25 May 2021

Primary Assemblies this past week reminded us of the wonderful world God has created and amongst all of His creation, how significant and special we are to Him above all else. Psalm 8 speaks of God setting the universe into place and amidst this amazing feat, He was mindful of His creation of the human race. Verse 4 asks, “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” The presentation by our Primary students was a simple reminder that no matter how magnificent we consider the world around us, God is more interested in us as individuals, and loves us beyond measure.

At RJ, we want our students to know that sense of belonging not just to a School, but to a community that was established to share this same message: that their life, their hopes and their dreams, matter. That as a School we want to strive to ensure that our students and their families have a sense of belonging to something great, but not greater than the value of the individual themselves.

This past two weeks have been full of activity with Year 10 students and their parents taking part in the Year 11 Subject Selection process, Years 3-9 taking part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), both Campuses undertaking photo days, parents and Executive staff attending the RJ Community Connect Evening (Oakhurst), and Open Mornings occurring at both Campuses just to name a few. All indications of a thriving dual Campus School.

Amongst the bustle and hive of activity, I had to unfortunately announcement the resignation of our Assistant Principal/Head of Primary, Mrs Narelle Taylor to our Marsden Park community effective at the end of Term 4. During Mrs Taylor’s ten years of service as a Head of Primary at RJ, our Primary Sections at both the Oakhurst and Marsden Park Campuses have undergone many positive changes and improvements. Both Primary Sections at RJ have been fortunate to have experienced Mrs Taylor’s exceptional leadership across its two Campuses over the last ten years. 

The Leadership of the School, in conjunction with the School Council, has begun the search for a new Executive leader for the Marsden Park Campus to commence in January 2022. So on behalf of our School, I would like to thank and congratulate Mrs Taylor for her significant contributions to RJ and look forward to celebrating her time at RJ with our School community later in the year. Please pray that God will send the right leader to us. 

Now let’s look forward to the fortnight ahead as our Primary students gear up for their Disco evening events this week and the inaugural Primary Athletics Carnival on June 3, and our Secondary students join together for House meetings and Year 12 prepare for their Careers Market Day.

Mr Alan Dawson
Principal 

MARSDEN PARK

Stage 2

1. Year 4 - Keira L (Rams) 
2. Year 4 - Lisa H (Sharks) 
3. Year 4 - Ryan H (Rams) 

Stage 3

1. Year 6 - Sebastiann F (Sharks)
2. Year 6 - Max I (Rams) and Year 6 Onkar M (Sharks)

OAKHURST 

Stage 2 

1. Year 3 - Sofia F (Eagles) 
2. Year 3 - Troy S (Lions) and Year 4 Asipel F (Rams) 

Stage 3

1. Year 5 - Mikayla V (Sharks) 
2. Year 5 - Jackson B (Rams) 
3. Year 5 - Aidan M (Lions) and Year 6 Brendan F (Lions) 

Stage 4

1. Philo H (Lions)
2. Ashley S (Lions) 
3. Arijit K (Eagles) and Kiara F (Lions)

Stage 5

1. Andre A (Eagles) 
2. Andre A (Eagles) and Dane P (Lions)

Stage 6

1. Jericho S (Lions) 
2. Nick B (Rams) 
3. Emilie B (Eagles)

The “Smarties” Award has been introduced for Secondary. In Term 1 the winners were:

Stage 4

Eagles 2 – 616 points

Stage 5 (by 2 points)

Eagles 1 – 570 points

Stage 6 (by 1 point)

12B – 398 points

General Knowledge House winner Term 1:

Lions - 3898

Eagles - 3874

Rams - 3538

Sharks - 3470

The competition has begun again in earnest in Term 2!

Mrs Jenny Clay
Deputy Principal (Acting) 

NAPLAN WEEK

NAPLAN testing concluded last Friday. There were some technical issues with the online platform (not at our end) which was unfortunate. However, our Year 3 and 5 students showed great patience and fortitude to complete the series of tests. A special thank you to Mr Reed who oversaw the majority of Primary NAPLAN administration.

NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME

This national literary event was held last Wednesday 19 May in the Hall with students K-6 being entertained by famous scientist Professor Dawson and his Assistant Scientist, Mrs S-D. We enjoyed the book, 'Give Me Some Space' by Philip Bunting, full of facts about our solar system and following your dreams.

COOLER WEATHER

The colder temperatures have finally arrived – especially in the mornings before School. Please make sure your child has their jacket every day - clearly labelled. The School beanie is also a good cold weather addition to the Uniform. We are continuing to promote good hygiene at School with regular reminders to wash hands, cough into elbows and the use of hand sanitiser. Please keep your child at home if they have cold or flu symptoms.

