Homework Review
This week we ran a focus group to evaluate our homework and discuss what homework should look like at Bexley North Public School. Thank you to the parent volunteers and students (Ash, Lachlan, Jacob, Stelios and Hartley) who gave up their time to provide their perspectives and thoughts about homework. We will now take this information to draft some BNPS Guidelines for homework which we will share with the wider community for feedback.
BNPS School Behaviour Support and Management Plan
Since Term 4 last year, our school’s wellbeing team have been working on evaluating and enhancing our school’s behaviour systems and practices to align with the department’s new policies including:
· Inclusive Education policy for students with disabilities
See https://education.nsw.gov.au/student-wellbeing/attendance-behaviour-and-engagement/behaviour-strategy/the-student-behaviour-strategy for more information on the department’s behaviour strategy.
Our team is made up of Ms Do Canto, Mrs Davis, Mrs Rooney, Mr Sneddon, Ms Wills, Mrs Kaskoutas, Mrs Bajic and Mrs Morgan. So far they have:
· Aligned our current behaviour interventions to the department’s care continuum, showing a multi-tiered system of support for student behaviour
· Developed a classroom and playground continuum of response to support teachers when responding to negative behaviours
· Consulted with staff on both of these continuums, received and taken on feedback
· Shared the continuum with parents at our Meet The Teacher session.
Over the next term, Mrs Davis and Ms Do Canto will be collaborating with our Community of Schools (Lakemba PS, McCallums Hill PS, Belmore South PS) and leading them through the development of our schools’ Behaviour Support and Management Plans. These plans will outline for the school community, how our behaviour systems and processes align and represent the department’s policies including:
· Explicit teaching of our positive behaviour expectations
· Positive reinforcement of these behavioural expectations
· School response systems for negative behaviours including our multi-tiered intervention system- the Care Continuum at BNPS
· 2023 BNPS Anti-bullying plan
· Reflection and restorative practices systems and procedures
Communication of these changes is most critical to our plan, and we are currently developing our expectations for community, staff and student consultation throughout the process. If you are interested in nominating yourself to be a part of this consultation or for any other matters in the future, please follow the link to our Google form. https://forms.gle/9cKQeCHBa77yYxtp6
Your involvement may take the form of parent focus groups, surveys or written feedback on our school policies, procedures and systems. The team will be communicating changes through:
· P&C Meetings
· Skoolbag
· Newletters
· The School Website
We will also be communicating and consulting with students on a regular basis through the School Parliament.
As we have been a PBL school since 2016, we anticipate some changes to our systems, processes and procedures to update and enhance their positive impact in line with the new departmental policies. We look forward to developing a list of parents for consultation and feedback and communicating these changes with the wider community.
Please contact Lauren Davis or Kristy Do Canto if you have any questions: 9554 3306/ bexleynth-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
NAPLAN Disability Adjustments (Year 3 and Year 5)
Our school supports inclusive testing so all students have the opportunity to participate in the national assessment program. Adjustments are available for students with disability who have diverse functional abilities and needs. Teachers will work with parents/carers to identify, on a case-by-case basis, reasonable adjustments required for individual students with disability to access NAPLAN. Adjustments should reflect the support normally provided for classroom assessments. In exceptional circumstances, a student with a disability that severely limits their capacity to participate in the assessment, or a student who has recently arrived in Australia and has a non-English speaking background, may be granted a formal exemption.
If you believe your child requires an adjustment to successfully participate in NAPLAN, please contact your child’s teacher if you have not already had a discussion with them.
Community Charter
The School Community Charter outlines the responsibilities of parents, carers, educators and school staff in NSW public schools to ensure our learning environments are collaborative, supportive and cohesive. Our school works to create positive environments for students, staff and the entire school community that support student learning. We strive to ensure that every student is known, valued and cared for. We know that the best education happens when students, parents and schools work together.
Parents and carers play an important role in the school community. The School Community Charter informs parents and carers on how to engage with our school. Read the School Community Charter by clicking on the link above to ensure you understand how important it is to create a positive learning environment for our students.
