Term 2 Week 7 Thursday 11 June 2020

SCHOOL SAFETY AND SECURITY- 24-hour security hotline 1300 88 00 21

Important dates for your diary...

For your diary...

*Friday 12 June- Parent/Teacher Interview Bookings open on School Interviews at 3.30pm.

*Tuesday 16 June- P&C meeting 7:30pm

*Monday 22 June- Friday 26 June- Parent/Teacher Interviews Week

*Thursday 2 July- Semester 1 Student Reports available to parents

*Friday 3 July- Last day of school for Term 2. Happy holidays!

*Monday 20 July- School Development Day

*Tuesday 21 July- Term 3 commences for students

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

From the Principal, Ms Hanson

Leading The Way With Clarity, Calmness, Consistency And Connectedness!

Having been back at school for a couple of weeks now, it was wonderful to spend some time with our school leaders this week. Collectively, we used the time to reflect on some lessons from the "learning from home" experience, the rainbows or silver linings we discovered as well as some considerations for us as a team moving forward. Earlier in the year our leaders participated in the NBLA Leaders' Camp. Part of that experience involved collaboratively developing a project to address a need or an issue at school. Our amazing team had been busily preparing a plan to strengthen belonging and connectedness for our students at school. While COVID-19 may have stalled this project somewhat, the return to school has actually cemented the importance of this project for our school community. Over the next week, we will continue to revisit and review our action plan to ensure it meets the needs of our students. The leaders look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks so watch this space!

#webelong@BHPS

Keeping Our Students Safe!

The safety of our children is of paramount importance to all of us and while the majority of parents and carers display great care when dropping off and picking up students to and from school, there is an increasing number of drivers engaging in dangerous driving behaviours, causing great concern to many members of our school community. There are some important rules that must be followed to ensure our students are kept safe at all times. Please refer to the flyer from Northern Beaches Council below. I thank you in advance for your support with this incredibly important issue. Our local police and council rangers will be actively supporting us with these issues. 

*Slow down- School opening and closing hours are busy times for pedestrian and vehicular traffic outside the school. Always take extra care in 40km/h school zones, which operate on gazetted school days.

*Park safely- We’re all busy with places to be and things to do but please park safely even if it means walking further to the school gate.

*Observe all parking signs. They are planned with children’s safety in mind.

*NEVER Double Park as it puts children at risk.

*Model safe and considerate behaviour for your child – they will learn from you.

*Have respect for the Kiss and Drop procedures and don’t overstay the 2 minute maximum. A school’s kiss and drop facility is designed for your convenience.  Designed for quick entry and exit, these zones minimise congestion and risk when used properly by all parents and carers. The BHPS staff has been absolutely amazing supporting our community in the mornings and afternoons with their VIP service. Thank you to the many parents/ carers who have taken the time to send an email or say "thank you" as they walk by acknowledging the support of our teachers! It has been so appreciated. 

*Slow down near the school crossing. At a supervised crossing, observe the directions of the school crossing supervisor.

*Always park and turn legally around the school. Avoid dangerous manoeuvres such as U-turns and three-point turns.

*Always give way to pedestrians particularly when entering and leaving driveways.

*Avoid parking across the school driveway or the entrance to the school car park.

*Avoid parking in or near the school bus bay.

Band Is Zooming Right Along!

Our band students are to be congratulated on the level of commitment they have demonstrated over the last few months. COVID-19 restrictions have seen our band sessions go virtual with some early morning Zoom rehearsals. Huge thank you to our wonderful band committee and conductors for their flexibility and commitment to ensuring continuity of learning for our students during this time. We know it has not always been easy. I have had the pleasure of supporting our Jazz Band students during Tuesday lunchtimes. We have been using our new sound system and projector to Zoom their session with Lachlan. While we can't wait for things to get back to normal, I couldn't be more impressed by the commitment and focus of our students who are clearly enjoying the sessions. 

Some special visitors to the office this week...

Parent/ Teacher Interviews

Our teachers look forward to holding parent teacher interviews via Zoom or phone in Week 9 of this term (week beginning Monday 22 June).

Information regarding interview booking times can be found further in this issue of the Beacon.

Semester One Reporting to Parents

Parents and carers will receive their child’s Semester 1 report in digital format on Thursday 2 July 2020. Detailed information on how to access reports will be sent home via email (attachment and information is below for your reference as well). 

This will be a simplified version of the report you normally receive and will not grade student achievement using the usual 5 point scale. Please be aware that all students may not have covered the same syllabus outcomes or content during this period. There will be a focus on the learning covered in English and Mathematics, along with a general comment which may provide information on other key learning areas and what can be done to support further learning growth.

