Newsletter Term 2 week 6 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

Balgowlah North Strategic Improvement Plan 2024 - 2027

School vision statement
Our vision at Balgowlah North Public School is to develop resilient, thoughtful, curious and collaborative students. Students who are lifelong learners, able to challenge themselves,create connections and contribute positively to our world. By fostering our motto 'Love of Learning', this ensures every student and teacher is part of a community of continuous improvement. Curiosity and creativity in the learning culture is underpinned by high expectations with opportunities for collaborative practice and feedback. Our school is a place of quality teaching, learning and behaviour. We embrace diversity and pride ourselves on ensuring every student is known, valued and cared for.

Student Growth and Attainment
To maximise student learning growth in English and mathematics and build strong academic success through effective, evidence-informed teaching, opportunities for challenge with high expectations for all.

Fostering resilient, curious, thoughtful and collaborative learners
Purpose: We aim for an optimal learning environment for all by strengthening student engagement, student voice and student wellbeing. We will provide our students with the skills to grow and thrive in an ever-changing world.

A collaborative, connected culture of engagement
To maximise student learning growth, teachers collaborate to ensure a deep understanding of student learning. Teaching and learning programs are adjusted, to ensure a culture of continuous engagement with a focus on differentiation.

Behaviour Expectations

Balgowlah North Public School embeds positive behaviour approaches, safe practices and inclusive education. Our school implements inclusive and positive student behaviour support and management approaches that are aligned to the Behaviour Code for students. 

Our school behaviour expectations are underpinned by our shared belief that all children and young people have a right to an education where students can access and fully participate in learning in a calm, safe environment. We believe that all members of our school community have:
● the right to learn
● the right to be safe
● the right to be treated with dignity and respect, and
● the responsibility to uphold these rights for others

Over the past few weeks we have had some incidents across the school that have been in breach of our expectations of student behaviour. When our students are both in and outside of school the behaviour expectation is the same and the consequences are also the same. Consistency is key, I have included an excerpt from our URStrong program that may assist you as parents in navigating the self regulation space with your child. Understanding how to manage emotions on the soccer field, in the playground as well as at school and at home when things don't go their way are important life skills that are practiced and as we learn to manage our emotions we become kinder, more compassionate human beings. 

"By way of definition, Mean-on-Purpose behaviour is intentionally cruel, rude, malicious, unkind, manipulative behaviour that is designed to hurt someone and it is uncommon in children. Why?

All kids want to get along and belong. Children are born joyous and see the world with wonder and awe. They love being around other kids, playing and experiencing that feeling of ‘friendship’. Not only is friendship a basic need, forming friendships and being part of a “tribe” is a survival instinct deep within all of us. As teachers and parents, we need to assume the best in children, give them the benefit of the doubt, and not project a very strong negativity bias or our own past traumas onto kids.

It is far more common for children to experience Friendship Fires® (common issues or conflicts like misunderstandings, disagreements, or hurt feelings) as a result of Mean-by-Accident behavior.

Consider this example: A child sees their friend is having sushi for lunch, plugs their nose and says, “Eww! Sushi? That’s gross!” Was that child being Mean-on-Purpose? Highly doubtful. It is far more probable the child is simply being honest about how they feel. Yes, it’s rude. Yes, it’s inconsiderate and lacks empathy. But, their intention was not to purposefully make their friend feel bad – they just don’t like sushi and haven’t yet learned when and how to filter their comments. Part of a child’s social-emotional development is learning those “unwritten rules” and developing a more sophisticated inner-filter to ‘bite their lip’ and control impulsive reactions.

With all of this in mind, a child who is acting out in Mean-on-Purpose ways needs help. Children or teenagers who do exhibit Mean-on-Purpose behaviour might be experiencing difficulties at home, mirroring behaviours they’ve seen in others, or they might be struggling with mental illness like anxiety or depression. Whatever the reason, Mean-on-Purpose behavior is never okay and it is a big red flag that something is wrong. They need adult intervention to provide them with the support they need.

