Belair Public School Newsletter Take Just Pride 34 Carolyn Street, Adamstown Heights NSW 2289 Phone: 4952 1735

Email: belair-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Term 1 Week 9 26 March, 2019

Principal’s Message

Greetings everyone, I had a lovely three days last week with our Year 4 students at the Great Aussie Bush Camp. It was great to see our students building trust in each other as they pushed themselves out of their comfort zone to achieve and better their goals. Do you let your children wobble? When a child learns to ride a bike they need to wobble a bit and even fall off a few times before they develop the balance to successfully ride. If a parent runs along behind holding the seat to ensure the child is safe they will never be confident to ride alone. This is a great metaphor for students and their development at school. I have included later in this newsletter an article from last weekend’s Sun Herald that parents may find interesting.

Regards, Warwick Beard, Principal

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

March

28 Lil & Archie

Cyber Bullying Show

29

Whole School Assembly 12.15pm

Cross Country Yr 2-Yr 6 9.20am–11am

April

2

Athletics Carnival at Glendale 9am

Year 6 into Year 7 2020 Parent Evening 6pm at

KHS Hall

5 Beginner Band Open Rehearsal for Parents

8.30am–9am

9 Anzac Service 12noon

10 Hot Cross Bun Day

at Canteen

11 School Photographs

12 Final Payment for Canberra Excursion $130

Term 2

May

2 Knights all Schools

Rugby League

6–8 Canberra Excursion

6 Train on Debating Day

14 P&C Meeting

17 School Disco

21 + 22 + 29 Life Education

20–24 Book Fair

24 Grandfriend’s Day

The next P&C meeting will be held on

Tuesday 14 May

Please note the variation in the night of the week.

Congratulations to our newly elected P&C executive!

President: Matt Morrison Vice Presidents: Emma Abdilla & Nick Elkington Secretary: Shelly Sneath Treasurer: Andrew Rigelsford

The next P&C meeting will be held on Tuesday 14 May. Please note the variation in the night of the week which is designed to allow people who can’t make Wednesdays to come along.

The initial meeting of the “Friends of Belair School” will be held on Friday May 4 at 8.45am in the library. This group is designed for parents wishing to get involved in supporting the school without the full involvement in the P&C. This group will operate as a sub-committee of the P&C and the operation of this group will be determined by the group within the P&C sub-committee guidelines.

Our Facebook page is up and running. Search for ‘Belair Public School P&C’ on Facebook Our Uniform Shop is almost on FlexiSchools…. watch this space The first Disco for 2019 is happening in Week 3, Term 2! More information next week.

Last Thursday, Belair students had a wonderful day celebrating Harmony Day. Harmony Day is about inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, united by a set of core Australian values.

Some students chose to wear traditional dress or orange. Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Students engaged in activities within

their classroom where they learnt about inclusiveness, diversity and shared stories of family culture.

There are some fascinating statistics about Australia’s diversity: • more than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia

• apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi

• nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was

• we identify with over 300 ancestries

• since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia.

Deputy Principal’s Message Congratulations to 3M for being the outstanding class at last week’s 3-6 assembly and 1K the class of the week at the K-2 assembly on Monday.

ALARM PROJECT Stage 3 The ALARM matrix is made up of a series of categories that help students investigate a text at a deep enough level for an adequate response. The ALARM matrix guides students through seven levels of critical thinking as they structure a response to a text; Define, Describe, Explain, Analyse, Critically Analyse and Evaluate.

This week I will elaborate on the Describe matric component so that you are able to support your child’s learning from home. Kind regards Kathie Colley

The 'describe' element of the ALARM matrix is where you start

providing evidence. You'll need to show you know your text well by

using accurate examples of the techniques you've just identified in

the 'define' section. There are two ways to do this:

• Use descriptions - this works well for visual texts like films,

photographs or artworks. You need to be able to describe the

visual element AND the part where your technique happens.

• Use direct quotations for written texts such as novels and

poems.

Staff Car Parks We would like to remind parents / carers that onsite car parks are for staff only. Parents are advised to allow enough time in the morning and afternoon to enable finding a safe and suitable park on the street.

Pick up / Drop off and Illegal Parking at Belair School Following phone calls from concerned parents, police will be doing patrols around the school at intermittent times. Heavy fines can be issued. Please remember to drive slowly and do not park in ‘no parking / no standing’ areas.

Absence Notifications If your child is absent from school we recommend you use the Skoolbag APP to communicate messages. If you have not sent a notification by 9.30am, an alert will be sent to you to ask you to explain your child’s absence. When you receive your text, please reply to the text and the message will be automatically uploaded onto our system.

Afternoon School Messages for Students In the event that you need to get a message to your child in the afternoon, would you please phone before 2.30pm. The school cannot guarantee messages reaching students when contact is close to bell time. Thank you for your assistance. Excursion Payment Reminders:

• Voluntary Contributions: Thanks to all the parents who have paid this payment! This year we will be using this money to buy another Shade Sale for play areas. If you haven’t paid this fee yet we would really appreciate payment as soon as you can.

• Book Pack: Book Pack payments are now overdue! If you need assistance with payments please contact the office to establish a payment plan.

• Year 6 Canberra Excursion: The second payment of $130 was due for payment on Friday 22 March. If you have not paid this would you please do so now.

• Athletics Carnival: Payment of $12 is due for the Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 2 April.

• Saving Lil and Archie, Cyber Safety Show: Payments of $5 are due for this show at Belair next Thursday 28 March.

IF YOU KNOW THAT YOUR CHILD WILL NOT BE ATTENDING ANY OF THESE EXCURSIONS, WOULD YOU PLEASE LET YOUR

CHILD’S TEACHER AND ADMIN KNOW ASAP!

