To ensure more efficient collection of students from the car park, I urge all parents and carers to please hold up their signs so that teachers on duty know who is being collected.

We have noticed that many parents have not got into the habit of holding the sign containing their child's surname.

Your assistance in this matter is much appreciated.

As you may have already discovered, the concrete path inside the Explore & Develop Car Park has now been blocked off for Work Health & Safety reasons.

This has now resulted in some parents entering and leaving through the middle of the car park, which is even more dangerous.

The preferred method of entering the school is the next gate further up Coxs Road, which is safer.

You may still enter via the grassed area near Explore & Develop but the area will become extremely soggy in wet weather.

I urge you to enter the school as directed by the red arrows on the attached map to ensure the safety of you and your children.

Thank you in advance for putting your children's safety first.

Kind regards,

Rob Francis

Principal

Our Kindergarten students have had a lovely start to school. There have been fewer tears and bigger smiles each morning as they enter the school and are met by a friendly Stage 3 Buddy waiting to take them to the COLA.

Students are now settled into classes, becoming familiar with their teachers, peers, the school surroundings, and routines.

Starting school is a big deal for both children and parents. Thank you to all parents for your positive attitude towards school and the encouragement you are giving your child each day.

Marina Mattiuzzo – Assistant Principal

TOMORROW - Wednesday 19th February! 

Dear Parents/carers, 

Just a reminder school photographs are this Wednesday, 19 February. Please make sure to return the envelope with your child by Wednesday. Class photos are starting at 9.15am.

Students are to be wearing their summer uniform including: 

• White socks

• Black school shoes

• Hair accessories should be simple and in the school colours.

• Earrings should only be studs or sleepers. 

***************************

Students in Years 3-6 moved into their new classes for 2025 on Monday 10th February.

Students in K-2 have also moved into their new classes for 2025.

We will be commencing the year with 13 classes. 

In determining classes, social grouping, student numbers, emotional needs, behavioural issues, academic needs and our many unique student needs were all considered before forming the following classes.

The Years K-2 classes are as follows

The Years 3-6 classes are as follows:

The Sydney Sixers are offering a FREE After-School cricket program at North Ryde Public School from 3.30pm - 4.30pm for any student K-6.

The program runs for four consecutive Mondays from Weeks 8 - 11 :

Monday 17th March

Monday 24th March

Monday 31st March

Monday 7th April

Click the link below or scan the QR code on the advertisement to register.

https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/7b1b90

The NSW Department of Education has developed an Anti-Racism Strategy 2024 - 2035 and has a system-wide plan for the elimination of racism.

A summary is given below:

1. Purpose: The Anti-Racism Strategy aims to eliminate racism within schools and the broader education system, promoting inclusivity and respect for all cultures.

2. Vision: The strategy envisions a safe and supportive educational environment where every student feels valued, respected, and able to thrive.

3. Key Focus Areas: The strategy focuses on addressing systemic racism, supporting culturally diverse students, and enhancing the cultural competency of staff.

4. Community Engagement: It emphasises the importance of engaging with students, families, and communities to foster understanding and collaboration in anti-racism efforts.

5. Professional Development: The strategy includes ongoing training and resources for educators to help them recognise and combat racism in their schools.

6. Curriculum Integration: Anti-racism education will be integrated into the curriculum, ensuring that students learn about diversity, equity, and social justice.

7. Support Services: Schools will have access to support services to assist students affected by racism, including counselling and advocacy programs.

8. Monitoring Progress: There will be regular assessments and reporting on the effectiveness of the strategy to ensure continuous improvement and accountability.

9. Partnerships: The strategy encourages partnerships with organisations and community groups that specialise in anti-racism work and cultural competency.

10. Commitment to Change: The NSW Department of Education is committed to fostering a culture of respect and inclusion, working tirelessly to challenge and eliminate racism in all forms.

Selective high school and opportunity class applications are open from 7 November 2024 to 21 February 2025

Selective high school Year 7 entry in 2026: Apply when your child is at the end of Year 5 or the beginning of Year 6.

