Newsletter Term 4 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
Celebrating students
What a lovely way to spend time, watching our students compete online in the DanceSport Confidence Finale last weekend. Congratulations to Beau, Max J, Ella M, Alex D, Lani and Talia who all made the top 16 finalists. Beau and Lani made it in the Jive and Talia in the Salsa. Well Done to Max J who made it for his Tango and Ella for her fabulous Cha Cha!. The fact that they received 800 videos makes it such an awesome effort. Congratulations goes to Beau who went on to make it to the final, finishing 6th.
Congratulations also to Henri O, Jack V and Ivy V who have completed the Minilit program we are very proud of you all!
Remembrance Day
Taking part in the local Remembrance Day ceremony at Manly Dam last Thursday was a special moment for myself, Annie and Caleb, our school captains. To be able to represent our wonderful school and hear our captains speak so beautifully was incredible. Caleb has also contributed his reflections below. Thank you also to Scarlett O from 6RZ for her incredible poem that reflects her understanding of Remembrance Day.
'On 11 November, Annie and I were honored to be invited to speak at the Remembrance Day Memorial Service at Manly Dam. It was so moving to hear the families of the veterans speak about how their lives were affected by war and how the sacrifices of those who fought will never be forgotten. Annie and I had the privilege of delivering our speech, ‘It was utterly still’ to a crowd of around 100 people. Annie talked about the devastation of the war with 70 million worldwide being called to play their part, more than 13 million died. In Australia, nearly 1 in 2 eligible men enlisted for the war and, of those who served overseas, 62 000 soldiers would lose their lives, and hundreds of thousands were left injured physically and psychologically. I told the story of Joe Stafford, a young boy from Queensland, who lost his life at Gallipoli at an age not many years older than me. We were grateful to receive a certificate of thanks from the President of the Remembrance Trust on the day. Lest we forget.’
Caleb Munro
(School Captain)
Presentation Days
At this point in time we are investigating options to share our presentation ceremonies virtually with parents and families. We were hopeful of restrictions lifting, but at this point in time the DoE guidelines have unfortunately not changed.
Tell Them From Me
Thank you to the parents who completed this survey for us. We had 30 % of our parent community complete the survey. Our leadership team is currently analysing this survey and we will present our analysis at the next P&C meeting on Wednesday the 24th of November. We will also provide school trend data from our NAPLAN analysis as well. These pause points are important for us to reflect on our ‘Where to next? ‘ and assist us in guiding our future directions.
Last Day of Term 4
Just a reminder that Term 4 is an 11 week term. Our last day for students will be Thursday the 16th of December. Teachers will have a Staff Development Day on Friday the 17th of December. First day for students in 2022 is Tuesday the 1st of February for Year 1 to Year 6. Our Kindergarten students will commence school on Friday the 4th of February following their Best Start testing.
Brooke Keevers
Principal
School News
The Mural
This week a mural commenced on at the back of the Year 6 classrooms. It is being created by an artist from Black Book Ink. The student leaders last year decided it would be a good idea to put a mural up with the money they raised from their Year 6 Fun Day. The Student Leaders team from 2021 have been continuing to follow this project that last year’s Year 6 started throughout the year.
The fundraising for this project will come out of our Year 6 Fun Day and last year's Fun Day. It took some time to decide what the mural would be. We conducted a survey of the whole school to gather information of what they wanted it to be. After we looked at the survey we contacted the artist to ask if we could get it done. We worked with him to finalise a design that would match our environment and school.
It is very exciting for us now to see that it finally started!
Student Leaders
Annie, Caleb, Lucy, Max W, Indie, Harry, Amali & Max T.
Kindergarten Orientation
We are so excited to be hosting our 2022 Kindergarten students for their first orientation session this Thursday the 18th of November. Our orientation sessions are a wonderful opportunity for our new students to build confidence, develop familiarity with their school environment and begin to form friendships with their peers. We have developed a covid safe management plan to ensure our orientation processes meet our current COVID-19 operation guidelines.
