BNPS Newsletter

* Principal's Report

* Student Achievement

* Upcoming Events

* Contact Us

Attendance

If  students are unwell, they should stay home to recover. Please let the school know via email or the skoolbag app if your child is sick so we can mark them as absent. If your child must isolate because they are a close / household contact or on the advice from NSW Health, and they feel well, they may access a set of online learning materials to continue their learning at home. 

You can access these learning materials by clicking on the link and choosing the appropriate grade. 

Digital Learning Links

If students upload their work to Seesaw, they will be marked as being in attendance, learning from home.

Resourcing Parents website

Families are often asking about different ways to access information and strategies to support their children at home. A great website called Resourcing Parents offers a central place for accessing and enquiring about a selection of parenting courses available across NSW. Click on the link to have a look.

http://www.resourcingparents.nsw.gov.au/

Six Skills to Build Through Play 

Whether building a tower, playing a board game, or participating in organised sports, children can learn a variety of skills through play.  Below are six skills adults can integrate into virtually any play activity.

1.  Following Rules and Directions:  All games whether a basic game of chasings or a complex board game offer invaluable opportunities for learning to understand and follow rules and directions.  Consequences for not listening to and following the rules, such as disqualification for a false start in swimming or losing at card games by forgetting numbers and suits can follow other cards, are natural ways children learn the importance of rules and directions.

2.  Patience:  Games involve waiting and turn taking can be very difficult for children.  Be sure to take your turn and include other children in turn taking when playing games.  Point out the importance of positions involving patience, such as mid-fielder in soccer or fielder in cricket.  Illustrate through plays and scenarios that even though those positions involve waiting, they are critical.  Most activities require practice to develop skills which can be frustrating for young children.  Teach the importance of persevering and practicing.  These skills will not only serve the child in their current situation, but also later in life.

 4.  Academics: Games are a fun way to encourage children to read, count, sequence, add, or subtract.  In games and activities there are a number of opportunities for adults to increase practice of these skills.  Have children read the rules aloud or deal to practice counting.  When tossing the ball in the backyard, count the number of times it is thrown back and forth or during a soccer game, have the child stand on the fourth line.

5.  Problem Solving:  Building blocks, board games, computer games and sports all involve a level of problem solving.  Give children an opportunity to try things on their own first, then provide assistance as needed.  If a child is struggling in an area, problem-solve ways to improve their skills.  For example, trying a new stance in baseball or thinking about where the other team is kicking the ball when they score a goal.

6.  Conflict Resolution:  Interpretation of rules, umpires’ decisions, and opportunities for taking turns can all result in conflict.  When children disagree during a game, practice skills for managing conflict.   Teach children to take a deep breath, explain their understanding of the situation, listen to others, and then determine a way to resolve the conflict.  When possible, try to prevent conflict by helping children review the rules in advance, determine who calls the plays, establish the order, etc. (From: Using Nice Words)

BNPS P&C's First fundraiser for 2022 promises to be Egg-citing!

Thank you so much to those community members who have provided us with feedback on the BNPS anti-bullying policy. It’s wonderful to receive suggestions and ideas to support our anti-bullying movement and communication strategies.

Preventing Bullying at BNPS:

· Our anti-bullying plan is the first step as it outlines how we reject all forms of bullying.

· As a PBL (Positive Behaviour for Learning) school, students are explicitly taught behavioural expectations that include respectful interactions and relationships.

· Our PBL behaviour step chart outlines explicitly that bullying behaviours are immediately referred to the Deputy Principal for investigation. Parents/carers and students are involved throughout this process and the privacy of students involved is always paramount.

· Building strong, respectful relationships within a school community provides students with the confidence that they have trusted adults they can turn to immediately if they have any concerns.

BNPS Wellbeing and Inclusion Working Group:

Our BNPS wellbeing and inclusion working group has been formed, and we are collaborating with the learning support teachers, the Principal, a parent representative and an occupational therapist to develop evaluative processes and reflect on the way we support student wellbeing and inclusion at BNPS. We are planning to provide the opportunity for student voice and self-advocacy as we work towards achieving excellence in wellbeing and inclusion. This will involve students being invited to participate in meetings that may be relevant to their individual needs and where their unique perspectives will be an invaluable contribution to the decision-making process.

At present, the group has been discussing approaches to how we can pioneer an educational approach that promotes and nurtures neurodiversity and inclusion. This has included researching best practice in the establishment of sensory spaces in schools, social-emotional learning that focuses on celebration of diversity and individual strengths and evidence-based emotional regulation tools such as the Zones of Regulation.

I look forward to presenting our work in the coming term.

Please bring your gloves, tongs and a plastic bag to help us all clean up our school.  Hopefully the sun stays out so it can happen this Friday. Thanks for your support.

Jack Philpot - The Environment Minister