Principal’s Message

Thank you to families for your attendance at the Welcome BBQ last Friday Evening. It was a lovely time for

families to catch up and for our Kinder students to be part of the tree planting ceremony for 2020. Thank

you also to staff and parents in helping with the BBQ and selling of drinks. I would also like to acknowledge

Lennox and Brady in helping on the night.

Thank you to Veronica in organising the Kindergarten tree and to East Coast Citrus for donating a mandarin

tree to the school.

Teaching Principal

P&C AGM Monday, 9 March

Next Monday, 9 March, the Rous P&C Annual General Meeting will be held at 7.00pm. I encourage parents

and members of the wider community to come along and to take an active role in our P&C. The P&C has

contributed greatly to the standard of resources that exist at Rous. The meetings are cordial with a focus

on supporting our whole school community throughout the year.

Parent/ Carer survey

Attached to this week’s newsletter is a parent/ Carer survey, please consider taking time to complete and

return to the school office by Friday, 20 March. The survey provides feedback to the staff regarding future

planning. This year, questions are based around the areas of Learning Culture and student wellbeing.

Term 1 – Week 6 5 March 2020

PRC Student Site

The PRC student site is available again this year! Students can search for books to

read, add books to their reading logs, and track their progress throughout the

challenge. The website is currently being updated and will be available for students

when the challenge opens on March 2. You can find the site

at https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/ and there is a useful help video

available to demonstrate how the site works.

Our Award Winners this Week

K Kaleb – for being an enthusiastic student in all areas of learning. Odin – for lovely manners and a great attitude to learning. Connor – for making consistent effort during Literacy Groups. 1/2 Sophie – for being a self-regulated learner in all KLAs. Rowan – for excellent decoding skills in his reading. Kaide – for displaying high order mathematical strategies during math rotations. 3/4 Adriana – for a positive and focussed attitude towards learning. Edward – for progress in reading and increased perseverance in all tasks. Dominic – for effort and application in Maths. 5/6 Josie – for demonstrating sun-safe behaviour. Liam – for being a caring and supportive buddy. Brodie – for demonstrating the value of tolerance in being respectful to others.

Certificates

Bronze Certificates were awarded to:

Owen, Liam S, Connor S, Kaleb, Odin,

Chase, Finn, Lylah, Arahbella, Edie, Ethan,

Luca, Aurora, Jess, Harry, Clinton, Sophie,

Maycie, Emma, Claudia, Emilee, Trixie,

Indi, Chloe, Connor B-L, Gwen, Rosie, Ruth,

Zoe

Silver Certificates were awarded to:

Aurora, Emma

Gold Certificates were awarded to:

Gwen

Calendar of Events

Assembly – Thursday, 12 March

Class Leaders 1/2

P&C News

The next P & C meeting, the AGM, will be on Monday, 9 March at 7.00 pm.

All Welcome!

School Canteen

TERM 1 2020

Date Activity Payment Due Cost

Fri 20 Mar ‘Reach’ Assessments Fri 20 Mar As per note

Fri 20 Mar Book Club Orders Fri 20 Mar As per order

Wed 26 Mar School Photos On the day As per order

Thu 9 Apr Last Day Term 1 X X

Canteen Roster Term 1 Fridays Week 6 6 March Deb & Chloe

Week 7 13 March Ashleigh & Rachel

Week 8 20 March Joan & Rachel

Week 9 27 March Deb & Chloe

Week 10 3 April Ashleigh & Jen

SRC Induction Photos

Welcome BBQ Snaps

.

Dear Parents

Rous Public School has partnered with UNSW Global on delivering our 2020 assessment strategy and will

be introducing a new assessment into our academic calendar, Reach Assessments. UNSW Global is a

wholly owned subsidiary of the University of New South Wales, with over 35 years’ experience in

educational assessments.

Reach Assessments provide insight into your child’s higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills in

English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling and Digital Technologies. The reports allow a broader

perspective of student performance and the data aids teachers in targeting individual students’ needs.

The assessments are suitable for students across a wide range of ability levels. Students are presented

with high-quality, expert-developed questions allowing students to apply their learning without the need for

prior study or revision.

ICAS

Our school partners with UNSW Global to offer its annual ICAS Assessments. We will continue to run ICAS

Assessments in our school, in addition to Reach Assessments. Incorporating both types of assessments

will allow us to receive independent benchmarking data and provide an opportunity to recognise and

reward students’ academic achievement.

Our school has previously partnered with UNSW Global to offer its annual ICAS Assessments. With the

introduction of Reach Assessments, we have identified that these assessments will provide us with the

most comprehensive view of student learning, and will therefore replace ICAS in our assessment strategy.

Please be assured that the impact of this change will be minimal, and we will continue to receive the same

benefits from Reach Assessments that we did from ICAS.

To consent to your child’s participation, simply complete and return the accompanying permission slip no later than Friday, 20 March.

Kind regards,

Privacy notification: UNSW Global stores, uses and modifies the Reach Assessments data in order to generate

reports, conduct research and analysis, and improve its products and services. UNSW Global will not hold or use

Reach Assessments data that constitutes personal information for longer than 15 years. As the parent or guardian of

a student who intends to sit Reach Assessments, you consent to the school collecting the Reach Assessments data

that relates to the student, disclosing it to UNSW Global and to UNSW Global’s use of it in the manner outlined above.

You also consent to the school assigning this consent to UNSW Global.

Reach Assessments 2020 Permission Form

Please return this form to your school no later than Friday, 20 March. I give permission for my child, Child’s name Class to participate in the 2020 Reach Assessments listed below.

Subject School

Year Official Sitting Dates Participation Price

Fee Enclosed

Digital Technologies

Monday 4 to Friday 8 May $10.45

Science Monday 25 to Friday 29 May $10.45

Spelling Monday 15 to Friday 19 June $13.75

Writing Monday 15 to Friday 19 June $20.35

English Monday 27 to Friday 31 July $10.45

Mathematics Monday 3 to Friday 7 August $10.45

Name of Parent/Guardian Date

Signature of Parent/Guardian

of

Parent survey

Your voice in our school does matter. Please take time to complete our short survey and return to school by Friday,

23 March. The survey focuses on Learning Culture and Student Wellbeing within the school environment.

Please tick the box that you agree with for each statement. You may add further comments.

1.Learning Culture – The school culture is strongly focussed on learning with aspirations for students to deliver their

best and continually improve.

Agree Some areas Disagree

Comment

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........

1b. Learning Culture - There is evidence of continuity of programs and learning across the stages (grades), including

transition points (pre-school/ Kinder, year 6/year 7)

Agree Some areas Disagree

Comment

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Wellbeing – There is clear communication between home and school in monitoring student engagement and

wellbeing.

Agree Some areas Disagree

Comment

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2b. The school is friendly, and all students are accepted.

Agree Some areas Disagree

Comment

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Thank you for your time.

Pauline Houghton

Principal