Principal's Message Welcome to Roseville Public School's website. We hope you enjoy your visit. We are incredibly proud of our school, our students, our staff and our parent community. Our school has a strong community culture and our goal is to make a positive difference for all students. As you browse through the website you will find countless examples of how the school community works together to provide a caring, rich and happy learning environment for our students . Click on the pencils above to navigate your way around our site and if you are looking for more information about our school and our values visit the About Us page. Parents please remember to behave as if every precious RPS child were our own. When parking or driving near the school premises remember our motto - SAFETY OVER CONVENIENCE AT ALL TIMES! A Quiet Achiever! Recently a member of staff at Roseville Public School was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship, one of the highest honours Rotary can bestow upon a person, by Roseville Chase Rotary Club. This international award was set up in memory of Paul Harris, one of the Founders of Rotary, to recognise outstanding contributions, exemplifying the highest ideal in Rotary in placing "service above self". It can be awarded by a Rotary Club to any person, whether a Rotarian or not, who is deemed worthy of the honour. The recipient of this award was recognised for her dedication and commitment over the last ten years to the success of the Learning Support Team program at Roseville Public School developed to coordinate and support the learning of students with additional needs, including those students experiencing specific learning difficulties; behaviour, social and emotional difficulties; hearing, vision and speech difficulties; students with disabilities; as well as students who are gifted and talented. We wish to extend our congratulations to Catherine Williams, Principal of Roseville Public School who is most deserving of acknowledgement and praise, as the recipient of this outstanding award. It’s another win! Another big win for our school recently has been the permanent appointment of Ms Deborah Lane to the position of Deputy Principal. Ms Lane joined our staff at the beginning of Term 2 in a relieving capacity and has now, through the merit selection process, been appointed to the position permanently. Ms Lane came to us after have been relieving Principal of Meadowbank Public School. Prior to this, she spent a number of years teaching and in leadership positions in schools across Sydney and in England and Canada. We are most fortunate to have secured such an xceptional educator and leader and I’m sure the entire school community joins me in welcoming Ms Lane to the permanent role of Deputy Principal. Bulletins If you have the desire to be environmentally greener, want to access the information from work or anywhere, store it permanently in your own file documents, send it to friends or grandparents overseas, you can access, the Bulletin online. Please consider downloading the electronic coloured version as the costs saved could probably pay for another teacher's aide to help in our busy classrooms. Click on the Newsletter button below to try it out if you haven't already. Should you decide to consistently take the electronic option, please let our office staff know so that they can reduce the number of Bulletins photocopied each week and take your child's name off the list requiring a hard copy. For anyone new to the school, please ask the office for password details. Catchment Area Please check with our office staff for specific details of the boundaries for our catchment area. If you are moving into the area please be aware that we have not been able to accommodate any out-of-area students for the past few years. We are currently only taking enrolments for those living within the catchment. Enrolment To enrol your student, please download and complete the following documents. These documents and the required additional documents need to then be presented at the school office. If you have a student eligible for Kindergarten 2010, please complete the forms and drop in to the school office. Application to Enrol in a NSW Government School RPS Additional Enrolment Forms Student Representative Council For School Council or P & C news, dates, events, fundraising and other information please follow this link to the Password Page Parent Information 2009 Dates Please stay tuned... Parent Helpers Parents are always welcome at RPS and their help is readily sought. If you are new to our school please see the office for ways in which you can help the P & C Committes with regards to our Reading