Blaxland Public School

Kindy Academy - 16th, 23rd and 30th November

Week 7

K-6 Assembly 15th November 2021

Week 8

Year 6 to 7 Transition Blaxland High School Tuesday 23rd November 2021

Week 9

Captains Speeches  30th November 2021

Week 10

Presentation Day Assembly- Students only   9th December 2021

P&C Coin Snake Friday 10th December 2021

Student Reports sent home Friday 10th December 2021

Week 11

Year 6 Farewell Wednesday 15th December 2021

K-6 Student's last day Thursday 16th December

For all notes sent home please see either the School Website or SkoolBag.

• Blaxland High School - Year 7 Orientation permission note - please return ASAP

This week, we welcomed our 2022 Kindergarten students onsite for their very first Kindy Academy visit.  It was lovely to put faces to names and all the students had a great time getting to know each other and enjoy some fun activities with the Blaxland Public School staff. We will be holding three more Kindy Academy visits on Tuesday 16th Nov, 23rd, Nov and 30th November. During these visits we will be providing a parent information bag and the Best Start Timetable will be on the sign in table next Tuesday for parents to sign up for a Best Start time in 2022.

Year 7 Orientation

Our Year 6 students attending Blaxland High School in 2022 will be attending their Orientation Day on Tuesday 23rd November. Blaxland High School have organised a bus to pick up and drop off the students at 9:20 am and the students will return at 1:10pm. A permission note has been sent home to all Blaxland High School parents.

Year 6 Farewell

We will be able to have a Year 6 Farewell onsite for the students only on Wednesday 15th December in the school hall. More information will be provided once it is known.

Staffing news

Today is Mrs Walsh' School Learning Support Officer last day at Blaxland Public School. Mrs Walsh has been an asset to our school and has worked tirelessly in 1/2S in 2021 and KE in 2020 supporting students in all aspects of school life. Mrs Walsh will be missed by all of us. Thank you, Mrs Walsh, for everything that you have done above and beyond your role during your time at Blaxland Public School. Mr Hodgson also finished at Blaxland Public School last Friday due to family circumstances. Mr Hodgson and his family had the opportunity to move home to Western Australia sooner than expected and we wish them well in their new home. Mr Hodgson has worked at Blaxland Public School for the last two years sharing one day a week with Mrs Shaw on class and delivering content from the Personal Development, Health and Physical Education syllabus on the second day. His energy and enthusiasm for teaching and our students will be greatly missed.

COVID Safe Guidelines

The COVID Safe practices continue to keep our students, staff, and community safe. We need to continue to keep our students in cohorts and continue the separate gates for drop off and pick up each day until further notice.

Fully vaccinated parents and carers will be allowed on site to support student wellbeing activities that require a meeting with staff and school operations such as collecting uniform orders. Parents and carers must check in using the school check-in and show proof of vaccination on entry to the school site. All parents are reminded to make sure that the school has your updated contact details so that you can be contacted if necessary. Please click on the link below for the latest advice to families.

https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families

School Banking

On 24 October 2021, the Treasurer and Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning, the Hon. Sarah Mitchell MLC announced that school banking programs will no longer be run in New South Wales schools from 2022.

School banking programs at our school are arranged at a local level and school banking was administered by the school office. With the upcoming cessation of the program, students will no longer be able to deposit savings through the school banking program at Blaxland PS. You can still keep your child’s bank account open and can continue to make deposits into your child’s accounts through online transfer or at any bank branch. More information are available on the department’s school banking website and Commonwealth Bank of Australia’ Website.

The decision was made following the review of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) review on School Banking ProgramsExternal link on 15 December 2020, which found that the costs of the program outweighed the benefits.

Key findings of the review include:

• School banking programs claim to help children develop long term saving habits; however, providers were unable to demonstrate that these programs in and of themselves improve savings behaviour;
• Payments to schools for implementing school banking programs incentivise schools to encourage greater participation in the programs;
• Young children are vulnerable consumers and are exposed to sophisticated advertising and marketing tactics by school banking program providers;
• School banking program providers fail to effectively disclose that a strategic objective of these programs is customer acquisition.

Financial literacy is embedded in the curriculum K-10. It is part of a continuum of learning in the work and enterprise learning across the curriculum content area from K-12. In Mathematics K–10, students develop knowledge, understanding and skills specifically related to financial literacy, such as money, financial transactions, pay rates, taxable income, rebates and levies. In Stages 4 and 5 many students elect to study commerce. A key objective of the Years 7–10 commerce syllabus is for students to develop skills in decision-making and problem-solving in relation to consumer and financial issues they may encounter now and in the future. Opportunities also exist for the inclusion of financial literacy in the mandatory Life Ready course in Stage 6. More information on the NSW Curriculum is available.

