Newsletter Term 3 Week 5 2023
"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
Australis
Congratulations to our wonderful choir who performed at the Opera House last night as part of the Australis choral concert performances. Our Arts Unit provide high quality performance opportunities for students to engage with. These create memories for our students they will carry with them long after they have left Balgowlah North. Thank you to Anna Harris for her commitment to the choir, the rehearsals, auditions and organisation that sits behind these events. Thank you to the parents and teachers who came to watch and support their children. A wonderful opportunity for our students to experience.
PSSA
Wonderful to watch our teams participate in so many semi finals this winter season at PSSA. We know that these games often are a challenge to navigate the high expectations, anticipation and often pure nerves and adrenaline that comes with playing in these games. Unfortunately we had some instances of poor sportsmanship on display recently at training and at games.
Conversations at home may be a timely reminder that at all times we uphold the values of the school Positive Behaviour expectations within the school grounds, on the sporting fields and when we are representing our school. Please see below the Code of Conduct that is expected of all students. When students do not uphold the Code of Conduct coaches may contact you and if inappropriate behaviour continues then students will not be playing. Representing our school comes with personal responsibility for quality behaviour at all times.
Player’s Code
Rationale:
Representing the school in PSSA Competitions provides an opportunity for talented athletes to extend their skills and compete against similarly skilled students from other schools. Representing the school is an honour and students have a responsibility to compete at all times in a manner that brings credit to themselves and their school. The following Code of Conduct has been devised to guide the achievement of this outcome.
- Play for the fun of it
- Work equally hard for yourself and your team.
- Be a good sport and encourage your fellow team members.
- Cooperate at all times with your coach, team mates and opponents.
- Compete by the rules and always abide by referees/umpires or touch judge decisions.
- Control your temper and behaviour whilst on and off the playing field and make no criticism either by word or gesture.
- Whilst on the sidelines do not touch any sporting equipment. Sit and support your participating school mates.
- Be modest in success and generous in defeat (i.e. don’t show off when successful or be a bad sport when defeated).
Celebrating Colleen Tobler
Our school has nominated Colleen for the Executive Director Recognition Program for her significant contribution to the values of Public Education. Please see below a small excerpt from our nomination
"Our school nominates our Business Manager, Colleen Tobler, who consistently embodies the values of the DOE
through her unwavering commitment to service, integrity and equity for all students. Colleen leads our school
administration team with precision, confidence and transparency. She possesses exceptional skills in streamlining processes to ensure the administrative team are working supportively to meet the needs of the students, teachers and parents of our school community.
Colleen's professional excellence centers around service to students, with the wellbeing of our students at the core of
all that she does. Colleen goes above and beyond on a daily basis to ensure that the administrative and organisational demands of her role never take away from the unwavering care, compassion and empathy she shows for every child that attends sick bay or any parent request for information or support.
Colleen manages the complex and challenging demands of her role with dignity and fortitude always capable of aligning systemic goals and whole-school context with administrative priorities. She is a model of personal accountability and always strives to add value to the functioning of our school." We hope our nomination is successful!
External Validation
Our school is very proud of our self reflection processes and our EV Assessment. We will now begin the process of creating a new School Improvement Plan. Our EV report gave us very clear directions, as we were very close to excelling in many areas of the learning and teaching framework.
Leaving in 2024
If you know that your child will be leaving at the end of 2023 it would be greatly appreciated if you could complete the google link below. This gives us a chance to plan the class and school structure for 2024.
Brooke Keevers
Principal
Assistant Principals News
Our Stage 2 classrooms have been a hive of activity recently with our study of pollinators! Our focus on pollinators this term connects a variety of curriculum areas including English, geography, science and technology to help students develop a deep understanding of the important role pollinators have in our environment. At BNPS, we are so lucky to have wonderful outdoor spaces to explore this topic, with classes visiting the Green Grove regularly to spot some native Australian bees in action! Stage 2 students also designed, built and coded their own robo-insect.
Here is some of our ‘bee’-utiful Stage 2 work so far this term!
Olivia Wakelin
Stage 2 Assistant Principal (rel.)
