School Matters

Old Bathurst Road, East Blaxland 2774

Phone 4739 1579 Fax 4739 8300

Principal Kerry Bryan

Email Blaxlande-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Webpage www.blaxlande-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

P&C Email blaxlandeast@gmail.com

Term 4 Week 8 1 December 2017

Morning Bell 9.00am Afternoon Bell 3.00pm Office Hours 8.30am - 3.15pm

P&C Association meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm Next Meeting Wednesday 21 February 2018

FETE MEETING WEDNESDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2018

CORE VALUES

Be Respectful

Excellence Always

Participate Courageously

Serve Others

Public School Blaxland East

Core Values

Aussie of the Month

Celebrating Achievement, Effort & Service

Celebration Concert

Year 6 Fun Day

Aussie of the Month/Performing Arts Assembly

Christmas Mufti/Food Drive

Donations Wanted - Eye Masks

Office News

Office Payments & Notes

Skoolbag App

Relieving Principal’s Report

Core Value Awards

Canteen News

Save the Date—Mrs Tot’s 90th

Cancer Council Nutrition Snippet

Active Kids

2016 Fete Sponsors

In this School Matters: Bumper Issue!

CLAP! CLAP!

Liam Latz

Liam is a respectful, responsible and trustworthy student who always achieves exceptional results. He

is a self-reliant student who works exceptionally hard in all areas of the curriculum and shows a

genuine desire to produce high standards of work on every task he undertakes. Liam is a clever

student who has an astounding level of knowledge and understanding on topics of interest which

never fails to impress. Liam consistently makes good choices and demonstrates behaviour that sets

the standard for his peers. He has grown to become a positive role model and epitomises the School’s

Core Values of Respect, Excellence, Participation and Service. He is well-liked by his classmates and

treats everyone with respect and fairness. Liam is a highly valued member of 6G and is an absolute

delight to teach.

(Continued on page 3)

Lucas Turano

Lucas is a fun-loving student who has shown dedication to learning and produces work to a high standard.

He is organised and takes pride in the work he presents. He has many friendships, is inclusive of

everyone and has a wonderful sense of humour. Lucas possesses many leadership qualities and has

given service to the school. He has demonstrated all of the Blaxland East Core Values this year and is a

treasured member of Year 6.

Archie Gill

Archie is a motivated and determined student who strives to reach his goals. He shows many great

qualities of a leader including diligence and reliability when completing tasks. Archie is a compassionate

student who looks out for the needs of others. He is a devoted sportsman who gives his best efforts during

sport time and in competition. Archie always conducts himself in a positive manner in the classroom and

strives to uphold our school Core Values. Congratulations on a fantastic year Archie.

Claire Blewden

Claire is a determined student who makes the most of her opportunities. She has a diligent work ethic

and puts great effort into all key learning areas. Claire is kind and empathetic to others and is a

compassionate friend. She loves a challenge and is always willing to go above and beyond to produce

outstanding work. Claire lives our school Core Values every day and is a valued member of 6T.

Congratulations Claire!

Flynn Manchester

Flynn is very deserving of the Aussie of the Month award. He is respectful towards his classmates, his

teachers & himself at all times. He participates courageously, serves others and strives for excellence in

all that he does. Flynn is an outstanding role model and is held in high esteem by fellow students.

Flynn is quiet and humble in his approach and an asset to the classroom and our school.

Oliver Presland

Oliver is a friendly, kind and helpful member of our class. He always acts in a thoughtful and caring

manner towards his peers. Oliver enjoys school and participates enthusiastically and

courageously in grade activities. He strives to do his best and is a respectful listener.

He always displays our school’s Core Values. He is a delight to teach. Congratulations Oliver!

(Continued from page 2)

Rotary Award 2017

On Tuesday 28th November Miss Thomas, Maggie Laurence-Rogers and the

Laurence-Rogers family went to Leonay Golf Club so Maggie could receive her Rotary Award. The

Rotary Award recognises a student who has displayed leadership qualities, demonstrates reliability in

completing tasks, shows support and encouragement for others, demonstrates a willingness to be

involved in extra curricular activities, shows respect for teachers and peers and has a diligent approach

to school work. Maggie ticks all these boxes (and so many more) and is a very rewarding recipient.

Miss Thomas, Maggie and Maggie’s family sat down for a lovely meal and shared a

delightful evening celebrating some very special students in our community.

Congratulations Maggie, keep up your amazing efforts in high school!

“Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Blaxland

East Public School’s Showcase of the Performing Arts for

2017. We certainly hope you enjoy this evening’s

entertainment” were the opening lines of our wonderful Year 6

MCs, School Captains Ella Terry and Eli Przydacz, last

Tuesday at the annual Celebration Concert at the “Joan.” The

evening certainly was enjoyed, for the entire two hours of

talent!

Numerous parents and community members

have contacted staff full of praise for the

standard of acts and the confidence displayed

by Ella and Eli. They were both extremely

honoured and privileged to be MCs for the

night.

As usual, the success of the evening was a real

team effort by staff, students and parents under

the leadership of Mr McGowan.

Thanks also to –

This year’s band ensemble Lucas Turano,

Matilda Duncan, Joseph Ristoski, Mitchell

(Continued on page 6)

Skarratt and Zach

Wootton. Vocal Ensemble

Melody Frith, Maggie

Laurence-Rogers, Charlie Huszar, Brayden

Watson, Caleb Fox, Thomas Cairns, Alyssa

Milkovic, Tamika Maynard, Hannah Dent,

Jonah Haumu and Oliver Wickerson.

Great work to all

members of the

Blaxland East

School Band, Senior Choir, Junior Choir and the

very entertaining Year 1 and Year 2 students who

were real crowd pleasers.

Well done and thanks to both our dance groups

who impressed with their combined talents.

Congratulations to all individual performers -

Hannah Dent, Melody Frith, Jeremy & Leon

Spikmans and Ms Degabriele, Laila Givens-

Christensen and Maggie Laurence-Rogers. You

were all thoroughly entertaining.

Thanks to all the Men in Black: Lachlan Baldock,

Quintin Handley, Ewan Tamsett and the older Men in Black, teachers

supervising behind the scenes, Mrs Watson, Miss Carpenter and Miss

Williamson operating the video cameras

and to all the Joan Sutherland staff. Tim,

who was in charge of lighting and sound

at the Joan commented that he

thought the Junior Choir was the best

choir he had heard since working at

the Joan!

Thanks to Miss Natasha, Miss

Caitlin, and Mrs Coutman for

preparing the night’s performances.

Thanks also to the coordinators of

the Choirs, Band, Dance and the

(Continued from page 5)

(Continued on page 7)

Stage 1 items - Mr McGowan, Mrs Przydacz, Mrs Graham, Mrs Macri and all of our other dedicated

teachers who helped behind the scenes, teaching songs,

preparing props and costumes. Thanks also to all band tutors

and Lachlan Craig

who performed with

the band.

There certainly was

a great deal of

dedication,

commitment, and

effort put into the

performances highlighting the love of the Performing Arts here at

BEPS.

(Continued from page 6)

(Continued on page 8)

The grande finale, ‘Glorious’ by Macklemore and Skylar Grey, with

special BEPSified lyrics by Miss Thomas, Miss Williamson and Year 6, based on school Core Values with

cool moves to match and performed by all performers, was one of the best finales yet!

A special evening indeed!

(Continued from page 7)

Our retirees, Mr Reilly, Mrs Wallace & Mrs Wallis

Friday 24th of November was the Year 6 Fun Day. A day when Year 6 students could serve the school by

running different stalls and activities. There was a MASSIVE range of things to choose from and everyone

loved it. One of the contributing factors of why everyone loved it was that we all got not one, but two

zooper dooper ice blocks. The day was a total success. We also raised a huge amount of money for the

school. Maggie Laurence-Rogers

Our group was Splat - we had a lot of fun . It was a hot

day, so it was a perfect day to get soaked with water. We

had jelly cups and cupcakes for the winners . It was so

much fun.

Taleah Vaughan & Rheannon Whiteman

(Continued on page 10)

Our group was sock wrestling and a basketball shoot-out.

It was a fun day listening to music and having a "couple"

of drinks.

Andrew Plumpton, Eli Przydacz, Lucas Turano, Charlie

McGauley and Keegan Reasbeck.

Our group was the haunted hallway and we scared a lot

of people and it was so fun we scared some one so bad

that they nearly wet their pants!!

Liam Pearce , Joseph Ristoski , Ryan Perryman , Liam

Latz, Ronan Pearce, Quintin Handley, Jonah Haumu

Our group was Trampoline Long Jump. It was a great day

watching people jump, listening to music and having

some ice cold drinks.

Dom Eagle, Jake Wood, Alex Brisbane, Ben

Busch, Lachlan Jacob and Oli Wickerson.

Our group was Sumo Wrestling over at the

Year 6 tables, at the beginning of the day we

had only 2 people come over then everyone

came, it was amazing. We had amazing times

of people getting their opponents off the mat,

we had a fabulous time.

