e-News
Banksmeadow Public School
In This Issue
- Book Club
- Best Start Parent-Teacher Meetings
- Hot Cross bun Band Concert
- Easter Hat Parade
- P&C Meeting
- Premier's Reading Challenge
- High School Expression of Interest Forms
- South Sydney High School Open Day
- Dance News
- Tell Them From Me Surveys - Repeat
- Botany Bay Community Church - Repeat
- Working Bee - Save the date!
- Performing Arts Rehearsal Reminders - Repeat
- Second Hand Uniform Sale - Repeat
- Health Care Plans - Repeat
- P&C News
It is wonderful to see so many students receiving 'Student of the Week' and Principal's awards to recognise their efforts in following our school's expectations. There are many students within our school who are being safe, respectful, resilient, and active learners. These are expectations we hope all students will strive for. Teachers regularly revise ways in which students can develop in these areas, and encourage all students to demonstrate these values.
Good luck to the students who will be competing at the Sydney East Regional Swimming Carnival next Tuesday. We have nine students who will be attending the carnival at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. It is a fantastic achievement to make it so far and we wish them all the best on the day.
Book Club
Book Club orders are due by TODAY. Please return your order and money to the office.
Best Start Parent-Teacher Meetings
Parent-Teacher Meetings to deliver feedback from Kindergarten's Best Start assessments will be held next week. Please see Mrs Bragg or Mrs Twitchings if you require further information.
Hot Cross Buns Band Concert
The annual Hot Cross Buns Band Concert will be held from 8:00am on the last Tuesday of term (5th April). Everyone is welcome to come and listen to the school band perform at their first concert for 2016. Hot cross buns will also be served for breakfast.
Easter Hat Parade
Our annual Easter Hat Parade will be held in the school hall on Thursday 24th March at 1.30pm. The students are asked to make a hat at home for the afternoon parade. The easiest way to make a hat is to decorate an existing hat with eggs, bunnies, chickens, flowers or feathers. There are no competition winners but everyone has an opportunity to show off their creative flair. Parents are warmly invited to come along to this fun afternoon.
P&C Meeting
Our next P&C meeting will be held on Monday 14th March at 7pm in the 6M classroom. At this meeting, the Principal and Deputy Principal of South Sydney High School will be attending to provide information about the school and to answer any questions you may have. All parents are welcome to attend. If you are unable to stay for the P&C meeting but would still like to attend the talk about South Sydney High School, please feel free to come along.
Premier's Reading Challenge
Banksmeadow Public School is again participating in the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. To register, go to the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge website and log on using your child's DoE username and password. This is the same one they use at school.
On the website you will find information about the challenge, including the rules. Please read these for your own information.
PRC books will be read in library time each week to children in K, 1 & 2 and will be entered for them. If you wish to enter any books that you read to your child at home, you can do so on the NSW Premier’s Challenge website. K- 2 children need to have 30 PRC books entered by 19th August 2016 in order to receive their certificate at the end of the year.
Children in Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 should read their own books. They will need to enter
books by logging on to the NSW PRC website. They need to have read and entered 20 books by
19th August 2016 in order to receive their certificate at the end of the year. There are four
computers in the library that can be used to log their books at lunch time if necessary.
Happy reading!
Carol Macdonald
Teacher Librarian
High School Expression of Interest Forms
Year 6 students have received an expression of interest form for Year 7. Forms should be returned to school no later then 18th March. All Year 6 students must complete this form, regardless of which high school they are hoping to attend. Please see Ms Hoskins if you have any concerns or problems when completing the form. It is very important that forms are returned as early as possible, so that information can be added by the school before they are submitted to high schools.
South Sydney High School Open Day
The South Sydney High School open day will be held this Saturday 12th March from 11am-1pm.
Dance News
The Junior and Senior dance groups are preparing their performances for the mid year shows. The Seniors will be videoing their DVD auditon for the Sydney Dance Festival at the Seymour Centre on the Tuesday morning after Easter Monday. If any dancer will not be at school on that day, please let Mrs Bragg know in writing.
The Juniors are preparing for their performance at Showcase@ the Juniors in August.
Term One lesson fees for the dance groups are now due at the school office. Every child must have their costume fee of $35 paid to the school office by the end of term, as Mrs Bragg will be purchasing material in the school holidays.
Tell Them From Me Surveys
This term, students in Years 4-6 at our school, like many others in the state, will participate in a Department of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feedback survey. The survey aims to help improve student learning outcomes, and measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and effective teaching practices.
More information about the survey is available at: http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/information-for-parents
The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide our school with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teachers interact with them. Results from this survey will be used to help improve how we do things at school.
The survey is confidential and school staff will not be able to identify individual students from their responses. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to complete. It will be administered during school hours between 14 March and 8 April. Participating in the survey is entirely voluntary.
