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Principal: Mr Greg Turnbull Relieving Deputy Principal: Mrs Belinda Gibbs

Term 2 Week 6

Dear Families, BPS Learning conversations were held again this week! This process highlights student centred learning conversations. It’s a forward looking process that is designed to show parents: • what their child can do; • what their child needs to do next to progress; and • how parents can help at home.

We would like to thank all the families that have attended their child’s learning conversations this week. We are extremely pleased with the support we have received for the way we now report student progress to families. Thank you also to everyone who completed the survey, your feedback is highly valued and we are already planning on making some subtle changes for second semester. Kind Regards Greg Turnbull Principal

Parent Concerns at School

From time to time parents and carers have questions or concerns regarding incidents at school. Should you have any questions regarding your child’s schooling you should always approach the class teacher first for clarification.

You can also contact the Assistant Principal who is responsible for that part of the school;

• Kindergarten Mrs Jessica Kemp • Years 1 and 2 Miss Tamara Pollock • Years 3 and 4 Miss Rani Chatterjee • Years 5 and 6 Mrs Elizabeth O’Keefe

Should you not be able to resolve the issue please make an appointment to see either our Rel. Deputy Principal (Mrs Belinda Gibbs), or myself, the Principal (Mr Greg Turnbull). Do not, under any circumstances, approach other students directly regarding incidents at school. We thank you in advance for your understanding in this matter.

Warm Clothing

It is getting extremely cold in the mornings now, so please make sure your child is coming to school with some warm clothes on. Please also label all items of clothing so that if they are misplaced they can be returned to your child’s classroom.

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Zone Cross Country

On Tuesday 30th May, Miss Howick and Miss Palmer took forty-four kids to Thomas Acres Reserve to attend the zone cross country. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were all excited for a great race. We all did very well for a three kilometre track. It was great. We ended up having two kids going to regionals and those two people are Kaleb Chatters coming in third and Krystal Brown coming in fifth. Congratulations! My favourite part of the day was the excitement as I walked up to the starting line and feeling the tension wondering what position I was going to come.

Samuel Dwyer

Sydney Primary Schools Debating Competition Blairmount PS has two teams of students in year five entered into this competition. Both our Team A and Team B year five students debated against Mawarra Public School last week on Monday at Blairmount. We went into the debate not knowing what to expect as we lost against them in round one. This debate was the second round and the topic was: 'That Saturday sport should be compulsory for all primary school students'. Both of our teams were the affirmative. They did Blairmount very proud with well-structured prepared arguments and their rebuttals were awesome!! Both of our teams won their debate. Now they will debate each other at Blairmount on Thursday 8th June and parents are more than welcome to come along and watch. The winner of this debate will debate the winner of Mawarra PS. The winner out of these two teams will go into the Interzone Final. This is very exciting for Blairmount. Well done to both teams of students. Premier's Debating Challenge This is another competition that our Blairmount year six students are entered into. To start the competition off for round one, they had to debate against each other at Blairmount last Monday. The topic for the debate was: We should ban homework for all school students. Blairmount Stingers were the affirmative team and Blairmount Bees were negative. Blairmount Stingers won this debate. Both teams did really well for their first debate of the year and their first debate in a real competition situation. Well done to both of the teams and congratulations to the Blairmount Stingers. It is looking to be an exciting season of debating for both of these teams. Our next debate for Year six will be on Thursday 8th June at Blairmount PS. Everyone is welcome to watch. Aboriginal Public Speaking Eight of our Stage 3 Aboriginal students were lucky enough last Thursday to be invited to attend the Yarn Up! Public Speaking Training Day 1 hosted by the Aboriginal Education Engagement Team at the Powerhouse Museum Sydney. It was an early morning and late day but the students were amazingly well behaved and did Blairmount PS proud. The first training day was an introduction into public speaking with three group activities, of impromptu speeches, ice breakers and a tour of the museum. We are looking forward to the second training day at Mount Annan Botanical gardens to hear more about public speaking. Students will be working hard over the next few months to prepare their speech that they will present at parliament NSW in August.

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Kindergarten 2018

Do you have a child starting Kindergarten in 2018? Contact the front office to get your enrolment forms completed & enrol in the Busy Buzzy Learner program.

Dental Visit

During week 9, 19th June to 23rd June Future Care Mobile Dental will be at Blairmount for Dental checks. A note has been sent home to all students this week. Please read the information carefully as there are a few changes to last year. Please complete the forms & return to your child’s teacher as soon as possible. If your child does not need to see the Dentist please complete the attached slip to let the teacher know. The first class to return all their forms will receive a class reward.

Rugby Union

Congratulation to Seth To'o who has been selected into the NSW State Representative Rugby Union Team.

Seth will compete against all other Australian State Teams at Salamander Bay on Tuesday 22nd August till Thursday 24th August.

Good luck Seth!

From the Office

Just a reminder, please do not send food to school for lunch that needs to be heated. We are not allowed to reheat your child’s food due to safety reasons.

2017 Important Dates

2ndJune–Stage2HeartbeatExcursion

12thJune–Queen’sBirthdayPublicHoliday

13thJune–ICASCompetitionWriting

14thJune–ICASCompetitionSpelling

16thJune–PSSAGalaDay

19thJuneto23rdJune–DentalClinic

22ndJune–Year5visittoEagleValeHS

26thJune–AthleticsCarnival

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PBL Update

Blairmount Public School is a Positive Behaviour for Learning School. Positive Behaviour for Learning is about teaching students how to be successful and behave responsibly in school. We are in our 2nd year of implementation and are slowly making changes. This term we are focusing on teaching the students how to behave in all areas of the school. In Week 6, the students will be learning how to be a safe, respectful learner in the playground.

ü Follow game rules

ü Share playing areas fairly

ü Take turns and include others

ü Solve problems nicely, fairly and respectfully

ü Place your rubbish in the bin

ü Walk on hard surfaces

ü Play in the correct areas

ü Wear a hat ü Use equipment

safely ü Be aware of your

surroundings

In week 7, the students will be learning how to be a respectful and safe when lining up in the morning, after lunch and at the end of recess.

ü Listen attentively to the teacher

ü Listen to teacher instructions

ü Look at the teacher

ü Keep your hands and feet to yourself

ü When the music starts, walk safely to lines

ü Sit in straight lines

Please discuss the expectations with children and help to teach them the correct behaviour that is required in those areas.

PBL team

Busy Buzzy Learners

Our Busy Buzzy Learners have been learning all about the letters in their names and learning to show numbers on our hands this week. They are making great progress in getting ready for Kindergarten. Keep up the great work.