Newsletter Term 1 Week 2 2021
Principal's report
Dear Parents/Carers,
Thank you for such a smooth start to the new school year. It has been lovely to see so many happy, smiling students ready and willing to engage in a new school year with such positive energy. We appreciate the proactive conversations that you have been having within your families to facilitate this. What a lovely start to the day welcoming our new kindergarten students. A very special time for families celebrating this important milestone.
Parent Information Evenings
Due to Covid restrictions on limits to 30 parents at indoor meetings this has resulted in us rethinking our Parent Information Evenings for the start of the year. At the end of next week, you will receive a link to a Stage Parent Information presentation that our teachers are currently creating. This link will be accessible to all parents to provide understanding of syllabus and organisation for the school year. It will be available for you to view, revisit and access at any time. We ask that you watch this presentation prior to attending a meeting with your class teacher.
‘Meet the teacher Opportunity’
There will also be an opportunity for you to ‘Meet the teacher’ and share information about your child. Each teacher will send home a form for you to complete and bring to the meeting. Each teacher will be able to answer any concerns you have and let you know how your child has settled in. These meetings are an opportunity for you to share important information with your child’s teacher. It is not an academic interview.
The meetings for Year One to Year Six will occur in Week 4 on Wednesday the 17th and Thursday 18th February between 12.30pm and 4.30pm. Meetings are optional and you will be sent a link to book a 10-minute slot.
Kindergarten meetings will occur in Week 5 on Wednesday the 24th of February from 12.30pm until 4.30pm.
Class structures
Classes have been formed carefully to ensure we meet the needs of every student in our school. Teachers teach content pertaining to the NSW syllabus for their stage. All our teachers across a stage work together to ensure student needs are meet. Literacy and numeracy skills are taught at point of need for each individual student regardless of what year level they are in. Differentiating the curriculum gives students the opportunity to access the content and pace that is appropriate for them. We have highly skilled, dedicated teachers who work hard to deliver curriculum in this way.
What if my child is in a composite class?
Single-grade classes are an administratively convenient way to organise schools. However, single grade classes are made up of learners with a wide range of abilities, working at different developmental stages. In a sense, every class is a ‘composite’ class.
How does the teacher cater for different year groups in the same class?
The curriculum is based on stages of learning from Kinder to year 10. Each stage builds on the next stage. Curriculum content is organised around key concepts and skills.
Students revisit the same concepts every year but it is expected that over time students will develop deeper understandings and greater proficiency and competence in applying the skills and processes.
What are the evidenced based practices that research show improves student learning?
For the most part, it is the quality of teaching, combined with student interest and engagement that has a greater impact on learning than on class organisational structures.
Quality teaching that is differentiated to meet the needs of every student, well supported by mentoring, instructional leadership, teacher collaboration and professional learning, has a far greater impact on student achievement than the structure of classes.
Teaching practices such as explicit teaching, formative assessment, flexible grouping strategies and collaborative inquiry-based learning, all of which are routinely implemented across classes at Balgowlah North PS, are equally effective in composite classes as in single grade classes.
Staff for 2021
Communication at Balgowlah North Public School is central to everything that we do. It occurs inside and outside the classroom between students, staff, executive and administrative staff, parents, families and the wider community. Just a reminder of our processes, first communication point is always the class teacher. Staffing for this year is as follows-
CLASS TEACHERS
KB K.1 SARAH BEE
KM K.2 JENNY MERCER
KW K.3 GEORGIA WITTON
1H 1.1 CAMILLE HADLEY
1R 1.2 JENNI REINHARDT (Assistant Principal S1)
1R 1.2 ELIZA McALLISTER (1R Wed)
1E 1.3 ELIZA ROSS
2H 2.1 ANNA HARRIS
2K 2.2 STUART KING
3/2P 2.3 ALICE POND Assistant Principal Relieving S2 Year 3
3/2P 2.3 MEGAN ROSE (3/2P Mon)
3E 3.1 KATHERINE EVANS
3M 3.2 MOLLY McINDOE
4/3C 3.3 SASCHA CARROLL
4V 4.1 PATRICIA VITALE Assistant Principal Relieving Year 4
4V 4.1 ELIZA McALLISTER (4V Tues)
4W 4.2 OLIVIA WAKELIN (Mon/Tue/Thurs/Fri)
4W 4.2 MICHAEL ZEPPEL (4W I.T Wed)
5M 5.1 CHRIS McCALL
5R 5.2 STEPHANIE ROOLEHT
6/5S 5.3 SUSIE STOCK (Assistant Principal-Relieving S3 Fri)
6M 6.1 AMY MUSSETT
6R/Z 6.2 RACHEL RIDLEY (Assistant Principal-S3 Mon-Thurs)
6R/Z 6.2 MICHAEL ZEPPEL (Thurs /Fri)
LIBRARY DEBBIE HORSLEY (Teacher/Librarian)
DEBBIE ELDER (Wed)
MUSIC MARGARET MALAR (Tue-Fri)
SPORT KERRY KELLY (Tue-Fri)
IT SUPPORT OLIVIA WAKELIN (Wed)
LEARNING SUPPORT AMANDA MASON
L.A.S.T KATRINA ROSS (Tue/Wed)
Brooke Keevers
Principal
Student Leaders 2021
Deputy Principal's report
It was an exciting morning as we welcomed our new Kindergarten students for 2021. I have the great privilege of supervising the Kindergarten team this year, so I look forward to spending lots of time getting to know the children and working in their classroom with them and their teachers throughout this year.
