Newsletter Term 4 Week 1 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."
Creative Wednesday was so much fun!
Principal's report
Welcome back to our Balgowlah North Public School community. I hope you and your families were able to switch off during the holidays and take some time out to focus on family and friends. Our teachers are excited to be back connecting with their students and their learning, teachers have planned engaging and exciting content for the next few weeks of 'Home Learning'.
As we are now all aware the return to school plan has been issued by the Department of Education
‘Students will return to face-to-face learning with NSW Health-approved COVID-safe settings on school sites in the following order as announced by the Premier on Thursday 30 September:
- 18 October: department preschools, Kindergarten and Year 1
- 25 October: Years 2, 6 and 11
- 1 November: Years 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10
Our school leadership team met yesterday to begin planning what our return to school for Balgowlah North students will look like. More information will be provided in next week's newsletter as we plan for our Kindergarten and Year One students on the 18th of October.
As we are all aware we are still currently operating schools at Level 4 in Sydney and with the staged return this will mean we will move back to Stage 3 plus restrictions. This afternoon I will attend a broadcast with the Secretary Georgina Harrison to receive further clarity around the safe return of students to school. We are all very excited to be working towards face to face learning!
Thank you to Harry and Amali for their welcome back message for our students
Staffing Changes
Welcome back to Jenny Mercer and Julia Gough to the Kindergarten team. Congratulations to Sarah Bee on the safe arrival of Lillian Grace. A first baby is a very special time. Please be aware that George Vella our GA will be taking leave for this term. George will be greatly missed, but we have been able to have Ashley, our part time GA, fill this position for the rest of the term.
Stay safe everyone
Brooke Keevers
Principal
School news
Transition Back to School
As we begin to prepare for our students’ return to school, the Diverse Learner’s Team will be considering how we will support our students who may find this transition challenging. If you have any concerns about how your child will transition back to face to face learning, please make contact with your child’s Class Teacher so we can ensure we develop a support strategy to assist them in their return.
ICAS Update
The ICAS assessment window has been postponed to accommodate students’ planned return to school in Term 4. We have rescheduled our school ICAS tests to the following dates:
Science: Thursday 11th November
English: Monday 15th November
Maths: Wednesday 17th November
Unfortunately, ICAS have been unable to extend the assessment window for the writing competition. Parents who have enrolled their children in the ICAS writing assessment are asked to email them for a refund: icasassessments@janison.com.au
NAPLAN
The results have arrived at school and will be posted home to parents this week.
Opportunity test
The opportunity Class placement test will be held on Wednesday 17th November. This will be administered at school. More information will be sent to families from the High Performance Unit within the next few weeks.
Tell Them From Me Survey
Once again, we are asking our parent community to support our ongoing process of reflection by taking part in the The Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Parent Survey. The TTFM survey is run annually and is anonymous, voluntary, and easy-to-use. It provides us with valuable information based on parents’ responses to a comprehensive questionnaire that covers parents’ perceptions of their child’s experiences at home and at school.
We encourage all of our parent community to take part in this survey as it assists us in building an accurate and timely picture that we can use to inform our planning for the future.
Please use the link below to participate in the 2021 TTFM Parent Survey.This survey will close on Friday 22nd October.
http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/bnpsparents2021
Rachel Ridley
R/Deputy Principal
Students not returning for 2022
Planning is underway for 2022. If your child will not be returning in 2022 could you please complete the google link below. This information is very important because it has an impact on our class structures and staffing of the school.
Kindergarten enrolments for 2022
We currently have 65 students enrolled for kindergarten next year. If you know of any families that have not enrolled yet it would be greatly appreciated if you could do this. We are currently reviewing our orientations for next term as part of our planning for students returning to school.
A moment in time
At the end of term 3, Stage 3 Students were asked to reflect on how art can be an expression of both hope and frustration. By composing a photo of their front door, with and without street glimpses, they thought about how the effects of learning from home can be considered through self expression.
Michael Zeppel
Teacher
Allegra recently graduated from Minilit. She was extremely proud of all her hard work and so she should be!! A very special moment.
Dates for your diary
20 October
- P&C meeting
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