*Friday 30 October- Fluoro Friday/ World Teachers' Day

*Tuesday 3 November- K2021 Transition

*Tuesday 3 November- P&C Meeting 7:30pm via Zoom

*Thursday 5 November- K2021 Transition

*This section and our Skoolbag calendar will be updated as full school activities resume.

To support a smooth start to the 2021 school year, the Department of Education has, this week, provided an update to advice regarding School Development Days. 

The following  amendments to School Development Days (SDDs) will take effect from the beginning of the 2021 school year. The amendments will impact the number of SDDs occurring in Terms 1 and 4, while SDDs occurring in Terms 2 and 3 will remain the same.

Commencing at the start of 2021, the changes include:

• an increase from one to two SDDs at the commencement of Term 1
• a decrease from two to one SDDs at the end of Term 4.

The 2021 Term 1 School Development Days for BHPS are now scheduled for the following dates:

·       27 and 28 January, students return 29 January 2021.

The two SDDs at the start of Term 1 are mandated and cannot be rescheduled. This means we have had to reschedule our BHPS swimming carnival. 

Principals may continue to vary SDDs that fall at the beginning of Terms 2 and 3, and at the end of Term 4. 

There will be no changes to:

• the total number of SDDs – remaining at five days
• the length of the school year for staff or students (students will start and finish the school year one day later)
• SDDs occurring at the commencement of Terms 2 and 3.

We are busy planning for our end of year activities and celebrations! Although we are all hopeful that restrictions will continue to ease, the lead in time necessary to prepare for larger scale events and the fact that we don't really know what things may look like, means we are planning our activities within the guidelines as they currently stand. If restrictions ease, we will be able to modify plans accordingly.  As a result, our end of year activities, celebrations and presentation events will look different for 2020. 

We will be holding two days of "Celebration/ Presentation of Awards" assemblies in stage groupings. On Wednesday 9 December, we will host our Kindergarten Graduation and Presentation Assembly at 10am, followed by our Stage 1 (Year 1 and 2) Presentation Assembly at 11:30am.  On Thursday 10 December, we will host our Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) Presentation Assembly at 9:30am followed by our Stage 3 (Years 5 and 6) Presentation Assembly at 11:30am. At this point in time, we will livestream these assemblies to families. More details will be sent home closer to the events. 

Excitingly, our Year 6 celebrations can go ahead- although these will look different depending on the guidelines closer to the time.

Additionally, our school Picnic Day will look a little different this year as grades will be planning for their own "in school picnic day" activities. These will be different for each grade and may not all be on the same day, so please keep an eye on the Beacon, the ever evolving calendar and your emails for further details. 

As we plan for next year it is vital that we have accurate data regarding definite enrolments. Changes to enrolments can make a significant difference in terms of staffing, classroom accommodation and actual class formations. So please, if you are moving to another other area next year and have children not returning to us in 2021, we would appreciate you notifying the school office. Similarly, if you plan to start your child in Kindergarten next year and you have not yet enrolled him or her, or completed all documentation, then please contact the school office as a matter of priority as our Kinder 2021 children will soon commence their transition to school program.

From time to time we have families who extend their holiday and will therefore not return to school at the commencement of the school year. It is imperative that the school receives notification, in writing, that the children are returning to school prior to the end of first term, if they are to be included in the numbers that are submitted to the DoE. So, if you are extending your holiday, please complete the form below with as much information as possible regarding return to school dates. It is important that this information is in writing and signed by parents/ carers.

Thank you so much to the parents/ carers who recently completed the Tell them From Me parent survey. We really value your input and completing the survey is one way that community ‘voice’ can be heard! As the 2020 school year and current school planning cycle draws to a close, a key focus for our school is thoroughly evaluating our current strategic directions as well as preparing for the development of our 2021-2024 Strategic Improvement Plan.

We have established a BHPS School Improvement Team comprising staff and community members and we are currently seeking more interested parents/ carers to join this team to participate in community forums during Term 4.

If this is something that you would be interested in, please email us at school on beaconhill-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au, providing your name and contact information as well as your child’s name and class.

