Respect, Responsibility, Personal Best Branxton Public School Newsletter to Parents

BRANXTON PUBLIC SCHOOL

Find us at: 12 King St, Branxton NSW 2335 Email: branxton-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Phone: (02) 4938 1214 Fax: (02) 4938 1905 Website: www.branxton-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Week 2 Term 1 WEDNESDAY, 8TH FEBRUARY, 2017

Principal’s News Welcome to all the new Kindergarten students at Branxton Public School. It was wonderful to observe 51 happy and excited little students walk straight into their classroom to begin their learning journey at Branxton. To be honest the only tears I saw were those on a few mums and dads. They are already embracing school life and quickly gaining their stickers toward completing their first passport which will gain their Bronze certificate! This is also a reflection of the dedicated Kindergarten teachers who have spent many hours preparing classrooms and engaging activities. You may have noticed Mrs Ballenden has not been allocated to a class this year. Mrs Ballenden role this year is Curriculum Coordinator at our school. She will be dedicating her time to supporting teachers with the latest curricula developments, supervising the monitoring and tracking of individualised student data, engaging in Professional learning to inform staff and supervising staff programming and teaching. I can assure you she will be kept very busy and it will be of benefit to both staff and students at BPS to continue to improve student outcomes. I have been greatly concerned with the several reports from worried community members who have witnessed students on bikes and scooters consistently exhibiting very dangerous behaviour. I do NOT want to see any of our students hurt or seriously injured. I have tried to discuss this with many of the students several times; however, the message is still not getting through! I have invited Constable Grey from the Muswellbrook Police to come and talk to students on Thursday 16

th February at 2pm. If

you have a child who rides their bike/scooter to school I would like them to attend this session and I also invite you to attend too. We need to get the message through and a collegial approach would have the best impact. Please let me know if you can attend this session. Pedestrian safety has also been a concern recently. Please do not walk through the staff car park and utilise the appropriate designated entries. I have contacted the Cessnock City Council and The Department of Education to allocate some Disabled Car Parking spots to support some of our students in this area.

I have noticed several High School students, especially on a Tuesday afternoon, congregating in our play-grounds toward the end of the school day. We certainly do enjoy seeing our ex-students and hearing about their High School journey, but I need to remind them that they still need to respect the values of our school and behave in a manner accordingly. I appreciate your sup-port in this area. On a positive note I am including a ‘new section’ in our newsletter. “Proud Students at Branxton Public School Achieving their Personal Best” This section is for stu-dent to proudly voice some of their achievements out-side school. It may be in the sporting arena, music, dance or the arts? So if your child has made an out-standing achievement we would like to share and cele-brate this with the whole community. Please encourage them to write a short blurb and bring it in to me. Con-gratulations to our first submissions this week. Have a great term Regards Michelle Maier

New Sports Polo Shirt New sports polo shirt are available to be ordered through Flexi Schools app and your order will be taken to your child’s classroom. Otherwise the sports polo shirt can be purchased with cash from the clothing pool between 8:45 and 9:30am, the day before the swimming carnival. Swimming Carnival - 14th February (new date) The Swimming Carnival will be held next Tuesday 14th February (it was postponed due to extreme heat). New permission notes were sent home yesterday and must be returned to the school office asap.

Dates to Remember Book Club due: 15th February, 2017 10th February—Infants Assembly 2:30pm 14th February— Primary Swimming Carnival 17th February—Primary Assembly 2:30pm 20th & 21st February—Gymnastics starts (Monday & Tuesday)

Respect, Responsibility, Personal Best Branxton Public School

52 Maitland Road, Branxton

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(02) 4938 2028

Branxton

Statement of Account Next week we will be sending home a financial statement of account to each family. The statement of account includes payments for the 2017 Voluntary Family School Contribution, Mathletics and any other amounts owing for school activities.

The Family School Contribution refers to the voluntary contribution scheme that all public schools operate. This is a very low $45.00 per family per year. This money goes to providing the everyday resources needed in classrooms - pencils, paper, books, teaching aids, counters, craft supplies, reading books, etc, available to every child. Payment of as little as $2.00 per week is possible if you prefer.

Mathletics is an educational program that our school subscribes to and forms part of each class’s teaching program. To fund this across the school we ask that families support the school and P&C by making a payment of $15 per child for Mathletics. This program can also be accessed at home for children to reinforce their skills in Maths. Over a full 12 months this money presents great value and enhances learning opportunities.

If you have any queries regarding the above information please feel free to speak to our School Admin Manager, Kelly Thomas for further clarification.

Respect, Responsibility, Personal Best Branxton Public School

Proud Students at Branxton Public School achieving their Personal Best.

From: Emeilia Morgan

On Saturday the 4th February I went to a Development Meet at

Singleton Pool and placed third in freestyle 50m, 9 years girls.

From: Connor Morgan

Last Saturday I went to a swimming meet at Singleton Pool and

I placed 3rd in Butterfly 25 metres and 2nd in Breaststroke 25

metres.

From Grace Kingett

My time so far with the emerging Jets has been one of the best

experiences of my life. It is hard work but I love it. I train three

nights a week and play every weekend. I’ve learnt so much from my

coach Lauren who was once a Matilda. I’ve also had the opportunity

to be ball girl for the W-League. Through hard work and

dedication I hope to one day play for the jets in the w-league.

From Matthew, Adrian and Ethan Wenham

During the holidays we attended several swim meets. We all tried hard and all the

training we do is paying off. All of us achieved Personal Best times. As a result

Matthew will be attending the NSW Country Championship meet in 100m backstroke to be

held at the Olympic Pool in Homebush and the Speedo Sprint finals in Sydney for 3

events.

Respect, Responsibility, Personal Best Branxton Public School

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Branxton Public School Canteen

Our school canteen operates everyday of the school term and is run by volunteers. If you are able to help from 9am till 2pm on one or more of these days each term, we would love to hear from you. Please either phone Sharyn on 0428 520 451 or return the slip below to school.

I ………………………………………………………………………………………… (your name) am able to help

On: (please circle the day/s you prefer)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

I can be contacted on …………………………………………………………………… (your phone number) the

best time to ring me is ………………………………………………………………………………………………

Phone numbers do appear on the roster.

Canteen Roster Week 3 Term 1 commencing 13th February 2017 Week 4 Term 1 commencing 20th February 2017

Monday Toni L Jeremy H Monday Lysa T Lisa N

Tuesday Nat C Jane T Tuesday Kristen R Leigh L

Wednesday Sharyn B Megan M Wednesday Sharyn B Tony R

Thursday Jeremy H Jane T Thursday Kylie N VOLUNTEER NEEDED

Friday Sharyn B Nicole S Friday Sharyn B Karla S

OUR SCHOOL CANTEEN NEEDS YOU!!!

Attention Mums, Dads, Grandparents, family and friends Where else can you meet new people and see your kids in action in the playground? Volunteering at our school is easy! Your duties for the day will be:

- Making simple healthy canteen lunches - Meeting students at recess and lunch - Having a good laugh, lots of fun and a chat - Make the day even more fun and bring a friend or two with you

*Our canteen cannot operate without volunteers, if we are not able to fill the shifts our canteen may be forced to close on those days. (Even if you have as little as 2 hours, your time would be appreciated) *Using the Flexi School App also saves time and reduces the workload for volunteers.

Please either fill in the tear-off below and send it back to school or text Sharyn on 0428 520 451