Newsletter Term 4 Week 4 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

What a busy term we have had so far. Lots of incredible opportunities for our students to engage with both within the school and also at events outside the school. 

We have decided to move to two Celebration of Learning Ceremonies (Presentation Day) this year instead of one for each stage. This will make it easier for parents to attend and it will also provide an opportunity for students to be able to recognise and acknolwedge other students in the school.

The 3 -6 Celebration of Learning will commence at 9.15am on the 12th of December. The K-2 Celebration of Learning will take place on the 13th of December at 9.15am. Further information will come out closer to the dates.

As I mentioned last week Richard Wokes has officially relinquished his P&C Presidency. At the  P&C meeting last Wednesday night,  Karen Ciano was voted in as the new P&C President and Daniel Brabant was voted in as P&C Vice President. We are extremely fortunate to have the P&C leadership in such good hands. Thank you also to Lisa Forster and Cath Mc Millian who will also continue in their positions of Treasurer and Secretary.

As we head into the second half of the term, teachers will be assessing and reporting student progress and sharing this with parents. These are important opportunities to celebrate our students’ achievements and also to reflect on next steps in learning. It is important that our students are able to celebrate their own individual personal best. We are taking the opportunity to pause and reflect on our reporting processes, we will be seeking feedback from teachers, students and parents. A survey link will be sent out over the coming weeks in regards to this space.

Parking

Just a reminder that there is a designated safe area on Mons Rd for children to cross the road when coming to and from school. Please remember this is not a parking area. If there are cars parked it makes visibility of students difficult for drivers. Please be aware that safety of students is always paramount.

Playground supervision before school

Our school playground is open for supervision from 8:30am.  We are noticing an increasing number of students arriving at school before this time. To ensure student safety, children should not be on-site prior to 8:30am as they will not be supervised by staff before this time. If you require care for your child prior to 8:30am, our OOSHC provider, Koolkuna, offers this service to support your family. 

Staffing changes 

As the year draws to a close there are always changes to our staffing. This year we will say farewell to two of our well loved School Administration Team members. Mrs Kerrie Nugent has been on leave and will be retiring at the end of the year. Kerrie has dedicated many years of service to the students, teachers and families of the Balgowlah North community. She has worked with three different Principals during this time, and has seen many, many changes.  Kerrie’s care, commitment and kindness to all are renown throughout the school community. We will miss Kerrie very much. Kerrie will be recognised at our 3 -6 Celebration of Learning.

Mrs Amanda Baker will also be retiring at the end of the year. Amanda has worked at Balgowlah North for over 17 years. Amanda’s creativity, kindness and humour will be sorely missed. Her dedication to the students and commitment to supporting the teachers and the administration team has been wonderful to see. Amanda will be recognised at our K-2 Celebration of Learning on the 13th of December. We wish both Amanda and Kerrie all the best as they embark on their next life adventures. 

Kind regards
Brooke Keevers 
Principal

Our latest Minilit Graduates!

Well done to Lucas L, Julian P, Lily B and Rosie P on their outstanding commitment to improving their reading. We are so proud of all you have achieved and the hard work you have shown in your learning with Mrs Mason this year.

School news

How many dots all together?

This year our Stage 2 students have been engaged in a focus on building their multiplicative thinking to apply fluent and flexible conceptual strategies to problem solving.

It has been incredible to see the growth in how our students approach multiplication problems and the deep learning that occurs when they are asked to not only solve the problem, but explain the reasoning behind the strategy they have used and evaluate why it was the most effective.

Our budding Stage 2 mathematicians are building their ‘toolboxes of mathematical skills’ and generalising their mathematical knowledge to explore different ways of finding the solution.

There has been a tremendous shift in understanding that while the final answer is important, it is the reasoning behind the answer that is most interesting and valuable in our mathematics lessons.

Well done Stage 2 Mathematicians!

Rachel Ridley

Planning for 2023

The school leadership team has commenced planning for 2023. At this point in time we will have  16 or 17 classes for 2023. As we are aware this may change depending on our Kindergarten enrolments, students leaving the school and with the movement of families out of our catchment area we find this affects our enrolments as well. We are extremely fortunate at BNPS to have highly skilled, professional and passionate teachers. Creating classes is an extremely rigorous process that teachers take very seriously. Our aim is to provide equity for all students based on their academic, social and emotional needs. We will be creating composite (multi stage) classes in 2023. These classes, as all our classes, will be created carefully to create best fit for all our students at BNPS. 

https://balgowlahn-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/b/balgowlahn-p/rules-and-policies/Balgowlah_North_Public_School_compositeclasses.pdf

If your child has any social, academic or emotional needs that we are unaware of which may have an impact on their class placement for 2023 please email the school - attention Brooke Keevers. This information must be submitted by Friday 4th November. Requests for specific teachers will not be taken into consideration.

Students not returning for 2023
If your child will not be returning in 2023 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.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeg2Ol25PJX-AwIixymfrfxh7Y9Uq58GQvOU2qzIAQ1Fln3_g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Year 7 Selective High 2024 information
Please see the link below for further information.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-7

Important dates:
Registrations open 18th October
Registrations close 16th November
Date of Test; Thursday 4th May 2023 

Important Dates for your diary

As we reach that point of the year where the weeks seem to zoom by as we head towards the end of 2022, we wanted to ensure we highlighted some important dates for your diaries.

