Rylstone Review

ATTENDANCE

Our focus has been zero unexplained absences and some weeks we have achieved this! Now we are looking at reducing the overall absences across the grades. Each week I send out a graphic displaying absences grade by grade. It’s a great way to keep us all focused on the goal that learning is important and no child can afford to miss out on a day. When a child is absent, not only do they miss out on core concepts covered, but they also miss out on friendship groups and different activities. Consistent or frequent absences have a long-term effect on students not just in their learning, but their wellbeing and social ability as well. Every day missed is a day that student can potentially fall behind their peers. Illnesses can’t be helped, but consistent or frequent absences need to be monitored carefully. Which is why after a few days, your class teacher is required to contact you to discuss it. Consistent absences may impact your child’s report results as they may not have been present enough to complete units of work or assessments.

BUS LINES AND HOME ROUTINES

Just a reminder about student behaviour on buses and walking or riding to school. It is an expectation that when students travel to and from school, they adhere to our school expectations. I am getting reports of students not wearing their seat belts or getting up in the bus, as well as students riding dangerously on bikes and scooters. Remember it is a requirement that all students wear a helmet when riding a bike and scooter. It has also been brought to my attention that some students are riding down the hill of Mudgee St from the Cudgegong St corner dangerously and very fast, without paying attention to driveways or the Globe Pub rear lane entry. Please remind your children about safe travel practices when coming to and from school. More information about bike safety and helmets can be found here: Road rules for bicycle riders | Transport for NSW

ENROLMENT

We are taking enrolments for all grades Kindergarten to Year 6. Some of our grades are getting close to capacity, but we are always open to local enrolments. If you know of someone who is thinking of enrolling or moving to the area, please let them know they are more than welcome to contact our school on ph: 6379 1404 for a tour, or to simply enrol on line here:

KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION

Our amazing Kindergarten orientation program will begin next term. Dates will be provided later. This is program provides children and their families with regular opportunities to become familiar with the Rylstone Public School life in a welcoming and supportive environment. Students are helped to become accustomed to the school grounds and routines. Each student is provided a special buddy from Year 5 who will be their support person during orientation and then onto their first year in kindergarten. Please note only children enrolled may attend our orientation program. We have a new parent information session on the morning of the first orientation day and anyone who is interested in encouraged to come along! So please let our office know if you, or someone you know, is interested and we’ll make sure information is sent to you.

REPORTING

All students from Kinder to Year 6 will receive their Student Progress report in Week 1 next term. This is to ensure that all units of study and assessments can be completed properly. If any parents would like a meeting to discuss the report with their class teacher once it has been sent out, please feel free to make an appointment next term.

CANBERRA EXCURSION

Our Year 5-6 Canberra excursion for Week 2 Term 3 is fast approaching, and Mrs Newham and Class Pineapples are getting very excited! As usual students will be attending Parliament House, the Australian War Memorial and of course the SNOW!

WOLLEMI COP PUBLIC SPEAKING

Our annual Wollemi COP Public Speaking Competition will be held here again on 25th June. A HUGE thank you goes to Mrs grant who organises and coordinates the whole event. It is run with our fellow Wollemi Community of Practice schools: Kandos PS, Ilford PS, Glen Alice PS and Lue PS. It’s a great opportunity for us all to get together and showcase our schools' talents.

FIRE SAFETY VISIT

As part of our new PD, Health P.E units, classes have been looking at safety and in particular fire safety. You have probably been fielding questions about fire safety and home evacuation plans! I know in Class Mangoes we were trying really hard to remember our home address and practising what to say if we ever had to call 000! Mrs Newham has organised for the RFS fire truck visit and give a safety talk for Week 11 for the whole school. So, it’s going to be very exciting.

NSW PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENT SURVEY

Tomorrow Friday 12th June is the last day to complete the NSW Public School Parent Survey. We are inviting parents and carers to participate in the NSW Public Schools Parent Survey. The survey gives you the opportunity to share your experience at our school, including communication, inclusion, wellbeing and how your child’s learning is supported. Hearing directly from our parents and carers will help us understand what’s working well and where improvements can be made. Participation in the survey is optional, your responses are anonymous, and it takes around 10 to 15 minutes to complete. You can access the survey at : https://surveyme.education.nsw.gov.au/sc/YeWAKtez8okSEaLDAcA2kg2 Further information about the NPSS Parent Survey is available at https:// education.nsw.gov.au/npss.

ANNUAL PLAY

Just a reminder our Whole School Annual Play will be held at the end of Term 3 again this year. We have listened to feedback and will be providing a matinee performance on Wednesday 23rd September, with the evening performance on Thursday 24th September. Like last year, this will be a performance only, there will not be any presentations or awards on the night. So make sure you’ve got it down in your diaries, you’ll be ‘Spaced Out’ if you miss it!

