Principal’s Message

Mrs Houghton has reported that all is going well on the excursion and the students are all

having a wonderful time.

A report and photos will be in next week’s newsletter.

Regards

Pauline Houghton

Kindergarten information evening

Our Kindergarten information evening for children commencing Kindergarten in 2020 will be

held on Wednesday, 21 August commencing at 6.30 pm in the K/1 room. Interested families

are welcome to attend.

Zone athletics

Students who have qualified have been given permission notes. Please ensure these are

returned by Tuesday, 20 August.

Please note: private transport must be organised by parents. Mr Johnson will be attending as

team manager.

Here are some great photos from the Tregeagle District Athletics.

Term 3 – Week 4 15 August 2019

How many kids does it take to jump rope for heart? As many as we can get! Your kids could

be having this much fun. Register now to help us hit our fundraising goal.

Rous Public School will be participating in the Jump Rope for Heart. Jump off day will be on

Friday, 23 August.

For further information click on the link to register your child.

https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/jump-rope-for-heart

Life Education Van

Please find attached the permission note and merchandise list. Permission notes need to be

returned with payment by Friday, 30 August.

Certificates

Bronze Certificates were awarded to:

Claudia, Jacob, Jessica, Luca, Chloe, Aurora,

Lloydy, Rosella, Oliver, Maddy, Sophie,

Adriana, Aisling, Emma

Silver Certificates were awarded to:

Harrison, Lydia, Indi, Ben

Our Award Winners this Week

K/1 Clinton – for being a role model for positive behaviour in K/1 Claudia – for beautiful, fluent and expressive reading. A joy to listen to. Ethan – for consistently demonstrating focus and independence in writing 1/2 Adriana – being a kind and caring classmate Levi – for using paragraphs in his writing. Well done. Aisling – for huge improvement in her commitment to writing. Keep it up. 3/4 Finlay – for working quietly and independently on set tasks John – for trying hard during maths and being on task Billy – for an excellent speech on ‘how to impress your parents’

Calendar of Events

TERM 3 2019

Date Activity Payment Due Cost

Tue 13 –Fri 16 Aug

4/5/6 Major Excursion

Fri 9 Aug $640

Wed 21 Aug Kindergarten

Information Evening X X

Fri 23 Aug Jump Rope Jump Off X X

Tue 27 Aug Father’s Day Stall On the day Price varies

Wed 4 Sept Life Education

Van visit Fri 30 Aug $10

P&C News

The next P&C meeting will be held on Monday, 9 September

7.30pm in the 5/6 classroom.

All welcome!

Bonfire Wrap up Discussion at Monday evenings P&C meeting reached a remarkably predictable conclusion;

like the 39 that have gone before, our 40th Bonfire has been a tremendous success on a whole

lot of levels.

From a financial standpoint it has once again been a great way for all families to come

together on that one annual occasion to raise a significant sum of money to provide resources

that benefit all our kids. Even with a few bills still outstanding and our donation to drought

relief yet to be deducted, funds raised are likely to be in excess of $12,000!!!

And to think, this all began 40 years ago with a few families sitting around an incinerator after

a working bee to clean up dropped timber around the schoolyard!! So says the source I spoke

to (a former student of Rous Public) who was there at the bonfire this year speaking to former

Principal Neville Pollard. Accurate history or urban myth? Or is there really any difference?

A bonfire, sausage sizzle and someone letting off a few firecrackers. This format may have

changed slightly (not sure there would have been many café latte’s served up in 1979) but in

essence it’s the same. And an essential ingredient in this recipe for success is community

support. I don’t think we can underestimate how fortunate we are to be part of, and enjoy

the support of such a generous community.

Assembly – Thursday, 22 August

Class Leaders 1/2

Our list of thank yous and acknowledgements is extensive and varied. It ranges from

community groups who lit and supervised the bonfire, staffed the gate and sold chips, to

Storm Troopers and alpacas who posed for photographs to gain donations. It includes

butchers and bakers and raw cake makers as well as a host of local businesses who donated

generously to a range of stalls. One of our school bus drivers is so impressed with our Bonfire

night that he continues to volunteer four hours of his time driving his tractor for the tractor

ride (and talks about how much he enjoys it!)

And I can’t speak highly enough of the Rous Public teachers and staff. Their dedication is truly

exceptional. Without the magnificent leadership of our tireless Principal Mrs Houghton, our

Bonfire wouldn’t be the success it is. She and the other teachers and ancillary staff deserve

special recognition. The contribution they make goes well beyond their job description.

If you are in any doubt about this please consider their workload for the first few weeks of

this term. After working each day attending to the educational, emotional and social needs

of our kids (as well providing counsel to so many of us as parents/carers) they have given up

countless hours of their own time setting up, working at, and then packing up Bonfire. They

have followed this up by organising sporting events including soccer and athletics. And then

if that wasn’t enough, even as I write a number of teachers (including our Principal) are

looking after our Year 4, 5 and 6 students on excursion to Fraser Island!!!!

They are amazing people, and we are more fortunate then we might sometimes appreciate

to have them teach (and nurture) our kids.

So to all of us, regardless of whether you co-ordinated a stall, approached local businesses for

donations, sorted the roster, fronted up and did your shift, set up beforehand, packed up

afterwards, acted as trouble-shooter or money collector on the night, looked after the kids so

your partner could do a double shift, or any of the multitude of other jobs I may have omitted

to mention, know that you have contributed to our success.

Sincerely

Pat Byrnes (P&C Vice President, on behalf of the 2019 Rous Public School P&C)

Café de Rous

Dear Rous Community,

Once again, we would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of you that contributed to Café de

Rous this year. We had another incredibly successful night thanks to such a generous

community of bakers and volunteers!! So many beautiful cakes, slices, and biscuits!

Thank you to the Rous parents who ensured the busy line ran smoothly all evening.

Thank you to the student volunteers who gave up 4 hours of their time and assisted with

pricing, slicing, plating and serving, many who have volunteered for 3 years now. Thank you

to the ex-students who assisted with set up on Saturday morning then backed up serving

during the evening. True Rous spirit!

We were so fortunate to have had the support of Alstonville local, Nat’s Coffee again this

year. Nat generously donated all the necessary equipment, including many kilos of coffee

beans and hot chocolate for us to serve on the chilly night that it was… We reckon the

parent baristas were superstars too!! Many customers took advantage of the discounted

price using a keep cup for coffee!

Thank you to Jo Bate who organised the ingredient cards and regular updates in the

newsletter each week – the Café not only looked pretty but was easy to run because of the

hard work of parent bakers and their well labelled goods.

Thanks once again, we look forward to doing it all again next year!!!

Sally and Naomi

School Canteen

Please, if you can volunteer for the canteen it would be much appreciated.

Canteen Roster Term 3 Fridays Two volunteers are required each week for next term,

please put your name down at the office if you are available. Week 4 16 Aug Deb & Chloe

Week 5 23 Aug Joan & Michael

Week 6 30 Aug Ashleigh & ?

Week 7 6 Sep Deb & Chloe

Week 8 13 Sep ? & ?

Week 9 20 Sep Joan & ?

Week 10 27 Sep Pie Day

Ashleigh & ?

Community News

FIREWOOD

$130.00 a load

Mat Smith

0410 246 402

The 2/3 excursion to Dorroughby Environmental

Education Centre was an enjoyable experience for

all. The educational activities provided engaged all

students. Dorroughby staff were highly impressed

with the level of knowledge in Science and History,

demonstrated by our students.