Monday   12th December:  3-6 Celebration of Learning ceremony
Tuesday   13th December:  K-2 Celebration of Learning ceremony
Thursday 15th December : K- 6 End of Year Picnic Day
Friday      16th December :  Final day of 2022 school year for students

Stage 3 Robotics

Stage 3 have been busy designing, building and coding their own robots this term in science. Their challenge was to use the EV3 Mindstorms to create a robot that could locate and/or mine for gold. The task required them to use everything they have learnt about the Mindstorms so far combined with their knowledge of the Gold Rush from history lessons. They came across challenges along the way that required them to adapt and change their design and code. Well done to all our future engineers!

Stage 3 poetry

Slam poetry

Starvation

Rumble. 

That is the sound of starvation.

We are overloaded with the creation of food population,

Watching Tik Tok  complications of baking, 

When a sudden realization hits. 

That on the other side of the world or maybe next door, are people begging for more. 

Afghanistan, for example, is dealing with the lack of plantation. 

All the families use supplication, as their only way for dealing with this situation. 

And that is starvation.

And so, because of starvation,

There’s no bloom of vegetation, and the pass of acculturation is that we are the nation of starvation.

We are saving precious foods in duration, taking any donation we can get.

Hopefully we can find a mutation, to find a sense of sensation and the temptation to eat whatever we want whenever we want is just overwhelming.

And to my calculations,

This is all by starvation. 

By Lucy O, 6S

Climate Change

Bang.

Dust flies up,

Earth flies up,

Hits the ground like a bomb.

Crunch.

An uneasy body of ice crackles like tin foil and splinters into pieces like an exploding swan.

Swish.

Plumes of smoke whisk up in the air in mocking shapes,

Overcrowding the atmosphere,

Polluting the air.

This is not fair,

We’re destroying the earth beyond repair,

Ripping and tearing until it’s bare,

But we don’t dare declare that we’ve trapped the earth in a snare,

We’re seeing square,

We’re unaware.

We’re rolling under the sun’s glare,

Eating packeted chocolate eclairs, 

Spraying chemicals at brown bears,

Getting our bicycles repaired,

But when it comes to the world's greatest threat, we don’t care.

We’re not scared,

Of the world’s affairs,

We cry when our phones don’t pair,

But climate change stays undeclared.

Even all the millionaires,

Who dug deep into a cavern of golden pears,

All of them are unprepared,

To prioritize in climate change.

By Naomi G, 6S

Pollution

Bang, the sound of pollution,

Calling the constitution,

To find the solution,

Of the clean planet exclusion,

And the world, covered in litter, dying.

Earth is frying,

We’re all crying,

Still the rubbish is applying

And then you feel the realisation that it’s too late,

And you wish the hate,

Could just wait,

Because earth's fate,

Is on your shoulders,

Your responsibility,

And there’s only one solution,

That’s to stop pollution.

By Heidi H, 6S

The Week Ahead

07 November   Junior band assembly performance 

09 November    Poppies for sale

10 November    Eagle tag gala day

                          Kindergarten 2023 Orientation day #1

11 November    Remembrance day

Waste free Wednesday

Class Snapshot - 6/5M

Sports news



State drama

On the 19th and 20th October the Stage 2 Balgowlah North Drama Ensemble performed their piece ‘Monster Apocalypse’ at the State Drama Festival, held at the Seymour Centre. 

Joined by Miss Witton and Ms Short, the girls and boys gave it their all during the final performance and were met with huge applause from the audience. We were given lots of wonderful feedback from other schools, with many comments on our colourful, eye-catching costumes. Another huge congratulations to our incredible ensemble for their efforts!

‘Monster Apocalypse’ written and directed by year 3 and 4 students from Balgowlah North Public School explores a humorous tale of some not-so-scary monsters. A heart-felt and witty piece about staying true to yourself and being proud individuals.

Students were delighted to have been chosen to perform in the State Drama Festival and showcase their talents in script writing, character development and dramatic storytelling.

Choir performance

Lights, camera, action! Going to the Town Hall for choir was an unforgettable experience. Singing songs in the Town all for three hours at rehearsal was exhausting but it helped us feel ready for the concert. After that we had the Opera House tour - it was amazing! Going into the theatres was extraordinary and seeing the view from high up the sails was incredible. The performance at the end of the day, with the claps and cheers from the audience, was amazing to hear. We sang multiple songs but here are some our favourites - Cockles and Mussels, Corrugated Iron, Wink and a Smile and Ease on Down the Road. On behalf of the choir, we would like to thatnk our incredible choir teachers - Mrs Harris, Mr McCall, Mrs McAllister and Ms Saab - for your appreciated work that you put in to get us this far.

Aven L and Tess P, 4KG

PBL

Band News

Mall Music School Showcase

On Saturday, all three of our bands performed in the Mall Music School Showcase held in the food court area at Warringah Mall.  All three of our bands gave excellent performances to a appreciative audience of shoppers, friends and family.  We were presented with a $250 voucher for Mall Music which will be used to replace equipment and resources.  Thank you parents for bringing your child to the performance and supporting the program.  Thanks to Mr Strykowski and Mr Bullough for preparing the bands for their performances.

Become a member of this fabulous Band Program – Find out more

If you would like to play an instrument and join our band program please get in touch with us.  Information can be found on our website https://bnpsband.wixsite.com/website

 Register to attend an Instrument Suitability Assessment via the online form found on the website. 

Instrument Suitability Assessments will be held on Thursday 10 November at 7.30am in the Hall.

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