Lachlan Baldock, Josh Watson, Lachlan

Nelson, Sam Attard and Archie Gill

The hairspray and face painting group was

busy all day! We had lots of kids from infants

and primary lining up all day. We all got very

hot and messy. Everybody was happy with

their wonderful designs, it was the best day

ever.

Skye, Hannah.R.J, Bella, Jessica, Amy, Jessie, Shaely

Special thanks to our extra helpers Eli G and Ella.

(Continued from page 9)

(Continued on page 11)

Our group was Swish It To Win It. It was

a fun successful day and our group all

had a blast. We had a lot of fun running

our game and everyone who came

seemed to really enjoy it.

Mitchell Skarratt, Caleb Fox, Kane

Tarrant, Sampson Rose and Isaac

Parsons

Our group was Antarctica, there were

four of us in our group. Claire Blewden,

Lily Jay, Alyssa Milkovic & Ella Terry.

The aim of our game was to find lollies

in our shredded paper. Also known as

ANTARCTICA!

If you found 3

lollies you

would get a

prize. It was an amazing day and we had lots of people come. It was definitely

worth the hard work we put into it.

Our group was the Trigames we had four people in our group Matilda Duncan, Brayden Watson, Tom

Cains and Samuel Blair-Hickman running four different activities; a pillow fight, a drawing competition, a

quiz game and a coin toss. We also had a lollie in the jar competition. It was really busy and we needed

more people and lollies. We had a lot of fun running the store and the pack up and set up was worth it.

Our group was the one, the only MINUTE TO WIN IT! Some of the activities were Cup & Ball with Tamika

M, Going Nuts with Maggie, Dig Deep with Charlie H ( which backfired sadly because the slime was going

hard) & Mini Marshmallows with Melody. We had so many students lined up to win as many lollies as they

could in one minute (one minute per game). If you completed all the games then you would win a prize of

your choice. It was so much fun & I'm sure everyone else had fun too.

Our group’s activity was Capture the Diamond. Students had to climb through the lasers and capture the

diamond. Our group was Laila, Lorrine, Hannah, Lorien and Tamika. We had so much fun and we hope

everyone else did too.

Miss Thomas, Miss Williamson and Mr Reilly are incredibly proud of Year 6 and the hard work they put in

to this wonderful day! Especially the way they all helped each other with packing up, and luckily we beat

the storm!

Congratulations Year 6!

(Continued from page 10)

Our final Aussie of the Month assembly was held on Wednesday, 29th November 2017 under the COLA.

We were entertained by the senior choir, the band, the boys and the combined girls dance groups.

Year 6 students were recognised for their dedication and involvement in the Performing Arts. We were

pleased to be able to award a Performing Arts pennant to Mrs Robyn Wallis who has displayed amazing

dedication and commitment as band coordinator, Celebration Concert coordinator and debating coach for

many years here at BEPS. We wish you well in retirement and will miss your involvement in the

(Continued on page 13)

Perfo

rm

ing A

rts

Pennants

Senio

r C

hoir

Performing Arts.

Three of our junior students

received certificates for

attending the

Buddharangsee Thai

Community Language

School every Sunday

throughout the year.

Congratulations to Isabella

Gray, Ingrid and Oliver

Forster for the time they

have devoted to Thai

cultural and language activities.

Well done once again to our

outstanding Leadership Team who

confidently lead the assembly, the

final one for the year. Congratulations

Ella, Eli, Archie, Amy, Maggie,

Melody, Eli and Lucas – a job well

done!

Liz Dunning

Coordinator

(Continued from page 12)

School B

and

Isabella

Gray, O

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Ingr

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orste

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Debatin

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eam

Dedication to the Performing Arts

Vocal E

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Band E

nse

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Boys Dance

Group

Combined Girls Dance Group

Com

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Girls D

ance

Grou

p

At this time of year everyone is very excited because Christmas is just around the corner. In our local area

however, there are over 300 families who are in need of our support. On Thursday the 30th of November,

the SRC hosted a Christmas-themed mufti day. All students were asked to wear their favourite Christmas

outfit and to bring in special Christmas food and drink items as a donation to Gateway Family Services.

SRC students collected all of the donations and as a team, walked everything across the road with Mrs

Wallis, Miss Williamson and Mrs Falzon. Students at BEPS are so generous that we even had to use a

wheelbarrow! With the Gateway Family Services volunteers, SRC students sorted all items into categories

so they could be packed into special Christmas hampers for those who are in need. BEPS is the largest

group of donors for this special cause and we continue to play a significant role in our local community.