Harmony Day Learning in 3M 3M were fortunate to have Grace K’s mum teach the class about her country of origin Korea as part of Harmony Day celebrations. The presentation also linked with our H.S.I.E and Geography unit on Celebrations and Commemorations. Mrs Kim wore the traditional dress of Korea, known as the Hanbok. Students learnt about Korean food, customs, special monuments and its geographical location. Mrs Kim taught the class some of the Hangul writing as well! 3M were highly engaged and enjoyed this wonderful learning opportunity. A huge thankyou to Mrs Kim for visiting 3M and sharing her knowledge of Korean culture.

You’re invited to our Belair Beginner Band Open Band Rehearsal. Come and see how the Beginner Band is progressing after only nine short weeks. Sit back and relax whilst listening to a few tunes and kick off your Friday with a bang. Who’s invited? Parents / carers / relatives of Beginner Band students When? Friday Week 10 (5th April) from 8.00am – 9am Where? The Belair Public School hall

Please contact Mrs Bartel if you require further information.

Belair Beginner Band Open Rehearsal

W

Student Awards

KA

Chase M, Mason K, Brooklyn M 2L Indiana W, Max B

4/5J

Next Week

KM

Charlie B, Oscar S, Audrey S 2M

Ruby J, Isabella H

5G

Ruben P, Charlotte M

KZ

Lucas B, Isabella W, Archer H

3E

Hugo W, Danielle J, Nicholas R, Joel B

5K

Eliza B, Xavier H

1B Stella H, Samuel E 3H Summer T, Chareti S

5/6F

Daisha B, Poupe M

1K

Amelia E, Brixton P

3M

Ben R, Eloise A 6P Kynon H, Dylan B

1S Cooper A, Hugo G

4B

Next Week

6W

Harvey W, Coco D

2C Chase B, Evie H

4R

Next Week

Upstander Awards

3M

Blake B

Canteen Roster and News ~ Canteen Supervisor Sonja

0438 684 401

The Green Tree Kitchen

Check out our new online only specials for Autumn at flexischools.com.au

If Flexischool problems occur please consider ordering the night before or before 7.30am

March 27

Wednesday

Perin P

March 28

Thursday

Sharon & Steve C

March 29

Friday

Karen R

April 1

Monday

Pip J

April 2

Tuesday

Closed due to

Athletics Carnival

Food Glorious Food!!

Notes will come home today for our Easter Bun Deal for Wednesday 10th April!

Please attach order to the front of a lunch bag, fill out the form and include the correct money!

Did You Know That?

That you can order hot food at recess? Hot cheese rolls, pizza breads and corn cobs are all available at recess!

Order your tomorrow!!

Monthly Report February 2019

Program Updates

Dear Belair staff and community,

In 2018, with your help, the Plastic Police® program diverted over 1 million pieces of plastic from landfill in just 12 months. By collecting soft plastic and remanufacturing it into new products, we can ensure the material is kept in the circular economy and out of the environment and ocean.

It’s been a busy month of events for the team at Plastic Police®. We attended the Beaumont Street Carnivale festival on the weekend to collect soft plastics from stall holders and event-goers in an effort to minimise litter and waste sent to landfill.

Plastic Police® also attended a talk by Craig Reucassel, star of the War On Waste TV series, at an event hosted by Central Coast Council. Craig spoke of the Plastic Police® program in his talk and shared the amazing work that our participants (that’s you!) and the community are doing to ensure soft plastics are kept out of landfill and out of the environment. This is great recognition from such an inspiring public figure!

Our collaboration with Belair Public School and Westfield Kotara is featured in the February issue of Newcastle Weekly! Read the article below to hear how the school is fighting the war on waste.

Monthly Collection Statistics

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

2018 Weights Collected (kg) 42 38 44 28 68 28 36 141 10 52 54 32 573

2019 Weight Collected (kg) 0 30 30

2019 Number of collections 1 2 3

Total soft plastic collected to date: 603kg Total products purchased to date: 1,930kg % Offset (purchased ÷ collected): 320%

News, Reminders and Interesting Information

Did you know that a Plastic Police® special recycling bag can hold approximately 1,000 pieces of plastic? The bag may look full, but compacting down the plastic can make room for so much more!

M 0423 943 100 Mail PO Box 621 Warners Bay NSW 2282 W plasticpolice.com.au ABN 17 601 990 238

Plastic Police® is a registered trademark of Cross Connections Consulting Pty Ltd.

Remind Champions to keep compacting until the bags and well and truly full. This will reduce the number of bags used over time and also save money!

A reminder to please only collect clean and dry soft plastics, and avoid contaminants such as food and crumbs. Soft plastics that have been in contact with meat, seafood and dairy are unable to be recycled unless they are fully cleaned and dried, with any residue thoroughly removed.

Did you know, there is so much plastic in the ocean it could circle the Earth 400 times? By reducing what you can and recycling the rest through the Plastic Police® program, you’re making a difference.

We love hearing stories about how our participants have reduced soft plastics within their organisations or the different ways the program has engaged your employees. Share your story –

email info@plasticpolice.com.au. Hobart has become the first Australian city to ban single-use plastics, including straws, cups, cutlery and

sauce sachets. McDonald's recently announced it will begin to phase out plastic straws from all Australian restaurants and

make the switch to paper straws by 2020. Keep up the great work. From the team at Plastic Police®.

Plastic Police in the Newcastle Weekly Magazine, February 2019.

M 0423 943 100 Mail PO Box 621 Warners Bay NSW 2282 W plasticpolice.com.au ABN 17 601 990 238

Plastic Police® is a registered trademark of Cross Connections Consulting Pty Ltd.