Alongside our Super efforts and awards systems, teachers at our school use positive reinforcement strategies, including stickers and ClassDojo points. These tools serve as tangible rewards for students' efforts and achievements, helping to motivate them to engage in positive behaviours and participate actively in class. By recognising and celebrating individual accomplishments, we promote a sense of community and collaboration, enhancing social skills and encouraging teamwork. Stickers and points also provide a visual representation of progress, boosting confidence and making learning more enjoyable. We believe that these strategies contribute to a positive and nurturing classroom environment. 

Clean Up School Day 

On Thursday 27th February, students and staff of North Ryde Public School participated in our annual Clean Up School Day. Each class was assigned a different area around the school to step up and clean up! The day reminded us of the importance of working together to reduce litter and take care of our school environment. It was great to see the enthusiasm from all students and staff. We thank all students and staff that participated on the day. 

Miss Choi (Stage 2 Teacher) 

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.

A big thank you to all of our parents and students for attending Parent Information Afternoon and our Welcome BBQ! A total of 55% of our students had at least one family member attending and it was wonderful to see grandparents attend as well!

I would like to thank my wonderful staff for giving up their personal time to present valuable information to their classes and to my staff members and the staff of Team Kids who helped out with supervision of students on Playground A.

Additionally, I thank the members of P&C who put on a wonderful barbecue to keep the hungry crowd happy.

Please note that formal Parent - Teacher - Student Interviews will take place in Week 10 of this term, where teachers will give you more personal accounts of your child's progress so far.

Band Rehearsal Information

Concert Band: Wednesday Afternoons, 3:10pm-4:10pm
Performance Band: Wednesday Mornings, 8:00am-9:00am (Please kindly arrive at 7:50am)
Training Band rehearsals will start after students have a few more lessons.

Term 1 invoices will be sent out this week by Imelda from northrydeband@gmail.com, so please ensure this email address is in your safe list or check your junk mail folder.

Instrument lessons

Lessons have started with great enthusiasm, and tutors will be monitoring student progress. Thank you for your patience during the planning stages for the lesson timetable.

Hired instruments

Payment requests and hire agreements will be issued via email from pcband@nrps.org.au for term 1 shortly.

For any band queries please contact pcband@nrps.org.au.

Karen

Band Coordinator

Thank you to all who came to the P&C Welcome BBQ in Week 4.

Thank you to everyone who supported the relaunch of Canteen!

Amelia O’Brien

P&C Canteen Coordinator

Canteen Service Relaunched

Our online school canteen service commenced on Friday, 28 February 2025! This will be an ongoing service available every Friday throughout the school term.

There were many happy students (and teachers) who enjoyed the opportunity to complete a lunch order and perhaps eat something different.

North Ryde Public School is now using Flexischools for parents to place lunch orders, which 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

Have a look at these excited faces!

Amelia O’Brien

P&C Canteen Coordinator

Congratulations to our newly elected Class Captains for Term 1 2025.

We know that you will take on the responsibility with pride and show your leadership skills.

Our House Sport Captains and Vice Captains were presented with their badges at our first assembly of the year.

Congratulations to you all on your election and we know you will continue to develop your leadership skills as the year progresses.

We are so lucky to have the Schoolhouse Museum onsite and we are incredibly grateful to the staff at the Schoolhouse Museum for allowing us to have a walk through.

Purpose

For the students of North Ryde PS to:

• see what is in the old buildings
• learn that the buildings were the first rooms of North Ryde Public School and that they now house the NSW Schoolhouse Museum of Public Education
• learn that the museum collects and protects objects from the 148 year history of North Ryde Public School and other public schools in NSW
• understand that school students from other schools visit the Schoolhouse Museum on school excursions to learn about the history of schooling

Our students thoroughly enjoyed looking at the many artefacts and they had many questions that required answers.

In Science, Mrs Lin has been discussing the Rube Goldberg Machine. A Rube Goldberg machine works with a series of chain reactions that transfer energy through different pulleys, levels, cogs, and more to carry out one final task. Jacob in Class 5/6B was so motivated that he went home and designed a model that transferred energy from one object (books and cards). 

I thought it showed great motivation and initiative.

Well done, Jacob!

We continue with further information about the NSW Department of Education's Anti-Racism Strategy 2024 - 2035

The Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2035 aims to create an inclusive and equitable educational environment for all students across New South Wales. This strategy is designed to address and reduce racism in schools, fostering a culture of respect, understanding, and acceptance among students, staff, and the wider school community.

The implementation plan outlines specific actions and initiatives that schools will undertake to promote anti-racism. This includes integrating anti-racism education into the curriculum, providing professional development for teachers, and creating resources to support students in understanding and addressing racism.

In our next newsletter we will go into more detail on the key components of the strategy.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Currently, we have parents parking their cars in bus zones after school to pick their children up.

As a result, buses are unable to drop off passengers and traffic is a mess. For everyone's safety, please park in appropriate areas.

Additionally, some parents are ignoring the "No Right Turn" signs when entering and leaving the Explore and Develop car park.

As well, 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.

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.

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.

Below is the Parent Calendar for Term 1 2025. The calendar has been updated.

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 second message is below:

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