We are in need of a set of block out eye masks to play a game called Goalball.

This is an event that is played at the Paralympics Games. It is a team sport designed specifically for sight-

impaired athletes. The wearing of eye masks allows players of varying degrees of vision to participate to-

gether. We are hoping to form a team next year to play in a Schools Knockout competition.

If you have any spare eye masks, like the ones issued by airlines, we would be very grateful to receive

them so that we might make a class set. Please deliver any masks that are in good condition to either Mrs

Donoso or Mrs Graham of 3/4G.

Thank you!

Changes to the daily collection of your children

As the school office is at its busiest between 8.30 to 9.30am and 2.30 to 3.00pm, we would like to

encourage parents/carers to make plans prior to school in regards to changes in pick-up arrangements.

We understand that emergency situations do arise where you need to deviate from your usual collection

arrangements and we will assist you as much as we can in relaying this information to your child. It would

be more beneficial however if you could send a note with your child for the class teacher so that they are

directly aware of any changes and can ensure that your child remembers what they need to do or where

they need to go.

Sick Notification

If you know your child is unwell and will not be attending school there is no need to ring

the school. Please send an explanation note to the teacher on your child’s return.

In addition, if your child is unwell, please keep them at home until they have recovered.

Permission Notes - PLEASE READ!

We are receiving a number of incomplete permission notes on a daily basis. Could you please

ensure you write your child’s first name, last name and class when you complete permission notes. It is

time-consuming for office staff to have to work out which child a note belongs to if only a first name and

no class, or only a signature has been written on the note. We have several children in the school with

the same first name, as well as families with the same surname.

A reminder too that when returning permission notes for excursions, camps, and any

school activities for which a permission note is sent home, please note that a

separate permission note is required for each child. This is a departmental legal requirement.

Lost Property

There are a number of plastic containers, lunchboxes and drink bottles plus items of clothing

in lost property at the moment with no name on them.

Could you please ensure all such items are clearly labelled with your child’s name so they

can be returned to them. If they are not collected soon they will be disposed of.

PLEASE NOTE we are unable to accept payments past the cut-off date on the note. Please carefully

note date for payment and return of permission notes. If notes and payment are not returned in time,

your child will be excluded from the activity. If you are paying online (see information below), the

payment needs to be made 24 hours before the cut-off date in order to be accepted.

If paying by cash, please send correct money as the school does not hold a cash float.

Alternatively you may pay via EFTPOS in person at the front office, or pay online via the school

website, under the ‘Make a Payment’ link on the home page.

REMINDER TO PARENT/CARER VOLUNTEERS

If you are volunteering in any capacity at school you must have a valid Working With

Children Check (WWCC).

It is a simple process of applying online at www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au. Once you

receive your confirmation email with your WWCC number please bring this to the office.

We will also ask you for your

mobile phone number

maiden name (if applicable)

place of birth; and a

100 point ID check

PLEASE ALSO REMEMBER YOU MUST SIGN IN AT THE OFFICE, borrow a ‘Visitor’ lanyard when you arrive

and sign out again when you leave.

Our School has our own free Skoolbag iPhone and Android App

to help us communicate more effectively with our Parent/Student

community.

We are asking Parents/Students to install our Skoolbag School App. To install it, just search for our

school name Blaxland East Public School in either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

For Windows users search for Skoolbag in the Windows Store and install the app and then find your

school. Please note it must be a Windows 8.1 or 10 device.

You can find step by step instructions here.

If you would like more information about Skoolbag, click here.

Skoolbag can also be accessed via Blaxland East Public School’s website— go to the homepage and

click on the ‘Skoolbag’ heading on the right side at the top.

You can then view the Skoolbag plugin and access and print any relevant notes and information just as

you can from the app.

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Mrs Bryan continues to recover from her operation, and is planning to return to BEPS next week.

Last week’s Celebration Concert was a huge success, showcasing the many talented students from

across the school. This week we held our special Aussie of the Month/Performing Arts Assembly to

acknowledge the hard work of many of our skilled and gifted students.

The Year 6 Fun Day was also a great success last week. It was run entirely by Year 6 students, and

activities included haunted hallways, sumo wrestling and hairspray. There was lots of excitement and

laughter, and the day was enjoyed by all.

Our annual Christmas Food Donation Day was again a great success. Thank you to everyone for your

generous donations. They will be used to help out up to 300 local families.

Next week is shaping up to also be extremely busy, with Year 6 High School Orientation Day, the Year 6

Farewell, the Kindergarten Concert and our Presentation Evening.

To assist us with planning for 2018, it helpful to know the number of students anticipated at our school.