To further support our students with financial literacy education, the department launched the Treasurer’s Financial Literacy Challenge in collaboration with ASIC. The challenge is currently in pilot intended for students in Years 5 to 8 but open to all. The challenge aims to engage students in practical activities focused on making informed financial choices, setting goals and managing money.

Our playground equipment has been officially opened by some very excited children! KE & K/1M enjoyed the first go, with the other classes close behind. It has been given a big thumbs up - lots of things to climb on, a slippery dip that we can race each other down and even a rock climbing wall!

When Unwell

Staff and students must not attend work or school if unwell, even with mild symptoms of COVID-19. Any person with any COVID-19 symptoms must be sent home and not return to school unless:

• they have isolated for 10 days, when no medical certificate is available
• they have a negative COVID-19 test result and are symptom free.

In circumstances where children or staff have other medical reasons for recurrent symptoms, a letter from their GP is sufficient to negate the requirement for a negative test.

Online Ordering is available only.

To order Online please email the school with your child's full name, class, and what you would like to purchase. Payments are is to be made online through the school Website and the uniform purchase will go home with your child.

For any Uniform Shop inquiries please email the school.

Scholastic Book Club orders are dube by November 19th.

All orders are to be paid online.

Orders can be made at scholastic.com.au/loop

The coin snake is on again! Bring in as many coins as you can from Monday until Thursday December 9th. Coin snakes will be built on Friday December 10th and the class with the longest snake will slither their way to victory! The winning class will enjoy a cool ice-cream treat for lunch. All funds raised will be used to support our school.

On 4 February 2022 the P&C will be holding a morning tea to welcome our new kindy parents. We are seeking volunteers to help prepare the gift bags and run the morning tea. Please email blaxlandpandc@gmail.com if you can help.

At 7pm on 14 December 2021 the P&C will be having Christmas dinner and drinks at the Lapstone Pub. Please join us and celebrate surviving this crazy year! All members of the school community are welcome!

We would like to invite you onto the parent-based management committee that oversees the operation of the OOSH.  Anyone over the age of 18 can apply to be on the committee, Parents, Guardians, Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts and Community members. A parent-based Management Committee consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and general committee positions, they are people who volunteer their time to oversee the smooth running of the OOSH. Committee meetings are held on a regular basis throughout the year (usually every second month) and parent participation is encouraged. Notices of meetings will be advertised in the school newsletter and on the noticeboard in the school. Without a fully operational committee we are open to having our SCOOSH placed out for tender to a private enterprise to operate.

Joining a Parent Committee can be a rewarding way to be involved in your child's learning experience. We will welcome the commitment, knowledge, participation and voluntary contribution each committee member brings to SCOOSH. Community involvement is the most successful way to deliver truly inclusive and responsive services, and we hope that your participation connects, empowers and enriches your experience with your child’s education. Without a fully operational committee we are open to having our OOSH placed out for tender to a private enterprise to operate.

If you are interested, please send an email to blaxlandpandc@gmail.com and we will advise you of our next meeting (it will be in 2022).

The Blaxland Public School P&C is looking for a Co-Manager for the SCOOSH.

This is a volunteer position that has become available to replace one of the current Co-Managers who will be stepping down this year. The SCOOSH is a well-established, financially sustainable Out Of School Hours care service provider for the students and families of Blaxland Public School, run by the P&C.

The Co-Managers make decisions on budgeting for the service, where to spend funding and other matters concerning the upkeep, staffing and equipping of the OOSH. They also formulate and provides input into the policies of the OOSH and ensure that the service is meeting all statutory and regulatory requirements. SCOOSH has a well-established supervisor who takes care of the day to day running of the OOSH and the co-manager who is continuing with the service takes care of the financial administration of the service. The management team report back to the P&C each month as part of the P&C meeting.

As a Non-Profit community organization any parent or interested community person may apply for the position if they are over 18 years of age and not currently managing or supervising in a OOSH or Child Care Service. Any profit that the OOSH generates is returned to the P&C to spend on improving the school and its equipment to the benefit all students. To become a service manager, you are required to complete a short training course and all costs will be covered by the P&C.

If this position interests you please email blaxlandpandc@gmail.com and we will supply you with a more detailed job description. If you have any questions before you declare your interest, please feel free to email blaxlandpandc@gmail.com.