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

The Sand Pit is Open!

Watching our Kindergarten and Year One students play in our new sandpit and sensory garden has been one of the great joys of the last week. This incredible outdoor space provides the opportunity for rich connecton, imaginative play,social skill development and hands-on learning. Many of our teachers have also enjoyed the opportunity to take their classes outdoors and engage them in experiential learning. We are so fortunate to be able to work with our P&C to provide our students with such amazing spaces to play, grow and learn.

National Volunteer Week
This week I wish to acknowledge our amazing school community for the time, energy and dedication they give to volunteering to support our students and learning spaces. We are so fortunate to have a community of parents who assist in classrooms, support with rehearsals and work behind the scenes with our P&C. Thank you for the impact that you have in making a difference for our students.

Green Grove Working Bee
A huge thank you to those families who joined the working bee on Sunday! Great progress to tidy up this great school facility. Thank you Sadie for facilitating the day.

Big Smiles at Band Workshop
Last Sunday our band members spent the afternoon honing their music and instrumental skills at a band workshop.

Specialist tutors teamed up with our conductors to provide expert tutoring which saw all the bands improve and big smiles on the students’ faces.

The afternoon was a great success thanks to the team of parent helpers who helped with the logistics of the day and provided a scrumptious afternoon tea. Thank you very much to those parents for your support of the workshop day. Mrs McAllister was delighted to attend.

Brooke Keevers

Principal

Digital Citizenship
As our lives are becoming more and more embedded with technology, it is important for our students to be critical thinkers and develop good, safe practices for when they are online. As social media and gaming platforms are becoming increasingly common experiences for our students, we recognise the importance of early education on how to be a good digital citizen.

Last Thursday, students in Stage 2 and 3 were visited by Nathan from Online Guardians. This informative session provided students a clear snapshot of what life online is like for kids, highlighting trends and safety issues that are relevant to their experiences. Nathan provided the students strategies that enable them to think critically and make the best decisions.

Some of the content discussed with the students in the session included:

Knowing who they are talking to online and strategies to assist them if they feel that someone is not who they say they are or are acting strangely.
Importance of self control and setting boundaries when using devices. This includes setting time limits, applying privacy protection settings, removing devices from bedrooms at night and not accessing online platforms before the appropriate age.
Reporting anything inappropriate or uncomfortable that they encounter online to a trusted adult.

We supplement our learning in this topic in our Personal Development and Health (PDH) programs this term. Nathan will be returning to our school to run an Online Guardian Parent Workshop in Week 7 (Tuesday 11th June) with the aim for parents to gain tangible strategies, ideologies and tools that help them manage and guide their children through the digital world. We encourage all our parents to attend this workshop and to engage in regular discussions with your children about this important topic.

For more tips and information, visit the Online safety | eSafety Commissioner and the kids portal Kids | eSafety Commissioner.

Olivia Wakelin
Assistant Principal (Relieving)
Supervisor Stage 2

School News

Outdoor Learning
Kindergarten have loved their outdoor learning lessons this term!

ICAS
ICAS is an online academic competition that gives students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies.

This year, Balgowlah North Public School will be offering students in years 3-6 the opportunity to participate in the English and Mathematics competitions at school. Our decision to reduce the number of competitions we will be facilitating at school reflects decreasing student participation numbers in recent years.

We will be holding ICAS competitions on the following dates:

English- Thursday the 15th of August at 7:45am
Mathematics- Tuesday the 27th of August at 7:45am

Please note that there will be no make up sessions for any competitions.

We strongly encourage students interested in participating in other ICAS competitions to consider participation via the ICAS testing centre. More information can be found here: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/icas-jem-testing-centre

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS at Balgowlah North Public School this year, please do the following:

Go to the Parent Portal to sign up to chosen subject areas shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps
Enter our school’s access code – [TIP523]
Enter your child’s details, select the subject areas your child would like to participate in, then proceed to payment. English and Mathematics competitions that are hosted at school incur a cost of $19.95 per assessment.

Orders close via the parent payment system on July 15th.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

year of schooling
category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.

Class Snapshots KE

Sports News

NSWPSSA Boys Soccer Knockout
On Monday afternoon, the BNPS Senior A Boys soccer team played Beacon Hill PS as part of the NSWPSSA annual knockout competition. Unfortunately, the boys were beaten by a much stronger team, 4 goals to nil.

It was our team’s first game for the season and they showed tenacity and resilience in the face of a well-drilled unit.

A big thanks to those parents and caregivers who provided support and logistics on the day!

Kind regards,

Chris McCall

Library News

Congratulations to:-

Hugo M, Jasper C and Noah G who have completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge for 2024.

Space books for kids are an exciting way to introduce young minds to the wonders of the universe. These books often combine colourful illustrations with easy-to-understand explanations about planets, stars, galaxies, and space exploration. They cover a range of topics, from the solar system and astronauts to the mysteries of black holes and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Many space books for kids also include interactive elements such as pop-ups, flaps, and quizzes, making learning about space a fun and engaging experience. Whether your child dreams of becoming an astronaut or simply loves gazing at the stars, there's a space book out there to inspire their curiosity and imagination.

Teacher Picks!

