BILPIN PUBLIC SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Excellence in Learning 2517 Bells Line of Road, BILPIN 2758 Telephone: 4567 1154 Fax: 4567 1388 Email: bilpin-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

www.bilpin-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

At Bilpin Public School we are SAFE, RESPECTFUL, LEARNERS

Term 1 Week 4 Tuesday 20th February 2018

TERM 1 2018

WEEK 4

Wed 21st Feb - Scripture Commences

Fri 23rd Feb - Return Classroom Assistance form

WEEK 5

Tues 27th Feb - StEPS Eyesight Screening

(Kindergarten)

Fri 2nd Mar - School Clean Up Day

WEEK 6

Mon 5th Mar - School Photos

Mon 5th Mar - District Swimming Carnival

Mon 5th Mar - Colo H.S. Information Evening

Mon 5th Mar - Premier’s Reading Challenge begins

Tues 6th Mar - P & C AGM 3.40pm

Dates to Remember

School Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all the competitors who competed at our swimming carnival in Week 2. We had a wonderful time with students supporting and encouraging each other in every race. Thank you to the parents who supported our competitors and offered assistance during our events. This year’s champions are:

Junior Girl Champion - Aliza

Junior Boy Champion - Bailey

11 Years Girl Champion - Ariarn

11 Years Boy Champion - Joel

Senior Girl Champion - Alana

Senior Boy Champion - Mitchell

Small Schools’ Swimming

Well done to our 16 competitors at the Small Schools’ Swimming Carnival. We commend you for your excellent participation and behaviour. Thank you to the parents who supported our competitors and looked after the students on the day. The following students were placed in events and if times qualify will be attending the district carnival on Monday 5th March:

P & C Meeting

Tuesday 6th March

The Staff Room 3.40pm

Aliza - 1st 10 Year Girls 50m freestyle 3rd 100m Open freestyle 2nd 50m breaststroke 3rd 50m backstroke Abby - 1st 50m backstroke 2nd 50m Butterfly 1st 10 Year 50m freestyle Leander - 1st Junior Girls breaststroke Bailey - 1st 9 Year Boys 50m freestyle Junior Girls Relay 1st - Abby, Leander, Aliza, and Billie

Parent Online Payment

Thank you to all of our families who have made payments for the new year very promptly.

Please ensure that when payments are made that the exact amount is paid to ensure ease of processing for Mrs Chapman. Under the new system, each item that is being paid for has to be individually processed. This is a time consuming process and accuracy in payment is very important. Thanking you for your cooperation.

Classroom Assistance The teachers would very much appreciate the help of parents, grandparents' or community members with reading programs. You may be asked to assist students individually or in groups that may or may not have your own child in the group. Any assistance regardless of the length of time, is very helpful and much appreciated. If you can help, please complete the attached note and return it to your child’s class teacher by this Friday, the 23rd February so that rosters can be organised.

Year 6 Leadership Camp

On Thursday and Friday last week, our school leaders Alana, Nikola and Beau attended Leadership Camp. Over the 2 days students from public schools across the Hawkesbury participated in a variety of activities to help them develop effective leadership skills to undertake their leadership duties to the best of their abilities. Activities included; public speaking, leadership skills, team initiatives and a number of physical challenges. By attending camp, our 3 leaders were also able to meet leaders from other schools, share their experiences and develop friendships for the future. Our leaders represented us proudly over the 2 days and we look forward to seeing them grow into amazing student leaders.

Bilpin Public School P & C Committee are as follows

President Angie Pirie 0414 570 364 Please feel free to contact any of Vice President Michelle Coe 0427 593 963 these representatives if you have Treasurer Cheryl Baird 0414 499 239 any concerns you wish to discuss Secretary Nikki Wheen 4567 1154

Term 1 Week 4 Tuesday 20th February 2018

Parent Assemblies

Yesterday was our first Parent Assembly for the year. Thank you to those parents who were able to make it.

Our next Parent Assembly will be in Week 8, on Monday 19th March where Bronze Awards will be handed out as well as our first ‘Shining Star Medallion’ for the year. This award will be presented to one student in the school who has demonstrated exemplary effort, consistency and behaviour. We look forward to presenting this award to a very deserving student.

