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 report

Welcome back to our Year 2 to 6 students. What a fabulous sight, our playgrounds full of happy, smiling children and the air filled with the sounds of laughter and chatter. It has been such a great few days, I have had the opportunity to chat to our students and many of our students have been coming to share their writing and school work with me. It is wonderful to see how much learning and growth has happened during the Home Learning period for so many of our students.

Thank you to the parents who have let us know if they are not returning to Balgowlah North in 2022. This information has an impact on class structures and is important for us to be aware of. We have 70 kindergarten students enrolled for next year which is fantastic. I have included the latest Balgowlah North Information booklet which we have created for our new families that enrol. It may also be a useful resource for our parent body as well. It can also be found on our school website.

Brooke Keevers

Principal

BNPS Parent information handbook

School news

What a monumentous week for Balgowlah North- it is the first time in 4 months that we have had all of our students back on-site with us and you could feel the buzz in the air! Teachers were beaming and students were bursting with excitement as they reconnected with their friends and resumed their classroom learning.

Our focus this week has been on ensuring our students, staff and parents feel safe, connected and included in their transition back to school. We are so incredibly proud of how our students have managed the return to school with confidence and resilience and we commend them on how responsibly they have adhered to expectations around changes to playground routines and designated school entry and exit zones.

Well done Balgowlah North- it is so good to all be back together.

Kindergarten Orientation and 2022 Transition to School

While we continue to operate at the Department of Education’s Levels 3+ guidelines for schools, Kindergarten Orientation programs remain on hold. We will continue to monitor the advice for schools and notify families as soon as possible if these guidelines change and we are able to invite students on-site for face to face orientation sessions.

In the event the guidelines remain unchanged, we are planning an engaging virtual orientation program to support our Kindergarten 2022 students in feeling connected to our school.

Canteen orders through Flexischools

We are implementing a roster for students to access the canteen at lunch time to ensure we are operating in accordance with covid safety guidelines. We strongly encourage our families to organise a lunch order through Flexischools wherever possible.

Check-In Assessment

Next week students in years 3-6 will participate in a reading and numeracy Check-in assessment. The Check-in assessment is a NSW Department of Education online assessment available to support schools to assess and monitor student learning.

The assessments will supplement existing school practices to identify how students are performing and to help teachers tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs.

Tell Them From Me Student Survey

In Weeks 5 and 6 of Term 4, our students from Years 4-6 will be asked to take part in the Tell Them From Me Semester 2 Snapshot. This survey will ask students about a range of experiences, including their engagement and wellbeing at school and beyond. It also asks students about teaching practices and their learning environment. This survey provides us with valuable information about student perceptions of their school that we can use to support our planning for the future.

If you wish to read more about the Tell Them From Me Student Survey, you can do so here

https://education.nsw.gov.au/student-wellbeing/tell-them-from-me/information-for-parents-and-carers/your-childs-participation

If you do not wish for your child to take part in the survey please contact the school office for a non-consent form and return it to the school by Friday the 29th of October. All students will complete the survey unless a non-consent form is received.

Head to Health

Our School Counsellor, Dudley Poole, would like to inform our school community of a community support service for anyone of any age whose mental health may be suffering because of the current pandemic.Head to Health Pop Up is for all people in NSW. It offers telehealth counselling and on-site services at a range of locations across NSW. For more information you can visit he website:

https://sydneynorthhealthnetwork.org.au/head-to-health-pop-up/#1630642195887-01e573c2-1163

Sports Jerseys

Students in 3-6 are reminded to please return their sports jerseys to their sport teacher as soon as possible. Please ensure your child’s jersey is returned clean.

Rachel Ridley

R/Deputy Principal

2023 Selective High School information

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.

link to google form

Kindergarten enrolments for 2022

We currently have 70 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.