Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning Aloma Stewart - Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com

The Bally Buzz

Balgownie Public School Living & Learning

W:www.balgownie-p.schools.nsw.edu.au T: 4284 4245 F:4284 3462 E:balgownie-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Term 2 - Week 4 Wednesday 22 May, 2019

Calendar - Term 2 - 2019

From the Principal’s Desk Mother’s Day Stall a Success Thanks to the parents and helpers who made the Mother’s Day stall a success. It is lovely for all our mothers, and grandmothers who woke up on Sunday to receive a carefully chosen gift. Working Bee this Saturday Do you have a couple of hours to spare? Don’t go to the gym, come to school and burn those calories while helping out! Bring your shears, your wheelbarrows, your green waste bins/bags (to help out by taking green waste home) and pick

a time! The school is open from 10am to 4.30 so as to give everyone time to attend. You don’t need to commit to the whole day but it is appreciated if you could come for a while. There are a list of jobs to cover including some basic garden maintenance (great for people like me with no green thumbs.) If you have more expertise then you can get some more technical tasks! BYO picnic lunch and a plate to share for afternoon tea. A good time to support our school, your kid’s school, if you work during the week and can’t help out on a more regular basis. Any help is appreciated. See you there! Balgownie Acknowledges National

National Reconciliation Week is focusing on how Australians can better recognise each other and acknowledge the contributions, cultures and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Every year, it is held between two

Thurs 22 May Keirabald Launch 6pm @ Art Space

Sun 26 May National Sorry Day

Wed 29 May

Dance Festival Rehearsal IPAC 9.50-1.00pm Dance Festival Evening Performance

Fri 31 May Dance Festival Evening Performance

Sat 1 June Dance Festival Performance

Mon 3 June Girls Basketball Knock Out Gala Day

Thurs 6 June BPS Athletics Carnival Beaton Park

Fri 7 June South Coast Cross Country Nowra

Wed 31July Opportunity Class Placement Test

Term 2 Week 4 2019

Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning

Aloma Stewart – Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com

significant milestones in Australia’s history, May 27 and June 3. May 27 is the anniversary of the 1967 referendum in which more than 90 per cent of Australians voted ‘Yes’ to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the census and give the Australian Government the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. June 3 marks the historic 1992 Mabo decision in which the High Court of Australia recognised native title – the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights over their lands did survive British colonisation. The day before National Reconciliation Week, 26 May, is National Sorry Day, which was first held in Sydney in 1998 and is now commemorated nationally to remember and honour the Stolen Generations. This date is the anniversary of the tabling of the ‘Bringing them home’ Report in Parliament, which told the history of Indigenous children who were taken from their families under forcible removal policies from the 1890s to the 1970s. For Australia’s First Nations Peoples, this day of remembrance holds deep meaning. There are many ways to celebrate National Reconciliation Week and a group of students and staff are walking with others for the Reconciliation Walk at Bellambi 31 May. Did you know…

• Only 31% of Australians say they know a lot about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures but 82% of us want to know more.

• The Australian economy would be $24

billion better off in 2031 if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experienced the same health, education and employment outcomes as other Australians.

• About 60% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people live in cities and major regional areas.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Australians excel in numerous areas, not just sport. People such as Professor Helen Milroy, Australia’s first Aboriginal psychiatrist, and ACT Minister Chris Bourke, who was also the first Aboriginal dentist, are just some of those who make outstanding

and highly influential contributions to Australia in diverse areas.

• Our school is committed to demonstrating

the core values of respect, inclusion and fairness in all our interactions with each other.

A new term, a fresh start. Congratulations to those students who have an excellent attendance record! We know that some children have been ill and cannot attend school, but it is great to celebrate super attendance of our students who are healthy and ready for learning. Most of our students continue to attend every day that they can. They have the best chance to learn. Well done to those students. Let’s try to have all of our students here every day, on time. School begins at 8.55am. Be ready to start then!