P & C AGM The P & C AGM will be held at 3:40pm on Tuesday 6th March in the staffroom. ‘Office Bearer’ positions will be declared vacant at the beginning of the meeting. We would like to once again thank our executive for 2017 for their hard work and commitment to the school. Attached is a form inviting nominations for positions. People currently holding positions, as well as anyone who may be interested in nominating for a position need to complete the form and hand it in to the office as soon as possible. We welcome all who wish to attend to find out what is happening at school this year.

Bus Travel Behaviour reminder

Whilst the year has begun smoothly on the buses, below is a timely reminder of what the Department of Education expects of students when travelling to and from school by bus. It is expected that students conform to the normal standards of good behaviour on buses. They must remain seated at all times and should wait until the bus is stationary before alighting or boarding. Under no circumstances should students hang out of windows. Repeated instances of poor behaviour may result in the withdrawal of the privilege of free travel or suspension in line with DoE policy in relation to expulsion and suspension.

To ensure students safety and the comfort of other passengers, students will:

Behave safely at all times.

Respect the needs and comforts of other passengers.

Respect bus property by not marking or damaging it.

Always follow instructions about safety on the bus.

Students will not:

Distract the driver except in an emergency.

Eat or drink on the bus.

Allow any part of their body to protrude from the bus.

Fight, spit, use offensive language or place their feet on

seats.

Throw any article inside, or out of, the bus.

Any questions or issues related to bus travel, need to be made

directly to Bilpin Coaches on 4567 2147.

Parking around the school When parking around the school, please ensure the parking signs are adhered to. No cars should be parking near either of the

school entry gates as this hinders the buses from allowing students to safely enter and exit the buses.

Please also ensure that when parking, you are as close to the kerb as possible and faced in the correct direction for the side of the road on which you are parked. Traffic infringements have increased greatly, particularly around schools. Please read the school zone offences document at: http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/roads/safety-rules/demerits-school.pdf The safety of all of our students and community members is paramount.

Clean Up Australia Day On Friday 2nd March, our school will be taking part in Clean Up Australia Day. Please send in a pair of gloves and a bag for your child to collect rubbish. The classes will be given different locations on our school site to clean and tidy.

School Photos

School photos will take place on Monday 5th March. An information sheet is attached to the newsletter explaining how to order. Please note that every form is personalised. Please be aware that when the District Swimming Carnival was moved, it created a clash with our school photos which cannot be moved. Please see Mr Hynds or myself to discuss options if your child is competing at District. Students are required to wear their green shirts. Boys need to wear grey shorts, grey socks and black shoes. Girls will need to wear their green skorts, white socks and Black shoes. Please ensure all children are at school on time so that they do not miss their photos.

Coles Sports for Schools vouchers

The Coles Sports for Schools program is currently occurring in Coles shops. Any vouchers collected count towards sport equipment for our school. There is a collection box in the administration foyer, Bilpin Post Office and also at Coles store at North Richmond. Thank you in anticipation of your support with this program.

How to help your child at home

The education of your child is most successful when there is a supportive link between school and home. The positive partnership between parents and the class teacher can benefit student wellbeing. Last week Mrs McCloy ran an information session after school about helping children to read. We thank Mrs McCloy for broadening the understanding of how to help with reading at home. Here is a link that gives information about helping your child at home. https://www.literacyandnumeracy.gov.au/parents#parentTips

Kindy Vision Screening

Kindy vision screening will be conducted by StEPS on Tuesday 27th February. A note was sent home with the last newsletter and this will need to returned by this Friday (23rd February).

Colo High School Year 6 information Meeting Last week a note was sent home to Year 6 families inviting them to attend the Colo High School information evening which will take

Term 1 Week 4 Tuesday 20th February 2018

place between 6 and 7:30pm on Monday 5th March in the school hall. Opportunities to ask questions about the school, and a school tour, will form part of the evenings’ session.