SUPERVISION BEFORE SCHOOL

A reminder that students who arrive early to School must wait near the canteen area. A Secondary Staff member comes on duty at 8am. Primary Staff are on duty at 8:15am when students can move down into the Courtyard area. Please do not send your children to School much before 8am as there is no supervision.

AFTER SCHOOL

Primary students without parental supervision are not permitted to go across to Plumpton Marketplace to buy food after School. All Primary students need to wait at School to be collected by their parents or catch their relevant buses home.

MUSICA VIVA

Our Years 3-6 students enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of live music yesterday with the group Eastwinds, part of Musica Viva touring performers. The members of Eastwinds show students how to harness their creativity by expressing and sharing their personal experiences through music. A Persian ney (flute) and daf (drum) player, a musical instrument inventor and didgeridoo virtuoso draw on their own diverse cultural and musical backgrounds to create a sound that is uniquely theirs. Special thanks to Miss S-D for organising and preparing the students for this exciting concert.

PRIMARY DISCO

Two Discos will be held this coming Thursday 27 May after School for K-2 then 3-6 students. K-2 will start at 5pm and finish at 6pm. 3-6 will start at 6:15pm and finish at 7:30pm. The Discos will be held in the School Hall with an MC and supervision from Primary Staff. Students are to wear modest clothes. Please complete the online permission and payment for this event which Mrs Ghali previously emailed by Wednesday 26 May. 

HOUSE MEETINGS

Students are to wear their House shirts this coming Friday 28 May for House meetings to prepare for the upcoming 3-6 Athletics Carnival on 3 June. Please see Mr Mitchell's column in this edition of the RJ Review for more details on the Carnival. 

BREAD BAGS

We are enrolled with Wonder Recycling Rewards to collect used plastic bread bags. Once a certain weight of plastic bread bags has been collected, our school qualifies for some play equipment. Please send in any bread bags (minus crumbs!) with your child over the coming weeks.

Enjoy the rest of your week, 

Mrs Karen Shannon-Duhigg
Head of Primary - Oakhurst

EXCURSION

Students in Years 3 and 4 will be visiting the Powerhouse Museum on Friday 4 June. Parents will receive information for this excursion shortly. 

HOUSE MEETINGS

House Meetings for K-6 will be held this Thursday 27 May. All students wear their House Shirt and Sports Uniform. 

NAPLAN TESTING – YEARS 3 AND 5

Well done to students in Years 3 and 5 who completed their NAPLAN testing last week. Our students worked hard to complete each paper to the best of their ability. Results from testing will be made available to parents later in the year. 

NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME 

We did some crazy science experiments in preparation for our National Simultaneous Storytime book, “Give Me Some Space!” by Philip Bunting, and read by Mr Dawson. We learnt some great space words including ‘extraterrestrial’ and ‘intergalactic’. Parents are encouraged to read regularly with their children to support their reading development.

MINI-ATHLETICS – K-2

The K-2 Mini-Athletics will be held at the Marsden Park Campus on Thursday 10 June. Parents will be welcome to attend. Further information will be sent home shortly.

PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL – 3-6

The Primary Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 3 June at Blacktown International Sports Park Athletics Centre. Students will travel to and from the venue by bus, leaving after morning Assembly and returning by the end of day. Parents are welcome to attend but must remain in the stands. Parents are asked not to request to collect students from the venue at the end of the Carnival to ensure we uphold COVID restrictions at the venue. Please see the Sports Coordinator Section of the RJ Review from Mr Mitchell for more details. 

PRIMARY DISCO

The Primary Disco will be held at the Marsden Park Campus this Wednesday 26 May. The K-2 Disco will be held from 5:00-6:00pm and the 3-6 Disco from 6:15-7:30pm. Children will be supervised by Primary teachers throughout this very fun evening. Please ensure the safety of children in the carpark prior to and after each session and be sure to collect your child promptly afterwards. The Disco will be held in the new Hall. 

RIVERSTONE FESTIVAL

Thank you to the families who came along and supported RJ by walking at the Riverstone Festival. We look forward to increasing our School involvement in the Festival next year.

YEAR 7 2022 VIRTUAL INFORMATION BOOK

Parents of students in Year 6 transferring to the Secondary Oakhurst Campus for Year 7 in 2022 will receive a copy of our Virtual Year 7 (2022) Information book on 11 June 2021. A virtual question and answer session will be held on 16 June 2021 - details to follow.  