Opportunity class Year 5 entry in 2026: Apply when your child is at the end of Year 3 or the beginning of Year 4.

Selective high schools and opportunity classes are 2 of the ways the NSW Department of Education supports high potential and gifted students.

What are their benefits?

• Students learn alongside, and form friendships with, other high potential and gifted classmates.
• Special teaching methods allow students to learn at a quicker pace and in more detail.
• Research shows that students benefit both academically and socially when learning with classmates who have similar abilities.

Selective high schools and opportunity classes are not zoned so you can apply to ones outside your local enrolment area.

Do you speak another language? Translated resources are available in 13 languages on our website: edu.nsw.link/shsoc_languages

Is a selective high school or opportunity class the right fit for my child?

A selective high school or opportunity class might be a great fit if your child:

• learns quickly
• asks complex questions
• is highly motivated
• has a good memory
• is intensely focused in their area of interest

Where are selective high schools (Year 7-12) located?

There are 4 types of selective high schools:

• fully selective high schools, where all students attending the school have high potential or are gifted
• partially selective high schools, where there is a mix of students who have high potential or are gifted and local area students
• 4 agricultural selective high schools, including 3 boarding schools
• Aurora College, which provides online selective classes for rural and remote students in their local host schools.

Search for a selective high school near you at Find a selective high school.

Where are opportunity classes (Year 5-6) located?

There are 2 types of opportunity classes:

• full-time opportunity classes in selected primary schools
• Aurora College, which provides online opportunity classes for rural and remote students in their local authorised host schools.

Search for an opportunity class near you at Find an opportunity class.

Students successfully placed attend the opportunity class full-time in Years 5 and 6. In most cases, students who have accepted a place in an opportunity class will leave their current school to attend the school with the opportunity class. 

Discuss the opportunity with your child and look through the information together on the Selective high schools and opportunity classes website and in the student resource hub:

• Applying for a selective high school: Student resource hub
• Applying for an opportunity class: Student resource hub

Fair and equitable access

The Equity Placement Model helps make access fairer for more high potential students in our community.

We know that some students may be missing out because they experience educational disadvantage. 

Under the model, up to 20% of places in each selective high school and opportunity class are held for:

• students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds
• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students
• students from rural and remote locations
• students with disability.

These students still receive offers based on their performance in the placement test.

Learn more at Fair access.

The application process

Complete the online application. 

Applications close on 21 February 2025.

Once your application has been submitted and processed, your child will need to sit a computer-based placement test. Learn more at Application process.

Ready to apply?

Apply online at shsoc.education.nsw.gov.au

Further information

Visit Selective high schools and opportunity classes. 

Have any of your details changed?

Please contact the office ASAP if you have changed your address, phone number or emergency contact details. You can also update you details using the Skoolbag app,  see parent eForms.

Student emergency plans or health plans for 2025

If your child has an allergy or requires medication, such as asthma puffers or antihistamines, you must supply the school with a current health plan. Please ensure that the medication, epipens, puffers, etc, held by the office are fresh and not out of date. Thank you.

Attendance and requests for leave

• Please ensure that your children arrive at school punctually. If your child arrives after 9.10am, they must go to the office for a late note.
• All absences need to be promptly followed by a note of explanation.
• If an absence of over two weeks is required, permission should be sought from the principal. An application for leave must then be submitted.
• No student should be at the shops before or after school, unless they are accompanied by a parent or have specific permission from a parent to get something. Please reinforce this message with your child/ren.
• Students should go straight home after the end of school bell.

Student belongings

• Students should not bring valuables to school.
• The school will not take responsibility for valued belongings. This includes phones, toys and trading cards.

School uniform

• Students should wear full school uniform at all times. That includes no jewellery. 

Accidents do happen – please bring spare clothes

• Please ensure that your young child has a spare pair of underwear and socks in their school bag. ‘Accidents’ happen. If your child can put on their own clean clothes, it can make the situation less of an issue for your child.

