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

Term 1 Week 5 Tuesday 21st February 2017

TERM 1 2017

Wed 22nd Feb - Scripture commences

Fri 24th Feb - Return of Reading Helpers Roster

Thurs 2nd March - District Swimming Carnival

Fri 3rd March - Leadership Conference Sydney

Tues 7th March - P & C AGM - 3.40 pm

Mon 13th March - Parent Assembly

Dates to Remember

The term is well and truly in full swing and we are already nearly at the halfway mark!

District Swimming

We wish our competitors all the best at the District Swimming Carnival on Thursday 2nd March at Windsor Oasis.

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

Classes 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, 24th February so that rosters can be organised.

Trees

In the next few weeks tree work will be undertaken on the school grounds. This will include dead wooding, inspections and the removal of one tree. Work will be undertaken at both ends of the school. Student play areas will be modified to accommodate for this work. Hawkesbury City Council will also be undertaking work on

P & C Meeting

Tuesday 7th March

The Staff Room 3.40pm

trees on the boundary of the school in the near future. This work is likely to be conducted on a Saturday. More details will be provided once dates and times are confirmed.

Year 6 Leadership Camp

On Thursday 9th and Friday 10th February, Olivia, Brianna and Aisling attended Leadership Camp. Our 3 students represented our school very admirably. 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.

NRL Visit

On Monday we enjoyed a visit from 3 Penrith Panthers NRL players. They talked to students in Class 4/5/6 about their ‘Respect, Learn, Health’ program. They completed activities about how to include everyone in activities and how to respect people of different races and abilities. It was very enjoyable and all the students were given autographs, a poster and a participation certificate.

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 13th March where Bronze Awards will be handed out as well as our first ‘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 7th March in the staffroom. ‘Office Bearer’ positions will be declared vacant at the

Bilpin Public School P & C Committee are as follows

President Darryl Carle 4567 1018 Please feel free to contact any of Vice President Angie Pirie 4567 7469 these representatives if you have Treasurer April Vigurs 0404 476 806 any concerns you wish to discuss Secretary Nikki Wheen 4567 1154

Term 1 Week 5 Tuesday 21st February 2017

beginning of the meeting. We would like to once again thank our executive for 2016 for their hard work and commitment to the school. We would like to thank Michelle Coe for the fantastic job she did as Canteen Coordinator last year and welcome Liz Peters into the role for 2017. 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 quite 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.

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 3rd 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.

Music Lessons - Mrs Oram

Our new instrumental program is now up and running! Thank you so much for your patience and enthusiasm for this new opportunity for

the students. We currently have 35 students learning an instrument! Hopefully they will continue this throughout the year. All students will now have received a note regarding how to pay their tutors. If there are any questions about this, please come and ask.

Library News - Mrs Carroll

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and read plenty of books. This term class library days are as follows: 2/3 - Thursday K/1 & 4/5/6 - Friday. I have handed out permission notes for those children who are interested in participating in the 2017 Premier’s Reading Challenge. Please return the notes as soon as possible so that I can register your child and get their reading record folder ready. The challenge begins on 6th March and runs until 25th August.

Happy Birthday

We would like to wish the following students who celebrated their birthdays during the months of January and February. January: Tara (8yrs old), Billie (7yrs old), Oskar (9yrs old), Sojourner (6yrs old), Lachlan S (9yrs old) and Isaac (7yrs old). February: Gemma (7yrs old), Nikola (10yrs old) and Joel T (9yrs old)

Mrs M Mackie Principal

CLASS NEWS

KINDERGARTEN/YEAR 1 - Mrs Oram and Mrs McCloy

Thank you to everyone who brought in the gorgeous pictures of their family birthday celebrations for our History lesson. It was lovely being able to share the different ways we spend birthdays togethers. On Wednesday afternoons, K/1 have started our Creative Arts rotations with Music! They have been learning how to read music, how play the Glockenspiel and other percussion instruments. Kindergarten Homework - We will be sending home the student’s books they have read in class, for the Kindergarten students to have some extra practise at home. Every Monday, the Kindergarten students will also be bringing home 3 sight words per week to learn. These correlate with the most common words in the books they are reading. If you could spend 2 minutes each night to revise these words with your child, it will give them a great start to becoming independent readers. Year 1 Homework - Yesterday, Year 1 received their first set of homework for the year. They will have a home readers, a maths book and spelling/dictation. This week, their maths homework is page 6 & 7. Next week will be pages 8 & 9. Please bring their folder with all of their homework in on Fridays to be marked. As the Kindergarten students realise that school is an ongoing activity, they can often become upset and not happy to come to school. This is very common, please don’t worry if this is happening to you. If there is anything we can do to help with this process, please come and chat to us.