Buddy Program
As part of our Kindergarten transition to school program, we will be forming our buddy relationships for 2022 in Term 4 as a way of extending this program to offer support for our students as they commence school. Our current Year 5 students will be involved in writing letters to their Kindergarten 2022 buddies to start building their relationships and tell them all about what they have to look forward to at Balgowlah North Public School.
ICAS make up test
We will be holding a make up session for any students who were absent from the ICAS tests they had enrolled to complete. This make up session will take place on Monday the 22nd of November.
P & C- Week 8
As part of next week’s P & C meeting, Mrs Keevers and Mrs Ridley will be providing the parent community with an overview of our most recent NAPLAN and Tell Them From Me Survey results. If you wish to attend this Zoom meeting, we ask that you complete this form to register your details:
https://forms.gle/NqFCqsFXiFb7uFpP8
Year 5 Student Leadership Day
All year 5 students will take part in a leadership development program on Thursday 18th November.
The development of life-long leadership skills is one of the learning opportunities offered to all students at
Balgowlah North Public School. Having effective student leaders supports the development of our school's
core values of respectful, responsible and safe behaviour.
• The aim of the day is to provide opportunities for all year 5 students to develop their
leadership skills.
• Dress for the day: school uniform
Leadership Positions:
Student Leaders: (8 positions)
• 2 x Captains
• 2 x Vice Captains
• 4 x Prefects
Nomination for the Year School Leaders
• All year 5 students will participate in a structure leadership program
• Students then self-nominate for Student Leaders
Speeches for the Roles of Student leaders: Wednesday 1st December
A successful student wishing to gain Captain, Vice-captain or committee will be required to present a
2-minute speech to their Year 5 peers. Speeches are written at school prior to presenting to their
peers. Each student will be given half an hour to prepare their speech. Voting will follow immediately
after the speeches are completed.
Voting for School Leaders
The Voting procedure will proceed as follows:
• eligible voters include: all year 5 students and all teaching staff
• students will vote for one boy and one girl candidate
• positions will be filled in order of the number of votes received
• results of the voting will be announced at the final K-6 assembly of the year
House Captains: (8 Positions- 2 students from each Sport house: Kangaroos, Koalas, Wallabies,
Wombats).
Speeches for the Roles of House Captains: Friday 3rd December
A successful student wishing to gain House Captain will be required to present a 2-minute speech to
their Year 4 and 5 students. Speeches are written at school prior to presenting to their Houses. Each
student will be given half an hour to prepare their speech. Voting will follow immediately after the
speeches are completed.
These positions will be decided in 2022:
Band Captains: (2 positions)
• Library monitors
• Sound crew
Susie Stock
Stage 3 Assistant Principal (relieving)
5M Back to School!
Waste Free Wednesday
The Waste Free winners for week 6 were KM with a fantastic score of 100%!
Band News
We are excited to offer a new ensemble program in 2022 – Beginner Strings – for Year 1 and 2 students, however if students in other years would like to learn a string instrument we would love to hear from you too. Last week our String Conductor and Ensemble members demonstrated string instruments for the current Kindergarten and Year 1 students, who had fun identifying the movie themes and learning all about the instruments. We’ve already had some enquiries, which is really encouraging.
Caroline Fechner
Band Manager
Dates for your diary
- 18th Nov - Kindergarten 2022 Orientation Session 1
- 24th Nov - Remote P&C Meeting
- 25th Nov - Kindergarten 2022 Orientation Session 2
Second Hand Uniform Shop
The second hand uniform shop will return to online ordering this week.
Please email your orders through to us by 5pm on a Tuesday.
Orders that can be filled will be placed in the office for collection by your child from Wednesday afternoon, and we kindly ask that you send them with the correct $$.
All items are $10.
Reply emails will be sent advising what items are / are not available.
Please also continue to donate good quality, new logo uniforms which can be dropped at the office any time.
Thanks for your support and patience,
Brooke & Ness
Uniform Shop Co-ordinators
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