Broken Hill North Public School

Wow – what a week! Hopefully, our staff absences won’t be as significant this week and there won’t be as many variations to routines. As I mentioned at assembly, I cannot thank our staff enough for their commitment, resilience and efforts in keeping our kids engaged in education. Onwards and upwards!

Mobile phones

Our policy regarding students bringing their phone to school is that they hand it over to their class teacher or front office for safe keeping and collect it at the end of the day. Unfortunately, there have been some incidents where this hasn’t been the case and students have been sending snapchats etc during school time. Ideally, students leave their phones at home and focus on their learning. Hopefully, with parental support this will be nipped in the bud and won’t be an ongoing problem.

Road Safety – Another reminder

I received another phone call from a shaken-up parent who had a near miss as she picked up her child after school. Again, students had run out from between 2 parked cars and were nearly hit. At last Friday’s assembly I went through the expectations of crossing Chapple and McCulloch Streets in the mornings and afternoons with the whole school, pointing out the seriousness of consequences. If our kids are crossing these streets the only option is to use the pedestrian crossings. Please be mindful of this when picking up or dropping off your children.

PSA Industrial Action

On 30 May the Public Service Association of NSW (PSA) informed the department of a planned 24-hour strike to take place on Wednesday 8 June 2022. 

While our school will still be open and there will not be any direct impact to teaching, there may be significant impact to the admin and learning support provided on the day as a result of school administrative and support staff (SASS) participating in the industrial action.

If this action impacts your child due to their specific needs, we will contact you directly with further information as we seek to establish alternative arrangements.

COVID guidelines

The announcement to ease the isolation requirements for close contacts was made on 20 April 2022. This will enable students and staff who are close contacts and have no symptoms to continue to attend school if they follow guidelines agreed with NSW Health. Close contacts will not be permitted to enter an SSP or support unit (including Assisted School Travel Program) and will be supported to continue learning or working from home where possible.

Close contacts attending school will need to adhere to the following in addition to the NSW Health guidelines External link:

• They must notify the school and their outside of school hours care (OOSHC) provider if they are intending to return under this provision.

• They should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result each morning before attending school for 5 school days.
• They (if in a secondary school setting) must wear a mask indoors except when eating or exercising. Primary school students are recommended to wear a mask indoors (except when eating or exercising).
• No student or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to participate in overnight excursions, including school camps.
• No apprentices, trainees or students on placement or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to attend settings identified as high risk by NSW Health (healthcare, aged care, disability care or correctional facilities)
• Any visitor to a school site who is a close contact is required to advise the school that they are a close contact before they come on site. These visitors should conduct a daily RAT and return a negative result before attending. They must also wear a mask indoors at all times.
• If a student is unwell and has any COVID-19 symptomsExternal link, they should always test for COVID-19.
• If the test comes back negative for COVID-19, the student should still not return to school until either:
• The student no longer has any symptoms, or
• A medical certificate is provided to the school confirming that symptoms are explained by another diagnosis (such as hay fever)
• It is important that students do not attend school if they are unwell, even if they have tested negative for COVID-19. Rapid antigen tests can produce false negative results and symptoms of other illnesses can also be similar to COVID-19, including flu, the common cold and stomach bugs. Health advice is that students who are sick should always stay home to rest and recover and avoid putting other students and staff at risk of getting sick.

It is recommended that students and staff that return to school after recovering from COVID-19 do not participate in rapid antigen testing for 12 weeks following release from self-isolation unless they develop new COVID-19 symptoms. This is due to NSW Health advice that people who have recovered from COVID-19 have a low risk of contracting it again in the following 12 weeks.

HOW2Learn

Each week I will endeavour to propose aspects of mindsets and challenge you to take it into consideration in your role as parents / carers. 

Which mindset is most likely to result in learning?  Change the words, change the mindset!

Attendance Snapshot

Term 2 Week 6

Target 91%

Actual - 71.7%

A big slip  from last week  – Make very day count!

Raise Responsibility Class Points ( > 90% ) – K F, K M, 1 H, 1-2 H, 2B, 3-4 S, 3-4 K, 5-6 G,  5-6 VW, K-6 D, K-6 R, K-6 W & 3-6 L

100% Green students – 1 H, 1-2 H, 2 B, 3-4 S, 4-5 M, K-6 R & K-6 W

Attendance – Unfortunately, no class hit our target of 91%

100% attendees – 138  students attended every day for this week. 13 less than last week 

The following students achieved Silver Level and will be presented with their certificate at this Friday’s school assembly. Congratulations and thanks for setting the example at our school.

The following students achieved Bronze Level and will be presented with their certificate at this Friday’s school assembly. Congratulations and thanks for setting the example at our school.