Newsletter Term 2 week 5 2024

"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

Reconciliation Week 
National Reconciliation Week is celebrated each year from 27 May to 3 June. It is a time to build on positive and respectful relationships and connections between Australians and First Nations Peoples. 

The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2024 is, “Now More Than Ever.” This year’s theme highlights the importance of educating our students on reconciliation, as they are our future leaders. 

Classes from K-6 learn about First Nations cultures, histories and languages across all Key Learning Areas. Below are some images of our flag raising ceremony at our Monday morning lines and our Year 6 students teaching their Kindergarten buddies about the significance of the colours on the Aboriginal flag.

Compost Poster Winners
A big thank you to all the students who submitted their designs for our Composting posters. They were all fantastic, and highlighted the importance of composting for our school and the environment. After a tight vote during our Eco-Warriors meeting we ended up with three posters to represent composting at BNPS. Congratulations go to Harvey R from Stage 3, Alice, Sofia and Eloise from Stage 2, and Charlie K from K-2. Keep an eye out for their awesome posters around the school.

Harbourside Music Festival
What a wonderful night of music last Thursday night. So wonderful to share the evening with Balgowlah Boys High School bands. A special thank you to our parents and the staff of Balgowlah Boys for providing such an amazing night of energy and passion for music. A great opportunity for our students to see where music can take you with persistance, committment and hard work. 

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Financial Review Media Visit
Last Friday 3R were visited by the media and photos were taken for the Financial Review! A fun opportunity for our students!

Staff and Parent Meeting Expectations
We have been updating our communication processes please be aware of the following expectations. As we are aware all meetings with staff are scheduled via a phone call or an email to the school. Teachers are professionals and will always wish to meet with you with all the information needed to make this as proactive and productive as possible for your child.

In circumstances where a face-to-face meeting is the most effective form of communication to discuss a student’s learning and/or wellbeing, parents and staff will follow the meeting protocols outlined below:

● All meetings will be set at a mutually convenient time that is pre-determined by all attendees.

● Meeting attendees are to be specified by both the school and parents to ensure all attendees have a clear understanding of who will be present at the meeting.

● All meeting attendees should have a clear understanding of the topics to be discussed at the meeting prior to attending. This enables all attendees to be prepared for a robust and productive discussion.

● The staff member organising the meeting will introduce all attendees, state the context and objectives for the meeting and ensure all attendees are provided with the opportunity to contribute.

● Meeting minutes will be taken by a staff member and kept in the student’s records.

● All meeting participants are to communicate respectfully. Disrespectful communication will result in the adjournment of the meeting.

Kind regards

Brooke Keevers
Principal

Assistant Principal's News

Stage 3 English
In the English context, Stage 3 teachers are dedicated to providing challenging and engaging experiences that motivate each student to realise their academic potential. The new English curriculum follows a two-year cycle, carefully structured to cover various stages of learning and ensure a comprehensive educational journey that encompasses all our outcomes. Over the past two years, interactive and enjoyable activities have been incorporated into English lessons through collaborative efforts involving teachers and Year 10 students from The Forest High School.

Last term, our theme centred around natural disasters, exploring them through descriptive narratives, symbolism, and their representation across geography and art. We examined descriptive narratives, aiming to vividly capture the essence and impact of various disasters, immersing readers in the emotional and physical aftermath. Symbolism adds layers of meaning, allowing us to uncover deeper insights into the human experience in the face of catastrophe.

Examining the representation of natural disasters in our text and novel studies program, we investigate how different regions are affected and how communities respond and recover. This exploration provides a broader perspective on the global implications of such events and the resilience of humanity. 

Our stage also explored the artistic portrayal of natural disasters, analysing how artists across different mediums interpret and convey these events. Through this portrayal we seek to understand the cultural and social dimensions of disasters, shedding light on their effects on the individual and communities. By delving into these aspects of natural disasters, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of their complexities and implications, inspiring empathy and meaningful discussion.

