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.

THANK YOU BREAKFAST

Throughout the year, our students and staff have been supported by wonderful parent volunteers. Whether it's been on a pool deck timekeeping; or filling orders in the uniform shop; helping out on an excursion; or supporting students at swimming lessons. Your time and effort are greatly appreciated by staff and we invite you to join us for breakfast before school on Thursday 8 December. Come along, grab a pastry and have a chat with the staff. We would love to see you there. 

SUCCESSFUL GRANT APPLICATION

Earlier this year, Claire Goldsmith put together a grant application as part of the NSW Government Community Building Partnership Program. In consultation with the school, Claire submitted an application for funding to go towards an upgrade of the toilet block. This week, news came through via our local member Jamie Parker of its success and the P&C have been awarded $45,000 for this project. Congratulations and thank you Claire - what an amazing outcome for the school community. 

UNIFORM SHOP - CHANGES TO OPERATION

At the final P&C meeting of the year, a motion was passed to ratify the decision of outsourcing the P&C Uniform Shop. This decision was not made lightly and involved a team of community members meeting with suppliers and investigating all options. From 2023, our uniform shop will be operated by a subsidiary of LW Reid, Made for School. LW Reid has had a long association with Rozelle as a wholesale supplier of uniforms. They will now manage the online retail component and delivery of all RPS uniform items. There were many contributing factors that informed the P&C’s final decision. Quality, affordability and ease of purchase were all priorities. I would like to extend a special thanks to Carly Lowe and the team for their many hours of research and consultation required to reach a final decision.

KEY DATES THIS FORTNIGHT

• Chess Tournament - Monday 5 December at 10am 

• Rozelle University - Tuesday 6 December 

• K-2 Sing-a-long- Wednesday 7 December - 9.15am Kindy / 10.15am Years 1 & 2 

• Rozelle University - Thursday 8 December 

• Thank You Breakfast - Thursday 8 December at 7.45am

• Years 3-6 Presentation Assembly - Friday 9 December at 9.15am 

• End of Year Picnic - Monday 12 December

• Rozcars Film Festival - Tuesday 13 December

• Pop Up Book Stall Indigenous Literacy Foundation - Wednesday 14 December

• Leavers Assembly Friday 16 December at 9.15am 

• Leavers Arch - Friday 16 December at 2.45pm

FAREWELL ALEX NICHOLLS

This week we said goodbye to Mrs Alex Nicholls who has commenced her maternity leave. Alex has had a long association with Rozelle and is a much loved and dedicated teacher. As many of you may already know, Alex is having twins - double trouble! We wish Alex and Cameron all the very best as they prepare for the arrival of their newest family members.

STAFFING CHANGES 2023

At the end of this year, we will be saying goodbye to three valued members of the Rozelle staff. 

Miss Emily Parsons has been a dedicated member of the Kindergarten team. Next year, Emily has decided to return to study and will begin a postgraduate degree. If we are lucky, Emily may return for some casual days. 

Miss Lizzie McLaughlin is moving across to Alexandria Park Community School. Lizzie has been at RPS for seven years and made a significant contribution to the school and our students. She has been involved in every aspect of school life - sport, music, camps and aboriginal education programs. Alexandria Park is very lucky that Lizzie is joining their team. 

Mrs Sandra Flegg has been at Rozelle since 2014. Sandra and her family have decided to make a sea change and are relocating to Nelson Bay. Sandra spent many years teaching Kindergarten before moving onto Year Three. She has contributed to all areas of school life and will be missed by her colleagues and many of the students she has taught. 

We wish Emily, Lizzie and Sandra all the best as they embark on new adventures. 

CLASS FORMATIONS FOR 2023

At Rozelle, classes are mixed ability, they are not streamed (graded). Over the coming weeks, staff will spend hours carefully considering the makeup of each class. 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 are 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. 

Should plans change for 2023 and your child is not returning to Rozelle, please email the school.

RATS IN BAGS

The school will be sending home another pack of  RAT tests in your child's school bag next week. 

FINAL NEWSLETTER FOR 2023

Our final newsletter for the year will be published on Thursday 15 December. While students final day will be Friday 16 December, staff will return the following week for professional development including mandatory CPR training. The office will be open until midday on Tuesday 20 December.

Circus Berserkus was a huge success with classes coming up with their own creative ideas for stalls, creating advertising posters, rosters, stall signage and prepping for the big event. Students had an authentic, hands on learning experience as they realise the value of money, how to give change and experienced the joy of giving as they donated their money to flood affected families. Thank you to the families who helped by bringing in things for the event and special thanks to the teachers of RPS who really went above and beyond to make this day so magical for the students. The smiles were abundant. 

There were a range of activities for students to enjoy including face painting, fortune telling, giant noughts and crosses, sponge throwing and water bucket challenges, minute to win it, nerf target, white elephant stall, photo booth, escape room, spooky feel box, tin can alley, plaster painting, play dough making and lots more.

Parents, carers and friends are invited to join us in the school hall on Wednesday 7 December for the K-2 Sing-a-long. 

Kindergarten students will perform from 9:15am.

Year one and two students will perform from 10am.

