From the Principal’s Desk

Naming Competition Winners

At our Assembly on Monday our Art Leaders announced the winners of the naming competition for our artwork on the exterior walls of our School Hall. Students have been involved in coming up with names for our new friends and we thank all students and families for their contributions. Our winning entries are as follows:

Serpent – RISKA (R-risk taking, I-integrity, S-self-respect, K-kindness and A-attitude) which came from Andrew Nguyen-Doan (2A)

Dragon – Achi (which means strength) which was submitted by Ezri Fredericks (4J) These students were recognised at assembly on Monday and we will organise some small plaques to go up with our new friends!

Education Week

The week beginning Monday 16th May is Education Week. Education Week provides schools across Victoria with an opportunity to showcase the great things we are doing. You will have received a brochure about what’s happening in Education Week in 2016. Please take particular note of some of the planned activities that we would love parents to be involved in:

Education Week Assembly – The Resilience Project – Monday 16th May 2:30pm

Parent Breakfast and Open Day – Wednesday 18th May 8:00am – 10:30am

Grandparents & Special Friends Day – Thursday 19th May 10:30am – 1:00pm

Musical Soiree – Thursday 19th May 7:00pm

Balwyn North Bookworms

This week we have once again hosted two sessions of Balwyn North Bookworms for children transitioning into Foundation in 2017. These sessions are an opportunity for local children and families to come in to our wonderful library space to enjoy reading a book together. It is also a great opportunity for our school to showcase what is happening and support the transition to school. Thank you to all staff who supported this highly successful program and we hope that our young visitors had a fantastic time at Balwyn North Primary School.

School Vision Community Evening

Please see documentation later in this Bulletin regarding the work we are currently doing towards creating a new school vision. We would love to have feedback prior to the evening and would appreciate families filling in the questionnaire prior. We will come together on Tuesday 24th May at 6:30pm to consolidate this work. Thank you in advance for your support.

Thursday 5th May 2016

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Friday 6th May

Mother’s Day Lunch at Hellenic Republic Kew 12:30pm

Sunday 8th May MOTHER’S DAY

Monday 9th May Uniform Shop 2:30pm—3:15pm Assembly 2:45pm

Tuesday 10th May School Banking Due

Friday 13th May District Cross Country

Saturday 14th May PREP OPEN MORNING 10:00 am—12:00pm

Monday 16th May Education Week Choir Boroondara Eisteddfod Uniform Shop 2:30pm—3:15pm Assembly 2:45pm

Wednesday 18th May Education Week Parent Breakfast Open Day 9:15am—10:30am

NAPLAN

NAPLAN tests will take place for students in Year 3 and 5 in Language Conventions, Writing, Reading and Numeracy next week. The teachers have prepared our students for these tests by giving them experience in test environments and discussing the types of questions they may come across. As parents you can support your child by ensuring they are well rested and arrive at school on time. Sometimes children can get anxious about the test and not perform at their best if they feel that we, as adults, are anxious about them. Try to avoid asking too many questions about the tests or ask them how they performed as this may increase anxiety. As a school, we value assessments of students and collect information about student achievement and their level of understanding on a daily basis. The NAPLAN tests provide a snapshot of information about a child’s learning, however, it is important to remember that for primary aged students, there are many factors that may influence their performance on the day and that each child will have given their best for that day.

Erika Bienert Tony Stokes Principal Assistant Principal

Dear Parents,

Every four years Victorian Government schools write a School Strategic Plan (SSP) from which an Annual Im-plementation Plan (AIP) is written. 2016 is a year of review for Balwyn North Primary School and as such we are in an exciting phase where we begin to set the direction of the school over the next few years. As part of this process, it is important for school communities to embrace a shared vision based on a set of core beliefs to which the community can commit. The school improvement priorities as highlighted in the SSP and AIP should align with the school vision.

Creating a shared vision that is meaningful to all stakeholders is an important aspect of this process. It re-quires all members of the community to identify and share their core beliefs and describe how their ideal school would look. Over the past few weeks we have been working with staff and students to gain insight into what they value at Balwyn North Primary School.

Parent partnerships play a vital role at our school and as such we would like to invite your feedback to the following questions;

What do we value?

What makes Balwyn North Primary School unique?

What do we want our school to be like?

The feedback you provide (along with students and staff) will contribute to a planned session on Tuesday 24th May (6:30pm-8:00pm) where you are invited to the next phase of creating our school vision and to discuss the future directions of our school.