School News
Awards K-6 Assembly
Kindergarten 2024 Information Session
On Wednesday, 23 August 2023 we will be hosting a virtual information session for families with students commencing at our school in Kindergarten in 2024 from 5-6pm. We have chosen to maintain a virtual format for this information session as the feedback we have received is that it makes it more manageable for families with small children.
This will be an opportunity to find out more about our school as well as the orientation and transition to school program. Please find details of the virtual session below, login using a zoom account:
https://nsweducation.zoom.us/j/64982783367?pwd=SE9ObGc5QWdiSlVQNU5zdU5UNnFHdz09
Meeting ID: 649 8278 3367
Passcode: BNPS
There will be the opportunity for parents of 2024 Kindergarten students to join us on site for a school readiness session. This will happen when your child attends the second orientation morning on Thursday 2 November. In addition, we have two more school tours scheduled for Thursday 14 and Thursday 21 September at 9:15am for families who are new to our school community.
We look forward to meeting your children and supporting them as they join our wonderful school community.
Sascha Carroll
Assistant Principal Early Stage 1
Stage 3 Excursion - Refugee In My Neighbourhood
Year 5 & 6 had the privilege of having an immersive simulation experience during an excursion to “Refugee In My Neighbourhood” that took them through the journey of a refugee. The tour guides were all refugees who told their stories to our group as we went through the process.
CLANK CLANK the worker smashes her weapon against the metal fence. Children crying, a bustle of voices in foreign languages fill the board control. The worker was hurrying mobs of scared, stressed people. I saw one family getting forced into a small box with a sign reading Border checkpoint. Helpless Families weep as they get rejected one by one, “ Come back next month” they shouted to the remaining without any valuables. My family and I got past the border control getting put into lines and searched for more valuables for food stamps. Eloise M 6/5H
There was one small hospital where there were only 2 doctors working around 10 hours a day. Many births would have killed the woman or the child. For the children there was a small school where they would speak different languages making it hard for the children to understand anything the teachers would say. After having permission to leave we would have to go on boats where many threw up and the conditions were treacherous. When we finally made it to Australia we had to stay in the Detention Station where we would be called by numbers. We felt so lucky to have reached this point in this journey and it gave me a huge sense of empathy . Emily G 6/5H
One of the tour guides told us her story. She escaped Iran with her family ( her mum, two sisters and her cousins who were one and three at the time ) and went to live in Indonesia for 3 years, hoping to move to another country later. They found some people smugglers that took her to Australia. The journey took 6 days and she said pretty much everyone was sick. Evelyn S 6/5H
I started to understand that being a refugee is really hard and scary because you don’t speak the same language as the authorities. Experiencing refugee life helped me understand that if you're a refugee you can’t eat as much as you want you have to find water. But with food they give you a small box for your family no matter how big your family is you will still get a small box with food. Helena F 6/5H
Another interesting thing was the food situation, we learnt that to get food you would have to line up. But the stands that gave the refugees food would only open for about 5-10 minutes, leaving no time for anything. Even if you did manage to get food you would only get one small box, with nowhere near enough to feed everyone. The water was also usually dirty and would make you sick but you needed to drink it to survive and all of this was quite hard to hear. Hudson L 6/5H
The hospital had two doctors. Two doctors for 50,000 to 400,000 people. They gave birth next to someone with malaria. People died because they didn’t have enough food, water or help. The school only had enough space for 20 kids. Only 20 kids could learn how to write, speak and spell. Louisa O 6/5H
I felt bad for the people living in the camps, it would have been very hard to live there. The average stay time is 17 years. I realised how lucky I am to have a safe home and a family who provides me with so much. Noah S 6/5H
On Tuesday the 9th of August, Stage 3 had the privilege of visiting the Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood at the University of Western Sydney. We learnt the stories of the refugees who had fled the country they called home. We showed empathy to others who had suffered greatly throughout their journey to their new life in Australia. I was very interested in learning about refugees and realising how lucky I am to have a safe roof over my head, healthy food and clean water to drink. Others are definitely not as lucky as I am! Did you know that the average time to stay in a refugee camp is 17 years! Imagine how sad it would be to live in those terrible conditions for such a long time. We put our feet in refugees shoes and did role playing. We had to imagine we were a refugee trying to escape our country. At the end of the tour we all realised that we are so lucky to live in Australia. -Evie H-A 5M
This excursion was at the South Western University at Whitlam Institute where there is a mock refugee camp. Our tour guides were people who had experienced life in a refugee camp or recently escaped places like Ukraine. We learnt about what the most common hosting countries are for refugees. The people in refugee camps had little or no food and had a very small living space. Everything was taken away from them. The average time spent in a refugee camp was 17 years. Schools, hospitals and many other things used to survive were very limited. A very important message one of our tour guides told us is that even if you're a refugee you still matter and there are many people who care about you.