LAST DAY OF TERM

Just a reminder the last day of term is Friday 3rd July. We will have our gold ARPY and bronze reading award assembly in the afternoon at 2:45pm. Students can wear mufti (warm sensible play clothes) and we will have our winning house sausage sizzle … yet to be determined! FIRST DAY OF TERM 3 FOR STUDENTS IS TUESDAY 21ST JULY.

As always, any concerns or questions, please reach out on PH: 6379 1404 or jodee.burcher@det.nsw.edu.au Jodee

In the classrooms

Kinder Bananas

This term is absolutely flying by, and it has been wonderful to see how much fun we are having in Kindy Bananas. Every week, I am amazed by the significant progress the students are making across all learning areas. In Mathematics, we explored positional words and ordinal numbers, helping students understand concepts like 'first,' 'next,' 'beside,' and 'behind.' The class has become more confident in writing and reading numbers up to 20, and we are working hard to remember our ‘friends of ten’ to support addition skills.

In Literacy, the students are continuing to develop their phonics skills, focusing on sounding out four-letter words. It’s exciting to watch their confidence grow as they realise they can decode words such as ‘jump,’ ‘lamp,’ ‘desk,’ and ‘slip.’ We will keep practising these skills throughout the rest of the term. We are also making great progress with our reading fluency, working to read smoothly without needing to sound out every word. In addition, everyone is learning to read and spell tricky words, building a strong foundation for future literacy success. We thoroughly enjoyed reading “This is a Ball,” which led to a creative activity where students transformed a balloon into something completely new. Their imagination and creative thinking were truly impressive! We also read the book “Elmer,” celebrating how Elmer is unique and embracing the important message that we are all different. During Music, Kindergarten has been working on keeping a steady beat while using body percussion. They composed a body percussion sequence in groups and performed them to a steady beat. It was a great challenge for the Kindies. Some were able to work both cooperatively in groups with a good sense of beat and sound.

In Sport, we continue to develop our fundamental movement skills, with a special focus on catching. The students are practising hand-eye coordination, teamwork and persistence as they work to improve their abilities.

I am proud of each student in Kindy Bananas for their enthusiasm, resilience, and brilliant progress this term. Well done—keep up the amazing effort!

Mango News

Our recent classroom adventures have been both exciting and enriching across all areas of learning. In Science, we've been discovering Earth's resources and realising just how much everything we use comes from our planet. One highlight was making ice cream in a bag, using some of the ingredients that originate from Earth itself. It was a deliciously thought-provoking experience! Mrs Fielder has continued to lead us on a journey through time, exploring how life in the past was different and similar to today. Students shared reports from interviews with family members, uncovering new stories and insights about history. We’ve enjoyed learning from one another and understanding how the world has changed and stayed the same! Dance and Music have been full of energy and creativity. We've explored music and dances from various celebrations, with everyone particularly fond of the macarena! Students enjoyed experimenting with rhythm, beat, and volume in their music lessons, learning how sound and movement can express joy. We also got to show our creative flair when we created our part of a whole school project for Reconciliation Week. 

Maths has kept us very busy with some hands-on activities and plenty of problem-solving! We've measured length and mass, sorted and displayed data, used addition and subtraction to make numbers in many ways, and explored how these operations are actually opposites. 

In English, we’ve been working hard on information writing about Lake Hillier. After gathering facts, we put our writing through an in-depth process to create our very best work and are putting the finishing touches on our published work. We’ve also been looking closely at books, using clues such as facial expressions, body language, colour, and space to make inferences and deepen our understanding. We did great groupwork to analyse pictures earlier this week. 

It’s been another term full of curiosity, creativity, and collaboration and we look forward to more learning adventures to come!

Mrs Mulvaney

Grapes

From the 2/3 Grapevine It has been another busy and productive term in the 2/3 Grapevine classroom. Students have been working hard across all learning areas and should be proud of the effort they have shown. In Mathematics, our Year 2 students have been developing their understanding of time by telling and representing time to the hour and half-hour using both analogue and digital clocks. Year 3 students have extended these skills by telling time to five-minute intervals. Students have also been measuring lengths using metres and centimetres, ordering 2, 3, 4 and 5-digit numbers and using the greater than (>) and less than (<) symbols to compare numbers. We have also been exploring inverse operations and using them to calculate and check answers, helping students strengthen their problem-solving and reasoning skills. In English, students have enjoyed writing character descriptions based on Mr Wormwood. They have been learning how to make their writing more engaging through the use of similes and metaphors. Students have also been developing their word knowledge by adding prefixes and suffixes to words and exploring how these change meaning. Our Year 3 students have begun learning cursive writing and have shown great enthusiasm as they practise forming and joining letters correctly.