We are looking to host these forums via Zoom throughout the term. However, we are also exploring other opportunities to gather feedback. We look forward to hosting similar forums with our students as well!

The Department regularly updates their website to reflect the current health advice and to ensure the community is informed of the expectations on school sites for students, staff and the community. The information can also be accessed using the link below. 

https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/advice-for-families#School1

Applications for those students in Year 5 wishing to apply for selective high school in 2022 will open on 13 October 2020 and close on 16 November 2020. Detailed instructions on how to apply online are available at https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-7

You must apply before the closing date. Please note, all applications must be completed online and that there are no paper applications. To apply you will need to register and then apply through the High Performing Students website. https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes All applicants are required to sit the Selective High School Placement Test on Thursday 11 March 2021. All students in Year 5 have received an “Intention to apply” note to advise the school if you are intending on applying for your child. Please also see attached to this Beacon.

Congratulations to all who participated. In third term a number of students from Years 2 to 6 sat the ICAS tests put on by UNSW.

The Principals Award for English goes to Jade C of Year 6 and for Maths it goes to Charles W of Year 4.

The results were as follows: from Year 2 to Year 6

Mr. Matthewson

This term all children at BHPS will be participating in sport lessons on a Friday. The students will be based in stage groups and will be taught by specialist SportsPro coaches and BHPS staff.

The SportsPro coaches will be instructing the students in gymnastics and team building activities. BHPS teachers will be instructing the students in Fundamental Movement Skills and team based games that encourage sportsmanship.

Fees for SportsPro have been sent home today via email.

Happy Sporting

Kim Graham

SportsPro Coordinator

BORROWING

Students will continue to borrow from the library every week. I ask that all books are returned by week 6 ready for auditing and stocktake. We are very fortunate to have such a well stocked library and important that we keep track of everything. if you are unable to find a book please contact me or the school and we can invoice you so you can pay for the book and we can purchase a replacement.  I appreciate your cooperation.  

 Reading everyday is so very important to the development of children's minds, concentartin, imagination and creativity.

READING MAKES YOU SMARTER.

Happy reading

Alison Shearer

Teacher/Librarian

Beacon Hill Primary School

94516328

We are back and ready to look after your children in Term 4. 

We are still operating with our smaller menu for the remainder of the year. (Copy is attached to The Beacon) 

We have new items for lunch this term: 

Caesar Salad with Chicken - crisp cos lettuce, croutons, bacon and cheese topped with a sliced chicken tender. Dressing is included but in a separate container. Only on Tuesday and Wednesdays at $5.50. 

Mini Garden Salad is lettuce, tomato, cucumber and carrot. Dressing is seperate and optional. This will be available every day at $3.50.

Jump on Flexischools to order. 

Sushi will now be available Monday and Friday for Term 4.

Recess will continue to be ordered on Flexischools only and collected from the canteen at 11:05am 

Due the increasing warm weather the canteen will be open for over the counter sales at lunchtime. This will be for frozen items only ie: orchy cups and quelch sticks. These are still only 50c and the correct money is appreciated. 

We are happy to have volunteers back in the canteen on Thursday and Fridays (10:30am - 1:30pm). Pop onto signup

zone and book a spot. We have missed seeing you all. 

https://signup.zone/bhps-canteen

Kellie and Jenny in the Canteen

 Read more on the Wornup website here

In the coming months changes will be made to some bus and school routes and timetables in Sydney’s Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore to improve travel times and frequency of services on key routes and to give customers more choice around how they travel. 

These changes have been led by Transport for NSW, who are working closely with State Transit to ensure we are delivering services where and when they are needed. We have also used Opal data and feedback from customers and stakeholders to inform the changes.  

There maybe some changes to your local school services and students may need to change their current travel patterns.  

For more information, please visit:  https://transportnsw.info/news/2020/northern-beaches-lower-north-shore-bus-service-improvements

Disclaimer: Please note Beacon Hill Public School does not endorse community users who hire our facilities, we have published this list as a courtesy to our community regarding activities around the school after hours. Please contact the company directly through the email provided for further information