Mrs Narelle Taylor
Assistant Principal/Head of Primary - Marsden Park

In April 2020, TikTok made steps towards making parental monitoring better by launching their Family Pairing. Family Pairing allows parents to link accounts with their young people and control three facets of their child’s account:

• The amount of time spent on the app daily
• Switching on the restricted mode to ensure only age-appropriate content is available to view
• Turning the direct messaging off

However, it is also a poorly kept secret that many users of TikTok are well below the 13+ age recommendation and that they possess these accounts with the full permission of many parents. The first thing that we would suggest is that you check if your child’s account has been set up correctly.

If you would like to know more about how to support your child when using TikTok, go to: 

https://www.safeonsocial.com/single-post/for-parents-of-tiktok-users-under-18yrs

The Government’s eSafety’s parent guide to popular apps is also worth a look:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/Parent%20guide%20to%20popular%20apps%20-%20Summary%20sheet.pdf

PARENT-TEACHER MEETINGS

Last week saw the first of our Parent/Teacher Interviews with our Stage 6 students and families meeting online with our Staff. One of the success stories of COVID is the use of Zoom for these meetings. Many of our families have reported that having these meetings via ZOOM has helped manage their time and days, allowing both parents to attend. Therefore, we have decided that for 2021, we will continue to have all Secondary Parent-Teacher Interviews online. 

Upcoming dates: 

• Year 7 P/T Interviews – 21 June 2021
• Year 8 P/T Interviews – 22 June 2021
• Year 9 P/T Interviews – 27 July 2021
• Year 10 P/T Interviews – 28 July 2021

NAPLAN TESTING

Last week we completed our final NAPLAN testing, with the majority of students being able to catch up on tests they had missed. We now await the results, which should arrive sometime during Term 3. Parents are reminded that NAPLAN is a point in time test, and although the data obtained is interesting, this by no means influences student pathways in the future here at RJ. We are more than aware that students can have a bad day, and therefore, we use this sort of testing alongside our typical assessment methods.

Mrs Julia Scrimshaw 
Acting Head of Secondary/Director of Studies 

Students are permitted to bring phones and laptops to school, however they must follow the school rules and expectations in the way they use their phones and laptops. Mobile phones are to be put in lockers from 8am and only accessed after 3:20pm. Laptops are permitted to be used in class when students are given permission by the classroom teacher and only for the task set by the teacher.

If parents need to communicate urgently with their child during school hours this can be done through contacting the School on 96772455 and the child can come to Student Reception. Parents are asked not to call or message their child via a mobile phone in school hours.

With improved choices from a number of our students and continued support from parents and staff we can continue to be a community that strives to belong, serve and succeed while making wise choices in the use of technology and social media.

Mr Brad Maxwell 
Director of Secondary Welfare/Assistant Director of Studies  

Maya and Kate are both currently working on drawing and painting pieces for the HSC Visual Arts Body of Work. Here are some words from them as they reflected on their time at NAS. 

Katerina: The National Art School program was a good experience and I was very glad to be able to go. The program really gave me insight into what it is like to attend the art school and classes. I did the drawing class for the four-day program, and I was able to gain lots of new skills as well as confidence in my drawing skills through the guidance of the teacher. As the environment was full of others who have a passion for art, it felt very welcoming and accepting. Everyone was very encouraging to one another including the teacher which made the experience very exciting, especially as it felt very intimidating in the beginning. Overall, I think the program helped me a lot through my confidence in drawing and how to improve my works.

Maya: Mirra (the teacher of the life drawing course) taught me to see beyond the details that one may become stuck on and instead focus on the composition and proportion through exercises such as series of 30-second poses by which we were to illustrate the general form or gesture or silhouette or armature (basic skeletal structure) of the model and longer-lasting poses of an hour or two with the medium of our choice. What I learnt at the National Art School has influenced my Visual Arts major work, helping me in terms of proportion, form and shape and also realism. The course taught me so much in terms of techniques but also confidence in my skills. It was definitely worth it and if I could, I would do it again.

It is a joy to see how the Visual Arts courses taught at RJ have transformed into a passion for both Maya and Katerina. Well done to both our stellar art students. 

Mrs Vivian Abdala
Secondary Visual Arts & TAS Teacher  

PRIMARY ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

Our Primary Athletics Carnival at Blacktown International Sports Park (Athletics Stadium) is fast approaching on Thursday 3 June. Students from both Campuses need to arrive at school punctually, by no later than 8:45am, to collect their wrist band which denotes which age group they are competing in. Information will be sent to parents this week who are volunteering, so they are aware which year group they are rotating with or what event they are on. 

Students will be transported by bus to the venue and will return to each Campus by the end of the day. The Carnival will commence at 9:30am and should finish around 2:20pm, after our relays.

