The Ryde Community inFocus is a simple way of communicating some insights and observations from the weeks past. It is written to celebrate and share the work that we do and to connect with community around some thoughts and insights into the learning culture at Ryde Public School.

Our School Vision

Lifelong learners- How good can we be? Strive today, succeed tomorrow

At Ryde Public School we believe that every student should be challenged to learn and continually improve in a respectful, inclusive and engaging environment of high expectations.

Our vision is to be partners in learning and collaboratively empower all students to become confident, resilient, self-directed and successful learners.

Wellbeing is the bedrock for all activities across all strategic improvement strategies, reflecting our core beliefs that success and acceptance breeds a culture where all stakeholders feel valued and cared for and prepared to take on challenge.

Lifelong learning, excellence, and happiness are the states of mind promoted in classrooms with the ever present question of 'How good can we be?' being asked across our community daily.

School Holidays

Monday 22 December - Monday 26th January 2026

Staff Return - School Development Days - 27 January - 30 January

School development days are used by schools to build on the knowledge and skills of our teachers, school leaders and school administrative support staff through a targeted professional learning program. These will operate the way they always have. Students do not attend on these days as there are no timetabled lessons so staff can engage in professional development and planning.

K-6 Students Return Monday 2nd February 2026

The Best Education Money Can't Buy...You can find it here at Ryde PS.

Did you know you can still enrol your child in Ryde Public School for 2025-2026 classes?

If you have a friend or a neighbour who is unsure about enrolment eligibility, please share this link or tell them to call us. We are here to help!

https://ehub.enrol.education.nsw.gov.au/schoolenrolment/?schoolCode=3021

Click ENROL NOW to start! Its never too late!

.......and this is what parents are saying about Ryde Public School:

Principal's End of Year Message

As we come to the close of another school year, I would like to thank our entire school community - students, staff, parents and carers - for your continued support, partnership and commitment throughout the year. As a learning community, we have shared many moments of learning, growth and achievement that we can all be proud of.

As the holidays begin, I encourage our children to enjoy what this time is truly about - being kids. After a year of effort, routines and responsibilities, children benefit greatly from time to play, relax, explore their interests and simply enjoy being with family and friends. These moments of rest and joy are just as important as classroom learning and help set them up for a positive start to the year ahead.

To our families, thank you for the trust you place in our school and for the way you support your children’s learning and wellbeing. To our staff, thank you for your dedication, care and professionalism throughout the year.

Please take care over the holiday period, stay safe, and enjoy the special moments that this season brings.

On behalf of the school, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and restful New Year. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in the new year, refreshed and ready for another exciting year of learning together.

Mr Thanh Ta

Principal

Farewell to Mrs Lyn Bellamy

We farewell our Deputy Principal, Mrs Bellamy, and extend our heartfelt thanks for her outstanding contribution to RPS.

Mrs Bellamy has received many kind and thoughtful messages from students, staff and parents, all expressing their gratitude for the impact she has made during her time with us. Our school community has been truly fortunate to benefit from her leadership, influence and passion for building a genuinely student-centred school.

She should be immensely proud of what has been achieved. The messages shared by our students, staff and families strongly reinforce the positive legacy she leaves behind - one grounded in care, high expectations and a deep commitment to student wellbeing and learning.

We thank Mrs Bellamy for her dedication to RPS and wish her every success and happiness in the next chapter of her professional journey.

School Captains' Report

Our year has come to an end, with lots of memories created. There have been many events occurring in the school to celebrate the end of the year.

In Week 9, students gathered in the hall to witness this year’s Presentation Day ceremony with awards being handed out to the recipients of academic awards, consistent effort awards and even the announcement of the new student leaders for 2026. Sports awards and creative arts awards were given to students as well. Congratulations to all of the award recipients.

Additionally, in Week 9, the year 6 students attended their graduation and farewell. They were congratulated for their achievements and we wish them the best of luck for high school. We heard students in the year 6 classes, where they shared their memories of their time at Ryde Public School.

