BNPS Newsletter

Principal's Report

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Next week is Education Week and the theme is ‘Celebrating Careers’. Here at Beaumaris North, we strive to equip our students with the skills and competencies required for success in their careers beyond school, particularly in the ever-changing world of ICT.

We continually up-skill and develop teacher capacity to improve student outcomes through our Staff Professional Development program, which encompasses all areas of the curriculum. 

Our Mother's Day Stall

I would sincerely like to thank Lisa Ward, Anna Holmes and Ros Wells who did a wonderful job working in a quite organised manner to produce another amazing Mother's Day Stall for our families. The children took great delight in choosing the perfect gift for their mum or special person.

 

Thank you also to the wonderful parents who gave up their time to help at the stall on the day; Rachel Overell, Nicole Elliot, Justine Creedon, Julie Middleton, Margot Teele, Maria Angeletos, Stacey Slattery, Meagan Fraser, Preeti Krishnan, Natalie Beaumont, Claire Kirk, Cathryn Thompson, Shannon Seers, Belinda Czarnota, Bec Levant-Feldman, Julie Wallis, Bridget Stickland, Beck McCowan, Rebecca Beuth, Katie Baker, Lisa Done, Olivia Sanderson, Lynette Schroen and Olivia Sleep.

House Cross Country

Congratulations to the Year 3 - 6 students who participated in our annual House Cross Country event last week. Fortunately, the weather was kind and the students enjoyed dressing in house colours and supporting their teams.

 

I would like to thank Kirsty Hall for the superb organisation and planning of this event, and the many staff and parents who assisted on the day.

 

Congratulations to all students for 'having a go' and good luck to those who now advance to the District level of the competition.

Y5 Robotics Group

I would like to thank Merry Graham (STEM Teacher) and the Year 5 Robotics Group students for giving up their Saturday last weekend to raise money to purchase the Lego EV3 Kits required for the upcoming FIRST Lego League competition.

I am sure that the crowd at the Beaumaris Farmers Market were suitably impressed by your robotics and sphero demonstration. Please see the 'Students Taking Action' page of this newsletter for a full report.

2019 Fundraising Targets

Staff were asked to put forward a list of needs based on their day-to-day experiences, and this has been presented to School Council. This combined with other suggestions from School Council and parent fundraising teams will then be evaluated against a set of weighted criteria (to be determined by School Council) to inform our 2019 fundraising targets, for example:

  • Child safety
  • Educational Benefit
  • Wellbeing Benefit
  • Community Benefit
  • Overall anticipated cost

This process will provide an impartial view of where we should put our efforts. Our 2019 fundraising targets will be communicated to the school community in due course.

Assessment Rubrics

Assessment rubrics are used in Learning Tasks to help teachers to reliably interpret and grade students' work consistently against a range of assessment criteria and expected performance standards (rather than assigning a single subjective score).

Whilst it might appear that the feedback is generic, your child has been individually graded according to the standards set out in the Learning Task. 

 

A rubric made available to students at the commencement of a Learning Task makes them aware of all expectations related to the task and helps them evaluate their own work.

NAPLAN (Y3 & 5)

This week the Year 3 & 5 NAPLAN assessments took place. All tests were completed online with the exception of the Year 3 writing component which was paper based. 

 

Testing continues next week on (21, 22 & 23 May) and I would like to sincerely thank Mat Doran-Brown (Leading Teacher) for managing the NAPLAN process in Moira Simpson's absence. 

NAPLAN results are not due until late August and will be issued to parents as soon as they have been received.

Cyber Safety

Thank you to those who attended the #Trending Cyber Safety workshop last week. It was a very informative evening and some very alarming statistics were presented.

I encourage you to read the 'Cyber Safety' page of this newsletter for the Alannah & Madeline Foundation 'Ten Top Tips' and some great parent resources.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parent-Teacher Interviews commenced on Wednesday 1 May and to date 615 interviews have been booked for our 681 students. 

 

In addition to ongoing Learning Task feedback and Semester Reports, these valuable conversations make a significant contribution to improving student outcomes.

There are two more opportunities for you to meet with your child's teacher to discuss progress - Wednesday 22 & Tuesday 28 May. Bookings can be made via Compass.

Our Wonderful Volunteers

Next week is National Volunteers week and the 2019 theme, 'Making a world of difference', could not be more suited to our school community.  

In the last fortnight alone, we have had a huge number of volunteers for the following events and activities:

  • Year 4 Bike Education
  • House Cross Country
  • Mother's Day Stall
  • Prep, Year 1, 5 & 6 reading
  • Woolworths Earn & Learn program
  • Canteen
  • Uniform Shop
  • Class Rep events

We also have the Gala Committee who have been hard at work behind the scenes for many months now, the FAC who are organising a BBQ on Election Day (Saturday 18 May) and Margot Teele who organised the Outdoor Movie Night which was unfortunately (and thankfully!) postponed due to the weather.

 

My sincerest thanks go out to each and every parent volunteer (past, present and future) for giving so freely of their time and talents to enrich and strengthen our school community.

2020 Enrolments 

In the last few weeks we have hosted two open mornings and many tours for prospective 2020 Prep families. It was particularly rewarding to see how engaged our students were upon entering the classrooms unannounced. 

 

We have also hosted an information evening and I would sincerely like to thank the staff who made themselves available after hours, to showcase our wonderful programs. 

Due to a low sibling intake, next year we have more places to offer than in past years, and we welcome applications from any families who are interested in our school - we are NOT zoned by residential address.

 

If you have a child eligible for Prep in 2020 and are yet to book an appointment to meet with Mrs Duffy, Mrs Simpson or Mrs Morecroft and receive your enrolment package, please do so ASAP (9589 5449 or beaumaris.north.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au).

 

Applications for Prep 2020 close Friday 28 June 2019.

Removal of Basketball Court Rings

As advised on Compass earlier this week, the rings on the synthetic basketball court have been removed as they are rusted and need to be fixed or replaced.

 

We are currently waiting to hear back from the supplier and will endeavour to have these reinstated as quickly as possible.

No Climbing Trees

For the safety of children and to protect our natural environment, the climbing of trees is against our school rules and is NOT permitted at any time – children must play away from the fences and not in garden beds.

Teachers enforce this rule during the hours of duty however parents are responsible for their children beyond this time – please supervise your children carefully to prevent injury.

In Closing...

I do hope you have been able to enjoy quality family time together this week for our National Families Week celebration. Research has shown that family time has profound benefits from allowing you to teach your children valuable life lessons like fairness and kindness, to building self-esteem and even enhancing academic performance.

 

Finding quality time can certainly be a challenge, but it's not impossible and is worth the effort.  

 

Sherril Duffy

Principal