Sentral Parent Portal Letter

Our semester 1 student reports will be published for parent access on our SENTRAL Parent Portal on Thursday 2nd July. 

Your child's/children's reports are securely stored on the portal. Parents are able to download and/or print copies of their child's report at their convenience. As of 3pm Thursday 2nd July, your child's school report will be published and available online.

If you have NOT registered to access and use the Parent Portal, to view and download your child’s / children’s reports previously, you will need to reply to this email to be supplied with a unique access key and instructions to set up your personal access.

We attached a copy of the original letter with instructions that went home in 2019.

If you have previously accessed your child’s / children’s reports via SENTRAL Parent Portal the URL for continued access to the portal is: https://beaconhillps.sentral.com.au/portal You will need to log in using the email and password you set when you set up your access.

Please note, that all EALD reports for years 1 to 6, will be emailed out to families separately.

Should you experience difficulties please do not hesitate to contact the school for assistance.

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Have you got a child starting school in 2021?

Although tricky at present, we are starting to prepare for Kindergarten 2021. If you have a child who is starting Kindergarten next year we would love to hear from you! Please make contact with our school office so we can add you to our database and ensure you receive all the vital information for transition to school in 2021. At this point in time, we aim to hold our information session during Term 3 (date TBA). In the meantime, please get in touch and let others know as well! We can add your details to our database so that when Kindergarten 2021 transition commences, we are able to let you know!

From the Deputy Principal-Mrs Stanley

Year 4 students entry into Year 5 opportunity class in 2021

The application process for Year 5 opportunity class placement for entry in 2021 is about to begin.  

If you would like to have your child considered for Year 5 opportunity class entry in 2021, you need to apply soon. You will need to apply on the internet using a valid email address (not the student’s email address).

 

Opportunity classes cater for highly achieving academically gifted students who may otherwise be without classmates at their own academic and social level. These schools help gifted and talented students to learn by grouping them with other gifted and talented students, teaching them in specialised ways and providing educational materials at the appropriate level.

Parents and carers must apply online between Tuesday 9 June and Friday 26 June 2020 at:  

https://education.nsw.gov.au/public-schools/selective-high-schools-and-opportunity-classes/year-5

Please note:  No late applications will be accepted.

The Opportunity Class Placement Test will take place on Wednesday 16 September 2020

A letter of intention to apply has been emailed to all Year Four families. Please note that there are no paper applications and applications must be made online.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Our teachers and staff are so excited to have all our students back learning in the classroom. They look forward to being able to share your child’s learning progress with you. We traditionally hold our parent teacher interviews at the end of term 1, however due to COVID-19 these were postponed.

We will be holding our parent teacher interviews in Week 9 from Monday 22 June. Due to the ongoing restrictions in place associated with COVID-19, our parent teacher interviews will be held via Zoom video (face to face) or phone call. You will be able to select your preferred option when you book. Please see the attached information sheet for parents regarding getting set up for Zoom video interviews.

We will be using the School Interviews booking website to facilitate parent bookings. Bookings will open on Friday 12 June at 3.30pm.

Bookings will close on Thursday 18 June at 4pm.

Log onto www.schoolinterviews.com.au with the following logon code hxh4n.

A confirmation email from School Interviews will have a direct link for your Zoom video meeting time with your child’s teacher.

 

In the event of technical difficulties teachers will attempt to call you at your scheduled time. Missed appointments will need to re-scheduled at another mutually convenient time with your child’s teacher.

Parent Teacher Interviews Information Sheet

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Star Awards

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Aussie Star Award- Excellence

Kindergarten News

Stage One News, Year 1&2

Stage Two News, Year 3&4

Stage Three News, Year 5&6

Other School News

Canteen - Term 2 Menu

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Premier's Reading Challenge

The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is underway and goes through until August 28th 2020. The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge for each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. The Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is available for all NSW students in Kindergarten to Year 9.

Year

Number of books you must read

Minimum number of PRC booksMaximum number of Personal Choice booksPRC booklists you can read from
K-230255K-2, 3-4, 5-6
3-4201553-4, 5-6, 7-9
5-6201555-6, 7-9
7-9201555-6,7-9

 

Go to the new PRC student website. There is a video on the PRC Support site that you can watch that demonstrates how to login, search for books and add them to your child's individual Student Reading Record (SRR). 

A link to the Premier’s Reading Challenge website can be found in the 

Student Portal under the Learning section.  Students are also able to add a link to the PRC in the My Link List section to make the PRC easier to find. 

The URL to use is  https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/studentExperience.html#/

Students can access the PRC website using their Department of Education (DoE) username and password.  These are the same details a student would use to access the Student Portal and the computer network at school.  If you are unaware of your username and/or password, please contact your class teacher and ask for your Student Portal username and/or password.

