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. 

With a minimum of three weeks left, I have the deepest empathy for the entire Rozelle community - our students, our staff and our families. Just like our Rozelle families, our staff are living their own lockdown journey. We have staff who reside in LGA's which are under the strictest lockdown. We also have teachers who live on their own and are struggling with the isolation. We have colleagues with young families who are juggling remote teaching and supporting their own child's learning. We have staff who are carers to elderly parents. These are indeed challenging times for us all. 

Since lockdown and the learning from home period commenced there have been many wonderful emails and messages sent to staff acknowledging their dedication, care and commitment. Thank you for those kind messages of encouragement. These messages have lifted teacher's spirits who, like so many of us are finding this lengthy lockdown a challenge. 

CONGRATULATIONS 3 ALCOTT

A shout out to Miss Hansen and the students in 3 Alcott who were mentioned on Channel Ten's, Studio 10 this morning. The show featured an interview with their class namesake - Dylan Alcott. The presenters shared with him illustrations the students in 3 Alcott drew of Dylan. We are fortunate to have some footage of today's show. 

3 Alcott - Studio 10

Thank you to those families who took the time to respond to last week's 'Learning from Home' survey. There were over 250 responses with some excellent community feedback. Thank you for sharing with us the positive and encouraging messages. Thank you for telling us some of your challenges. Thank you for providing some constructive feedback that we can consider implementing. One of the key messages that came from the survey is that one approach does not meet the needs of every student / family. Some families want more work, others less. Some feel there is too much pressure while others are thriving. Some parents want more Zoom while others want less screen time. Some found the learning packs easy to follow while others found them complex. Some love the features of Google Classroom while others find it unsatisfactory. Just like a face-to-face classroom, there are many complexities to teaching. I want to assure all our families that we are here and doing our very best to support you - just like so many of you have supported us. We are listening. 

Some of our current approaches and new initiatives include:

• ​Daily Zoom Check In to continue
• Targeted Literacy & Numeracy Zoom sessions
• Monday morning Zoom Assemblies to start the week
• Well-being Wednesday - screen free afternoon
• Continuity of lessons for the afternoon sessions
• Prioritising work - what needs to be done and what is optional
• Learning Support Zoom - individualised support for identified students
• Fridays - a lighter program
• SeeSaw instructional videos
• Learning Pack - revised layout for Stage One
• Kindergarten Parent Zoom Q&A
• Learning Packs available on Friday afternoon - website or paper copy

All class teachers this fortnight will reach out to families either by phone or email. We are here to support you and I encourage you to take up the opportunity to speak to your child's teacher - especially if you are struggling.

At present, the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of our entire community must remain a priority. Each teacher, student and family is experiencing this lockdown differently. Somedays are better than others. Each Wednesday at 1pm we are encouraging our students and staff to switch off the screens and focus on those people and activities that bring them joy. Our learning packs next week will include a list of suggestions - please note they are suggestions only. 

From the beginning of this lockdown, the school's message to families has been 'do your best'. This is going to look different for each and everyone of you. If you are finding there is too much work to get through...just try to complete one or two activities. If some days frustration levels are high.... it's ok to stop. If you only make three Zooms each week because you are out riding a bike with your child...fantastic. I can't emphasise enough that families need to do what works for them. Your mental health, the mental health of your child, the mental health of RPS staff is what's important right now. 

PARENT AND CARERS TOOL KIT

The NSW Department of Education has published and provided links to some useful parenting resources. 'The essential' tool kit includes a range of resources presented in a variety of different forms - books, websites, podcasts and apps. Some of our parents may find a few useful tips - especially around self-care. 

PARENT AND CARERS TOOLKIT

HELPING CHILDREN COPE WITH UNCERTAINTY

In this week's newsletter, I have included an article published by Emerging Minds, National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health. Titled 'Helping children to cope with uncertainty during COVID-19'', this article has simple suggestions and ways that parents can help their child cope with change and uncertainty. 

Stay strong and connected RPS.

We are all doing this together.  We know that every family is having their own lockdown and home schooling experience, for those who are struggling or need support please remember to just reach out.

The school: via your teacher or rozelle-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

The P&C: rozellepublicschool@pandcaffiliate.org.au

More support: There is support for families doing it tough - local organisations include:

Sydney Food Share : https://www.facebook.com/SydneyFoodShare/

Rozelle Neighbourhood Centre:  https://www.rozellecentre.org.au/peninsulacaring

Foodbank: https://www.foodbank.org.au/homepage/who-we-help/individuals/?state=nsw-act

Although we have always had the greatest respect for our teachers, most of us continue to appreciate our teachers more and more every day! Thank you to the exec team, office & support staff and all our amazing RPS teachers for the support you are extending to your classes and our RPS community.

A special thank you and farewell….

The P&C would like to say a huge thank you and farewell to Kate Cotton & family who have been an integral part of the Rozelle Public Community for 7 years.

For many years, Kate has been a very valued volunteer at our uniform shop, and she continued to work behind the scenes during the past 18-months especially during the Covid times. Kate has been particularly helpful to our new families with her ‘run with the hat to see if it falls off’ method providing the right size hat every time!

Kate has been a regular parent helper for reading groups and has supported Ms Sheppard in the library at many library events, including Grandparents day and the big book swap, as well as covering hundreds of books.

We wish Kate, James, Frank and Vivienne all the best for their return home to their family and friends in Bath, UK.  THANK YOU KATE - we will miss you!

REMOTE BAND REHEARSAL ZOOM DETAILS

Helen will be running zoom rehearsals three mornings a week from 8am-9am:

Monday:  Junior & Intermediate Band ( Y4 students)

Tuesday: Senior Band Students (Y5 & 6 students)

Wednesday: Training Band Students (Y3 students)

Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/2423922263?pwd=ODRQTlpJaXE5bmRtMDdVTThNdnI3Zz09

Meeting ID: 242 392 2263

Password: 564718

INSTRUMENT REPAIRS

If your child's instrument is not working properly, please first check with your tutor (remotely) to check if the instrument needs repairs or cleaning.  If your instrument does need repair, please send an email to amanda.palfreyman@det.nsw.edu.au

REEDS

If your child requires reeds for their saxophone or clarinet instrument, please send through an email to Amanda P, advising how many reeds you would like and she will arrange for them to be collected from the office.

Rozelle Public School is currently taking enrolments for Kindergarten 2022 from families living within our school catchment area. Detailed information about enrolment procedures 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.