Term 1 Week 5 Tuesday 21st February 2017

K/1 NEWS ROSTER

CLASS 2/3 - Mrs Mackie Class 2/3 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. Later in the term we will be looking at the students logging in to document their own work for their parents to see. Homework began last week. Homework will consist of Spelling, Maths and Reading to revise work being undertaken in class. A note of explanation went home with homework this week. Thank you in advance to those parents who will be assisting with reading groups this term. Your 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.

CLASS 4/5/6 - Mr 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 full week’s homework last week including mentals. I am pleased that most are remembering to bring it back every day. 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 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 Swimming Carnival.

COMMONWEALTH BANKING NEWS

Join the Dollarmites on a savings adventure in the future with School Banking! Every year the School Banking program launches a new savings theme and eight new exclusive School Banking reward items.

In 2017, School Banking is getting children excited about the future with a brand new look for the Dollarmites. As Future Savers, students will join the Dollarmites on a journey to reach the Savings Hover Park, an amazing playground up in the clouds of a hi-tech city.

There are 8 new reward items for 2017 from the Future Savers

range:

TERM 1

Cyber Handball Colour Change Markers

TERM 2

3D Chalk Set

Tablet Case

TERM 3

Smiley Emoji Keyring Volt Handball

TERM 4

Pencil + Tech Case Epic Earphones

Win a family adventure holiday at Tokyo Disneyland! This year, School Banking is running a Future Savers Grand Prize competition that will take one lucky School Banker all the way to Tokyo, Japan. The winner gets an unforgettable family trip, for up to two adults and three children, where they’ll explore Tokyo Disneyland with its amazing attractions, including the futuristic Tomorrowland, plus enjoy the fun rides at Tokyo DisneySea.

Students who make 15 or more School Banking deposits by the end of Term 3, 2017 will be automatically entered into the draw. This is another great way to motivate students to save regularly and reach their savings goals. School Banking day is Monday. If you would like to know more about School Banking, please ask for a 2017 School Banking program information pack from the school office or visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking

Completing your deposit slip for School Banking day.

Please ensure your child’s deposit slip is filled out before banking with School Banking. All 7 fields below need to be completed:

Child’s name Child’s School Banking student number Child’s Youthsaver account number Date Amount in coins, notes and/or cheques Total amount of deposit Total amount of deposit (input into the “Add this deposit” field)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Tex Axle Kayden Hugh Ryan

William Ariana Lexie Josie Sojo

Emily Cleo Indiana Lola Peppa

P & C NEWS

Canteen News - Elizabeth Peters (Co-ordinator) Welcome back to the new school year. I hope everyone is settling in well. The canteen will be open on the following dates:- Monday 20th Feb - Vanessa Smith & Liz Peters Thursday 23rd Feb - Cheryl Baird Monday 27th Feb - Jennifer Andrews & Kelly Haines Thursday 2nd March - Liz Peters Monday 6th March - Louise Saarinen Thursday 9th March - Vanessa Smith & Liz Peters Monday 13th March - Vanessa Smith Thursday 16th March- VACANT Monday 20th March - VACANT Thursday 23rd March- VACANT Monday 27th March - Louise Saarinen Thursday 30th March- Vanessa Smith & Liz Peters Monday 3rd April - VACANT Thursday 6th April - VACANT If you are able to assist on the days marked ‘VACANT’ please phone Liz on 0447 173 052. It would be lovely if we could have our canteen open the whole term for the students. We have for sale ‘Spinach and Ricotta Sausage Rolls’ $3.00 each. Also on Thursday 9th March and 30th March we will be having ‘Egg and Lettuce Sandwiches’ for $2.00 each.

2016 Tea Towels There are 2 tea towels remaining from the 2016 order. If you missed out on ordering a tea towel or you would like another one, please see Mrs Chapman in the office. They are $10 each.

P & C Meeting

Just a reminder that the AGM will be held at the beginning of the next P & C Meeting on Tuesday 7th March. We welcome new members.

Term 1 Week 5 Tuesday 21st February 2017

For Sale Antique Singer cast iron treadle sewing machine

with 6 draws. $300 ono

Please contact Mrs Chapman in the school office.

(We would like to put the proceeds of the sale

towards a new brass school bell)