I was shocked when I learnt that when refugees travelled to Australia they sometimes wouldn’t eat for days. Sometimes hundreds of people were crammed onto a fishing boat with not even enough room to lay down. Women and children had to stay under the deck in the dark. Sickness spread very quickly and even if you did have some food and water you would soon vomit it back up. You could never be certain if a ship in the distance was one that would arrest you or bring you to the safe place you’ve been dreaming of. The refugee's life was full of fear and uncertainty. We should all be so grateful for what we have and know how fortunate we are. -Hannah M 6S
Today I learnt lots of new and interesting things about refugees. I learnt about the amount of forcefully displaced people and the amount of men women and children fleeing for their lives. We learnt that the top three countries of refugees are Afghanistan, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia. I also learnt the customs of refugee and detention camps, such as the hospitals, schools and living quarters, or should I say tents. I also learnt that these people seeking REFUGE are put in CAMPS that provide unhealthy food and water.
I personally found this experience mind-bogglingly upsetting, angering and overwhelming. The fact that people were put through these miserable, hopeless camps where serious illnesses, or injuries weren’t treated properly. I am ashamed at how these innocent people have lost their lives-not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well.
The questions I have asked myself while going through the mock camp, “Where has humanity gone? Why are these people being treated like they’ve done something wrong when they’ve come to us to seek refuge and a new bright beginning? What is WRONG with us?” A picture of a mother and her newborn sitting on a makeshift birth mat and the sound of children's screams brought me to tears. I found this experience heartbreaking and I will never forget how much I want to help these people and how much I want to help fix this broken system. -Isla H 6S
Year 5 and year 6 went to the Whitlam Institute at South Western University. I really enjoyed getting a better understanding of what refugees and asylum seekers have to go through to get freedom and a better life. It definitely seems to be a very scary and traumatic experience. I know I got scared when I got thrown into border control with Hana and Sophie because we didn’t have any money. It was really sad and traumatising because there wasn’t enough room for us to sit in it so we had to sit on top of each other. It’s really concerning to know that's exactly what happens in real life to many people. It was definitely an interesting excursion because we got to be like refugees and explore what it’s like. We also got to see examples of what’s happening and it looks like a very sad experience to go through in reality.
We did many other activities that gave us an idea of what a refugee camp would look like. I learnt lots of things I’ve never known before like an asylum seeker is someone who is waiting to be approved to be recognised as a refugee and that a refugee is someone who has gotten approved to be recognised as that title. We were all very lucky to be able to have this incredible opportunity and to have an experience like this. I learnt a lot of things and I’m really happy I now understand most things about refugees and asylum seekers and how they are treated which is very terrible. I could not believe that they’re treated like prisoners and criminals. People make it seem like they’re not even human. Since we’re all in the new generation we must help make a difference! - Lila B 6S
Today we visited the Whitlam Institute where they have a mock refugee camp called ‘Refugee’ in our Neighbourhood’. We got to learn about refugees and how they were treated. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. We did an activity writing five things I would take if I had to flee my country. I learned that a lot of things we enjoy and have today aren’t important and to be grateful just to even have family around you.