Programmes, Canteen, Clothing Pool, Band Programme, Sporting Progrmames, grounds and garden maintenance,Community News, fund raising, Bulletin and Library. Safety Issues School zone program School zones operate between 8:00am — 9:30am and 2:30pm — 4:00pm on gazetted school days. Motorists are required to drive at no more than 40 km/h through school zones. In the interest of student safety, parents are asked to adhere strictly to all road, traffic and parking rules at all times. We all know the power of role modelling and we all know how powerful a parent’s actions can be in teaching their children how to act. As teachers we teach children about bike safety, pedestrian safety and passenger safety hoping that these valuable lessons stay with them into adulthood when they become responsible and considerate drivers themselves. Whether your children walk, take a bus or are driven to school in a car here are some safety tips to help ensure they arrive safely. School age children should always travel in the rear of your vehicle. Each child must be firmly buckled in to a seat belt. Children should always exit and enter a vehicle through the kerbside door. Always drop your children on the school side of the road. · Meet your children on the school side of the road, preferably at the school gate. This is particularly important in wet weather. NEVER call to your children from across the road. Teach them to wait until you come to them. Talk to them about what they should do if you are not there on time. Children up to ten years old should be closely supervised by an adult in the traffic environment and should hold an adult’s hand when crossing the road. ALWAYS cross at the school crossings. Talk to your children about the “STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, THINK!’ routine every time you cross the road together. Always slow to 40km/h when travelling in a school zone. Always obey parking signs around your child’s school. These signs help save children’s lives. To those that do take care when driving around our school perimeter - thank you but for those that don't, please be reminded that heavy fines are in place for those that offend . Holiday Dates For details of term and vacation dates for the 2009 year and beyond, please follow these links to the Departmental calendar Mobile Phone Policy Due to the increasing number of mobile phones being brought to school by students this year, the School Leadership Team has had to develop a set of guidelines regarding their use, responsibility for their loss or damage and consequences for inappropriate use. While we acknowledge and support there may be instances where it is essential students carry a mobile phone for use especially travelling to and from school, we are also aware that the number of mobile phones at school has increased greatly regardless of whether their use is essential or not. So while the use of mobile phones in school is not automatically of concern to us, the inappropriate use of them is. Therefore we ask that any parents wishing their child to have a mobile phone at school, please read the guidelines carefully and discuss these with their children prior to signing and returning the related permission note. Multiple copies of the school’s guidelines and permission note can be found in the Office foyer. "No Nuts" Policy Roseville Public School is a Nut Free Zone. Please support our students that have a life-threatening peanut allergy. A large nuber of students across all grades have been identified as having this allergy and this means that even a smalla trace of peanut or nut product will trigger a severe reaction called anaphylaxis. As a staff we have responded by developing Emergence Health Plans for these students. Teachers regularly attend training sessions and ancillary staff are well informed of the necessary procedures and assistance to adopt should symptoms present. In 2001 we implemented avoidance measures that ensure that these students are able to participate safely in all school activities. These included the removal of peanut butter from the Canteen and a request to all parents, across all grades, not to include peanut butter sandwiches and nut snacks for their children. We have a "no food sharing" policy across the school and students are taught about the dangers of anaphylaxis and are given reminder stickers for their lunchboxes We all have a responsibilty to abide by and reinforce our school policy relating to food sharing as well as keeping our school free of nuts and nut products. Please check that all products coming to school including those "healthy" and "breakfast" bars are nut free. For further information follow this link to www.allergyfacts.org.au

