONFERENCES

We will again be conducting Student-Led / Three Way Conferences in Week 10. Bookings will be available on Sentral shortly. A friendly reminder that these meetings are led by the student and are not a parent- teacher meeting. They are designed to be an opportunity for parents to engage directly with their children’s learning. Children will walk you through some work samples, outlining subjects and activities they are proud of and identify any areas of focus.

COMMUNICATION WITH STAFF

Over the last few weeks it has been raised that parents have missed different communications or have concerns/ questions about different activities happening within our school. We ask that all questions be delivered directly to your child’s teacher, or myself, through the multiple platforms we have available: Sentral, Class Dojo, email, facebook and phone. In a town as small as ours it’s easy to strike up a conversation with school staff in the ice-cream aisle at the supermarket, but we ask that any concerns or questions are dealt with directly by your child’s teacher or myself. All NSW DoE staff (teachers and admin), have to abide by the Code of Conduct policy, which may prohibit them discussing certain things with you outside of the school environment. I ask that you try to be mindful when discussing different school matters that may put school staff in a difficult position. The last thing we want to do is offend someone by not being able to answer certain questions. We hope you understand.

DOGS IN SCHOOL

Although we love our fur babies, we ask that you don’t bring dogs onto school grounds (I know I’m the first one asking for a puppy cuddle!). However the NSW DoE have a no dogs in school policy unless they are therapy/ care dogs. Not everyone in schools are comfortable around dogs.

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

Cheers,

Jodee

Please keep up to date with COVID information by accessing the latest news from the Department of Education at the link above.

In the classrooms

Wattle Dads

Banksia Writing

Zone Athletics Carnival

Twenty-six students from Rylstone School participated in the Zone Athletics Carnival, making it a fantastic day. Every competitor performed their best in various events and achieved personal records. We extend our gratitude to Mrs. Mulvaney and the supportive parents who contributed to the success of the event.

Congratulations to the following students who were placed and qualified for the Western Carnival.

Track Events:

• 100m - 13 Boys Hugh F 3rd
• 800m - Junior Girls Rebecca R 2nd
• 1500m - Senior Boys Mitchell R 3rd
• 4x 100m Relay- Senior Boys Mitchell R, Lucas Fielder, Alex R, Luke Mo

Field Events:

• Discus – Senior Boys Ryan M, 2nd Luke Mo
• Shot Put – Senior Boys Ryan M, 2nd Luke Mo

We extend our congratulations to the 7 students who will be representing our school and Cudgegong Zone at the Western Carnival. These Trials are scheduled for Friday, September 15th, at Barden Park in Dubbo.

SRC News

Sentral

To support you with our move to Sentral Finance, please review our FAQs (links below). They are designed to help you become more familiar with Sentral Finance and all its benefits:

• Sentral Finance FAQs
• You can also find our Sentral for Parents Portal and App, FAQs here

We're confident you'll find Sentral Finance a welcome and helpful addition to how our school can support you. We welcome your feedback.

Please keep your Sentral app updated as you could miss important information. Sentral is our go to platform for all parent communication, school information and permissions. Currently, you can use Sentral to:

• provide permission and make payments for excursions or other activities
• view and respond to student absences
• book your Parent Teacher interview when a session is run
• view the Calendar to keep up to date with activities that are taking place
• provide permission for excursions or other activities
• find the link to newsletters - now appearing on the home page under 'Newsletters' and also in the Newsfeed
• we are using portal messages to inform parents of Sick Bay incidents - particularly for head injuries
• use the Links tab to access quick links to the P&C's Uniform Shop and Learning from Home resources for parents
• Forms - digital forms will be used to request information that we are unable to do via Sentral

Dates for your calendar

September

• 1st - Rylstone Rockets program begins
• 4th - P&C Meeting
• 8th - Rylstone Rockets
• 8th - P&C Meal Deal
• 14th - Green Day (Yrs 5-6)
• 15th - Western Athletics
• 15th - Rylstone Rockets
• 18-22nd - Student-led Conferences
• 22nd - Rylstone Rockets
• 22nd - Last day Term 3

October

• 9th - Staff & students return for Term 4
• 12th - Infants Sports Day @ Rylstone Showground
• 13th - Rylstone Rockets
• 20th - Rylstone Rockets

Reminders

• Payments to school (not P&C) can be made online via Sentral Pay
• Sport is on Thursdays
• Please check your child's attendance on the Sentral app and keep up to date with absence explanations. 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

Garden Update