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NEWSLETTER
120 Barnier Drive
Quakers Hill, 2763
To subscribe email: [email protected]
7th February 2020
Welcome to the 2020 school year everyone!
I hope everyone had a very relaxing, happy and enjoyable school holiday.
I know that our hearts and thoughts are with all those affected by the recent devastating bushfires. The impact on our wildlife was also heartbreaking. The willingness and readiness of people to donate and help in any way that they can has been absolutely wonderful and community spirit within those areas affected by the fires has been just incredible.
Welcome back to all our 2019 Barnier families and a special welcome to the many new families that have joined our school community this year. We look forward to supporting you and your children throughout 2020.
We were extremely fortunate, once again, to be able to place students into their permanent classes on the very first day of term which was great for
students and teachers! All classes are now settled and have commenced a very positive and productive year of learning. Staff are currently focusing on establishing great relationships with students, creating wonderful classroom learning environments and setting high expectations for learning and behaviour as well as establishing routines.
New Classes, Change and Anxiety
We have put a great deal of thought and care into the placement of students into classes and also into the structure of classes throughout the school. We have carefully considered the following for each and every student:
Combinations of students – students who will work well together, and those who will not
Friendship groups Student needs and the extent of these, be
they extra support or extension Behavioural issues, specific social, emotional,
behavioural and academic needs Application and effort in class Academic levels of operation across all
Curriculum Areas
We have formed classes of students who will work, learn, play and socialise together exceptionally well. We have made sure that all staff have been provided with information relevant and specific to each student in their class. We have made the very best decisions possible for all students. A change of teacher or classroom may cause anxiety for some children. This is normal and understandable. Change can be uncomfortable. Please reassure your child that they can cope with the changes by reminding them about things they
Principal’s Message
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 9837 1600
Fax: 9837 1858
have mastered in the past. Please allow your child time to settle in to their new class. This is most important. They may be anxious and unhappy for a few days or even a little longer. It is very important to give them time to adjust to the changes and to make new friends. The ability to cope with change can only develop when children have the opportunity to learn how to do this. Change will happen very frequently in a person’s life and developing strategies to cope and embrace change is essential for children.
New Staff
We have a number of new staff at Barnier this year. We warmly welcome Ms Izci, Ms Rahnatullah, Mrs Matkovic, Ms Gopal, Ms Fogg, Ms Carter, Ms Baharoglu and Mrs Putica to our wonderful school. We are extremely fortunate at Barnier to have an amazing staff. Our teachers and leaders are dedicated and passionate about teaching and leading. They make the welfare and education of all students their highest priority. We are looking forward to another great year at Barnier.
Sadly we said farewell to Ms Moodley over the holidays. Ms Moodley gained a permanent teaching position at Schofields PS. She was very sad to leave Barnier, she will be a wonderful addition to the Schofields PS staff and will be so very greatly missed at Barnier. We wish her all the very best in her new position. Communication with Staff
Please do not hesitate to make an appointment to speak with your child’s class teacher if you are concerned about anything or you have any questions. This can happen at any time throughout the year. We do request that you make an appointment through the school office, rather than try to speak to teachers when they are teaching or supervising students. We thank all parents for their cooperation with this. We believe that face to face or phone communication is always best, however, there are times when an email is convenient and/or necessary. We respectfully request that emails to teachers be sent to the school email address, [email protected] and not directly to any teacher’s personal email address. All emails will be forwarded promptly to teachers by our office staff and teachers will respond as soon as possible, we thank you for your cooperation and support with this matter. Rescheduled Term 4 Staff Development Days
The last 2 days of 2020, Thursday 17th and and
Friday 18th December, are Staff Development
Days. At Barnier we will be rescheduling these
days as Twilight Professional learning sessions throughout the year. This means that the last day of the 2020 school year for students will be Wednesday 16
th December (this has not changed)
but all staff will finish the year on the same day and the school will be non-operational after 16/12/2020. Please note that this arrangement will not affect any students or families in any way. Kindergarten 2020
Last week we welcomed 115 Kindergarten students to Barnier. They have all had a very calm, happy and positive start to their primary school education. I would like to thank our wonderful P&C parents for providing support and a beautiful morning tea for our Kindy parents on Thursday 30
