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

NAIDOC celebrations
The theme for NAIDOC Week 2024 is “Keep the fire burning! Blak, Loud and Proud”. NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous cultures on earth.

Our school will celebrate NAIDOC Week in Week 1, Term 3 with a flag raising ceremony and “Bush to Bowl” will visit Balgowlah North on Thursday, July 25th. Students in Years 3-6 will go on a local bushwalk to explore native plants and K-2 students will participate in a hands-on Bush Tucker workshop. The ‘Bush to Bowl’ First Nations educators will share traditional Aboriginal knowledge and culture.

The Northern Beaches Council will host events to celebrate NAIDOC Week during the school holidays. For more information, visit: https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/whats-on/naidoc-week

Reports
What a wonderful term of learning and opportunities our students have had. Student reports will be published tomorrow, as we have transitioned to the School Bytes system if there are any issues please just email or call the school on Friday so that we can rectify any problems we may encounter. Thank you for your patience, system roll overs are a huge undertaking, I'd especially like to acknowledge the work of Julia Gough and Rachel Ridley.

Please celebrate your child's learning journey with them, growth for all our students is a personal journey that crosses the gamut of social, emotional and academic gains. Focusing on strengths and building self-belief in our students leads to positive motivation and engagement and builds personal efficacy as they grow older and tackle challenges in learning and life.

Rainbow Day
On Rainbow Day, students from kindergarten to year 6 brightened the school with their vibrant attire, each class donning different colours. This colourful celebration was an SRC initiative in aid of the Eat Up program, an important cause embraced by the year 6 students. In the morning, the older students took an active role in this generous effort. The initiative aimed to provide meals to those in need, and the Rainbow Day event helped raise awareness and funds, showcasing our school's commitment to community and kindness.

BNPS Communication and Sports procedures

Please see below updated communication procedures and sport processes. These are regularly updated and ratified through P&C. All our school procedures are easily accessible on our school website.

BNPS_Communication_Procedure_2024.pdf

BNPS_Sports_Policy_2024.pdf

Holidays
I would like to acknowledge the dedicated and passionate staff of Balgowlah North Public School. The energy and commitment they bring to work every day is reflected in the opportunities our students have to participate in both inside the classrooms and through the myriad of extra-curricular activities they can choose from. Planning is well underway for our fabulous showcase of Visual Arts planned during Public Education week, our Wakakirri Story Dance performance and 100 years of Kindergarten!

Enjoy the holidays, connect, relax and do what you love with your children. School resumes on Tuesday the 23rd of July.

Brooke Keevers
Principal

Assistant Principal's News

EAT UP
On the 2nd of July, year 6 participated in a program called Eat Up. We had a challenge to make 1000 sandwiches in 1 hour for Aussie school kids who are less fortunate than us. Instead of making 1000 sandwiches, we made 1237. Eat up came into existence 10 years ago when the founder, Lyndon Galea, found a school in the newspaper who was less fortunate and could often miss their lunches, so an idea bloomed in his head and that he would make some sandwiches for them. The school came back to him and said, ‘ can we do this tomorrow’. So, the program Eat Up was born. Luckily for us Wonder (white) sponsored us with their bread. All year 6 students got assigned a role, making sandwiches, wrapping sandwiches, and delivering sandwiches. It was a great experience for all of us and we really enjoyed it!

Cooper M and Olivia C

School News

Music from our First Nations People
In music lessons students were inspired by the First Nations people of Australia. We begun with a warm-up featuring Xavier Rudd's "Spirit Bird” and used tapping sticks to connect with the song's spirit and message. The tapping sticks, traditional indigenous instruments, help students develop a sense of timing and coordination.

Following the warm-up, students are guided to compose their own soundscapes inspired by the natural environment. They are encouraged to listen to and reflect on the sounds of nature, such as birds, water, and wind. Using indigenous instruments like didgeridoos, clapsticks, and various percussion tools, students create soundscapes that evoke the Australian landscape.

Throughout the lesson, there is an emphasis on understanding and respecting the cultural significance of the instruments and music, fostering a deeper connection to the traditions of the First Nations people.

City Square Homework Project
For Stage 3 homework this term, students were tasked with designing a city square. The brief from the Northern Beaches Council was to develop a new ‘City Square’ in Manly, spanning 2500m², to boost our tourism. The design needed to attract tourists while honouring the First Nations People of our city. This project involved thorough research, meticulous planning, creative design, and the production of a business plan and model. The students had the freedom to use digital tools, LEGO, and various other materials to build their City Square. We are thrilled to showcase some of the wonderful results of these projects here.

Congratulations to our winners 5V and 1M

Early Stage 1 Snapshot

Sports News

Sporting Success
Sophia C will be playing at the Netball NSW HART Junior State Tournament from 6-8 July in Penrith. She is playing on the Representative Team for Manly-Warringah where they will be competing with the top 20 teams across NSW for the 12U Girls State Championship title.

Good luck Sophia!

PSSA

There are no PSSA games or training on this week.

Library News

Teacher Picks!

Miss Mete’s favourite picture book is:

‘Girls’Don’t Fart Okay!!’ by Lisa Regan

This is a hilarious, stinky tale about a smelly little boy named Ethan and his rag tag group of friends who are on the hunt to catch a girl that farts. Of course, girls DO fart ... so Ethan and his friends learn some lessons about embarrassing bodily functions and equality between boys and girls.

“I like this book because it is full of rainbows, magic, fairies and pink - which is my favourite colour! I love how you get lost in a world of magic” - Miss Mete

Admin News

Communications
Emails are checked every morning and periodically throughout the day. School office hours are from 8.30am - 3.30pm. Please do not use email to pass on messages about going home arrangements as staff may not always be able to access emails during the school day. Please call the office to communicate messages to your child

Kindergarten 2025
We are enrolling now for 2025, if you have not done so already, please submit an online enrolment for your child. Online Enrolment Application (nsw.gov.au)

Please see the flyer below for important dates and if you would like to book a tour, please call the office on 9949 4499.

Happy Holidays!

Admin Team

Positive Behaviour for Learning

The Week Ahead

Friday 5 July Last day of Term 2
Tuesday 23 July First day of Term 3

P & C News

Koolkuna News

Winter Vacation Care
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.

Under our Licence Agreement with the Department of Education, fees are due to be increased at the beginning of Term 3 to align with the associated annual increases in staff wages and centre licence fees.The table below details the minor fee increases that will become effective Tuesday 23rd July.

Koolkuna OSHC Admin