Diverse Learners Team
As Deputy Principal, I lead the Diverse Learners Team and look after the learning support needs for the school. Our learning support team meets weeks 3, 5, 7 and 9 and consists of Mrs Keevers, our new school psychologist Mr Dudley Poole, Mrs Amanda Mason and Mrs Katrina Ross. If you seek out external assessments from allied health professionals, such as speech therapists, OTs, pyschologists, vision and hearing specialists, we ask that you supply us with a copy of the report at your earliest convenience. These reports will be reviewed by the Diverse Learners Team. Should you supply these documents, you will receive a 'parent referral form'. This form must be returned as soon as possible. If any of the allied health professionals request information from our teachers, this can be accomodated, however, the reports will be sent directly back to the specialist.
Your child's classroom teacher is your very first port of call. It is important that you speak with your child's teacher regarding any concerns you may have about your child's learning. We have 'Meet the Teacher' interviews in Week 4 and 5, so this is a perfect time to share any information that your child's teacher may need to know early on.
Birthday Treats
Birthday treats are not required to be sent to school. If you decide to send a treat in, please ensure it is an icy pole. These will be given to the students at the end of the day. We are unable to accept or distribute homemade goods at this time.
Attendance Matters
Attendance is a legal requirement of all school age students and parents are expected to ensure that their child is at school every day. The above link gives detailed information about compulsory school attendance. The school is required to keep accurate and monitored attendance records. We ask that if your child is absent, then a note is submitted through the schoolzine app as a priority. If we do not have a note within two days of absence, your child's teacher may be in contact to follow up. If children are late to school they are to be walked to the office by a parent or guardian. Students are not to present to the office late without an adult. School begins promptly at 9.00am. The roll is marked shortly afterwards.
The following link is a great visual to discuss with your child and family about the impact of missing days of school.
I look forward to an exciting and productive 2021,
Mrs Belinda Norrie
A/Deputy Principal
My New Gallery
Chess
Learn to be a chess champion! Coaching for students at Balgowlah North Public School is held on Mondays from 12:50pm to 1:40pm, starting on 8 February 2021.
Learning and playing chess helps children develop their logical thinking and problem solving skills, improves their concentration and focus, while also being a great source of enjoyment. Activities include group lessons on a demonstration chess board or interactive whiteboard, puzzle solving and fun practice games.
Students earn merit awards by making checkmates, or by displaying skills and positive qualities, which all good chess players strive to develop.
The cost of the Chess Program for Term 1 is $108, payable directly to Sydney Academy of Chess. Enrolments will be on a term by term basis.
