INFANTS

Kindergarten 2025 Information Evening – our Infants and Primary staff enjoyed welcoming prospective Kindergarten 2025 students and their families to our school on Tuesday evening. They spent some time playing and looking around our Kindergarten and Infants classrooms and then getting to know our Library space. Our current Kindergarten students were all involved in making a special movie, ‘A Day in Kindergarten’ to show on the night. They had a great time making the movie by starring in photos, short videos and narrating the day. This will be put on Facebook to share with families and our school community. A big thank you to Jaimee for directing and producing this.

Morning routine and drop off – our school is open and supervised for students from 8.30am, with our classroom bell and start time being 9am. We understand that morning times are busy for families, however it is appreciated if students are at school and ready to start the day on time. This minimises disruption for the entire class and helps maximise learning time. Of course, we know that things can happen and pop up unexpectedly and that is okay.

Kindy

Kindergarten students have enjoyed learning facts about insects, bugs and all things creepy crawly this past fortnight. We have been learning the difference between fact and fiction and discovered that some books have a bit of both in them, such as Eric Carle’s ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. Students took to the playground to go on a ‘Bug Hunt’ and discovered and uncovered small animals in all sorts of different locations. We have since written a fact about one of our favourite bugs and are compiling this to create a class book, ‘Kindergarten’s Big Book of Bugs’, which we hope to put in the Library.

In Mathematics, students in Kindergarten have been counting, counting and counting. We are identifying patterns in our counting and discovering ways we can help to keep track our counting as we reach bigger and bigger numbers.

In Art, we have made some beautiful ‘Rainbow Fish’ that are brightening up our new hall way area – please come and have a look if you have a chance during drop off one morning.

Yindyamarra

Yindyamarra students have been busy learning how the author conveys messages throughout the text. A Bag and a Bird by Pamela Allen had students captivated to see the different landmarks of Sydney and to find out if an Ibis lives to fly another day.

Yindyamarra students also had a lovely art lesson outside in the beautiful sunshine, enjoying creating art using cooked spaghetti.

Yindyamarra Teacher: Miss Rose Arber

Year 1

Term 2 is well and truly up and running, and year 1 have already produced lots of fabulous pieces of work to be proud of.

Congratulations to all of Kindergarten and Year 1 who participated in our ‘mini cross- country' in week 2. We had a wonderful time completing our run and engaging with the rest of the school to watch and cheer on students as they finished their cross- country races.

Over the last two weeks in Year 1, we have been learning many ‘persuasive’ techniques in our English lessons. We have read the books ‘Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus’ by Mo Willems, and ‘Do not open this book’ by Andy Lee which have some fabulous and quite comical persuasive devices. Students were then tasked to persuade their teacher to get a pet for the classroom, and I must admit, they have nearly convinced me... We are just beginning a new topic in English relating to context, which will include students comparing their own contexts to others and considering how context shapes an author’s work.

In Mathematics, students have been exploring the concept of ‘equivalence’ in quite some detail. We have looked at equivalence in the form of mathematical stories, considering how mathematics can be seen in real-world problems. We are beginning a new unit in Mathematics all about data and data collection.

In weeks 3 and 4, students have been considering how to communicate effectively in our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) lessons. We completed some role play scenarios about how to effectively begin a new conversation with someone. This learning has been revisited throughout the last week during class time through situations such as how to appropriately interrupt a teacher and ask peers to join in an activity during free time.

Miss Emily Friend

3/4 Classroom

Well, what a busy start to the Term we have had in 3/4! Between regular school routines, different sporting events, public speaking, and other opportunities we have accepted, 3/4 students have been very busy at school.

In English, we have been focussing on the text Wandi by author Favel Parrett. Wandi is an excellent story about a dingo pup who is taken away by an eagle and dropped into a human's backyard. Eventually, Wandi ends up in a sanctuary for endangered dingos - and becomes quite the tourist attraction! Over the duration of the story, Wandi's perceptions and understandings of human beings changes, due to his own experiences with humans who care for him and protect him. Students are looking forward to creating posters about dingos, to try and help change the perspectives of people who view their posters. "Dingo" was also the word of the day on Wordle this week - which left students (and Miss Groves) very impressed!

We have also been focussing on dingos in other areas of the curriculum as well. Students have been creating paintings of dingos this week, working on using colour to indicate how close something is to light. This follows on from their landscape artworks of Aurora Australis which students completed last week - which are now on display in our classroom.