Educational Initiatives at RPS - sponsored by our wonderful P & C

In addition to the many enrichment programs already operating in the school, we have new initiatives running this year.

One is a Mentors-in-Residence program for all students across Kindergarten to Year 6 which focuses on Philosophy, Creative Art and Creative Writing. The other is our Rock and Water program for Year 6 boys.

Philosophy has been running in our school for several years now, however we are most fortunate to be in a position this year where we can run it every term and therefore include children from Kindergarten to Year 6. This is thanks to one of our parents, who has committed to a year of volunteer work with groups of students at lunchtime as well as assisting teachers in the classroom as a discussion facilitator with the Bounce Back resilience program. Thanks Cathy.

Creative Art was another focus of lunchtime groups In Term 2 with local artist Stephanie Ryan. Stephanie did a fantastic job. judging from the number of students in attendance each week and her influence and inspiration was also much appreciated by the teaching staff. Stephanie was ‘in residence’ on Tuesdays for students in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 and Wednesdays for students in Kindergarten, Years 1 & 2. The lunchtime groups operated on a ‘drop in’ basis, with children choosing for themselves if, when and for how long to participate in the program. We wanted to provide the opportunity and space where children could see an artwork in progress modelled to them by an artist. Students came to just observe and ask questions, or they worked towards a creation of their own work or they brought an artwork from the classroom or home to discuss with Stephanie. She was also available to discuss aspects of Visual Arts with our teachers to help them further develop their skills and understandings.

The response to this programme was well beyond our expectations and we were indeed lucky to have someone of such passion, patience, artistic talent and empathy working in the school.

Our Term 3 focus and Mentor-in-Residence will be author Alison Peters. Alison will be running lunchtime workshops for any students in Years 2-6 who are interested in creative writing.

Our School Counsellor, Mr Just is running the Rock & Water Program.. This program is very contemporary and was designed for boys who, generally, are less verbal and more action inclined than girls. At its core, it is a physical course based on aspects of Tai Chi, but importantly including verbal sharing and group work which makes it a personal-growth and social skills course, too. The aim of the course is to enhance social skills and personal skills such as self-control, self-confidence and self-reflection, and also to promote group development through solidarity with the group, acknowledging and listening to others in an interested and non-judgemental way.

Working Bees

Term 2 Working Bee: To be advised

Our grounds are enjoyed not only by the school community but also the local community. Children are often seen playing on the basketball court or riding their bikes in the quadrangle and walkers often skirt the circumference of the site during their daily routine. The mainenance of the grounds is assisted periodically by members of the school family and so far this year they managed to plant a new tree, complete the hedging along Addison Avenue and weed and mulch the garden beds. Thanks to all concerned for a great job.

Year Group Newsletters

General information regarding homework, curriculum content, excursions will be communicated early this term via the grade newsletters and website. Please remember that Year Group Newsletters are posted on the Password Page - see links to each Year on the menu. Teachers post the information rather than sending notes home so please check there first for any details about what is happening in your child's class this term.

Uniforms

The school has a strict uniform policy and there is an expectation that all children will wear uniform items only. We are very proud of our uniform at Roseville Public and request that parents support us by ensuring that children are correctly attired at all times and please remember that hats are mandatory all year long.

The school shop is located in the school grounds and is open each Tuesday morning from 8.30 - 9.30am. It is staffed by volunteer parents and it is the only outlet for uniform items. There is a limited amount of good quality second-hand clothing available.

For more information about uniform requirements please follow this link to the About Us page.

Looking for a Local High School?

Students graduating from Roseville Public School have access to excellent neighboring high schools. Students from RPS often attend Killara High School, Chatswood High School, Willoughby Girls High School or Killarney Heights High School. Students may sit the Selective High School entrance examination to gain enrty into one of the local selective high schools. In recent years, our school has developed strong links with Killara High School, one of the top performing HSC schools in the state and also with Chatswood High as a result of our band and music connections.

Click on the pictures below for more details.

Check out Chatswood High

Check out Killara High

Departmental Websites

This site has details of 2009 dates and other NSW school information

For information on the Key Learning Areas, Gifted and Talented Policy, Count Me in Too, ICT, Aboriginal Studies, etc follow this link to our disrict website - www.ryded.det.nsw.edu.au/

The Board of Studies site has a wealth of information, resourves and links for all curriculum areas and stages, as well as HSC details and papers - www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/

As part of it s commitment to quality communication, teaching and leaning a new initiative of the NSW Department of Education and Training is a website for teachers and parents entitled TaLE - Teaching and Learning Exchange. Please bookmark this site for further use and follow the link to view the parent pages which have excellent information relating to the NSW system from Kindergarten to Year 12 along with a "jargon buster" to help explain the educational terminonlogy .