Narrabri West Public School

Welcome back to what is set to be a very busy ten weeks, with many exciting learning opportunities. It’s been a busy start as we continue to work with all students on the areas they can improve in to achieve even better results.

We are now midway through our school year. For some students and their families, it signals the approach of their final semester of primary school. Year 6 students may be beginning to experience some amount of anxious anticipation or excitement about High School.

For other students and their families, this time marks the end of their first semester at school. Our Kindergarten students have settled in and formed many new friendships. As a school we continue to work towards achieving excellence through connected, collaborative, critical and creative learning experiences in an exciting learning environment.

One of the highlights of this term is Education Week  2022. We will celebrate with special assemblies on Tuesday 2nd August. Full details of these are included later in this newsletter. Normally there is also the opportunity for families to visit classrooms to see what our students have learnt so far this year. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we will not be able to provide this opportunity during Education Week. At this stage we have postponed our classroom visits until Tuesday 23rd August.

At the end of Term 2 it was very pleasing to read student reports and see the positive comments about how much effort they are putting into reaching their learning goals. The information contained in these reports is a summative account of your child's progress this semester and documents each student’s progress and attitude, so that their achievements and opportunities for improvement are acknowledged, but are also used as a platform to seek further growth and development in the second half of the year through targeted feedback. It is extremely important that you take the time to go through this information with your child and constructively reflect on what the information is saying. 

These reports are not solely intended for parents. They really belong to the students. For parents in supporting their children with their learning, the report aims to provide greater understanding of what additional help you can provide. For the teachers, they encourage them to reflect on the progress of their students, the effectiveness of their own teaching practice and the next steps required to gain further growth from their students. For students, they provide a greater understanding of themselves as a learner and what they can do, and need to do, to enable themselves to ‘be the best they can be’.

Learning can be difficult. It is not always about succeeding the first time. Learning is what comes from reflecting upon our failures and focusing our efforts to do better next time, building resilience along the way so that we are inspired to keep trying.

We have presented Silver Badges to all students who had reached this level in our Merit Award system. In order to receive a silver badge, student’s behaviour must have been outstanding at all times this year. This is in line with our policy of rewarding students whose behaviour is always appropriate and the fact that so many students achieved this award, yet again clearly demonstrates the qualities of the students at Narrabri West.

Term 3 is off to a busy start in KC and KS. The children have come back eager and ready to learn. We are continuing our daily reading, writing and spelling. In maths, the children are sharing great mathematical thinking in their daily number work.  

This term, our technology focus is all about motions and forces. Both classes have had lots of fun designing and constructing with the new lego kits. KC and KS have enjoyed combining classes and working collaboratively in small groups to explore and investigate push and pull forces.  

In creative arts, we have been practising our performance for Education Week. They can’t wait for everyone to see their dance moves. 

Students were excited to see what is on offer at Book Fair this year. The have taken their wish lists home and will be purchasing on Thursday. Please send the wish list indicating which books they are to purchase, along with the money or receipt number, if paid online.  

On Friday, we will participate in the school athletics carnival. Check your child’s SeeSaw account to find out what house they are in. The carnival will be held on our back playground and the children are looking forward to running in their races and competing in ball games and tabloids.  

We are looking forward to a fabulous Semester 2! 

At the end of Term 2 we celebrated NAIDOC Week. Narrabri West decorated the school with a sea of hands for our special guests and visitors.  Students wore Indigenous colours or designs and enjoyed the NAIDOC celebrations of the 2022 theme, ‘Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!’.

We began the week with a whole school assembly, where Aunty June explained her connection to Country. Rick Cunningham played the didgeridoo with his son, Charlie. Clinton Lamb performed some traditional dances and students were so excited that half of the school got up to dance like an emu, kangaroo, and brolga! Narrabri West welcomed our guests in Gamilaraay language before heading out to play Indigenous games with their class.

Throughout the week each stage completed different NAIDOC activities. Preschool, Early Stage One and Stage One created a Rainbow Serpent. Stage Two designed their own spinning tops and Stage Three collaborated to create an Indigenous artwork.

On Thursday Aunty June came back and surprised Kindergarten with a Dreaming Story and spoke to them about growing up on Country. Narrabri West would like to thank our special guests for contributing to NAIDOC Week and the students are already looking forward to collaborating again with our community.

We have participated in Crazy Hair Day which raises funds for Cystic Fibrosis NSW. Students made a gold coin donation for the privilege to come to school with their craziest hair. $283.50 was raised for this worthy cause. We had some very weird looking hairdos and a lot of effort had obviously been put into joining in the spirit and meaning of the day. 

Last term North West PSSA Softball trials were held in Tamworth. Emily Simpson and Kiara Vlahopoulos both made possibles and probables, Emily went through to make the North West team to play in Camden September 21-23. Congratulations Emily and well done Kiara.