Miss Richardson’s favourite picture book is: ‘ Who Am I ?’ by Philip Bunting.

Who Am I? is a trip into deepest inner space to answer one of life’s biggest questions. This is a book for anyone who has ever paused to wonder exactly who is wondering.

We are all from the same place, and made of the same stuff, but we each see ourselves as individuals. Who Am I? is an introspective exploration of that idea – a dive through the multitudes that comprise every one of us – to ask who we really are, once all of the external stuff is stripped away - Goodreads review

“ I love this book as it sends the message that you can choose who you will be in life and that it is up to you.” - Miss Richardson

Waste Free Wednesday

Congratulations to our winners 1M, 3R and 5V!

Admin News

School Bytes
School Bytes is the only digital platform for submitting absences so please use this.

SchoolZine and School ENews are no longer active
If your child is away from school you can submit an absence online (see below).

Go into your School Bytes portal and click "Attendance"
Under Planned Absence, click "Create" and complete the details

School Oval Wet Weather Closures
Teams wishing to use the school oval during and after rain, please check the Northern Beaches Council wet weather search option - Seaforth oval. If Seaforth oval is closed, the school oval is also closed.

Many thanks
Admin Team

Positive Behaviour for Learning

The Week Ahead

Thursday 23 May Debating Challenge Student Workshop
Thursday 23 May Harbourside Music Festival 6.30pm
Monday 27 May K-6 Assembly 1.45pm
Tuesday 28 May Sydney Writers Festival
Wednesday 29 May Netball Knockout 1.15pm
Thursday 30 May Zone Cross Country
Thursday 30 May Kindergarten School Tour 9.15am-10.00am
Monday 3 June 3-6 Assembly 1.45pm

P & C News

School Disco
We are after volunteers to assist with this important fundraiser for the band program. The money raised goes towards the operations of the band and assists with keeping your fees at a reasonable level and allows us to provide the band members with enrichment opportunities. Please get in touch with Karen Ciano and Nicole Margetts should you be willing to help out.

P & C AGM Meeting
The new date will be confirmed shortly.

Band News

Harbourside Music Festival at BNPS
Next Thursday BNPS will host the Harbourside Music Festival. All three of our bands will participate along with our friends from Balgowlah Boys High who will be bringing four bands for us to enjoy. We are looking forward to it. All BNPS families are welcome to attend and Mrs Keevers is thrilled to also be attending.

Koolkuna News

Our OSHC educational program focuses on the S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) curriculum. Each week, the program integrates a new S.T.E.A.M activity for each age group to participate in.

From engineering with Lego, discovering the law of physics through egg drop experiments and paper plane creations, uncovering habitats in different environments including Space and Oceans and the ecology of specific species.

Here are a few of the fun S.T.E.A.M activities we’ve done so far this term!.

Kind Regards,
Koolkuna OSHC Admin

Canteen News

School Community News

Balgowlah North Families - Can you help - We URGENTLY would like to hear from families who can assist in Hosting our Visiting Boys from VIETNAM - 12 - 13 years

Would you like to enjoy a full cultural immersion with your family and host our visiting Boys

12 - 13 years visiting from VIETNAM. The Boys will be attending Balgowlah Boys Campus and arrive Sun 02 June - 22 June 2024.

The boys all speak good English and are excited to engage with your family and play games, board games, sports, basketball, trampoline, with your family and experience a full immersion with your family. We are offering all families a good renumeration payment for hosting and inviting them into your home.

· Yes, They can share a room with your son or have their own room

· Your sons do not have to be the same age

· Yes, Visiting boys all speak English have guidelines with 24/7 local support

· Yes, they will fit in with your family everyday schedule

· They will attend Balgowlah Boys HS and need your assistance to get to/from school

· They will also do some sightseeing during the week with their Group

· They Arrive 2pm on Sunday 02 June – Saturday 22 June 2024

· We offer all families payment renumeration for hosting the Boys.

Please contact Jennifer as we keen to speak to families 0418 630 414 for details admin@campus.com.au

Snow Sports Interschools
Interschools runs a series of ski and snowboard races for school aged students. Registrations are open for students from Kindergarten to Year 6. It’s a fun week for the kids and all about the kids having fun at the snow. Students can compete for their school as part of a team or as individuals in any of the events.

CLICK HERE to watch the Interschools promotional video.

Last year we had a group of kids compete for BNPS at the Snow Interschools in Perisher. This year the interschools will be held in Thredbo 9^th – 12^th of July.

Division 4 - Year 5 and Year 6

Division 5 - Year 4 and below

Division 6 (Kindergarten to Year 2) is available in Alpine and Ski Cross only.

Alpine – 3-4 in a team or as individuals.

Other Events – 2-3 in a team or as individuals.

If you are also down at the Snow in August, your child can compete in the Cross Country race which is also lot of fun!

PLEASE NOTE: This is a family/community event and not organised by BNPS.

BNPS does not provide:

Transport, insurance or accommodation for team members or their families whilst Interschools competitions are being held
Supervision/Care of team members when they are free skiing
Chaperone/guide service to and from race courses

If you are interested in being part of the Snowsports Interschools please contact Robyn for more information:

0409130307 – robyn@smartrobbie.com.au.