This term, Stage 3 is delving into fractured fairy tales, which present familiar stories from fresh and unique perspectives. This enables readers to explore and understand alternative viewpoints that may alter their perception of social constructs. With the introduction of post-modern twisted fairy tales, the primary objective is to encourage creative exploration of concepts such as belief, morality, and other abstract values. 

Quotes from BNPS students about the Forest High Writers Workshop

I loved the activity where we had to describe two pictures with imagery.
Will G

I liked making our own character, Laura the Explorer.
Josh W

I have liked collaborating with friends from the other classes.
Bronte S

I liked having a fun team leader that has led us through the character activity.
Elke D

Listening to our group leader describing what a theme is and how it can make a story better.
Isabelle G

I have learnt about ‘cool’ writing styles with a fun team leader that has helped me so I can add description to my writing.
Allegra K

School News

Premiers Debating Challenge
Last Thursday, the Arts Unit conducted a debating workshop held at Terrey Hills PS with a dozen other schools across the Northern Beaches. BNPS’ two teams, Team Manning and Team Bardoo were in attendance. The students learned all about how debates are structured, including terms such as manner, matter and method and why rebutting (opposing) the other team’s argument, is so important.

The first part of the day looked at debating theory and in the afternoon, the two teams competed against one another on the topic that all public schools should have a swimming pool. The affirmative team won, arguing that swimming was a vital life skill which would be taught cheaply and safely at a public school.

Sophia C, Amy G, Evie H-A, Charlie B, Talon D, Finn E, Will G and Ben B – well done!!

A big thank you to both Becky Garrett and Jen Barnes who provided transport on the day.

Chris McCall
Debating coordinator

Sydney Writers Festival - Chatswood
The Sydney Writers Festival was an amazing experience with all the awesome, five authors. I really enjoyed listening to Kate and Joel Temple at the start as they talked about their absolutely hilarious Frog Squad books and the Bin Chicken books. They brought out three inflated bin chicken floaties and let the crowd do a race with their hands. I absolutely loved this part of the writer’s festival as I also learned how to put humour into my stories. This was a humourous and brilliant part of the writer’s festival which was highly entertaining and I loved.

Next up came the fabulous Tasma Walton when she talked about Nerra: Deep Time Traveller. It was amazing to find out so many stories about the dreaming and I’m sure everyone else did too. Tasma put an incredible twist of fantasy with different First Nations stories from different parts of Indigenous Australia. I also loved how each relic would take her into a different realm of the dreaming. I learned so many different stories about the dreaming and how they linked to her story. This was amazing and I’m thrilled for her next book coming out next year. The book seemed really interesting and I had so much fun learning about different stories which link to how an animal might look or behave.

One of my favourites was Lev Grossman who showed his amazing book Silver Arrow (which I bought because it sounded so intriguing and interesting). The book was about a girl who had been gifted a steam train for her birthday from her uncle. I also thought it was interesting when he showed his research for animals and when he said in the story the animals could talk! It was inspiring when he said how 2 of his stories flopped but he never gave up, and then soon after he made the New York Times Best Selling book, The Silver Arrow. I’d encourage everyone to look at this book and I learned a lot about animals and how he had wrote the book.

Nova Weetman was amazing and I even learned she was named after a pickle! Her books were all based on history and we learned about what had happened in some past scenarios (Ned Kelly’s sister Kate and in the Olympics, swimming). In general, I loved hearing about her journey as a screenwriter (who also screen wrote H2O Just Add Water). And I found it interesting how she showed us how to make a character.

I just absolutely loved the writer’s festival and I wished it could’ve gone for longer.
Yumi Parmar 6/5M

On Tuesday the 28th of May was the Sydney Writers Festival, and BNPS was lucky enough to be participating in it so some lucky 5 and 6 students got the privilege of going. We had the honour of listening to five wonderful authors and their amazing stories and journeys to becoming such successful writers. 

We learnt that writing takes determination and passion and if you believe in yourself, you can make amazing things happen! We enjoyed the sense of creativity and humour that the authors had and learnt lots of useful tips on how to write successfully. Like how to create and structure our own stories, which was very useful and I'm sure we all really benefited from.