On Tuesday of Week 10 Kindergarten to Year 5 students celebrated the end of the year with the Big Day In. Across the day, they took part in a wide range of activities of their choice with their friends, laughing and smiling and spreading joy everywhere.

While the K-5 students had the Big Day In, Year 6 students participated in the Year 6 fun day where they watched the movie, Zootopia 2! It was an action packed movie that the students enjoyed. Shortly after, they went to Timezone and played lots of fun games to finish the fun-filled day.

Ryde Public School hosted their very own talent show, “Ryde’s Got Talent!” where students performed for their peers. There were a variety of performances such as music, dance, singing and drama performances. It was fun seeing all of the wonderful talent that our students displayed.

2025 has been a blast for us with lots of learning, experiences and fun. This year was awesome, and we can’t wait for 2026! Leadership responsibilities for the school will be transferred to the new school leaders next year! But that’s it from us! Have a great summer!

Special Events at Ryde

Mural

Students at Ryde Public School had the honour of participating in the Mural in a Day Program run by the Department of Education’s Art Unit. Students in our Visual Arts Group and Operation Art students came together with our mural artist, Kate Stehr, to paint a mural that celebrates the cultural diversity of Ryde Public School. Our mural features a sunset background surrounded by native Australian flora, and three animals sitting close together, showcasing the coming together of different backgrounds to create the school community we are so proud of having. The lion, panda, and tiger are national animals of the three main cultural backgrounds we have at our school. The students did a fantastic job on the day, despite using spray paints for the first time. They were devastated that the day went so quickly, wanting more of this fun and enjoyable experience.

Maths Olympiad 2025 (Awards Presented)

Stage Three students who took part in this year’s Maths Olympiad Junior competition received their awards in Week Six.

Well done to the following students for your amazing efforts!

Perfect Score Students: Brian K, Brian L, Jordan W and Jeremy X

Highest Score In Team Students: Abhik A, Chiranth C, Jie C, Anna H, Jeremy L and Timofey S

Top 10% Students: Abhik A, Huey C, Chiranth C, Arthur C, Callum C, Jie C, Anita H, Anna H, Jiwoo J, Alex J, Brian K, Claire K, Teo K, Alice L, Anna L, Jeremy L, Chuhan L, George L, Gary L, Jacob L, Brian L, Harry L, Oscar Q, Oliver Q, Christian S, Ann S, Ethan S, Timofey S, Ekam S, Kevin S, Leonard S, Vanessa T, Olivia W, Stephanie W, Jordan W, Jeremy X, Beatrice X, Ian X, Patrick X, Vivien X, Elijah Y, Celine Y, Isabella Y, Ryan Y Eric Y, Victor Z, Emily Z, Samuel Z and Aiden Z

Top 25% Students: Lucas C, Angela D, Aryaa G, Ryon J, Rayyan K, Aaron L, Felix L, Jay P, Gregory S, Hudson T, Hansen T, Olivia X, Nelson Y, Evans Y and Preston Z

Participant Students: Ian C, Abigail K, Nathan L, Jerome L, Keziah L, Daniel M, Suhana R, Sofia X and Elsa Z

School Magazine (First Edition Released)

First Edition Of Inspire Magazine Released!

We have some exciting news to share with the Ryde Public School community — the very first issue of Inspire, our digital, student-led school magazine, was released in Week Eight!

Our dedicated Student Editorial Team — Brian L (6C), Shireen S (6GY), Anna H (5T) and Nathan L (5M) — have been working collaboratively over many months to produce this inaugural edition. They have written, edited, designed, and compiled a vibrant and engaging magazine that truly showcases student voice.

There is something for everyone in the first issue of Inspire — from wartime fiction and puzzles to informative reports on biomes and border towns. Our Year Six students have also shared their perspectives in the Your Say feature. In addition, our editors conducted interviews with influential figures: Fiction Editor Shireen spoke with acclaimed author Kristina Nannestad, while Non-Fiction Editor Brian interviewed Bennelong MP Jerome Laxale.

The Inspire digital magazine will be available in the Newsletter section of the Ryde Public School website. Click here for a direct link to the first edition.

