News

From Mrs Hogg

It was fantastic to see many Burkies happy to be back at school, 5 days a week last week. Classes have begun to re-establish their routines and expectations and this will continue throughout the rest of term.

This week, the library reopens for lessons. Mrs O'Mally has taken long service leave for the rest of the year, and we welcome Mr Garry Jones into the role of teacher-librarian for the remainder of 2020. Students are encouraged to return their library books so that they can borrow new books. 

Classes library days are as follows;

• Monday - KD, EC and Kinder
• Tuesday - JB, LR, EB and NC
• Wednesday - KR, RW and HW
• Thursday - KM and EP

I encourage all parents to be aware of what their children are doing online, whether it be through games on the Play Station, Kids messenger etc. It has been concerning over the past fortnight to hear of issues involving Burke Ward students and then dealing with these issues when they are carried over into school. Check out our Bullying page in this edition of the newsletter to educate yourself as an adult and to help assist our students to be responsible and respectful digital citizens.

Book Club

Order forms for the Scholastic Book Club No 4 are currently available. As many students around the country are returning to school at different times Scholastic have prepared a virtual catalogue. It can be accessed at: https://www.scholastic.com.au/media/5610/bc_420.pdf

There are several payment options. You may pay by cash or cheque in an envelope marked with their name and class. They should be returned to the office. You will need to print a copy of the order form or simply write your name, class, book title and catalogue number on a sheet of paper. 

You can also pay be credit card online by going to scholastic.com.au/LOOP

If you pay by LOOP you DO NOT need to return any paper work to school. The school will be notified that you have placed and paid for an order. Your order will be returned with the other orders that have been placed by the school. 

Once the school received the orders from Scholastic they will be sorted out and distributed to your child's class.

Order forms for Issue 4 are due Thursday, 11th June. 

Aurora College

In 2021, Aurora College will have an Opportunity Class for Year 5 students enrolled in rural and remote government primary schools. Students will study the content of Mathematics and Science and Technology syllabuses, with a focus on STEM. 

Applications for entry into Year 5 in 2021 opens 9th June 2020 and closes 5pm 26th June 2020.

Opportunity Classes 2021

Changes to the opportunity class placement process for 2020 Year 4 students

The 2021 Year 5 opportunity class placement process was put on hold in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation. 

We now have a revised and simplified timeline for the OC placement process to ensure that students and families can have certainty about their placement as soon as possible. 

The changes include: 

• A new date for online applications. Parents must apply between 9 June 2020 and 26 June 2020. Late applications cannot be accepted.
• A new test date - Wednesday 16 September 2020.

To ensure fair and consistent assessment of students across New South Wales, students will be offered places based only on their test results this year - there will be no school assessment scores.

There will also be no opportunity for appeals given the tight timeframes. 

For further detailed information I encourage you to visit https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

Friday Funday

We hope all staff and students will join in our Friday Funday and come to school with their favourite head wear on Friday. 

It might be a cap, beanie, fedora, top hat ... we can't wait to see what students choose to wear!

It was great to see so many students getting into the spirit last Friday when students wore their team's colours.

We love reading! 

Our teachers have a love of reading and we regularly share quality texts with our students. Every week we will be sharing a video of one of our teachers reading a favourite book (of which we have many!). 

This week we have Miss Medcalf reading Harriet You'll Drive Me Wild!

Year 4 Adelaide Excursion

Deposits for the year 4 excursion to Adelaide have been extended.  If you have a child in year 4 and would like them to attend the excursion to Adelaide in Term 4, please contact the office to make a payment over the phone, or make a payment online through our website.

If the excursion is cancelled by the school, you will receive a FULL refund, including the $50 deposit.

BWPS Social Media Platforms

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to stay-in-touch with what is going on in the school through our social media platforms of:

• ClassDojo
• Facebook (Burke Ward PS)
• Twitter (@burkeward)
• Youtube (Channel: Burke Ward Public School)