We hope you can join us!

On Monday 12 December, Years One to Six will be heading across to Centennial Park for our annual end of year picnic day. It is great to have this back on the calendar after a two year absence. The school needs to finalise numbers so we request families make payment or contact the office early next week. 

Children must wear their school uniform, including a school hat and sunscreen. Buses will depart from school at 9:30am and return by approximately 2:30pm. There is no kiosk, so students must bring a packed lunch and are encouraged to bring a small picnic rug, games, cards, books and other small play items to entertain themselves during the picnic.

Our amazing RPS budding film makers are putting the final touches on their films which are due this Thursday. Each class will then vote, with two finalists chosen from each class (3-6) to be shown at the Rozcars main event, to be held in the hall next Tuesday 13 December. There will be a winning film from each year group, with awards being presented at the end of Rozcars.

All parents will be emailed a link to access their child's class film, as well as a link to the finalists after they have been announced at the Rozcars.

Every student is encouraged to come dressed as their favourite movie star (mufti dress) on the day, as part of our Rozcar celebrations!  

Details: (this is a student only event)

9:15am-11am: Students in Years 2-6 in the hall for the screening and judging of the finalists. The award ceremony will be held at the screening.

12:10pm-1:35pm: Students in Stage 1 in the hall for the screening of the class compilations.

2pm-2:45pm: Students in Kindergarten in the hall for the screening of the class compilations.

The school will hold our year 6 farewell leaver's assembly at 9:15am on Friday 16 December. The annual leaver's arch will take place, later the same day at 2:45pm with the arch finishing on Darling Street playground. 

Earlier this term, Ms Sandy Dorn-Steger and Ms Amy Horton had the pleasure of visiting Gunawirra, an early intervention for young Aboriginal mothers and their children located in Rozelle. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and were extremely honoured to meet with Graham who showed us around the centre. We talked about Aboriginal culture, language, nutrition, art, storytelling and we were enthralled by the incredible edible garden they have onsite. We smelt and tasted a variety of indigenous plants. Rozelle preschool students raised funds to purchase new books for remote Aboriginal preschools. We would like to thank Gunawirra and Graham for taking the time to meet with us and we are looking forward to making stronger connections in the years to come.

From the 17th to 21st of November, Davin Carty (4 Kakadu) had an amazing experience at the Australian School Sport Track & Field National Championships held in Brisbane. His incredible achievement to represent NSW at the National Championship was capped of with a bronze medal in the 10yrs boys combined event.

Other memorable moments included:

• A tour of the Queensland Academy of Sport
• Several personal best performances including a personal best 10yrs 800m of 2 minutes 23 seconds and a smashing win.

NSW also had the biggest representation of multi-class athletes of any state, and the bonding between all athletes was wonderful to watch. Overall 20 national records fell in the multi-class category!

Thank you to those people who supported him in many ways including buying some of his raffle tickets to support his journey. If anyone is interested, his tickets are still for sale at $5 and the draw will be held by NSW PSSA in December. 

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.

REMINDER ABOUT 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. Over the past few weeks, some students have been turning up to school as early as 7.45am. This is too early as supervision does not begin until 8.30am.

LOST PROPERTY

When parents are up at the school they may have seen the lost property trolley which is wheeled regularly into the Darling Street playground. Should your child misplace a hat, jumper, water bottle or lunchbox…you may find it in the trolley.

KINDERGARTEN 2023 ONLINE ENROLMENTS

Rozelle Public School is currently taking enrolments for Kindergarten for 2023 from families living within our school catchment area. Detailed information about the enrolment procedure and a map of the school catchment area can be found on the school website at www.rozelle-p.schools.nsw.gov.au or by phoning the school office on (02) 9810 2347.

SOCIAL & FUNDRAISING TEAM - SAVE THE DATES 2023!

The P&C team are  delighted to announce the following social activities for Term 1 2023 - save the dates now!

Friday 24th February: Welcome picnic and official opening of the basketball court.

Saturday 1st April: Parents Trivia Night!

VICTORIA ROAD SAFETY GROUP

The Victoria Rd Safety Group continues to monitor the safety of students who cross at the intersection of Victoria Rd & Darling St to get to school. 

Please sign the petition here:  https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/state-government-improve-pedestrian-safety-at-darling-st-victoria-road-now.html.

The four improvements we’re petitioning for and proposing in the submission are:

The submission to Transport for NSW is now fully drafted and is in the hands of the working group for feedback and finalising. If you are interested in learning more, please email johnfreeman53@hotmail.com. 

The uniform shop is no longer taking any new orders.  LW Reid should come online at the end of January, just in time for the start of the 2023 school year. The portal details will be shared with the school community soon.

I would like to extend a very big and heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in the uniform shop over its many years of operation and in particular to Carly Davies, Claire Goldsmith, Paddy Wesley-James, Robyn Hickton, Bia Golgi, Jo Chai, Penny Plumbe and of course the wonderful Maitane Basanez for many hours spent managing the uniform shop. I would also like to thank the team including a special shout-out to Sophie Lewis who spent many hours meeting with retail operators to make an informed decision that will best fit our community needs.