We would like to congratulate our incredible editors for their hard work, creativity, and teamwork in producing such a standout first issue. Congratulations are also extended to the Stage Three students whose work has been published. Thank you to everyone who has supported the launch of our school magazine initiative.

Development of Inspire will resume in the new school year, when Stage Three students will once again be invited to submit work for publication. We look forward to seeing the magazine continue to grow and evolve.

Ms Stephanie Cardillo and Mr Elias Boustani

School Magazine Coordinators

Premier's Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Jacob Encarnacion from 6GY for his outstanding achievement in the State Spelling Bee competition held on November 7th. After securing first place out of 31 schools in the Regional competition in August, representing the Sydney North region, Jacob showcased his exceptional spelling skills at the State level. Competing against 32 of the best spellers in the state, he achieved an impressive 16th place finish. Ryde Public School is incredibly proud of Jacob’s dedication and success—well done!

What we have to offer....

Visual Arts

Our Visual Arts Group and selected students from Operation Art across 3-6 had the absolute privilege to participate in the Mural In A Day Program organised by The Arts Unit. Our mural artist, Kate Stehr, worked closely with our students to create a beautiful mural celebrating the cultural diversity of Ryde Public School. Kate was thoroughly impressed by our students capabilities in using spray paints despite it being the first time for them! This has been a tremendous way to end the year for our art students!

K-2 Junior Choir

Our K-2 Junior Choir recently delivered wonderful performances to parents and students at the CAPA Showcase! The group sang the National Anthem with great pride, followed by joyful renditions of "Cover Me in Sunshine" and the classic "You've Got a Friend in Me." Their enthusiasm and talent truly shone through, making the event a memorable celebration of our young students’ musical growth. Thank you for your ongoing support in nurturing their love for the arts!

3-6 Senior Choir

The Senior Choir was so glad to have one more chance to perform at our school Creative and Performing Arts Concert. We continued to practice 3 of our favourite songs - Brolga Dance, Stargazing and Take A Look At Us Now. It was so much fun performing the finale with the Senior Dance group and all of our talented students really lit up the stage. We loved showing off our year of hard work to our parents, community and all of the students at school.

3-4 Junior Dance

The junior dance group performed for the first time with ‘Calling All the Monsters’ and showcased their Sydney North festival routine, ‘Shake It Up’. They had a fantastic time performing for parents, the community, and fellow students. We can’t wait to see the talent of next year’s junior dance team!

5-6 Senior Dance

Senior dance students performed for the final time this year at the CAPA Showcase, proudly sharing their skills and artistry in front of parents and peers. Their polished performance reflected months of dedication, teamwork, and enthusiasm for dance. Throughout the year, these students have continually demonstrated commitment, resilience, and growth in both technique and creativity. The showcase was a wonderful opportunity for the group to celebrate their achievements. We are extremely proud of their hard work and congratulate them on a fantastic year.

Gardening Club

After being on leave for 2 weeks, the gardeners had a lot of gardening to do over the last weeks of school. Students were excited to get their hands dirty and continue growing vegetables and herbs. The cucumber is flourishing and the strawberries continue to keep giving us a huge supply (they taste very sweet). We have planted some snow peas to grow and we are hoping to do some cooking before the end of term with the ingredients from the garden. It has been a successful first year for the gardening club, and we will continue growing it next year.

Music/Band

The Senior Band capped off a stellar year of performances at this year’s Years 3–6 Presentation Day. Our Year 6 students were formally farewelled from the band during the final rehearsal and parent showcase last Tuesday. We wish them all the best in high school and encourage them to continue their musical journey.

We are also excited to see the wonderful progress of our current band members and look forward to watching them grow as they move into the Senior Band. A special mention goes to our Junior Band students, many of whom are just starting their musical journey for the first time. It has been fantastic to see their enthusiasm and rapid improvement, and we can’t wait to see what they achieve next year.

Technology

Our new website is now live:

https://ryde-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/

The redesign gives us greater flexibility in how we organise information relevant to our school community.

