Balgowlah North Public School eNewsletter

"We acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians on whose land our school rests. Their footsteps and whispers blow in the wind, drift on the clouds, remain deep in the sandstone and float on the waterways of this place. Their memories and Dreaming stories will continue to connect us to the land and guide future generations of our school community. Country is alive if you take the time to look, listen and learn."

Principal's message

Communication

Please keep up to date with events happening at school. Our newsletter and app have the most up to date information. We offer an incredible selection of activities, opportunities and experiences for our students. To support this, we appreciate our students understanding their responsibilities and having what they need to support their activity.

PSSA commences this week, as does Scripture, Ethics and Additional Activities. We expect our students to uphold our school values of Safe, Respectful and Responsible behaviour at all times. All students who have been selected for a PSSA team are expected to uphold the behaviour agreement that has been signed by each player. If this agreement is broken then parents will be called. Our SEAT teachers are all volunteers within our school. As such we also expect high expectations for behaviour of all our students at these times.

Student invoices will be sent home to families over the next week. If at any time you require financial assistance please reach out to the school, so that we can support you and your children.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Parent Information sessions last week. All presentations are available on the home page of the school website:

Home - Balgowlah North Public School (nsw.gov.au)

Looking forward to seeing you around the playground.

Brooke Keevers
Principal

Assistant Principals News

Over the past week our teachers have been engaging in professional learning around the new English Syllabus. In K - 2, this syllabus is already being implemented in 2023 and Years 3-6 are in the ‘plan and prepare’ phase with implementation scheduled for all NSW schools in 2024.

We had the opportunity to meet in stage teams to discuss the evidence underpinning the direction of the new syllabus and analyse and reflect on the areas of our current practice that align with the new outcomes.

We are in a great place to accommodate the new syllabus documents as we have spent the past couple of years ensuring our English pedagogy reflects current research into the best teaching methodologies to support literacy learning. Some examples of initiatives that reflect the direction of the news syllabus include:

The K -2 team’s adoption of decodable texts as a way of supporting early reading skills.
Implementation of ‘Engine Room’ literacy groups in Stage 2 that foster explicit reading instruction with a focus on fluency development.
Conceptually driven units of work in Stage 3 that foster higher-order critical thinking where students examine, analyse and evaluate the compositional structure, themes, purpose and value of a range of texts.
‘Creating Texts’ workshops in Stages 2 and 3 planned for 2023, where Classroom Teachers co-teach lessons on writing with Mrs Horsley.

Our teachers were deeply engaged in this professional development opportunity and are feeling inspired by the new syllabus document. It offers us the opportunity to facilitate the development of interconnected skills that will allow our students to become confident communicators, critical and imaginative thinkers, and informed and active participants in society.

School News

Dates for the diary
Wednesday 22 February 7.30pm P & C Meeting
Thursday 23 February 9.00am-10.00am Class parent mornng tea
Thursday 23 February 1.40pm SEAT begins
Friday 24 February PSSA Round 1
Tuesday 28 February 9.00am-10.00am Kindergarten Home Reading and High Frequency Word Workshop
Wednesday 1 March 2.15pm-3.00pm Minilit Parent Information Session
Wednesday 1 March Year 5 Peer Mediation Training School Hall
Saturday 4 March 6.00pm P & C Parents Night Out

Choir
This year we will be having a Balgowlah North Public School Primary Choir with students from Year 3-6. This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to further develop choral and performance skills.

Rehearsals:
The choir rehearses the second half of lunch each Tuesday in the hall. Children are expected to attend each rehearsal.

As well as opportunities to perform at school events, the choir will be performing songs for the Festival of Choral Music which will be held at the Opera House with other school choirs from around New South Wales.

The cost will be approximately $90.00 per student which covers the cost of the choir book, performance t-shirts and bus hire. The repertoire of songs has been carefully selected by the NSW Choral Arts Unit team from a variety of genres.

Each student must be available for the following dates:

Term 3

Tuesday 25th July: Australis Concert preliminary rehearsal (metropolitan schools) at The Salvation Army Sydney Congress Hall - 9:30 am to 1:00 pm
Tuesday 15th August: Australis Concert rehearsal at the Sydney Opera House - 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Tuesday 15th August: Australis Concert performance at the Sydney Opera House - 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm

If you would like your child to participate in the Primary Choir please have them collect a note and complete and return it to the music room by Tuesday 28th February.Mrs Harris

Parent Home reading workshop
Please join us for a Parent Home Reading and High Frequency Word Workshop.
Who: The workshop is aimed at Kindergarten or Year One parents/carers who would like more information on supporting their beginning readers at home. It will be interactive and a chance to ask questions.
When: Tuesday, February 28 at 9am in the library (*A Powerpoint of the presentation will be sent out via the school app after the event for parents who are unable to attend.)