Library News - Mrs Carroll Welcome back! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and are ready for a big year ahead in the library. Welcome also to Mrs Kim Cruickshank who will be in the library on Thursdays. This Term we are looking for any parents who would be interested in helping in the library covering books. Please let me know if you are interested. Well it’s nearly that time again, the Premier’s Reading Challenge begins on March 5th. Notes have been sent home but if your child is interested in taking part and has not got a note please let me know. Kind regards, Mrs M Mackie PRINCIPAL

CLASS NEWS

Kindergarten/Yr1/Yr2 News - Mrs E McCloy

The kindergarten students are settling well into our school routines. They will be bringing home new sight words each Monday to practice and are free to swap their home readers every day. Students in Year 1 and 2 are also welcome to change their readers daily, however some of our older readers are reading chapter books which may take a little longer. Year 1 and 2 students also have the option of bringing in their own book for Mrs McCloy to level and if it is ok they can use this to count towards their reading log. Remember it is not the number of books you read but the number of days you read then earn you stamps. K12 are also doing ‘Recorder Karate’ for music this term. I have sterilised the school recorder set, however if students would like to bring their own they are more than welcome to. Just a note about spare clothes. Especially for those students in the kindergarten year, it is good to include a spare set of clothes just in case.

Year 3/4 News - Mrs M Mackie Class 3/4 have settled in well to routines this year and have been producing some wonderful work. Class Dojo has been up and running for a few weeks now. If you haven’t signed up yet to receive our class story and notices and need another copy of the note, please let me know. We hope that those of you who have already tuned in are enjoying the updates of our class activities. Homework began last week. Homework will consist of Spelling, Maths and Reading to revise work being undertaken in class. Homework will be handed out on a Wednesday and is to be returned the following Wednesday. I am hoping that having the flexibility to complete Homework on the weekend may cause less stress for families. If your child is having trouble with their Homework and requires adjustments, please let me know.

If you are able to assist with Literacy Groups this term, please kindly complete the attached form and return it to class by Friday 23rd February. Any support is greatly appreciated. Parent/teacher interviews will be held at the end of this term, however if you wish to meet with me before this time to discuss any concerns or queries you may have, please contact the office.

Year 5/6 News - Mr A Hynds

Our classroom routines are well underway and the children have settled into them well. Students should now have all their required equipment that they need each day. Please check that your child has a ruler and H grade pencils for use in the classroom. The children have successfully completed their first weeks homework last week. This week mentals activities will be added. Each night’s homework should take no longer than 20 minutes. Feel free to contact me if there are any problems with this. Our reading groups have commenced this week and my students are learning what is required to complete each days set tasks. As always we are happy to have parent helpers, so please let us know if you are available any week, even if it’s not every week. We would love to see you. Maths topics for the next fortnight are place value, fractions, addition, subtraction, 2D, 3D and length. Congratulations to the children in my class who received ribbons for Small Schools’ Swimming last week, and I hope you do well at the district carnival.

P & C NEWS

Canteen News - Please note Canteen Menu changes for 2018.

Term 1 2018 CANTEEN ROSTER:

Thursday 22nd Feb -VACANT Monday 26th Feb -Liz Peters Thursday 1st March -Jenny Andrews & Louise Saarinen Monday 5th March -Vanessa Smith Thursday 8th March -VACANT Monday 12th March -Shaynee Macrae Thursday 15th March -Rebecca Tadrosse Monday 19th March -Hayley Broadhead Thursday 22nd March -Jenny Andrews Monday 26th March -Liz Peters Thursday 29th March -Cheryl Baird Monday 2nd April -CLOSED EASTER MONDAY Thursday 5th April -VACANT Monday 9th April -Shaynee Macrae Thursday 12th April -Samatha Craigie Please note, we still have 3 vacant days that need to be filled. If you are available to assist on any of the days marked

’VACANT’ please call Rebecca Tadrosse on 0415 312 995

Canteen hours are 9.30am to 2.30pm (approximately)

P & C AGM Meeting Reminder

AGM will be held at 3.40pm on 6th March in the staffroom.

HCOS Mobile

Preschool

Current Location:

Bilpin – Thurs & Fri

(Bilpin Community Hall)

Why Choose us:

Subsidies available

Low fees

Non-for profit organization

Guided by Early Years Learning

framework & NQF

Licensed by Education & Care

Our Motto: “Play together – Learn together”

Contact us for more info:

Mobile: 0429707858

Term 1 Week 4 Tuesday 20th February 2018