A consent form is being sent home with students. If you do not want your child or children to participate, please return the consent form to school by Monday 14 March. A list of FAQs and copies of the consent form, including translated consent forms, are available from the website above.
Botany Bay Community Church
Botany Bay Community Church is running a free money management course for parents and community members who might like some help with budgeting and saving. If you're struggling with debt or would just like some helpful hints and tips, please come along and get some friendly help with money matters. All welcome!
Working Bee – Save the Date - Repeat
A school Working Bee has been scheduled for Sunday 1st May from about 12pm. The aim of this Working Bee is to tidy up and weed some of the gardens within our school. By doing a thorough job on this day, it will make the areas more manageable for the future. We would love as many volunteers as possible…all gardening skill levels welcome! Please put the date in your diary and come along on the day to join our community. We are also looking for donations of a variety of plants. If you are able to assist in this area, please see Ms Hoskins or Mrs Twitchings. More information and confirmation of times will be published closer to the date.
Performing Arts Rehearsal Reminders – Repeat
Please ensure your child is aware of the days and times they will need to attend rehearsal:
Hippopotamus Choir - Monday @ lunchtime
Band - Tuesday @ 8:00am in the Band room
Junior Dance - Tuesday @ 8:10am. Wear dance attire or comfortable clothing
Senior Dance - Tuesday @ lunchtime. Wear dance attire or comfortable clothing
Senior Guitar - Tuesday @ lunchtime
Band tutorials - Wednesday
Senior Art Club - Wednesday @ lunchtime
Junior Guitar - Thursday @ lunchtime
PSSA training - Friday @ 8:15am
Junior Art Club - Friday @ lunchtime
Second Hand Uniform Sale - Collection - Repeat
The P&C will be holding a "Second Hand Uniform Sale" in the coming weeks. If you have old school uniforms that you no longer need, please consider donating them so that they can be added to the sale. Donations can be left in the office foyer. Unclaimed items from the Lost Property tub will also be sold at this sale. The date for the sale will be published soon.
Health Care Plans - Repeat
We are currently updating health care plans for students with specific medical needs. Please check your child's bag for relevant documents that should be filled out and returned to school at your earliest convenience. If your child has medication that is kept at school (e.g. Epipen or Ventolin), please check with the office to ensure these medications are kept up to date.
LIBRARY NEWS - Repeat
Library Lessons and Borrowing
Library lessons began for all classes this week. If you are unsure on which day your child has library, you can check with the class teacher or with Mrs MacDonald. Each week your child will be able to bring a book home from the library to share with you. It is expected that books are returned the following week so that another one can be taken home.
To keep our books from being damaged, books should be transported to and from school in a waterproof bag. You can provide your own bag or school library bags can be purchased from the administration office.
New Library System and Donations
The very old library system is in the process of being replaced with a new system. This process began at the end of 2015 and will take until the end of this term to complete. This may cause some disruption to library and there will be some occasions where returning and borrowing will have to be suspended for a period of time. I will try to keep you updated on this.
Thank you to the people who have donated books to the library. I would ask that if you have books you no longer need, please donate them to a charity, as I will be unable to process any new books for quite a while.
P&C
P&C Email
Please send us your email address if you would like to be on the P&C circulation list.
Second Hand Uniforms
We will be arranging a sale of second hand uniforms in the coming weeks. Details and dates will be published soon. Please leave donations of pre-loved uniforms in the foyer of the office.
New School Hats
A new version of the school hat will be phased in as the current one is phased out. It is the same shape, lighter material and easier to wash and fold. Samples can be found at the school office. Similarly, a new version of the blue sports pants, made from improved material, is being phased in.
Any new updates to uniform is phased in gradually and should be bought as needed, so there's no need to replace items until they are either worn out or grown out of.
Next P&C Meeting
Monday 14th March, 7pm in 6M demountable classroom. Everyone welcome!
Dates for the Calendar
WEEK 8
Life Education visits for Preschool - Year 4
Kindergarten Best Start Parent-Teacher Meetings
Monday 14th March
P&C Meeting @ 7pm in the 6M classroom
Tuesday 15th March
Regional Swimming Carnival
Wednesday 16th March
11:50am Assembly
Thursday 17th March
Friday 18th March
PSSA Sport
Last day to return High School EOI forms
WEEK 9
Monday 21st March
Harmony Day
Tuesday 22nd March
Wednesday 23rd March
Public Speaking Finals in the Hall (in place of normal assembly)
Thursday 24th March
Easter Hat Parade @ 1:30pm
Friday 25th March
GOOD FRIDAY
Banksmeadow Public School
Email: banksmeado-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Website: http://www.banksmeado-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/
Location: Corner Trevelyan and Wiggins Streets, Banksmeadow
Phone: 9316 9608
Twitter: @banksmeadowps