Lost property

• Please label all your child’s belongings clearly with their first and last name. Also please regularly check your child’s belongings to ensure that they are labelled and that do not belong to someone else. The lost property basket is in the school foyer. We do our best to return any labelled belongings.

Allergy alert

• We are an ‘allergy aware’ school and staff are trained to deal with allergic reactions. We currently have several students at our school who have allergies. Some of these students can have serious, even life-threatening, reactions. We strongly request that you do not provide your child with nut-based foods, especially peanut butter. We also ask that you explain to your child that they must not share food at school.
• We do not allow the sharing of food. Please don’t send any food to share. We will not distribute birthday cakes or treats, Easter Eggs or candy canes, etc.

P&C Dates for 2025

Our P&C meetings will be held in Weeks 3 and 8 of each school term. This year they will be from 6:30pm - 7:30pm in the Teachers’ Staffroom. Feel free to come along to a meeting and see how it works! We encourage you to consider joining the NRPS P&C Association, it only costs $2 to join.

In 2025 the P&C will meet on the following dates:

- Term 1 – 18 February, 18 March

- Term 2 – 13 May, 17 Jun

- Term 3 – 5 August, 9 September

- Term 4 – TBA (AGM), TBA (Planning Meeting)

If you are not a current member of the P&C and are thinking of coming along, please let us know by emailing pcsecretary1.nrps@gmail.com

Fundraising Sausage Sizzle at Information Night

The P&C are hosing their first fundraising event of 2025 for NRPS.  For those that haven't pre ordered, you can purchase your sausage sandwiches and drinks at Information Night between 4.30pm and 6pm (while supplies last). We look forward to seeing you there.

Sausage sandwich – beef/chicken $5, veg $6 

Drinks – juice box $1.50 & soft drinks $2.50 

Zooper Dooper or Quelch ice block – $1 

Can you lend a hand at the Information Night Welcome BBQ?

We would love if you could lend a hand at our fundraiser BBQ to help set up, serve and sizzle those sausages.

Sign up to help here: https://signup.com/go/jjXfBoD

Exciting News! Canteen Service Relaunch

We are thrilled to announce that our school canteen will be reopening on Friday, 28 February 2025! This will be an ongoing service available every Friday throughout the school term.

The canteen will offer a variety of delicious and nutritious options for students to enjoy during their lunch break. We are pleased to inform you that we are outsourcing this service from a local business called Sweet Temptations, who also cook, provide, handle, and deliver to other local schools around the area.

Additionally, North Ryde Public School will be using Flexischools for parents to place lunch orders and must be completed by 10 PM the night before.

Flexischools App

Parents simply download the Flexischools app from the Apple or Google store and follow the prompts to create an account. You can download the App and find registration and online ordering instructions here.

Parents can set daily spend limits and keep an eye on what they’re buying via your Flexischools app. Additionally, you can also add access for your child to use the App, enabling them to place online orders themselves - great for growing independence.

If you already have a Flexischools account for another family member then just select the Profile icon on the app and +Add New Student.

Mark your calendars and get ready for the grand reopening!

Insert Flexischools PDF file here: Flexischools Online Canteen Lunch Orders Information Toolkit.pdf

Amelia O’Brien

P&C Canteen Coordinator

Band News                   

Welcome back to the NRPS Band Program!

Not currently in the band? There is still time to enrol for 2025 as registration is still open. Band is open to all children from Years 3 to 6 to join! PLEASE REGISTER NOW.   https://forms.gle/Rk4rzxhsbpuzgAt18

Music lessons

Music lesson days and timetables are being drafted now. The estimated start will be in Week 4:  17 - 21 February. Parents will be advised as soon as numbers are settled.

Band rehearsals

Concert Band Rehearsals:

Wednesday afternoons 3:10pm – 4:15pm

All students who were in Training Band in 2024 will be in Concert Band in 2025. Concert Band parents are asked not to schedule after school appointments on Wednesdays as all band members are needed for rehearsals.