Students have also been making the most of other co-curricular and sporting opportunities made available to them this term - from soccer gala days to cross country and even public speaking. It has been really pleasing to see students giving these activities their all and enjoying themselves. A massive thanks must also go to the teachers and parents behind the scenes organising and helping to run these activities - the students of ¾ are very thankful to all of you!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Charlotte Groves Classroom Teacher

Year 4/5 Classroom

The past few weeks have been bustling with activity in Year 4/5! We've had a whirlwind of school events, including Cross Country, public speaking competitions, and the Mortimer Shield. Despite the busy schedule, we've managed to mostly maintain our regular routines.

In our English sessions, we've continued with "Sentence a Day," daily edits, and various writing and reading activities. I'm pleased to see the students' progress, especially in our editing and handwriting. Our big focus for the rest of the term will be expanding the student's vocabulary and using more complex words.

In math, we've focused on decimals and fractions over the past two weeks. I'm thrilled with the knowledge the kids have gained and their enthusiasm for these topics.

Our art lessons with Miss Wood have been a creative outlet for the students, while our history and geography lessons with Mrs Shore have broadened their understanding of the world. In sports, we've seen significant improvement in sportsmanship and the students encouraging one another, which is wonderful to witness.

Primary

Well, we continue to be busy, busy, busy in the primary classrooms to start term two.

A big thank-you to all families who attended the Transition to Kindergarten and Transition to Year Seven information nights on Monday night. It was great to see so many parents and have good discussions about school operations and what we can do to support students and families here.

We had a fantastic soccer gala day for years 3-6 over in Young. We received some high praise from the canteen staff there that our students used manners and represented our school well. What a great thing to hear. A huge thanks to all staff and parents for their assistance on the day – and to those who helped me by washing some of the 60 jerseys that were used on the day.

Our first Cowra District Cross Country Carnival went off in spectacular fashion last Friday. Although it was the first time that I had planned this event (and the nerves that go along with that responsibility), I was so proud of our community with how it all ended up. Zero issues occurred that couldn’t be immediately solved, and all kids had a fun day out in the sun. A big thanks to the Boorowa P and C for the canteen hosting, the Hilltops Council for their assistance with road closures, the many parents who volunteered, the high school students who ran with some students and sat on checkpoints, the Golf Club for their grounds, Chris Grimson for his golf cart ‘ChipnAPutt’, Mr Corcoran, Mrs Shore and Mrs Cosgrove for their endless support and professionalism – and to all of BCS students and staff. Phew! Now we get to do it all again for the next two years. Congratulations also to Amali, Coen, Harper and Digby for qualifying for Western Region in Orange! I now have the pleasure of being convenor for that carnival in June.

On Tuesday this week we had Mortimer Shield in Young. It was great to see so many kids enjoying rugby league and league tag. Well done to all teams and Best and Fairest Players on the day were Roarke, Amali and Bede – with Player’s Player going to Dempsee, Harrison and Deon. Thank-you to Mr Corcoran, Jayden and parents for your assistance.

A general reminder to all parents that we continue to focus on appropriate language and respect for staff members here at school. Unfortunately, a small number of our primary students feel that they can treat some teachers quite poorly at times. All staff, regardless of their job title, are to be treated equally here at BCS – with the highest level of respect and kindness. Not only is this a general expectation of behaviour, but it also allows our classrooms to be positive places of learning.

If you require any additional information or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me via email: jason.stuart3@det.nsw.edu.au

Jason Stuart

Assistant Principal Primary (Relieving)

5/6 Classroom

The year 5/6 class have been busy the last fortnight. In English, we have begun a unit of work on Rob Ryan’s ‘The Kingdom Revealed’, a picture book with advanced language and the sequel to our first term book ‘The Kingdom Revealed’. We will be specifically looking at diary writing and personal reflections in this unit. In Mathematics, we have begun to explore multiplication and division. Once again we know that times tables are the cornerstone of all Mathematics – and if students in our class don’t know them off by heart – they must practise every night at home. In Science, we are continuing our unit on ‘Natural Disasters’ – exploring earthquakes, floods, bushfires, cyclones, tsunamis and all manner of other events around the world. We delve into the science of it – investigating the effects of tsunamis in Japan over the past fifty years! In Spelling we now have seven students accessing the year 7 curriculum. While this is a fantastic achievement, it’s not mandatory, and students can return to the year six curriculum at any point.

As always, please get in touch if you require any further information: Jason.stuart3@det.nsw.edu.au

Jason Stuart

5/6 Class Teacher

Assistant Principal Primary (Relieving)

P&C