Each stage has put together a 2025 highlights video, which can be found on the Events page:

https://ryde-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/school-life/events

Suggestions for the website are always welcome. Please send us an email with your ideas:

ryde-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Library

Premier’s Reading Challenge Congratulations

We are delighted to celebrate the incredible achievements of our students who participated in this year’s Premier’s Reading Challenge. Their dedication to reading and learning is truly inspiring! Congratulations to all of our students that participated this year.

A special congratulations to all these students pictured (as well as Evie from 3B, and Daniel and Aryaa from 6C) who received a Gold or Platinum Award this year. These awards recognise exceptional commitment to the challenge. Your hard work not only enriches your own lives but also contributes to a culture of literacy and curiosity within our school community.

Keep turning those pages and exploring new worlds; your love of reading will take you far!

Book Fair

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for your wonderful support during our recent Book Fair. The event was a fantastic success and a truly memorable experience for our entire school community.

With a total of 150 sales, we raised $4,390, which has earned our school library $1,535 worth of new resources. This achievement would not have been possible without your enthusiasm and encouragement.

A special thank you to the parents who generously volunteered their time to help run the Book Fair. Your dedication and support were invaluable.

Diverse Learners

This term, the Diverse Learners have been participating in Drama where they have been participating in imaginative play by taking on basic roles. The focus of Art this term was clay making, and students have been practicing different clay making skills to make a variety of different pinch pots. Stage 2 had a science incursion where they participated in a variety of experiments that focused on chemistry and energy. As we come to the final days of 2025, Year 6 have been going to their high schools to transition and prepare themselves for Year 7. It has been a huge and eventful year, and all students have shown growth in their learning skills. We are looking forward to Christmas and all of the end of year activities.

Early Stage 1

In Week 8, Kindergarten students enjoyed an exciting excursion to Field of Mars, where they explored the natural environment using their senses. They walked along the banks of Buffalo Creek and planned their route using a pictorial map. The students also listened to an Aboriginal Dreaming story about Garigan the blue-tongue lizard and created clay models to take home. Along the way, they spotted many interesting bugs and were delighted to see both a real blue-tongue lizard and a kookaburra. Students went on a short sensory bushwalk, engaging in nature spotting, examining tiny creatures with mini magnifiers, and listening to the bush sounds. It was a memorable day filled with discovery, creativity, and the joy of outdoor learning.

Stage 1

This term, our Stage 1 students have been enthusiastically engaging in physical activities that focus on building important skills such as teamwork and strategic thinking. Through a variety of fun and inclusive sports sessions, students are learning how to communicate effectively, collaborate with their peers, and make thoughtful decisions on the field. These experiences not only promote physical health but also help develop social skills and confidence, laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning and active participation in sport. We are proud to see our young learners growing both as athletes and as team players!

Stage 2

This term, Stage 2 participated in an incursion that brought the mysteries of the universe into our school hall!

The Mad Science Show was all about air, electricity, and fire! There were giant smoke vortices, levitating beach balls, flying toilet paper, flour fireballs, hair-raising electricity, and lots of learning!

The Cosmic Chemistry Show was an extraterrestrial extravaganza! We witnessed explosive big bangs, countdown to exciting rocket launches and experienced the thrill of materials transforming through eruptions, colour changes, and captivating sounds.

Students had a really fun time learning and witnessing these exciting science experiments.

Stage 3

This term, Stage Three students have been exploring a wide range of musical concepts through listening, performing and composing activities in their Music lessons. They investigated the building blocks of music — from beat, tempo and notation to riffs, hooks, major and minor tonality, texture and layering. Students practised identifying musical features in well-known pieces and experimented with creating their own rhythms, melodies and short compositions. Throughout the term, they also engaged in collaborative music-making, developing their confidence, teamwork and musical awareness.

Students explored instruments, used body percussion and experimented with the concepts introduced in lessons. They showed great enthusiasm as they built on their musical understanding and expressed their creativity in a variety of ways.