Throughout the lunch break and at the end of listening to the awesome authors, some students choose to buy a book that was appealing to them. They then got to get it signed by the author that wrote the story and had the fun opportunity to talk to the authors in person themselves. This was both exciting and an opportunity that we were all so grateful for.

It was such a fun and successful day. We learned so much about how to create characters and use the history of true stories to help create an amazing unique story that will bring much joy to many readers. It was a day we will never forget and are very thankful to have been a part of. Thanks to the Writers Festival, more and more young boys and girls want to be authors when they grow up!
Jess M & Tess P

Stage 3: Design, Make and Innovate.
On Tuesday the stage 3 student that didn’t go to the Sydney Writers Festival spent the morning building roller coasters made out of stock cards and testing them with marbles. The activity was supposed to test our knowledge on different types of energy (eg. kinetic, gravitational, etc). The success criteria was to research, design and build a functioning roller with our knowledge of forces and energy. 

Before designing our roller coaster we had to conduct research on kinetic, and gravitational energy which I learned a lot about and a plan to build it. There were so many unique designs and interesting obstacles like jumps and loops. There was a lot of trial and error but most people got there in the end. When we presented them almost all of them worked and completed the success criteria.
James H

Assembly Award Winners

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 2HL

Sports News

Library News

Art appreciation is like discovering a treasure chest full of wonderful surprises! It's all about looking at art with wide eyes and an open heart, noticing all the colors, shapes, and stories hidden within each masterpiece. When we appreciate art, we learn to see the beauty in every brushstroke and the emotion behind every sculpture. It's like taking a journey through someone else's imagination and understanding the world in a whole new way. Whether it's a painting of a sunny landscape or a sculpture of a mythical creature, art appreciation teaches us to celebrate creativity and find inspiration everywhere we look. So let's put on our detective hats and explore the amazing world of art together!

Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to Cooper C, Lachlan S and Arabella M  who have completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge for 2024.

Teacher Picks!

Miss Roohlet’s favourite picture book is:

‘Who Sank the Boat’ by Pamela Allen

The book tells the story of a cow, a donkey, a sheep, a pig and tiny little mouse who decide to go for a row in the bay. The end question being, who sank the boat? This book is illustrated beautifully throughout the story and allows children to make predictions on who they believe sank the boat.

“I always read it when I was younger and it made me laugh.”- Miss Roohlet

Admin News

Positive Behaviour for Learning

The Week Ahead

Thursday 30 May               Zone Cross Country
Thursday 30 May               Kindergarten School Tour 9.15am-10.00am
Monday 3 June                  3-6 Assembly 2.30pm
Wednesday 5 June            World Environment Day
Monday 10 June                King's Birthday
Tuesday 11 June               Online Guardian Parent Workshop

P & C News

Harbourside Music Festival - fundraising - thank you
A big thank you to Emma Roberts and the group of volunteers who manned the bbqs at our fantastic music event. Your efforts are appreciated! 

School Disco
Tickets on sale on Flexischools!

Koolkuna News

This is a reminder, sign up for the final 4 weeks of Motiv8 Sports from Thursday 6th June from 3:45pm. Please follow the link below if you wish to sign your child up for this incredible activity!

Motiv8 Sports - Kindy - Year 6
On Thursday afternoons in Term 2, Koolkuna OSHC will be joined by the Motiv8 Sports Team who will be running sports clinics to provide an opportunity to learn new skills across a range of sports and develop healthier lifestyle habits. Each clinic emphasizes on fun and inclusion, with inflatable obstacles, prizes and music to pump you up when participating in Flag ball Battle, Ultimate League, Gauntlet, Sponge Wars, Super Soccer, Super Sports Challenge and a final week Party Face Off.

Dates: Term 2 Term 2 Weeks 2-9 (9th May - 27th June)
Time: Thursday 3:45-5:00pm
Cost:  $60/child for 4 week program or $20/child for a one-off session

Motiv8 Sports Permission Slip

Koolkuna OSHC Admin

Canteen News

School Community News

School Sponsors