Performance Band Rehearsals:

Wednesday mornings 8:00am – 9:00am (please arrive at 7:50am to set up).

All students who were in Concert & Performance Band in 2024 will be in Performance Band in 2025.

 Training Band Rehearsals will start later in Term 1 (start date to be confirmed later in Term 1)

All rehearsals are in the School Hall. Imelda Crimmins is the Conductor for NRPS bands.

P&C Band Committee roles - We need your help!!!

Lessons and band rehearsals are conducted by Imelda Crimmins but the NRPS band program is supported by a small group of volunteer parents through the NRPS P&C Band Committee. We help organise events, instrument hire and liaise with Imelda Crimmins for parent queries. The committee needs your help as it currently only consists of two parents! You don’t need to be musically minded! Minimal effort is required!

If you can help, even a little bit, with one of the below roles, please contact the Band Coordinator (Karen) – pcband@nrps.org.au

Training Band Parent Liaison: Role is to liaise with the Band Coordinator and Training Band parents regarding notifications and events.

Instrument Coordinator: Role is to manage allocation and return of NRPS owned instruments that are hired to students as needed.

For students enrolled in ethics classes in years 1 & 2, classes are to resume week 5, Thursday 27 February.

Currently, students in kindergarten, years 3, 4, 5 & 6 have been placed on a waitlist for ethics as we seek volunteers to provide ethics lessons for all the families who have requested them. They will be supervised by a classroom teacher in a ‘meaningful activities’ class until a volunteer is recruited.

Do you have half an hour a week? Volunteer as an ethics teacher!

In ethics lessons, students explore everyday issues suitable for their age. They learn to think and listen carefully, to make decisions backed by good reasons and evidence, to discuss and disagree without putdowns.

As an ethics teacher, you’ll get a lot out of it too! You don’t need past teaching experience. Primary Ethics offers full, free training, lesson scripts and ongoing teaching support. 

Children discuss topics such as:

- how should we treat living things?

- what is laziness?

- how do we disagree in a respectful way?

- what is fairness?

If you are looking for an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to our school, contact NRPS Ethics Coordinator, Liz Vrontamitis, on 0405 395 247 or pcethics@nrps.org.au for more details.

At the end of 2024, our school elected School Leaders for 2025. They are:

School Captains: Pippa Wang and John Stewart

School Vice Captains: Keira Cheung and Henry The

SRC: Amber Kwak, Sienna Court, Mason Riady and Tomas Garcia

Congratulations on your election and I wish you every success for 2025!

We wish all our leaders well for their leadership responsibilities this year.

School Swimming Carnival

Our School Swimming Carnival was held on Friday 7 February at Cabarita Swimming Centre for all children from Year 2 to Year 6. Our students enjoyed the opportunity to participate in races and water safety activities. Thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated. The presentation of ribbons and the winner of the carnival will be announced at this week’s assembly.

We would also like to thank our fabulous teachers, support staff and the parent volunteers for all the help they provided throughout the day. A big shout out to our newly retired staff members; Mrs West and Mrs Chapman, who volunteered their time on the day to help make our carnival a success. Special thanks to Melissa Calvi, Ruben Garcia, Svetlana Podnebesnaia and Andrea Wang who helped with timekeeping.

Zone Swimming Carnival

The Ryde PSSA Zone Swimming Carnival will be held at Ryde Aquatic Centre on Tuesday 11 March. Students who have qualified will be given a permission note soon. We wish them the best of luck!

PSSA Sport

Information about PSSA Sport

Some districts and schools within NSW choose to offer some students the opportunity to play in the PSSA Friday sport competitions. We are lucky at North Ryde that we have a local PSSA competition. Sue Chiddy and Erika Longhitano represent our school at the regular Ryde Zone PSSA committee meetings and coordinate our school’s participation.

We have dedicated staff who are willing to take on the extra responsibility of coaching a PSSA team and commit to training and coaching the teams as well as the weekly coordination of transport and supervision. Please note that the number of Year 3-6 staff available to supervise determines the number of students that can be selected for PSSA teams.