In addition to getting a child professional support (School Counsellor, Psychologist, or Therapist) to find out the root cause of the behaviour, here are a few ways parents can support a child who is displaying Mean-on-Purpose behaviour:

FOCUS ON EMOTIONAL REGULATION:  ‘negative emotions’ are big and overwhelming. Our URStrong program is packed full of lessons devoted to this, helping children ‘name it to tame it’ (a term coined by Dr. Dan Siegel). As parents, we can help our child who is escalating emotionally (“dysregulated”) by:

• Naming the emotion for them: “Woah, buddy, I can see that you’re feeling frustrated.”
• Validating their emotional experience: “We all feel frustrated sometimes and I know it feels hard.”
• Offering a suggestion to tame the emotion: “Why don’t you ‘push pause’ on this game for a moment and go get a big drink of water.” (For younger children, distraction techniques work well here too: “Why don’t you ‘push pause’ on this game for a moment. Let’s go see if we can spot any birds in the trees! Have you ever seen a rainbow-coloured bird before? That would be cool!”)
• Identify why it’s important they calm down: “The game isn’t fun for anyone right now and I know how much you love playing this game.”
• Encouraging them: “You can do it! You’re so good at calming yourself down. I’m proud of you!”
• Modelling calm behavior by using a quiet, gentle voice and demeanour. It’s important to remember that an escalated adult cannot de-escalate an escalated child.

Like a balloon blowing up with air, we want to catch them before they pop and give them strategies to let that hot air out. The goal, however, is their self-awareness develops to the point where they notice when they’re starting to escalate and take an action to calm down.

ROLE-PLAY: Role-playing is essential for those children who typically act on impulse. Imagining themselves in different scenarios and role-playing their way around the Friend-o-Cycle clears those neural pathways in the brain so they know how to react appropriately the next time they feel big, negative emotions (frustrated, annoyed, angry, etc). Sometimes children are mirroring behaviours they’ve seen before, particularly on the sportsfield so we need to ‘reteach’ them that Mean-on-Purpose behaviour is not allowed and support them in finding a more helpful reaction.

Empowerment comes from knowing exactly what to say and exactly what to do, As you’re role-playing with your child, help them craft a script for what they could say in those moments. What is their Exit Strategy if the game or activity is too intense and they feel themselves escalating? Maybe they say to their friends, “I’ll be right back – I’ve got to go to the bathroom.” Help your child come up with a one-liner they can say that feels right for them and role-play!

SET THEM UP FOR SUCCESS: We help children learn to make healthy choices in their friendships and develop boundaries. We do this by using the Friend-o-Meter – a visual tool that helps kids reflect on how they are feeling in their friendships. When children are in the Red-Zone on the Friend-o-Meter, it might trigger that Fight/Flight/Freeze/Fawn response. For children who exhibit Mean-on-Purpose behaviour, their instinct is to Fight.

As parents, we can help our child identify the activities or situations that activate their Fight response. You might say, “I notice when you play handball, you seem to really get frustrated. Do you agree? Do you think handball brings out the best in you? What else could you do at recess that would be fun that would keep you in the Green-Zone on the Friend-o-Meter?”

TEACH THEM ABOUT STRENGTHS: What are your child’s strengths? Character Strengths represent positive qualities within a child that help to bring out the best in them. When they are using their strengths, they feel good – energized, excited, and motivated. These attributes help children to learn and improve their mental health & wellbeing. Kids feel successful and happy when they are using their strengths.

According to VIA Institute of Character, humans possess 24 Character Strengths in different degrees. We all have a different mixture or combination of strengths; some representing our top strengths (often called Signature Strengths). With all strengths, however, if they are overused or misused they can actually be a weakness.

For children and teenagers, the two strengths we see that are often misused and end up being Mean-by-Accident are Honesty & Humour. With honesty, there are times we need to bite our lip. With humour, there are times the joke is ‘too far’ and comes across rude. As parents, you can help your child identify that tipping point by teaching them about strengths and letting them know when they’ve gone too far.

FOCUS ON KIND-ON-PURPOSE: As kids strengthen their self-awareness & social-awareness, we need to teach them to be Kind-on-Purpose. When a child learns to prioritize kindness, they follow the age-old rule: Think before you speak/act. This would look like a child keeping their comments about sushi to themselves because, even though they don’t like the smell of it, they know it will make their friend feel bad.

As a parent, you might say to your child: “Ooops! Is telling your friend their feet are stinky Kind-on-Purpose? When it comes to honesty and kindness, we always choose Kind-on-Purpose!” Or, when your child is trying to be funny but it is coming across as rude, you might say: “Buddy, I know you’re trying to be funny, but is that Kind-on-Purpose?”

Helping children understand that kindness is strength will go a long way in helping them make and maintain happy, healthy friendships. Kindness, warmth, and positivity are qualities that attract friends. Remind your child to be a Friendship Magnet! " Our URStrong program has many more great tips to assist you with navigating this space with your children.

