Newsletter Term 3 Week 1 2022

"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

Welcome back to Term 3. Lovely to see all the happy smiling faces in the playground this morning. Having chats to students and hearing about their holidays was a lovely way to start the day. We are all excited to have everyone back for another engaging term of learning. 

Just a quick reminder that Covid is still traveling around our school community, as are quite a few other flus and bugs. Please continue to keep your children at home if they are unwell. We will be sending home some more RAT kits, please use these, particularly if you have covid circulating within your family. Students are to continue to wear a mask if they are a close contact.

Professional Learning
“No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.” - Sir David Attenborough 
Our teaching staff spent Monday the 18th of July at Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre. We spent the day investigating ways of integrating learning in nature, fieldwork, data collection, games through extending and enriching learning experiences in Mathematics, Geography, Science and English. It was a fabulous day of learning, we are very excited to extend our use of our amazing school grounds and the fabulous Manly Dam that is so accessible to us.

LEAP
I have had the fortunate opportunity to be involved with a Principal Immersion project with Principals from hubs in BC,Ontario Canada and Finland. Leading Educators Around the Planet (LEAP) brings school leaders and school systems together to learn and share with and from each other. Diane McGonigle Principal of Pleasant Valley Elementary in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island will be visiting our school for the next 10 days and is very excited to be learning about our school , meeting our students and learning about our education system. I look forward to visiting with her school in September and learning from her school community.

School Athletics Carnival
We are hoping to run our Athletics carnival next Tuesday. As it will be at Seaforth Oval we will update everyone at the end of the week whether we will be going ahead depending on the weather and the state of the oval.

Creating futures - education changes lives
This year we continue to celebrate the journey students and learners take throughout the NSW Education
system, focusing on how we are creating futures for our students, staff and families. Education Week will be held from 1st to the 5th of August.
From the first days in child care to post-school pathways, our education system is preparing young people to be agile thinkers and lifelong learners. We celebrate all types of learning that occurs at all levels across our education system and we have a shared responsibility in helping to shape the lives and create the future of today’s learners.
Public education can change the lives of not just our students, but also the lives of our teachers, staff, families and communities. On Thursday the 4th of August we will welcome families and friends to our school to celebrate Education Week. More information will come home next week. 

Brooke Keevers
Principal

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Fabulous to share Stage 3 City Square Term 2 projects. The creation of a business plan for a new city. An incredible amount of passion, pride and engagement was on display from all our Stage 3 students. 

School News

Kindergarten 2023 Information Session

On Wednesday the 3rd of August we will be hosting a virtual information session for families with students commencing at our school in Kindergarten in 2023. This will be an opportunity to find out more about our school and orientation and transition to school program. 

Please find details of the virtual session below:

https://nsweducation.zoom.us/j/69400368406?pwd=cWU1cUFIK2I5bW5QUGVtaGZ3b1ptQT09

Meeting ID: 694 0036 8406
Passcode: BNPS

We have chosen to maintain a virtual format for this information session as the feedback we have received is that it makes it more manageable for families with small children.

There will be the opportunity for parents of 2023 Kindergarten students to join us on site for a school readiness session later in the year.

We also have another school tour scheduled for Thursday the 11th of August  for families who are new to our school community. 

ICAS

What is ICAS? 
ICAS Assessment orders will close on August the 1st. If you wish for your child to participate in this academic competition we ask that you complete your online order via the Parent Portal promptly. 

Learn more about ICAS here. (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas) 

ICAS Assessments on offer at BNPS in 2022:

How to participate in ICAS 

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please:

1.   read about ICAS subjects and prices here: (https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas) 
2.   go to Parent Portal here: (https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps) 
3.   enter our school’s access code – CQO552
4.   enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment. 

 
Premier’s Debating Challenge

Last term was round three of the 2022 Premier’s Debating Challenge. The two BNPS teams competed with Manly Vale PS. Team Manning (negative) defeated the Manly Vale Owls on the topic ‘that parents should have to provide pets for their kids’. BNPS Team Bardoo (affirmative) were unsuccessful against the Manly Vale Foxes on the topic ‘that parents should ensure their Years 5 and 6 kids spend at least one afternoon a week unsupervised’.
As in previous debates, our two teams were very competitive and are looking forward to this term when they compete against one another for the final round.

Congratulations to Ella M., Darcy Y., Naomi G., and Talia W.

Chris McCall
Debating Coordinator

100 Days of Kindergarten

Kindergarten will be celebrating 100 Days of Kindergarten on Friday 29^th July (Week 2). On this day, we invite Kindergarten students to come to school dressed as if they were 100 years old!
We encourage students to rummage through cupboards. We do not expect families to be purchasing additional items.
We look forward to celebrating this exciting milestone with a morning full of games and party fun!

The week ahead

25 July      Premier's Debating Challenge round 4

26 July      Athletics Carnival (weather permitting)

27 July      Stage 3 Wellbeing/High School Transition

28 July      Gifted Writers Workshop

28 July       Maths Olympiad Competition 4

29 July      100 Days of Kindergarten Celebration

PBL Week 1 Term 3

Arts Alive

This year a few Stage 3 students were chosen to participate in the 2022 Arts Alive Program. Along with many other schools, Balgowlah North’s students joined the other students doing many exciting art activities. We all had such an amazing experience working with the art teachers exploring different art styles that some of us hadn't even heard of. We participated in printmaking, painting, sketching and sculpting. It was a greatly enjoyable time for all of us and we learnt so many things including how to do the art and some of its history. I hope that Balgowlah North continues participating in this program in the years to come.

by Summer W

The Arts Alive program ran over two days. We got to hear professional advice and make many works of art in our chosen fields. The fields were sculpture, sketching/mixed media, painting and printmaking. We did one activity per day so we could have time to do our best. In sculpture everybody focused on Picasso cubism making portraits of our faces first focusing on realism and then the shadows and darkest areas. Then we got to sculpt faces in the way we enjoyed to look at most. For painting they took trips down to the beach to get a photo of themselves and then painted a cartoony version of themselves on a black canvas with a beautiful beach background. It was a great experience and lots of fun was had.

by Erin R 6H

Band News

P&C News

Our School working Bee will be on Sunday 14 August, more details to come.

Community news

School Sponsors