Reasonably accurate student numbers are required to assist our planning processes for next year. The

number of students affects class structures, staffing requirements and the school budget. If you know

you will be moving out of the area, please notify the school office ASAP. Likewise, if you know of a new

family moving into the area, please ask them visit our school to get an enrolment form.

Michael Frith

Relieving Principal

(Relieving)

K-2

Term 4 Week 7

KC Ari Ryffel Goldsmith Participating

Courageously

KP Savannah Jones Excellence Always

KS Aaron Turano Being Respectful

KM Vincent Cluff Excellence Always

1M Stella Davies Serving Others

1H Frankie Cleary Being Respectful

1T Vanessa Gamal-Debono Participating

Courageously

2M Ella Newell Being Respectful

2B Lara Tomkins Excellence Always

K-2

Term 4 Week 8

KC Jack Carew-Halse Excellence Always

KP Charlize Micallef-Greenfield

Participating

Courageously

KS Jonathan Rufus Excellence Always

KM Lucy McKone Being Respectful

1H Harlee Vandiejen-Nicoll Participating

Courageously

1T Will Rojas Being Respectful

2M Gabe Wickerson Excellence Always

2B Talia McGregor Serving Others

Stage 2

Term 4 Week 8

3B Jonah Lamplough Serving Others

3D Tilly Jacob Excellence Always

3D Sienna McGrath Participating

Courageously

3D Olivia McKone Being Respectful

3G Ashton Fuller Participating

Courageously

3G Izabelle Wicks Being Respectful

4G Anna Viney Participating

Courageously

4H Curtis Smith Participating

Courageously

4H Jarred Drake Serving Others

4H Amelia Lockett Excellence Always

4W Cain Anderson Participating

Courageously

Term 4 Week 8

Stage 3

5W Zoe Scoble Participating

Courageously

5W Larissa Peresipkin Excellence Always

5M Ethan Haldane Serving Others

5M Ryan Fisher Being Respectful

5M Molly Gill Excellence Always

5M Bella Watson Serving Others

5R Daniel Clarke Excellence Always

5R Jack Wicks Being Respectful

5R Leonard Newport Serving Others

5R Emma Garvey Serving Others

5R Ewan Tamsett Serving Others

6T Matilda Duncan Excellence Always

6T Mitchell Skarratt Serving Others

6T Melody Frith Excellence Always

6T Quintin Handley Serving Others

6G Ronan Pearce Participating

Courageously

6G Alyssa Milkovic Being Respectful

6G Tamika Carreno Serving Others

6G Lachlan Baldock Serving Others

$5.00 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER MEAL DEAL

How to order at school or online

Lunch orders must be placed in class baskets before 9.00am each morning. Lunches are delivered to

the classrooms at the beginning of lunchtime.

Students in Kindergarten and Year 1 may order recess through class baskets and buy snacks and

drinks over the counter at lunchtime.

You can also order online via Our Online Canteen - information can be found here.

Commencing 31 January 2018

The NSW Government will allocate $207 million over four years to establish Active Kids. Active Kids is

a program to help NSW families meet the cost of getting their kids into sport and active fitness and

recreation activities.

What is Active Kids?

The NSW Government will provide a $100 voucher to parents/guardians of school enrolled children.

The $100 voucher can be used for registration and participation costs for sport and fitness activities.

The initiative aims to reduce barriers to participation and help change the physical activity behaviours

of children and young people in NSW.

Who is eligible to claim the voucher?

Every child (4.5 - 18 years old) enrolled in school from Kindergarten to Year 12 will be eligible for an

Active Kids Voucher. This includes those who are home-schooled or enrolled in secondary school

education at TAFE NSW.

It will not be means tested and one voucher will be available for every child in the family annually over

the next four years.

There will be no limits on the number of applications per family, as long as every child is enrolled in

school.

How long are vouchers valid?

Vouchers provided are valid for redemption during the current calendar year activity program (Year 1

will commence from 31 January and expire on 31 December 2018). Vouchers shall expire at the end

of the calendar year.

2019 vouchers and beyond will commence from 1 January each year and expire on 31 December.

No availability exists for retrospective redemption of vouchers.

Vouchers are available for redemption once only for the nominated registered season or term of

activity.

How do you download a voucher?

From 31 January 2018, parents/guardians/carers with legal responsibility of an eligible child resident in

NSW will be able to download a voucher from an online platform. The platform will be run by Service

NSW and can be accessed through this website.

When will the program be introduced?

From 31 January 2018 families will be able to claim their voucher/s.

For more information click here.