th
January. The first day of ‘big school’ was highly successful for everyone. Well done to our amazing teachers and Kindy students. P&C Meeting
Our first P&C meeting for the year will be held in the school library on Monday 10th February at 7:30pm. The P&C Annual General Meeting will take place at this time as well as the first general meeting for the year. All P&C positions will be declared vacant. Nominations will be sought and an election process will be undertaken during the AGM. I strongly encourage all parents to be part of this wonderful association. It’s a great opportunity to get to know others, make new friends and work together as part of a team to make a positive difference for our students and our school. I hope to see lots of new and not-so-new parents next Monday night. I will be presenting information on Barnier school data, future directions and planning. Please read the information below, it is excellent advice ….. Building healthy relationships with teachers by Michael Grose Studies show that healthy parent–teacher relationships are a more significant factor in student success than parent income levels or social status. Parent–teacher relationships require effort and energy from both parties if they are going to really benefit children and young people. Here are some strategies to help you build a healthy working relationship with teachers in the year ahead. Get to know them
For your partnership to be meaningful and successful, you need to meet with your children’s teacher(s) with the goal of forming a respectful professional relationship. Be willing to share your aspirations for your child and be willing to build the teacher’s knowledge about your family. For balanced perspective, also gain an understanding
of the teacher’s approach and what focus areas they have for their particular year group. This can be done formally by attending start of the year information evenings and informally through conversations, reading newsletters and staying in touch in digitally and in real-time. Trust their professionalism
Children need to know that their parents are fully behind what their teachers are trying to achieve if they are going to commit fully to learning. The best way to support your child’s teacher is to trust their knowledge, professionalism and experience. Avoid the temptation to question the expertise of teachers in front of students, particularly when the teachers use methods that you are unfamiliar with. Initiate conversations with teachers around methodology to give them the chance to explain the approach they are taking.
Go through the right channels
Despite the best teaching practices things do go wrong at school. Kids experience learning difficulties. Conflict and peer rejection happen. Kids will often come home from school with grievances, and call on you for assistance. Resist the urge to react emotionally. If you need to contact teachers do so respectfully, calmly and through the correct channels. A measured response will generally achieve the best result for your child.
Build links to student learning
There’s a huge body of research that points to the correlation between parent engagement in student learning and their educational success. If you want your child to improve their learning, take an interest in what they are doing. Follow school and teacher guidelines about helping at home and attend as many conferences, meetings and events involving your child as possible. This strategy has a significant, long-term impact on your child’s attitude to learning.
Stay in touch
Life’s not always smooth sailing for kids of any age. Family circumstances change. Friends move away. Illness happens. Mental health challenges can hit anyone at any time. These changes affect learning. Make sure that you keep teachers up to date with significant changes or difficulties that your child or young person experiences so they can accommodate your child’s emotional and learning needs at school.
Be loyal
Show your loyalty to your child’s teachers by being an advocate. Talk positively about your child’s teacher and school, rather than being negative about them when speaking in the wider community. Teachers hold very public positions and generally work hard to build good reputations both within
their school and their wider education community. Consider a teacher’s reputation among the community and also with children when you discuss educational matters with others. Building healthy parent–teacher relationships doesn’t just happen
It takes goodwill from both sides, a commitment to setting aside the time necessary to support the home-based learning tasks that are expected, and a willingness to communicate both concerns and commendations through the correct channels
I feel very privileged to be here at Barnier PS as your permanent, substantive Principal. I love this school. I would like all parents to know that I am emotionally invested in this school and 100% committed to doing the very best job that I can, as your proud Principal, to support students, staff and parents and ensure that every child achieves their personal best and reaches their full potential in a school that is happy, safe and well resourced. I am in the playground most mornings and afternoons, please don’t hesitate to come and have a chat with me. I am also very happy for parents to book an appointment through the school office to speak with me any time about anything of concern or to ask any questions they may have.