Thank you,

Jenni Reinhardt and Sascha Carroll.

Drama Ensemble for Years 3 and 4
We are excited to have the opportunity again this year to run a Drama Ensemble for Year 3 and 4. Members of the Drama Ensemble will be involved in a performance, which will audition to be a part of the Arts Alive Drama Festival held at the Concourse Theatre. We will be holding auditions on Wednesday 1st March at lunchtime in the Dance/Music Room (after eating time).

Due to festival regulations we are limited to taking only a certain amount of students. When auditioning we look at the following criteria:

Ability to take on a role in a convincing and appropriate manner
Spatial awareness
Focus and attention
Mood and emotion
Enthusiasm and confidence when performing.

If your child is selected, they will need to commit to one weekly lunchtime practice, all rehearsals and parents will need to pay for costs involved. We look forward to seeing students next week!

Mrs McAllister and Mrs Mandalidis

MiniLit Information Session
MiniLit is a special teaching program from Macquarie University, designed for young children in Years 1 and 2 who have been identified as needing a little extra support in learning to read. Our MiniLit program is led by Mrs Amanda Mason. They will be working with small groups of five or six children for four days per week in the Learning Lab. Mrs Mason will be working with small groups for 40 minutes a day, using the carefully structured MiniLit program materials. The program takes approximately two terms to complete.

Each MiniLit lesson has three main components:
- Sounds and Words - Activities – where children learn to pay attention to the different sounds in words and to associate them with the letters of the alphabet
- Text Reading – which gives children the chance to practise their new skills
- Story Book Reading –which involves the teacher reading and discussing a story book with the students, to help improve their vocabulary and comprehension.

Research completed over the last five years has shown consistently that students make remarkable gains following MiniLit instruction. For children who are struggling to learn to read, intervening early is the best way to stop reading problems from becoming more established.
An information session on MiniLit will be held with Mrs Mason in the school library on Wednesday 1st March at 2.15pm. All welcome to join.

Primary Ethics
Our Primary Ethics team is seeking more volunteers to teach Primary Ethics. We particularly need volunteers for kindergarten, year 1, year 4 and year 6 students who are currently without a Primary Ethics teacher.

Ethics teachers receive full training by Primary Ethics, the not-for-profit organisation approved to design the curriculum and training for the ethics program. Training consists of a two day workshop and short online modules. Suitable volunteers have an interest in children’s education and the development of their critical thinking skills. You must be available to teach a 30 minute class on a Thursday afternoon each week. All lesson materials are provided.

In ethics classes, we aim to give students an opportunity to discuss and think for themselves about ethical issues relevant to them.

Students discuss topics such as:

- empathy;
- being an ethical consumer;
- how should we treat living things;
- how do we know when we have done something wrong?;
- intentions and knowledge - what might a whale know?; and
- understanding diversity.

If you are looking for an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to our school and be part of a great program, please visit www.primaryethics.com.au. You can also email our Primary Ethics Coordinator Susan Gray at bnpsethics@gmail.com for further information.

Forest High Writing Workshop with Year 6
Last week Year 6 did a workshop with some Year 10 Forest high students. It was a lot of fun. It taught me a lot about the five senses. We did stations where you would write about objects to feel, smell, hear, see and taste. It was a really fun morning and it was really great writing about the senses. Addie B 6S

On Wednesday the 15 of February all of us year six students went to our school hall to meet the forest students, they were running a writing workshop. We did all these fun activities such as two truths and one lie and a game where we became superheroes to save the planet! Neve R 6S

I hear the sound of children chatting, trees swaying and the birds chirping. As I see the bright rainbow glide across the sky, I can feel the happiness crawl into the heart. Charlie O 6S

It was the sound of freedom.It was the taste of freedom everything we had done had led us up to this very moment.The taste of the salty waves crashing on the sand. Chloe H 6/5H

The temperature of the cool salty water and the clean, freshness of the air made me burst with happiness. The world seemed to sparkle as it embraced changes for the better. Darcy Y 6/5S

I see an old pea green car lying untouched on the barren forest bed as I approach the car. I noticed through the aged cracked up window, it was a pencil case. In the pencil case was a mysterious Lincoln green rock with white spots covering the bottom of it. Eloise M 6/5H