Every day counts… because children achieve better when they attend school all day, every day Every day counts… because going to school means getting a better chance at life Every day counts… because school helps children make friends and be happier Every day counts… because the law says children must go to school

Balgownie launches 2019 antibullying focus – we are all in this together. Firstly may I start with the fact that Balgownie does not have a major

Term 2 Week 4 2019

Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning

Aloma Stewart – Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com

bullying issue at the school. Instead, we are proactively, as a whole school community, acknowledging that bullying happens in all facets of life. As such, we need to equip our kids to recognise bullying and have a range of strategies to deal effectively with incidents. Effective strategies can include ignoring, asking to stop, telling an adult, supportive bystander behaviour and how to deal with cyber bullying. It fits within our Positive Behaviour For Success philosophy, our core values (respect, responsibility and real learning) and our child protection lessons which happen annually. It is also part of our PD Health PE syllabus. The approach taken by our school, is a cohesive one and is providing the language and framework for students, teachers and parents to talk to each other about bullying. By having a common language and understanding, we can all work together to ensure that Balgownie Public School continues to be a safe and happy place. The antibullying policy includes various levels of approaching bullying, including protection, prevention, early intervention and responses to incidents of bullying. We are currently focussing on the protection and prevention levels of antibullying which include a whole school unit of work (6 lessons) which teaches students about bullying. The messages and skills learned in these lessons will then be referred to throughout the year. The lesson focus will also be outlined in the newsletter so that you can discuss it with your children at home. Every family will receive a Balgownie Anti Bullying brochure, which outlines our approach. It also gives families the opportunity to share a consistent message with children when talking about resilience and bullying. A full copy of our anti bullying plan is on the Skoolbag app and the website. If you wish to find out more about bullying, I recommend a book by Ken Rigby Six Approaches to Bullying which gives a balanced view about the topic. His work is one of the major sources for our anti bullying approach. The first lesson objectives are: • Define bullying and list its different forms. • Define what bullying isn’t • Define bullies and those who can be bullied.

• Discuss the STAND method of dealing with issues.

What is bullying? Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an individual or group towards one or more persons. Cyberbullying refers to bullying through information and communication technologies. Conflict or fights between equals or single incidents are not defined as bullying. Bullying behaviour can be: • verbal eg name calling, teasing, abuse,

putdowns, sarcasm, insults, threats • physical eg hitting, punching, kicking,

scratching, tripping, spitting • social eg ignoring, excluding, ostracising,

alienating, making inappropriate gestures • psychological eg spreading rumours, dirty

looks, hiding or damaging possessions, malicious SMS and email messages, inappropriate use of camera phones.

We are using the following definition to describe bullying to our students.

How can we deal with bullies? • We can let them know that what they are doing is bullying • We can refuse to join in with their bullying • We can support any students who are bullied • We can STAND up for ourselves if anyone tries to bully us by:

Sometimes you might have a fight or argument with someone. If it only happens once or twice, that’s not really bullying even though it can be upsetting. Bullying is when someone: • keeps picking on you again and again and

tries to make you feel bad • says or does lots of mean things that upset you • makes fun of you a lot • tries to stop you from joining in or make others

not like you • keeps hurting you such as hitting or punching

you

Bullying can also happen through a mobile phone or on the internet. This is called cyberbullying. Bullying is not fair. It feels awful.

Term 2 Week 4 2019

Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning

Aloma Stewart – Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com

S Stay Calm T Try to Ignore A Ask them to stop! N Never Fight D Duty Teacher Find the time to talk with your child about things to do if they are being teased or bullied. Please talk to your child’s teacher, our Assistant Principals or myself if you would like further information about how to work with us and your children to prevent bullying or solve issues in the best way possible. This can include a range of strategies, some better than others for different situations. Kindergarten 2020 We are collecting enrolments for children beginning Kindergarten next year. If you have a pre-schooler, or know of one in your area, ask them to come to the office to complete an enrolment form. If anyone wants to meet with myself, or the early years team, and have a tour of the school, please make an appointment. We are more than happy to show you around our wonderful school.