Students who finish first and second in each track event per age group (based on times over multiple heats), will qualify for the Zone Athletics Carnival. The only exception to this will be the 800m, which has a junior race (under 8-under 10), an Under 11 race and an Under 12 race. Regarding field events, Under 8-10 students compete in the Junior division. Under 11 and Under 12 students compete in their own age group for the respective field events. The top two students in each field event will qualify for the Zone Athletics Carnival later this term.

If a parent is coming to support their child, they must stay in the stands for the duration of the Carnival to comply with the COVID-19 restrictions at the venue. They must sign in with a QR Code and will receive a sticker for verification. Only parent volunteers who have been confirmed by Mr Mitchell may be on the track.

WSCS

It was great to see a few more parent volunteers assist our RJ teams last week. If you have your WWCC and are free to assist and watch our RJ students in either soccer, netball or tee ball – contact Mr Mitchell at gmitchell@rjas.nsw.edu.au. Our matches take place on Wednesday at 12pm for 45 minutes.

Mr Gavin Mitchell
Primary Sports Co-ordinator 

STUDENTS REPRESENTING RJ

Last weekend we had three Secondary Students head out to the Sydney Academy of Sport for the AICES Rugby Union Camp. Sione P, Uilikona P and Justin A spent the weekend with the squad in preparation for the upcoming games for the selection of the NSW School Boys Rugby Team. I congratulate these students for the wonderful achievement and wish them well in the upcoming trial games.

UPCOMING EVENTS

This Friday we have the CSSA State Cross Country. This event usually brings over 2000 students from around the state to compete at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre (Hoxton Park). We have 40 students who made it through from the first ever CSSA Zone Cross Country. This was run due to the COVID-19 restrictions for the number of people allowed at the CSSA State venue. I was so proud of the way our RJ students conducted themselves and the reward for effort in placing in the top 15 of the Zone to move on to the next level. I wish all students the best and hope they can run to the best of their abilities on Friday.

On Monday 7 June, the CSSA State Netball Gala Day will be held at Jamison Park (Penrith). This year will have two teams representing RJ. A 15’s and Opens girls teams will compete against other CSSA Schools from around the State. Thank you to Miss Mahaffey and Mrs Hamilton for your willingness to take the teams on the day.

In Week 10, we will have our first annual RJ Secondary (only) Athletics Carnival. This will be held at the Blacktown International Sports Park (Athletics Stadium). The first bus will leave the school at 8:00am for a 8:30am start. The first event (800m) will start at 8:30am. This year all students attending will be going through the event rotations with their age group. They are encouraged to get House Points for participating in a range of events. Students wishing to represent at CSSA Zone or CSSA State will then nominate to compete for the top three placings in each event on the day. Age Champions will be selected from those students who have competed in at least five events across both track and field. I am hoping that we get another significant number of students that represent RJ at the next level as we have done in the past.

SCHOOL AND REPRESENTATIVE SPORT

Both the Netball and Soccer teams have played three rounds with the fourth round played today. So far, we have had some good results from all teams, and I have been very glad to hear from the coaches that our students have been demonstrating great effort and fair play in all circumstances.

As we look forward to Term 3 our School Sport Program will continue with each year group participating in a few sporting options throughout the term. The representative sports for Term 3 will be Rugby League (14’s & 16’s), Mixed Volleyball (15’s & Opens) and Softball (Opens). Students will have the option to nominate later in the term. More information will be in the Edumate Broadcasts.

Mr David Hyde
Secondary Sports Co-ordinator 

They'll enjoy the experience of camp, with the chance to participate in exciting outdoor activities and explore a Christian worldview, whilst still going home to sleep in the comfort of their own bed.

The dates for CRU Blast are: Monday 12 July – Friday July 16, 2021 (the 3rd week of the July School Holidays). 

Registrations have commenced and students will receive a brochure soon. The link to register for the camp is: https://crudaycamps.com.au/cru-blast#cru-blast-introduction. 

We’d love to see your child/ children at CRU Blast this year. If you have any questions, please contact Stewart Rowe at School by phone 9677 2455 or email – srowe@rjas.nsw.edu.au 

Mr Stewart Rowe 
Director of Christian Ministry/Service Learning

Furthermore, this turnaround has a no right turn sign into Hyatts Rd during certain times. There have been some near misses recently as parents have ignored the ‘no right turn’ sign and parents are asked to obey all traffic signs and to set a good example. 

Unfortunately some parents are remaining in their cars in the middle section or double parking and calling their child/ren across traffic. Please meet with your child and escort them from the waiting area into your vehicle instead.

Also, a friendly reminder that the area immediately in front of the day care centre/opp shop is not to be used by RJ families unless they are also collecting a child from the day care centre.

Thank you for respecting the above requirements and for prioritising safety over convenience.