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Welcome Parents, as you are aware we confirmed classes on Monday. The school enrolment currently stands at 672 and as a result we are reviewing our systems to ensure that we are keeping up with the demands of a larger school population. Welcome to any new families and a special welcome to the 113 kindergarten students who started on Monday. A special thanks to Susan See for her organisation of the "Tea and Tissues" for the new kindergarten parents. This was a wonderful way for the parents to meet others who are old hands at kindergarten and relax after what can be a hectic morning. As you might expect there were more tears from kindergarten parents than from the students. Ethics Trial Baulkham Hills North Public School has been selected as one of the ten schools in the state to trial the teaching of ethics. There has been some considerable media attention regarding this trial and I now have a little information that I can pass onto our community. The ethics program will run at the same time as scripture classes. All existing scripture class options including non-scripture will continue to be offered at school. All students in Years 5 and 6 will receive an invitation to participate and their participation needs to be approved by their parents. The class will run with a maximum of 30 and a minimum of 10 students. The program will be presented by volunteers who have been trained by the St James Ethics Centre. Volunteers will have all the necessary child protection approvals. The lessons will run for 30 - 35 minutes each week during term 2. The trial is also to be the subject of the ABC program "Compass" and as such students who are involved in the trial will need to have the appropriate media release forms approved by their parents. I understand that the curriculum has almost been finalised and the selection and training of suitable presenters will happen this term. As more of the details regarding the program become available, I will pass them on. Good Guys Baulkham Hills North Public School is registered with the Good Guys in Castle Hill. Every purchase you make can earn vouchers that the school can redeem at the end of the year. My thanks to every family who collected Good Guys vouchers for the school. At the end of last year we redeemed $2,626.25 worth of equipment. My thanks to Kym Elsley who coordinated this on behalf of school club. Book Club Parents, you may be interested to know that classes have earned $3,206 in book club bonuses that can be used to buy books for the school. This is as a result of the books that children purchased through Ashtons Scholastic during 2009. Book Club will continue to be offered this year and will again be ably coordinated by Louise Mashiah. Crunch and Sip Crunch and Sip continues this year. Between 10am and 10.30am, or as the class timetable permits, students will have a change of pace in class and have the opportunity to have a piece of fruit or vegetable and a drink of water. This helps students to stay focused for longer and in turn leads to better learning outcomes. Bits and Pieces Whole school assemblies will commence next Monday at 2.10pm excluding kindergarten for the time being. Meet the teacher evenings will be held in week 4 with the exception of kindergarten to be held on the 9th February. More detailed information will be sent home soon. Homework will commence in week 5 after the meet the teacher meetings. The school swimming carnival for students in years 3 - 6 will be held on Wednesday, 3rd March. Scripture for all classes will not commence until week 6.
Have a great week. Peter Robinson Principal 3rd February 2010 |