Summer PSSA

For PSSA summer season we will be fielding representative teams in Softball, Newcombe ball, Volleyball, T-ball and Cricket. Tryouts have been conducted and teams have been chosen.

Please understand that this is a representative position and places in these teams are limited and strongly contested. Students who are not placed in a team can be quite disappointed. Non-PSSA competitors will still be actively involved in a range of sporting activities at school.

There is also a cost associated with PSSA to cover entry fees and bus travel.

Winter PSSA

Winter PSSA tryouts will be conducted at the end of Term 1. The sports available for students to trial for include Tiger Tag, Football (Soccer) and Netball. The Winter PSSA competition will start in Term 2.

Summer PSSA – Round 1

Summer PSSA commences this week on Friday 21 February. Support on the side lines is always welcome. Please look at the Summer PSSA draw to see when and where your child will be playing each Friday during Term 1 and Term 4.

 https://www.revolutionise.com.au/rydepssa/home

Miss Sue Chiddy and Miss Erika Longhitano

Sports Co-ordinators

Elections of House Captains for 2025

House Meetings for students from Year 2 to 6 were held in the last week of 2024 to elect our House Captains for 2025. These students will be presented with their badges at the next Assembly.

Congratulations to our House Captains who are listed below:

NSW public schools are committed to providing safe, supportive, and responsive learning environments for everyone across a range of settings. We teach and model the inclusive and safe behaviours we value in our students.

The NSW Department of Education has revised its Student Behaviour Policy, which came into effect from Day 1 of 2024.

This policy is to help public schools support students to behave in positive ways.

Parents and Carers should:

• work with the school to support how their child behaves and learns
• support the school's plan to manage how a student behaves
• work with the school when there are issues with how their child behaves

Below is the behaviour code for students. This code will be discussed with all students in all classrooms.

This year all classes will continue to be involved in a social-emotional learning program called "You Can Do It"

This curriculum teaches attitudes, values/character strengths, social-emotional skills for success, relationships and wellbeing, and overcoming social-emotional blockers.

Published research has revealed that the explicit instruction employed in this program benefits young children’s social-emotional development, wellbeing, and achievement.

I look forward to providing further information about the program throughout the year.

Last year a number of parents took to crossing Coxs Road with their children at the wrong places when coming to and from school.

I urge you to please use the crossing as it is only less than a hundred metres away. This is such a small price to pay and cheaper than hospital bills.

By crossing the road elsewhere, you are teaching your child bad habits and running the risk of injury or even death.

I would be horrified if an accident were to occur outside the school because parents did not use the crossing.

Your child's safety is paramount.

For their sake, please use the crossing.

We all care about our children. To ensure the safety of our precious young people, we ask that all parents and carers be good role models when in and around our school grounds, especially near carparks. Please reinforce the guidelines and rules below with your child/ren.

Pedestrians

• Cox’s Road must be crossed at the designated crossings/lights and all young children must hold an adult’s hand
• All pedestrians and students are to enter and leave the school via pedestrian gates – NOT VIA DRIVEWAYS

Bicycles and scooters

• No unsupervised child is allowed to ride a bike to and from school under the age of 10
• All children must wear helmets when riding bikes or scooters
• Bikes or scooters should be walked across roads
• Bikes or scooters must be walked within the school grounds

 Carparks

• There is NO RIGHT TURN from Cox’s Road into the carpark
• Drivers please watch carefully for any pedestrians, especially when crossing the footpath
• The lower carpark may only be accessed at drop-off/pick-up times by registered families
• Please remain calm and polite at all times. Little people have big ears!
• There is NO PARKING for parents in the school carparks
• If you need to pick up an injured or sick child, please press the ‘school’ button at the lower boomgate
• Please report any witnessed carpark offences to the office

Drop-off/Pick-up Registration

To help ensure the efficient and safe pick-up of children, parents will need to register to access the drop-off/pick-up zone on school grounds. With registration, you will receive a surname card to display on your car’s visor.