12 Friendship Skills Every Child Needs Friendship skills are generally developmental. That is, kids grow into these skills given exposure to different situations and with adult help. Children and young people who develop strong friendships have a definite set of skills that help make them easy to like, easy to relate to and easy to play with. Here are twelve essential skills that children have identified as being important for making and keeping friends:

1. Ability to share possessions and space 2. Keeping confidences and secrets 3. Offering to help 4. Accepting other’s mistakes 5. Being positive and enthusiastic 6. Starting a conversation 7. Winning and losing well 8. Listening to others 9. Starting and maintaining a conversation 10. Ignoring someone who is annoying you 11. Cooperating with others 12. Giving and receiving compliments Published by Michael Grose Presentations. Joke of the Week Where do sheep get their hair cut? At a baa baa shop. Aloma Stewart Princpial Brokers Cross Country On Friday 10th May we had 48 students represent our school at the Brokers Cross Country. The carnival was held at Towradgi Park. Our 8, 9 and 10 years competitors ran 2km and our 11 and 12 years competitors ran 3km. We had perfect running conditions on the day and were quite successful with a number of our students finishing in the top 5 of the place-getters. Balgownie won the carnival based on the overall point score. Congratulations to all of our competitors, you gave 100% in your races and demonstrated commendable sportsmanship throughout the day. Good luck to the following students who will represent Brokers at the South Coast Cross Country on Friday 7th June.

8/9 years Boys 1st – Isaac M 2nd – William M 3rd – Aidan R

8/9 years Girls 5th – Katelyn B

10 years Boys 2nd – James D

10 years Girls 2nd – Madhu M 5th – Ashleigh G

11 years Boys 3rd – Cooper M 5th – Chris T

11 years Girls 2nd - Skye S

12 years Boys 1st – Dylan K

12 years Girls 2nd – Alex D

Thought of the Week “For the pain, suffering and hurt of Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.” National Apology The Apology February 2008.

Term 2 Week 4 2019

Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning

Aloma Stewart – Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com

Compulsory Educational Fees Please note any outstanding Educational Fees need to be paid now, this is an annual fee of $30 per student. These fees are for subscriptions, IPad apps, Reading Eggs, etc and are charged on a per-student basis. These items are used at school to develop your child’s learning through Technology. This fee must be paid before any extracurricular activities are undertaken.

Double Deal - Helping your school & the environment! You probably know about Return & Earn? What you may not know is that you can contribute Return & Earn money to Balgownie Public School! Return & Earn works for those small single serve plastic bottles (eg. gatorade), cans or glass

Bally Cross Country day

Bally’s Soccer Teams

Term 2 Week 4 2019

Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning

Aloma Stewart – Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com

bottles. Milk cartons or big juice cartons etc are not accepted. You can recycle them in your yellow bin at home. Where is Return & Earn located? The automatic deposit machine is located at the back of the Fraternity Club in Fairy Meadow. When you get to the Return & Earn collection point, simply scan the barcode below and start feeding your bottles down the chute. This money is then sent to the P & C's PayPal account which will help us raise money throughout the year. Every little bit helps and your children are always the recipients of material bought with the money raised for the school. Of course recycling in any way is better than it going to landfill, so you can involve your children in Return & Earn where they can earn some pocket money, or you can choose to donate it to one of the charities or organisations listed. Happy bottle & can collecting!

Woolworths Earn and Learn The Woolworths Earn and Learn program will be operating in the school this year. If you shop at any Woolworths please collect the Earn and Learn

stickers. These stickers can be placed in the stores at Fairy Meadow, Corrimal or in the School Office. Ask your neighbours and family to collect them for our school. This program allows the school to receive quality school resources for our students.

2019-2020 Entertainment Book Memberships There were over 80 families who purchased digital or book memberships last year and have enjoyed their savings and fun experiences using the fabulous vouchers (which are still valid in the current edition until June 1st). If you would like to continue getting huge discounts on your groceries, petrol, eating out and kids holiday activities then please buy the new membership and support our school! It costs $60 and contains hundreds of local restaurants, cafes, shopping and entertainment vouchers. Every membership sold raises $12 for our school, which buys educational resources and other items to create a wonderful learning environment for our children. Order forms have been sent home to kindergarten families, but the easiest way to preview the vouchers or place an order is online at: www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/28 0m215

Term 2 Week 4 2019

Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning

Aloma Stewart – Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com

Term 2 Week 4 2019

Respect, Responsibility, Real Learning

Aloma Stewart – Principal PO Box 192 Fairy Meadow NSW 2519 P&C: www.balgowniepnc.com