We are now providing all Pre Schools in Narrabri with information packages for next year’s Kindergarten students about our school. If you know of families intending to enrol their children at Narrabri West in 2023, please encourage them to call the office, to arrange an information package.

It is also important for our forward planning that you advise the school as soon as possible if your children will not be attending Narrabri West in 2023. This will not only assist us, but more importantly will allow a smooth and structured start to the school year for those students who are attending.

Whilst 2023 is still a long way away, we have to advise the Department of Education of our anticipated student numbers for 2023 in the next few weeks! Our staffing entitlement for next year is based on these numbers; hence the importance for all schools of having accurate information as soon as possible.

The MAKE A PAYMENT link can be found on the ribbon on the school’s website. By selecting this link you will be taken to a secure Westpac payment page. You will no longer be in the school’s website.

The payment process is intuitive and follows the format of many other online payments that are used every day.

From the initial payment page payers will complete the details, some of which are mandatory (marked with *), before confirming the payment details and completing the payment. A receipt can be printed from the payment page and/or be emailed to the payer.

The payment screens are:

1.    Entering payment details

2.    Entering credit card or debit card details

3.    Confirmation of payment details and

4.    Online Payment Receipt.

Entering Payment Details

The payment details screen captures student and payment details. This allows for identification of the student that the payment applies to and what the payment is for.

This is critical to ensure that the right student is credited for the right items.

The preferred method of ensuring the correct student is credited for the right items is to enter the students class or year AND date of birth.

The payment details should come from the school Statement of Account or listing that the school issues. There can be more than one payment line for all items except voluntary school contributions. The items are:

·      Voluntary school contributions (1 payment line), use this for general contributions or donations

·      Subject contributions (up to 10 payment lines), use this for contributions for specific subjects e.g. Visual Arts, Industrial Technology, etc.

·      Excursions (up to 5 payment lines), use this for specific excursions e.g. Lake Keepit, Canberra, minor excursions, etc.

·      Sport (up to 5 payment lines), use this for any sporting activities e.g. carnivals and weekly sport activities, etc.

·      Creative & Practical Arts (up to 5 payment lines), use this for music, drums, etc.

·      Sales to Students (up to 5 payment lines) use this for anything purchased by a student that becomes the property of the student

·      Other (up to 5 payment lines) this may be used for paying total amounts owed by a student e.g. total of the student’s Statement of Account.

IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF WHICH BOX TO CHOOSE PLEASE CONTACT THE SCHOOL AND ASK FOR CLARIFICATION.

When any option is chosen by selecting the tick box, a payment description and payment amount must be included. Deselect an option by selecting the tick box again.

In some schools there are students with the same name in the same class or year. The date of birth assists the school in distinguishing which student the payment relates to.

NOTE: The preferred method of ensuring the correct student is credited for the right items is to enter the student’s class or year AND date of birth

2.    Why do I have to enter the student’s details each time I make a payment, isn’t it stored in the system?

When you make a payment you are in a secure Westpac website, for privacy and security of data no student details are maintained within the Westpac site. You must enter the details with each payment.

3.    The screen keeps displaying the data I have just completed, it is not moving on?

Scroll through the whole screen, any errors will be shown in RED, you cannot progress until you resolve the error.

The student registration number is a nine digit number. You can find this on the Statement of Account that the school sends home, or you can use 123456789.

5.    What is the Ref or Invoice number, I don’t know it?

Schools do not produce invoices. The Statement of Account produced for outstanding fees does not generate a number.

This field does not need to be completed.

Schools are not permitted to share any school bank account details.

7.    Why can’t I use BPay?

The BPay option is not available on the school bank account.

8.    Does the school see my credit card details?

The credit card details are masked on any reports to the school. e.g. 411111xxxxx4111

9.    Can I use a debit card or PayPal for payments?

Payments can only be made using Visa or MasterCard credit or debit cards. American Express, Diners Club or EFTPOS cards are not accepted. PayPal is not a payment option.

If a payer only has an EFTPOS debit card then the schools EFTPOS terminal, cash or cheque are alternate methods of payment.

10.   I have made a payment in error, how can I cancel it?

Contact the school and request that they cancel the transaction. This can be the same day that the transaction was processed or at a later date.

11.   If I select 'Make a payment' on the school’s website and the screen does not change who should I contact?

Contact the school office and request to speak to Katrina Barnes, the School Administration Manager.

The payment process has been developed to be very user friendly. It follows the format of many other online payment screens that you may have used.

When paying for more than one students the “Make Another Payment” option should be selected on the Online Payment Receipt screen.

There is no option to add multiple students to a single payment as the details on the initial screen relate to one particular student only.

You can still make payments in the usual manner ie at the school office using cash, cheque and EFTPOS.

14.   I am having difficulties using online payments with my Mac

Try updating your browser to the latest version.

15.   My session has timed out

If you are delayed when making a payment you will be logged out and will need to recommence the process.