P&C Report

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our AGM was held on the 3rd of December 2025 and he following people were elected to the committee:
President – Cathrine Isaacs
Vice President – Gerard Moujalli
Second Vice President – Alison Law (nominated, formal acceptance pending next meeting)
Secretary – Matina Kyriakou
Treasurer – Sam Navokhi

Thank you to everyone who has accepted a position to the P&C committee for 2026! I want to recognise the incredible work of our outgoing secretaries Zoe Yip and Rizzy Utami as well as our second Vice President Richard Coutts. We built some beautiful relationships and put on many fun events with our 2025 team and look forward to building on these strengths in 2026!

Over the second half of Term 4, we have had several appointment-based second-hand uniform requests and have been able to fill orders with support from the school office serving as a pickup point. We also held a mini second-hand uniform stall for the Kindy 2026 students at their orientation – making over $400 in sales! We intend to run another second-hand uniform stall early in Term 1 so, with keeping stocks up in mind, we invite families to drop their good condition uniforms that they no longer need to the office to help us continue supporting families! Also, If you would like to organise an appointment for yourself in the future outside of our regular bi-annual second-hand stalls, please email us at: RydePandC@gmail.com.

The holidays are almost here, and I want to thank the many, many people who helped make the P&C so successful and fun to be a part of this year! On Friday the 5th of December, the school hosted a special volunteer thank you morning tea and asked me to give them a list of people who helped over the year. I gave them a list of 39 names and I know I am sure I missed several who flew under the radar. It’s such a privilege to work with all of you who give up your time to benefit our community. If you would like to be involved next year, please join our WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/HqR6AoxC3CS5evWIWeDxgL.

We are truly excited to be partnering with the school in their Welcome Celebration on Wednesday February 25th and would love to invite you to be part of the planning fun! It’s a great way to make connections with other families, contribute and be connected to making this a wonderful school for everyone to learn and grow in.

Kind regards,

Cathrine Isaacs
RPS P&C President

Community Information

Block B - Vertical Garden

A huge thank you to our generous sponsors Premier Property and Chiselled in Stone for their incredible contribution to our school.

The team pictured above was led by Alex Macri, Director of Premier Property, and Maurizio Silicato, Owner of Chiselled in Stone. Together, they provided their professional expertise, plants and time to transform our space into a beautiful garden for our students. Their purpose was simple yet powerful—to give back to the community by sharing what they know best: property and landscaping.

A special thank you also to Giovani and Alex, who worked tirelessly over two afternoons and well into the evening to turn our concrete jungle into a soft, green space.

Our students are already reaping the benefits of this garden and have shared how beautiful and calming it looks. This space will undoubtedly support student wellbeing for years to come.

This project is a truly generous gift to the students of Ryde, and on behalf of our entire school community, we extend our sincere thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Keyboard Lessons

Chinese Club

As we approach the end of the year, we are delighted to celebrate the wonderful progress our students have made in Chinese class. At the beginning of the year, many children could not speak or write any Chinese. Now, they are confidently reading longer texts and engaging in simple conversations. Their growth has been truly impressive, and they should feel very proud of their achievements.

Throughout the term, students have shown great enthusiasm, curiosity, and resilience in learning one of the world’s most challenging languages. Their joy in discovering new characters, speaking with their classmates, and participating in interactive activities has been inspiring to see.

We are currently preparing a special Chinese New Year song for our upcoming celebration. The children have been practicing with enthusiasm and focus, and we are excited to share their performance with the school community. This will be a wonderful opportunity for them to shine on stage and experience the beauty of Chinese culture through music.

We thank our students for their hard work and Ryde school for continued support. We look forward to another year of learning, laughter, and cultural exploration together.

Giving us Feedback

There are many ways that you can give us feedback, such as:

Emailing the school (ryde-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au). Your email will be forwarded to the appropriate staff member through the office.
Access our feedback link via the school website or
the Community inFocus. It looks like this:

High quality feedback from the community helps us to improve. Your feedback is important.

Compliments lets us know what we are doing well and the positive impact it is having on the community.

Your suggestions helps us to evaluate and review our practice and where possible, make adjustments to improve our service.

Please click HERE: Compliments and Suggestions High quality feedback from the community helps us to improve. Your feedback is important.

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