If your child is interested in taking part, you can now enrol online: https://sydneyacademyofchess.com.au/payment and enter the code: HUG1VRH3L9
For all enquiries, please contact Sydney Academy of Chess on (02) 9745 1170 or email enrol@sydneyacademyofchess.com.au
Library News
Sydney Writers Festival
I am very excited to be offering this wonderful excursion opportunity again this year! I would like to invite interested students from years 4, 5 and 6 to attend the Sydney Writers Festival on May, 3. This excursion is a wonderful opportunity for students to engage with popular authors talking about their craft, their books and answering questions. There is also an opportunity to meet the authors personally and get an autograph. More information about the authors presenting can be found at the following link: https://www.swf.org.au/primary-school-days-2021/
If you are would like to reserve a ticket for your child please register using the following link:
https://form.jotform.com/210311504357039
Scholastic Book Club Volunteer
We have been lucky to have a wonderful parent volunteer to organise Book Club for the last 5 years, however, as the family has moved on, I am putting the call out for a new volunteer. This position involves about 15 minutes of online administration each issue and about 2 hours of sorting and distribution of books. We would usually have 1-2 issues per term. Book Club is a highly valued resource at our school as it not only provides affordable reading resources for families but our school benefits greatly as well. For every Book Club order placed, Scholastic gives back 20% of the order spend to schools to purchase valuable educational resources via its Scholastic Rewards program. If you would like to assist with this job this year, please contact me - deborah.horsley1@det.nsw.edu.au
Digital Citizenship Agreements
This term all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 will bring home a digital citizenship agreement to discuss, agree to and sign. This is an opportunity to have a conversation with your child about what digital citizenship is about and how they can be safe, responsible, ethical and productive online. These understandings are also explicitly addressed in ongoing digital learning experiences at school. Thank you for taking the time to read through this agreement with your child to ensure they understand it and any questions can be answered. Please sign and return the form to school as soon as possible.
If you are interested in exploring this topic more and would like advice on how to support your children online the following resources are recommended:
Dr Kristy Goodwin’s blog - https://drkristygoodwin.com/blog/ or her book – Raising Your Child In A Digital World.
Common Sense Media website - great resource for parents with suggestions for appropriate apps, book and digital game reviews and general advice on children’s use of digital devices. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
eSafetyCommissioner – provides a wide range of online safety programs and resources. https://www.esafety.gov.au/
Debbie Horsley
4/3C busy learning!
Sport News
BNPS Summer PSSA (Primary School Sports Association) teams for 2021
Senior Volleyball (2 Teams)- Boys and Girls (Miss Rooleht)
Newcombe-Ball (2 Teams) Juniors (Miss Wakelin)
AFL - Junior and Senior (mixed teams) (Mr McCall)
Cricket - Junior and Senior (Mr King)
Eagle Tag - Junior and Senior Girls (Ms Mussett)
- Junior and Senior Boys (Ms Stock)
Trials will start this Friday and run for 2 weeks. Please make sure you child has the appropriate attire and equipment if necessary. Competition starts in Week 4 on Friday 19th Feb.
Tennis and Futsal will also be offered for 6 weeks at an additional cost to parents.
All students in years 3-6 will be participating in Friday afternoon sport regardless of whether or not they make a PSSA team. Students remaining at school will participate in a range of skills and games including an AFL program run by specialist coaches from NSW AFL.
Dates for your diary
22 February
- School swimming carnival
P&C News
Calling year 2 & 3 parents!
Traditionally each year the fundraising organisation is owned by the year 2 parents, however given last year didn’t allow us to deliver what we’d planned, we’re inviting years 2 & 3 to join us. If your child is not in these years but you’re still keen to be involved then great! We’d love to have you, please come along.
We will be meeting on Sunday 14th Feb at Woolgoolga Park 4-5pm. Have a chat to your friends about what you might like to organise or just come and long and we can set up groups to work together.
Being part of our school fundraising events is a great opportunity to get to know other parents, have fun and raise money for our school. We are lucky to have incredibly supportive and engaged families in our school who love to get behind our events and support us.
Many thanks,
P&C Fundraising Team
Second Hand Uniform Shop
Welcome to the second hand uniform shop!!
For those who are new to our school, BNPS has a second hand uniform shop available to all families. 100% of the money raised from sales goes directly back to the P&C and helps to provide resources for our children and the school.
As Covid still restricts parents on school grounds, the second hand uniform shop now uses an online ordering system.
All orders can be emailed through to: bnpsuniformshop@gmail.com
Please ensure you include your child’s name and class with the order.
Orders are filled on a fortnightly basis and placed in the office for collection by your child. Please note, the office is only accepting cash payments, and we would appreciate you trying to send your child with the correct money.
Reply emails will be sent advising when items are ready for collection, what items are / are not available, and the amount owing for orders that can be filled.
To make this whole process possible, we need your uniform donations. Please only donate items that carry the current logo and are in good condition (would you put it on your own child?). We would also appreciate items being washed before being donated and please only donate items that are the current BNPS school uniform. All uniform donations can be dropped to the office at anytime.
Please keep an eye out on the ‘North Balgowlah Community Group’ and ‘BNPS uniform shop’ Facebook pages for reminders of when orders are due.
Thanks in advance for your support,
Brooke Krncevic and Vanessa van Rijswijk
(Second Hand Uniform Shop Volunteers)
Green Grove
Community information
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