School Bytes App – get it on your phone 

The School Bytes app is a versatile tool that supports parents, offering features such as school news, payments, documents, attendance tracking, and forms. It ensures convenient access to crucial school-related information and streamlines communication.

This app helps improve communication between our school and the parent community. You will find important updates, changes to usual routine, reminders for events and permission notes. 

The app is available on the Apple Store and also the Google Play store.

It is extremely important that you continually update this app on a regular basis to avoid missing important messages.

General information is sent out to all School Bytes subscribers. However at times we will send out reminders specific to grades and activities. Therefore it is important that you update your preferences at the beginning of the year.  

North Ryde’s School Newsletter 

https://northrydeps.schoolzineplus.com/news?nid=70

To subscribe to receive the newsletter via email, click on the ‘Subscribe to Newsletter’ tab in the menu across the top of the home page. On this page you can subscribe to receive the newsletter each fortnight via email. After subscribing, you will receive a confirmation email. You will need to reply to this confirmation email. You only need to complete this process once. You will then receive the newsletter each week automatically unless you unsubscribe yourself.

Each term families are invoiced for the extra educational materials your child needs that is not funded by the government. It also includes incursion and excursions that your child will be participating in over the term.

Invoices for this term will be out via email soon. Your prompt payment is greatly appreciated.

When you receive your school invoice, you will notice that there is a P&C Grounds donation request per family. We are lucky enough to have large grounds in relation to the number of children at our school. However, the DoE allocation we receive is not sufficient to keep and maintain our magnificent space, including regular tree maintenance. We thank you for making this voluntary contribution.

Please note: Invoice amounts for excursions and incursions are calculated using the number of students in the grade attending school. If a child is absent, the invoiced amount is still expected to be paid unless a medical certificate is provided for that day.

Our school has registered for the SWAP IT Healthy Lunchbox Program.

SWAP IT is an evidence-based, healthy lunchbox program for primary schools. The program supports parents and carers to SWAP what is packed in their child’s lunchbox from sometimes foods to everyday foods. SWAP IT is:

• Free – no cost for schools to take part. 
• Easy for Schools – our resources complement the existing curriculum. 
• Easy for Parents – visual inspiration to make lunchboxes faster and healthier with no extra cost. 
• Proven to work – SWAP IT enhances the nutritional quality of lunchbox foods. Parents love it, and teachers see significant benefits in the classroom. 

The SWAP IT recommendations have been developed based on the latest evidence-based government nutrition guidelines. 

SWAP IT involves sending out weekly messages for one term to your parent/carer community. The messages are created by SWAP IT and ready to share, providing ideas and tips for packing healthier lunchboxes. Messages are shared via this school's newsletter and may also be sent out via School Bytes.

Our first message is below:

School Administrative Office | Riverside Girls High School 

02 9816 4264 | riversideg-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au | riversideg-h.schools.nsw.gov.au

Below is the Parent Calendar for Term 1 2025. Please note that this is calendar is subject to change.

Monash University and Super Kids Behaviour Consulting want to learn more about the prevalence and type of challenging behaviour displayed by typically developing Australian children aged 1-10 years.

How can you help? ⁠
If you are a parent or primary carer of a typically developing child aged 1-10 years and you live in Australia, we invite you to complete a short survey (approximately 5 minutes) to tell us about the type, frequency and intensity of challenging behaviour that your child displays and about adaptive behaviours that your child displays. ⁠
⁠
This research is being led by Chief Investigator Dr Erin Leif (erin.leif@monash.edu) from Monash University and Renee Collins (renee@superkidsconsulting.com) from Super Kids Behavioural Consulting. This research has been approved by Monash University’s Human Research Ethics Committee (Project #41736)⁠

Link to survey: https://monash.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2i9subF610IvufQ

Direct link to survey: 

https://monash.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2i9subF610IvufQ

QR code for survey: