Newsletter Term 2 Week 7 2021

"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 report

This week is National Reconciliation Week. Significant for all Australians, not only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it's a time for us to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, while exploring how we can all contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. This year’s theme is More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.

Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations and importantly as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Over the course of this week I would encourage you to have conversations with your children about the significance of this week.

Professional Learning 

Over the next few weeks our teachers will be working together in their stage teams. These days are extremely important. “Collective efficacy is about the belief that together we can make a difference to the students we teach.” Teachers work together on these days to programme for next term, and explore collaborative inquiry in order to improve what is happening in the classroom for our students. It also gives them time to discuss individualized needs of students. Our kindergarten teachers worked together on Monday. We also have many teachers in our school who are aspiring leaders. On Wednesday they will engage in professional learning that will assist them with building their leadership capacity.

Attendance

Our school, in partnership with parents, is responsible for promoting the regular attendance of students. Attendance is a priority in all NSW schools. We have clear processes at BNPS to ensure all our students are attending school. I’d like to acknowledge and thank parents for working hard with us to ensure that appointments wherever possible are made outside of school time. Our aim for our school is to raise our attendance to 97%. If at any time you need our support please reach out as we have quite a few processes in place to transition students to school at the start of the school day. When your child does not attend school, they miss opportunities to learn, make friends and build skills.

Please consider the table below when signing your child out of school early or taking extra weekend holidays with your family on a regular basis. 

Brooke Keevers

Principal

School news

This week, we welcome back seven student teachers from the University of New South Wales, who will be completing a four week professional experience placement at Balgowlah North Public School. These student teachers spent time at our school in Term One, observing and assisting in the classroom. They will now be guided by their supervising teachers to take on some teaching responsibilities within the classrooms of 2H,3/2P, 3M, 4/3C and 5R. It is our pleasure to be able to facilitate the learning and  development of the teachers of tomorrow and we look forward to being able to offer our student teachers an engaging professional experience placement for the rest of this term.

Community and school safety

Unfortunately we have had quite a lot of vandalism recently. If you see any inappropriate behaviour after school or on the weekend can you please report to school security or call the police.  Our General Assistant George Vella does a fabulous job of keeping our playgrounds safe and well maintained. It is unfortunate that he has to be picking up broken alcohol bottles and cleaning vandalism from our buildings. We will be asking the police to include the school on their community rounds.

ICAS

Balgowlah North Public School will be participating in the world-renowned ICAS Assessments this year. ICAS is designed to target students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills in a range of learning areas.

These examinations incur an entry fee and ARE NOT affiliated with the Department of Education. Students who participate will be competing against students in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Africa, Pacific Countries and America. This is an opportunity for students to gain a measure of their own achievement  in an external assessment situation.

We encourage you to consider entering your child into ICAS this year. The assessments are suitable for students wishing to extend themselves academically.

Our school has signed up for the ICAS Assessments Parent Payment System (PPS) for Writing, English, Maths and Science. Through this system parents can pay for ICAS directly online while tests will still be held at our school. Please use the following details to register your child no later than Friday 11th June. 

PPS access details for parents:

Your school access code is: GUU692

Your parent page link is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Every student must also return a consent form, detailing the purchased assessments, to the school office, by Friday 11th June. 

MiniLit Parent Workshop

This year, we have introduced the MiniLitprogram for some of our Year 1 and 2 students. MiniLit is an evidence-based, explicit and effective early literacy intervention program for teaching reading skills. Our information session will provide parents with an overview of the content covered in the program and how it supports Stage 1 students to develop their literacy skills. 

Time: 9:00-9:45am

Date: Thursday 3rd June

Location: Library

Register your interest here:

https://forms.gle/MAn15ZLeZvrGGkbeA

Rachel Ridley

R/Deputy Principal

School sport - Krav maga

PBL

Be Respectful

Weekly focus:  Keep toilets clean and report any problems immediately

Activity: 

• Dispose paper towel properly into bins
• Report any problems to a teacher immediately 
• Broken toilets/taps
• No soap
• Graffitti 

Dates for your diary

03 June

• NRL Gala day
• MiniLit parent presentation

04 June

• Regional cross country

05 June

• Music workshop
  

08 June

• U R Strong

10 June

• Remote P&C meeting

P&C news

Pack your picnic baskets and don your tennis whites for the Ping Pong Picnic at BNPS!!Enjoy an afternoon on the green (oval) enjoying refreshments, or loosen up the elbow and take to the table for the inaugural Ping Pong tournament! That’s right, the table tennis table is moving from the back deck to the school grounds and it’s time to showcase your skills.It will be a fun-filled afternoon with entertainment for the kids and other games and activities, a sausage sizzle, a fabulous raffle, lolly and ice cream shop – the works! All to raise money for technology for our kids classrooms!And of course there will be Ping Pong, and all levels are welcome.BNPS Kids entry to the tournament is included in the price of a family picnic ticket of $30.  Participant names for kids are taken on the day and played in year groups for some friendly fun and laughs!Adults tournament entrants are just $10 per person and all playing levels welcome – just indicate your standard: 1 = Excellent, 2 = Decent, 3 = Social.The comp will be played as doubles so pair up and enter a team of two, or just enter as a single and we’ll find your partner for you!The format is round robin and it’s about having fun, not winning. But there will also be an edge-of-your-seat Grand Final, bragging rights and lots of fabulous prizes!Paddles and balls provided. DON’T MISS THIS EPIC COMMUNITY EVENT! BUY YOUR TICKETS ON FLEXISCHOOLS FROM NEXT WEEK.

Community news

Koolkuna

National Sorry Day

Koolkuna OSHC acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and their Elders past and present. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and region. 

Last Wednesday, 26th May, Koolkuna OSHC recognised National Sorry Day through an array of immersive activities and Dreamtime stories. The children opened their perspectives to different means of storytelling and communication and participated in hands on crafts, activities and Traditional Indigenous games such as Boolgola, Keentan and Kai. 

The Koolkuna OSHC team donated $2.50 for each child booked into BSC or ASC on the day towards "Clothing the Gaps" - an Aboriginal owned social enterprise and can now wear this merchandise as part of their uniform. 

Vacation Care

Koolkuna has had an amazing response from families using the My Family Lounge App to book in for Winter Vacation Care! Unsurprisingly, some days have already become fully booked! 

In order to book in, please open the My Family Lounge App - find the bookings tab and select the session labelled "Vacation Care K-2" and "Vacation Care 3-6" where you are able to book each child in for the days requested. When the day turns purple, that is confirmation that your child is successfully booked in for that day.

If the day is red, unfortunately the group is fully booked. Please do not try and book your child into the other group but rather contact Koolkuna to be added to the waitlist.

Koolkuna OSHC Admin Team

Mob: 0400 774 697 | admin@koolkunaoshc.com.au

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