Brooke Keevers
Principal

Assistant Principal's News

Learning Dispositions Wk 6 - AP news 
Last term in our Week 8 newsletter, we introduced our new Learning Dispositions. We began by looking at resilience! Since then, students have been continuing to engage with resilience, exploring what it means and developing strategies they can use, particularly in learning. When we are resilient in our learning, we challenge ourselves, bounce back and persist. 

We are continuing on the Learning Dispositions journey through the introduction of collaboration. Most days students are regularly engaging in collaborative opportunities. From navigating the playground to engaging in literacy groups, sports teams or even robotics lessons, students are constantly in group situations. But what does it truly look like to be collaborative?

This term, students will be explicitly exploring and practicing this concept in classrooms. To be collaborative, we learn with others, share our ideas respectfully and demonstrate active listening. So in the next few weeks, why not spark up some discussion with your children about how they have been collaborative this week?

Check out our new posters that are now displayed in our classrooms. Although our next focus is on collaboration, we still refer to the other dispositions as we continue to embed these into our school.  

Olivia Wakelin

Assistant Principal (Relieving)
Supervisor Stage 2

School News

Kindergarten Visit to Manly Dam
In week 5 our Kindergarten students visited Manly Dam for our Outdoor Learning program. We looked for objects that began with "sh" and "th" phonemes. We had a wonderful time exploring our country in Reconciliation Week.

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Waste Free Wednesday Winners

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 4M

Sports News

Zone Cross Country
Last Thursday, our cross-country runners participated in the zone championships, competing against 11 other schools from the Manly zone. It was a glorious sunny day, filled with impressive running and tremendous effort from all our students. Many thanks to the parents who came out to support the team.

Overall: Balgowlah North placed 4th behind Manly West, Curl Curl North and Manly Village.  Well done team - a tremendous achievement!  

Results
8/9 years boys 2km- Josh E 5^th
10 years girls   2km- Alice O 3^rd, Aria B 5th
11 years boys  3km- Harrison E 1st
12/13 years girls  3km- Millie G 8th
12/13 years boys 3km- Jamieson S 2nd

Josh E, Alice O, Aria B, Harrison E and Jamieson will all go on to compete at the Regional Cross Country championships.  Congratulations!!!  We wish you all the best.

 Susie Stock and Chris McCall

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NSWPSSA Netball Knockout
On Wednesday afternoon the Balgowlah North Senior A netball team played in the 1st round of the NSWPSSA Netball Knockout. The team of Sammy D, Evelyn S, Abby Mc, Tess P, Meg A, Sophia C and Louisa O demonstrated a very high skill level and lots of enthusiasm to beat a determined Harbord Public School 25 - 8. We were very proud of your sportsmanship and conduct on the day.

Susie Stock
Assistant Principal Relieving

Library News

Teacher Picks!

Mrs Tobler’s favourite picture book is:

‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell

A child writes to the zoo for a pet. The zoo sends a series of unsuitable pets, revealed behind flaps in the form of crates and packing cases. These animals are all sent back for different reasons, except the last one, which is perfect! 

“Dear Zoo was repetitive and it's a flip book. When I was reading it to my children when they were babies, they always laughed when they flipped the page and it wasn’t the animal that it said. It makes me smile!”- Mrs Tobler

Admin News

Positive Behaviour for Learning

The Week Ahead

Monday 10 June                King's Birthday public holiday
Tuesday 11 June               Online Guardian Parent Workshop
Saturday 15 June               P & C Trivia Night
Monday 17 June                K-2 Assembly 2.30pm
Thursday 20 June              Band Disco
Friday 21 June                   Regional Cross Country

P & C News

Trivia Night
Not long now until Trivia Night! Be sure to get your raffle tickets on Flexischools. There are lots of great prizes to be drawn. 2 tickets for $10 or 6 for $20. 

School Disco
Tickets on sale on Flexischools until Monday 17 June! Swipe across on Flexischools to find the tickets, past the trivia image. 

Koolkuna News

Please find attached the 2024 Winter Vacation Care Program. Bookings are open via the Xplor Home App.

Please use the Xplor Home App to find the bookings tab and book into the appropriate sessions labelled "Vacation Care K-2" or "Vacation Care 3-6". If your session does not appear, this is due to the session being fully booked. In this instance, please select “request a space” for this day which will automatically add you to the waitlist.

If your place is approved from the waitlist, you will receive a notification on your Xplor Home App so please ensure you are monitoring this.

Changes or cancellations will be accepted up until 2 weeks prior to your booking and must be requested via Email.

Koolkuna OSHC Admin

Canteen News

School Community News

School Sponsors