Please complete the reverse side of this form and return it by Friday 13th May.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Erika Bienert Principal

Please return to the main office by Friday 13th May:

What do we value?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What makes Balwyn North Primary School unique?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do we want our school to be like?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please tick the appropriate box and return this form to the office: Yes, I would like to attend the session on Tuesday 24th May (6:30pm-8:00pm) Number of adults: ____ Number of children: ____ Sorry, I am unable to attend the session on Tuesday 24th May (6:30pm-8:00pm)

PFA NEWS 5th May

MOTHER’S DAY LUNCH FRIDAY 6TH MAY

HELLENIC REPUBLIC, KEW

$25 ticket

12.30PM

ORGANISER: HELEN CHRISTO

PFA MONTHLY MEETING

TUESDAY 10TH MAY 9AM

SEMINAR ROOM

ALL WELCOME

GRANDPARENT’S AND SPECIAL FRIEND’S DAY - MAY 19TH

Parents are asked to bring in a plate of food, savoury or sweet, to share with our

guests.

Please drop off the food in the School Hall in the morning.

Volunteers are also needed on this special day.

Email Athina if you can help out from 9am till 11am. This involves setting up the

coffee/tea and food then serving tea/coffee to our guests.

Even if you have just one hour to spare that’s fine.

The MOTHER’S DAY STALL was a great success. Thank you to the mum’s who

spent an enjoyable few hours selling gifts to the children. The students certainly

love the experience of looking for a gift for their mum!!

B.N.P.S. Stars of the Week

Term 2, Week 3

Class Name Achievement

FA Jordan D’Souza For being Knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the different

materials we use and how they can change.

FL Kira Uy For being Knowledgeable about different materials and their

properties and sharing information with the class.

FS Johanan Chin For being Knowledgeable when sharing his newly learnt

information about different materials and their properties.

1F Richard Jiao For being a Communicator by clearly and calmly expressing his

thoughts and feelings

1G Eric Xu For being a Risk-Taker by confidently sharing his amazing poetry

and having a go with his phonics game.

2A Genevieve Cowhey For being a Risk-Taker by having a go at new things with

enthusiasm and finding ways to get assistance when needed.

2K Noah Pitliangas For being Caring by always being a kind, respectful, happy and

humorous member of 2K.

2S Evangeline Korte For being Principled by acting with integrity and honesty in the

classroom.

3B Sandra Chhuon For being Principled by always acting with integrity and respect in

the classroom.

3C Koray Kaplan For being Caring by enthusiastically and independently helping in

the classroom and showing great care to his peers.

4J Adarsh Vijayakrishnan For being a Communicator by effectively communicating his

opinions and ideas in a large group.

4M Jowan Dong For being a Risk-Taker by taking more risks with his work and

having a go on his own at new things.

5C Jinesh Jitesh For being Balanced by participating enthusiastically in learning

activities, during production auditions and in sporting competitions.

5L Kiarash Amini For being Principled, by maintaining a focus and dedication to

learning at all times.

5T Michael Lew For being a Thinker by thinking outside the square during MTQ and

using initiative.

6D Jasmine Ly For being a Risk-Taker by involving herself fully in all areas of the

auditions for The Lion King.

6M Aaron Chau For being Balanced by achieving at a high standard and

understanding intellectual, physical and emotional balance.

6R Evin Joseph For being an Inquirer by confidently offering his ideas in class

discussions.

MU-

SIC Sahen Singh

For being Knowledgeable by demonstrating understanding of notes

and rhythm in a composition.

GRANDPARENTS’ AND SPECIAL FRIENDS’ DAY

THURSDAY MAY 19th 2016

Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day is coming up very soon and we hope to see all the grandfathers, grandmothers and special friends here again this year. It was a great day last year and we look forward to meeting more of you this year. The children absolutely loved showing you their classrooms and working with their special visitors. Put the date in your diaries and let your grandparents or special friends know. There will be more information and notes to follow. Stay tuned!!!!! If you have any queries about the day, please contact Alison Crawford by email. crawford.alison.j@edumail.vic.gov.au

Program 10:30am- Arrive at school. 10:40-am Morning Tea in the hall with teachers and school staff. 11:10am- Performances by school children in the hall.

11:40am to 1:00pm- Visit children in the classrooms and take part in classroom activities.

SCHOOL CAPTAIN’S MESSAGE

Hi,

Hopefully everyone has been having lots of fun down on the ovals learning how to play football.

Remember to share ideas with your class Junior School Councillor about the front area of the school, so

that we can transform it into a place where you can hang out with your peers and friends.

Just a reminder MOTHER’S DAY this Sunday 8th May, Get up early and

make your mum a delicious breakfast, and tell her you love her.

Pun: I wasn’t originally going to get a brain transplant, but then I changed my mind. J

Pasandul, Sophie, Aaron, Hannah

HELP NEEDED

FOR PICK UP AND DROP OFF FROM SCHOOL TO HOME FOR MY 2

KIDS From Cityview Road .

We are Happy to cover the Fuel costs. Please contact Pankajam :

0417324096

Thanks Panka

UNIFORM NEWS

As winter is fast

approaching don’t forget

to visit the uniform shop

for your children’s winter

needs.