We encourage as many students to partake in the challenge as possible. All students who participate will go into a class draw, with a prize for a student per class at the end of the challenge​.

Please come and see me if you would like more information on the PRC or assistance in sourcing books. 

This year we are asking all students in K-6 to log their own books to complete the challenge. 

Happy reading!

Miss Shearer & Mrs Thomas

Library News

IN THE LIBRARY

It's so great to be back in the library. All the children are excited to borrow books again and explore all the library has to offer. Please check shelves at home to ensure that all school books have been returned. We  still have quite a few weeks left on the Premier's Reading Challenge. Be sure to record all books read on your PRC reading log. Any problems logging on please let me know. 

Two weeks ago we had National Simultaneous Story-time where the whole school read the fun Chicken Diva book with the rest of the nation. Last week was Reconciliation week. We discussed what the word reconciliation means and the importance of being kind, accepting and understanding all the time but especially now. We will continue to look at aboriginal and dream-time stories and the stolen generation. 

With so much busy work happening in the library it is important to maintain our high level of hygiene and distance. All books are being quarantined for 24-48 hours before being wiped down and re-shelved. I'm also asking for all students from years 1-6 to bring their own stationery to every library lesson. It would be a great help if all pencil cases are stocked with pencils, pens, scissors, glue and colours so all students can be productive in the short but fun time they have in the library each week. Thank you for your assistance.

​The book fair will still go ahead this year which is a great way to buy new books, donate to the library and explore new resources. I am in correspondence with the book company and we will have a virtual book fair. I will keep you posted on the development. We also have so much fun at the book parade where we dress up as our favourite fictional character. More information to come!

Happy reading!

Alison Shearer

Teacher/Librarian

Uniform Shop

 

Winter hair accessories and cotton tights now in stock at the uniform shop.

 Place your order online www.bhpsuniforms.com.

Skoolbag

Skoolbag delivers school notices directly to your device, all the instructions you need to download skoolbag are attached in the file below.
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From the Office

Please remind your children to check the lost property at lunch times for any missing items. Once a week the office has offered to sort through the Lost Property and return to the classrooms.

Please ensure all items are labelled with your child's name.

Thank you.


Community News

Lunchbox Program

Lunch is on us.

Need help with the kid’s lunches during school holidays or while schooling from home? What about your own lunch? Maybe an elderly relative or neighbour? In response to Covid-19, The Link Community Care will fill your lunchbox for free.

So what’s in your ‘LUNCHBOX’? Director of The Link Community Care Glenn Wysman said it was important to ensure the lunchbox was healthy. “We consulted local nutritionist Kelly Richardson, and as a result we’ve decided to pack the lunchboxes with a sandwich, a drink, a piece of fruit and a snack - or two.”

Mr Wysman said they’ve also put in place provisions to ensure they abide by the strict rules governing social distancing and travel during Covid-19.

“We will be making it as safe as possible for those wanting a ‘LUNCHBOX’ by providing a drive through service, so people won’t have to leave their car.

Our drive through lunch centre is located at the Pittwater Sports Centre, 1525 Pittwater Road, Narrabeen, which is opposite the park where we typically stage ‘Carols by The Lake’ and ‘Eggs by the Lake’.

“Each ‘LUNCHBOX’ will be sufficient for one person, although families will be able to collect extra lunch boxes to ensure no one skips lunch.”

The Link Community Care ‘LUNCHBOX’ Program commences on Wednesday 15th April and will be available Monday to Friday from 11am to 2pm as long as the need continues. A gold coin donation would be gratefully accepted but is not essential.

If you would like to support the Program, Mr Wysman outlined several options. “You can donate at www.link.org.au/community-care/

You can also drop off non-perishable grocery items to the Pittwater Sports Centre which will be packaged into hampers to help those in our community in most need.

“We also need volunteers to help pack and deliver the ‘LUNCHBOXES’.”

The Link Community Care will also be offering a home delivery service for the most vulnerable & the elderly who are unable to leave their home.

“These are unprecedented times”, said Mr Wysman. “But one thing I know about the Northern Beaches, is that we are a very supportive community and together we will get through this season.

“I would also like to acknowledge those who’ve come on board to help us run this program. Special appreciation to Mark & Gai Forrest owners of Pittwater Sports Centre and the organisations within the centre”.

Pittwater Sports Centre

North Narrabeen Academy of Gymnastics

Fresh Start Fitness

The Sandbucket Cafe & Play Centre

Kindygym Australia

Beacon Hill Public School

“Together we provide a respectful, happy and friendly school environment where everyone strives to achieve excellence.”