What I found really interesting and sad is that the refugees are seeking shelter and safety as they are having to leave a war torn country. They are often mistreated and not cared for. It is hard to hear about this as they are getting treated like criminals in our own country. - Hana 6S
Sports News
Admin News
School Bytes
Parent Portal provides easier navigation of the statement of account, permission notes and other information sent form School Bytes. The app can be downloaded by following the link below:
On the app you can:
- Make payments and pay fees
- Give consent for excursions and activities
Parent Portal: Provide consent and payment for an excursion – School Bytes
Waste Free Wednesday
Library News
Read Grow Inspire Book Week Poster Competition
Book Week is fast approaching. This year we are celebrating this exciting event in Week 7. Students are invited to participate in our Book Week Poster competition. The winning poster will be displayed around the school during Book Week and the creator will have a special VIP seat during the Book Week parade. There will be a K-2 winner and a 3-6 winner. Posters need to be submitted to me by Friday of Week 6 (August 25). The following details should be on the poster:
This year’s theme - Read, Grow, Inspire
Book Week - Week 7
Premier’s Reading Challenge
The reading challenge closes at the end of this week, Friday August 18. Please submit all reading records by this date. Well done to the following students who have now finished their reading for the challenge:
Kindergarten - Sam H
Year 1 - Lucas D, Sebastian J, Edie V
Year 2 - Lachlan A, Lily B, Orla C, Matthew C, Arlo L
Year 3 - Grace H, Lachlan V
Year 4 - Max H
Year 5 - Isabelle G, Amelia S
Calling All Keen Book Coverers!
We have a number of new books to be covered. If you would like to help out with this can you please email me on deborah.horsley1@det.nsw.edu.au
All help appreciated!
Class Snapshot
Positive Behaviour for Learning
The Week Ahead
17 August ICAS- English Assessment 9:30am
21 August ICAS- Science Assessment 9:30am
22 August K-1 Fun Sports Carnival
23 & 24 August Zone Athletics
23 August Kindergarten 2024 Parent Information Session
28 August Book Week
29 August Author visit - Gus Gordon
30 August ICAS- Maths Assessment 9:30am
31 August Fathers Day Breakfast
31 August Book Week dress up day
Koolkuna News
The 2023 Spring Vacation Care Program will be released this Friday, 18th August.
Please note; there has been some regulatory changes regarding transportation for excursions. As a result, we have included more information on our Terms & Conditions page of the Vacation Care Program. Please ensure you read this carefully prior to booking in for Vacation Care.
Koolkuna OSHC Admin
P & C News
Working Bee
A big thank you to all those who helped with our working bee on the weekend. We really can not do these events without your help so please sign up for our next event!
Tickets are now live on Flexischools for the highly anticipated BNPS Outdoor Movie Night! This years movie will be the magical Encanto by Disney.
The event will be located in the K-2 playground around, entrance via the Kindy gate. Gates will open from 5pm and Encanto will start at 6pm.
This years BBQ food is from our deliciously local Betts Butcher and Woodbine Bakery, we also have BNPS Movie Bags filled with yummy treats including ice creams vouchers! All food must be pre-ordered on flexi-schools.
There is also a movie night raffle with some fantastic prizes from local businesses - and lots of chances to win! Tickets are $2.50 or 5 for $10.
Movie ticket prices: Kids 5yrs + $10, Early Bird Adult $12, Adult (after 29th August) $18. Last year’s event was a sell out, so be sure to buy your tickets early.
School Community news
Lane of Sight Fundraiser
My name is James Pittar. I am part of the North Balgowlah local community - many of you helped me reach my goal last year! I am a blind marathon swimmer.In the month of August 2023 I am involved in Fred’s Big Run, I am doing 150 kilometres of exercise mainly swimming to raise money for The Fred Hollows Foundation. It only takes $25 to cure someone’s eyesight in a developing country. My fundraising goal for this year is $15,000.
This year I have set up where you can purchase a Virtual Lane and for each Lane you purchase for $25 will cure someone’s eyesight. I have called my Virtual Lane: Lane of Sight. If you would like to purchase a Lane of Sight and help someone in a developing country to see again please go to:
https://www.fredsbigrun.org/lane-of-sight
Thank you for your support.
James Pittar
Balgowlah Boys Music Showcase
Balgowlah Boys Campus would like to extend your school an invitation to our annual Music Showcases of 2023! We have some amazing acts on show across two nights - Wednesday 16th August for our Year 11 and 12 students, and Thursday 17th August for our Band Program and curriculum classes. We have had some brilliant boys come from your schools who will be involved in the evening, and it will be a great show of high school Music for students who are coming along to Bally in future years. Tickets for the evenings can be purchased through our P&C Website, here: https://www.ballyboys.org/music/tickets.
If you are willing and able to display the attached poster around your school, we would be hugely grateful!
Thank you for your consideration, and we hope to see you there next week!
NBSC Balgowlah Boys Campus