Feel: My bare feet gently travel through warm sand. My feet sink beneath the ground and I feel the small grains stick to my feet like a cute fluffy koala that won't let go of a tall bushy tree. My toe kicks a sharp hard shell. I stop to pick it up and I feel the faint wrinkles jump up and down against my fingers. Emily G 6/5H

The green, rusty car zoomed across the race track, attempting to win the highly sought after giant, green, translucent crystal, shining brighter than the sun on a hot summer day. Finn C 6S

Popcorn I can taste the sweet taste of happiness Georgie H 6S

Golden light shines through my heavy eyelids as I squint to shield my eyes from the glary morning light. I find myself lying at a river bank where the water is turquoise and clear as glass, under the shade of a lemon tree, upon a soft, comfy blanket of moss that covers the freshly rained on grass. Isla H 6S

The long bushes continue to brush my legs as I venture through the forest. I can feel the rough bark of healthy trees and can almost taste the adventures ahead. Jacob S 6S

Snorkels on, off we go, to look in the reef down below. Something hiding, a majestic purple creature, we want to take a closer look, it looks like an octopus from a fairy tales book. I can smell the sweet scent of vanilla ice cream, it fills my nose with wonders. Jess D and Josie P 6/5H

My hands burn as they touch the pale white ice, I can see my fingers slowly go purple like a sun set on a cold winter's night. Matthew D 6S

I can taste the cool salty water from the fast flowing stream and the freshness of the sweet air. I trace my hand against the rough bark and I breathe in the fresh smell of rain water. Ruby T 6S

The fresh salty scent of the crisp ocean water filled my nostrils. The crisp breeze brushed past my arms and hugged my body. Nature was blooming and the ice caps were standing proudly in their place. Scarlett P 6/5H

Mrs Harris

Naplan

Library News

Last week our Stage 2 and 3 students enjoyed a presentation from Paul Macdonald, owner of The Children’s Bookshop and literacy consultant for many primary and secondary schools. His presentation to Stage 2 focused on writing strategies to engage the reader. He demonstrated these strategies through literature and gave students some wonderful tools and ideas to think about when they are writing narratives. The presentation to Stage 3 focused on books and what is new and great at the moment for their age group. Some of his suggestions you’ll find below.

Paul McDonald talking writing strategies

Sports News

Zone Sport News
Congratulations to Evelyn S. (6/5H) who was successful in the combined zone trial for tennis. She’ll now compete at the regional level in Gosford on Monday 27 Feb.
Well done, Evelyn!

Class snapshot 5R

Wellbeing

Peer Mediation
On Wednesday 1st March our Year 5 students will undertake a full day of peer mediation training as part of our leadership program. The workshop will enable students to become Peer Mediators in the K-2 playground for Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 students. The training will provide our Year 5 students a structured process to resolve minor playground disputes.

At the workshop students will participate in activities that focus on problem solving, conflict resolution, active listening and communication. They will also engage in a variety of role plays to assist them become familiar with their new roles.

Thank you,
The Wellbeing Team.

Administration

We have had lots of calls regarding making payments over the last week. Please find below instructions on how to do this if you are unsure.

P & C News

P & C Meeting
The next P&C meeting will take place on Wednesday 22nd February 7.30pm in our library All parents welcome.

Parents Night Out
Dust off your leg warmers & get ready for an 80’s BNPS Parent’s Night Out 2023!

4th March 6pm
Seaforth Bowling Club
39 Kirkwood street, Seaforth
Dress: a little or a lot 80’s

Tickets via Flexischools
Early bird $55 each, now till 22nd February
Regular $65 each, 23rd February till 1st March
Ticket sales close 1st March 5pm!

Raffle tickets $10 each

A night of music, dancing, drinks & fun! Food will be served throughout the evening & drinks are all for sale at the bar!

Band News

Band Election BBQ and Cake Stall Fundraiser – Sign up to help
The BNPS Band community is looking for volunteers to help with the upcoming Election BBQ and Cake Stand Fundraiser, held at the school on Saturday 25 March, 2023. This event represents a significant portion of critical funds raised to keep our fantastic band program operating and relies on volunteer support from our parent community. So, please join us, we have slots available for BBQ cookers, cake stand operators and money/till operators - 1.5 hr slots. We are also looking for cakes, cookies, slices or other baked goods to sell on the day for the cake stand.

You are guaranteed to have some fun and meet other parents in the band whilst supporting our kids on their musical journey at BNPS.

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/UQVMDwNQ833w96Vz7