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.
The past fortnight has seen COVID cases at Rozelle Public School rise among both students and staff. At present, we have a high number of teachers absent - some are isolating for seven days, while the others are awaiting test results. Absenteeism among students is exceptionally high too.
To ensure all classes are covered, additional programs are canceled and specialist staff used on classes. As well, we book casual teachers - although securing a casual teacher is almost impossible at present!
I would like to thank and acknowledge our wonderful specialist staff and regular casual teachers who continue to be flexible and responsive to the school's needs - even at a moment's notice.
Next week is the final week of Term One and it may prove to be extremely challenging for the RPS community. Despite our best efforts, regular programs may be disrupted, teacher consistency cannot be guaranteed and classes may need to be split. When a class is split, they will most likely spend the day in a class within their stage of learning. For example, a Year One class would be split across Stage One (Year One & Two).
Although the school is doing its very best to ensure continuity, students could come home a little unsettled. This may be due to end of term weariness; they could be missing friends; school routines are a little different; or maybe they are missing their regular classroom teacher. If this is the case, please reach out to Mrs Svinos or myself and we will happily check in with your child.
While these final days of the term are challenging, there is certainly lots to celebrate. Last Friday afternoon, the P&C Welcome BBQ was well attended and despite the rain, it was great to see so many RPS families. The BBQ was sensational and the gelato cart proved very popular. It was a great community event, just like our swimming carnival which was held the week prior. Over the past two years, many of these events have been missing from the calendar and it is great to have them back.
EASTER HAT PARADE
The Easter Hat Parade is set to make a welcome return to Rozelle in 2022. We had hoped the parade would be held on Darling Street (as in previous years) but given the current situation it will now be held on site. The parade is on the last day of Term One - Friday 8 April at 9.15am. Final details will be sent home early next week.
ANZAC DAY
On Monday 25 April I will be attending the local dawn service on Darling Street with our student Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers. The service is always well attended by the local community and many RPS families attend. If you were thinking of attending a dawn service, the Balmain commemoration service is a great local event. The service begins at 6am at Loyalty Square on Darling Street (outside Woolworths). Our student leaders will be laying a wreath at the service.
TERM TWO
The starting date for students next term is Wednesday 27 April. This will be a short week due to the ANZAC Day public holiday and Tuesday's Staff Development (pupil free) Day.
As we wrap up Term One (yes this is the final newsletter for the term) I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the entire staff of Rozelle who have shown such resilience and teamwork, especially in recent weeks. I would also like to thank all parents / carers who continue to work in partnership with the school as we navigate the current COVID environment.