Warmest regards,
Mandy Hollis
Principal
2020
Week 3
10th February 2020
P&C AGM @ 7:30pm in the library
12th February 2020
Swimming Carnival - Competitors Only
Online payments due by 6pm
14th February 2020
Swimming Carnival - Competitors Only
Last day for payment at the office
Week 4
18th February 2020
Commonwealth Bank Info Session -
8:15am - 8:45am at the COLA
School banking starts
19th February 2020
Swimming Carnival - Competitors only
Stage 1 Assembly @ 2pm
20th February 2020
School Photos
21st February 2020
Stage 2 Assembly @ 2pm
New payment system:
Dear Parents/Caregivers
You may have noticed that on the outside of the administration block a letter box has been installed. This is our new money collection box. Please place. ALL payments for the office in the letterbox. Please clearly label your envelope with your child’s full name, class and what you are paying for on the front. Both notes and money should be placed inside the envelope. If you have more than one student, payment can be put in the same envelope however, permission notes for each child must be included. Please encourage your child/children to place their payment in the letterbox in the morning on their way to class and to ensure the envelope drops down into the box. Yours in Administration
Barnier Office team
Event Reminders
Dear Barnier Families,
Welcome to the new school year, and a special welcome to the kindy families embarking on a new schooling journey. We are excited at the new possibilities ahead and what we can achieve as a P&C community this year. We are part of the P&C - Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of New South Wales, commonly known as “P&C Federation”. We are an inclusive community of the Barnier PS parents/carers volunteers wanting to make a difference. We collaborate with our school and play an active role to add value to our children’s schooling experience. We do this by meeting on the 3
rd
Monday of the month to discuss the needs and direction of the school. As a parent/carers perspective, we have the opportunity to give our opinion on how we can collaborate to make things happen. Throughout the year we vote on which enjoyable events we can run to raise funds for the school. The first meeting of the year is the AGM (Annual General Meeting) where we give members the opportunity to be nominated for a leadership role. At the AGM, all current executives will resign and new executives will be elected for 2020. Everyone is free to attend but only paid members on the P&C register as of 25/11/2019 can vote and nominate for the new positions. To register you will need to pay a yearly membership of $1.00 payable when you attend a meeting or payable through the flexi schools app. We are always looking for new members to join our P&C. Please consider joining, it sets a wonderful example of community spirit for your children, and highlights the importance of education.
We have dedicated volunteers who run ongoing activities throughout the year; such as the weekly School Banking held on Tuesdays which is run by Chrissy Kellett. The second-hand uniform stall is held on the 4
th week of each term, run by
Rhiannon. Our newly created Working Bees Group to complete projects around the school is run by Evelyn Ransom. You are welcome to assist or be part of these teams please follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barnierpandc/ or email us [email protected].
We value and are always grateful for the effort and contribution volunteers dedicate to the P&C.
A BIG THANK YOU goes out to the volunteers who helped cover the readers with clear contact to maximise longevity.
https://www.facebook.com/barnierpandc/
Email us : [email protected] KEY DATES TO REMEMBER:
School banking program to begin Week 4 -Tuesday 18
th February
AGM Monday 10th of Feb at 7.30 pm in the library. Second hand uniform sale and new house colour shirts stall – Wed 19
th February under the COLA.
Barnier P&C
The Ponds High School 180 Riverbank Drive, The Ponds NSW 2769
Phone: 9626 3562 Fax: 9837 0823 Email: the [email protected]
3 February 2020
OPEN NIGHT 2020
ATTENTION: YEAR 5 & 6 STUDENTS
Dear Parents & Carers,
The Ponds High School Open Night will be held on Tuesday 18 February from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm.
The evening will begin with an information session in the school hall. This will include a general overview of the school and systems including BYOD, Learning Support and GATs programs.
The Ponds High School students will lead tours of the school and introduce the subjects on offer. You will have the opportunity to ask teachers and students questions about the school and their experiences.
Looking forward to meeting you on Tuesday 18 February.
Yours sincerely,
Jenny Weal Principal The Ponds High School
Principal: Mrs Jenny Weal Deputy Principal: Mr James Laird Deputy Principal: Mr Phil Scandizzo Deputy Principal: Mr Brad Cook Rel. Dep. Principal: Mr Andrew Fitzgerald
