Term 3, Week 3 - 2021
Principal's Pen
Welcome to our new format School Newsletter! We are excited to release the school newsletter in this format where we can load great pictures of student learning and school success. As always for updates on what’s happening I draw your attention to our school Facebook page as well as the parent calendar sent to families at the end of term.
HEALTH: Parents please be advised of the changing and updated health warnings and restrictions we are currently facing through the Qld Health Website. Please respect the requirement’s issued by the Government and our staff who are actioned to ensure we follow these protocols as a community.
NAPLAN:
The RAW Data for year 3 and 5 student NAPLAN results has been made available to schools and I am thrilled again at the outstanding work of our teams who participated for the first time in the online environment. We saw our highest engagement in the test to date and again it looks as though we will have some formidable results ensuring our place as one of the highest performing schools in our region. More to come here soon.
School Review and School Opinion Survey
Last term saw us close the most successful school review in BPSS history with our Reviewers commenting on the extraordinary learning of students, the exceptional teaching and data management of teachers and the vision and leadership of the executive; all of this was framed through the lens of our wonderful community and the spirit of our school. Thanks to so many of you who took reviewers phone calls, met them at the gate or chatted in passing. I’m so proud of my team every day; but this validation at this level is really something to celebrate.
The School Opinion Survey is also available and each family (and year 5 and 6 student) were emailed a link over the holidays to participate. It takes about five minutes and if you could take the survey that would be great.
Student Success:
An enormous congratulations to Chelsea Hodges (past BPSS school Captain) for her tremendous efforts representing Australia at the Tokyo Olympics for swimming. What an incredible young woman and role model and we could not be more excited to see her success.
Additionally, congratulations to our MLTAQ Speech competitors for their recent wins in the Japanese Language competition. A very special thank you to Mrs Noriko Chantrill Sensei for her time and dedication with the students.
PnC and Oz Harvest:
Last week was a great week for community service and support with our Friday Free Dress raising over $700 for our community charity partner Oz Harvest as well as our first successful school disco (since 2019) run by our incredible PnC volunteers raising nearly $3000 in total. The support from PnC raising money for “Shaded Play” areas in our school is pivotal to ensuring our school infrastructure reflects the areas of focus for our students and community and this money (and your support) assist with this.
What’s happening this term?
Don’t forget to regularly check our parent calendar. Its available on our website and Facebook page and is emailed home at the end of each term ready for the following term.
Rachel Cutajar - Principal
Deputy Principal's Pen
Term 3 Learning
All classes have settled well into the new school term. Thank you to everyone for the efforts in getting your children to school on time each day, particularly during these colder mornings! Even five minutes late can have an impact on students settling into their school day, with learning commencing immediately after the bell goes at 8.55am.
Classes are now well into their Term 3 curriculum with most classes having commenced their English Learning Walls. These have become a consistent learning tool across the school, supporting students in their learning by providing them with visual cues, scaffolds and the learning expectations, as they work through their learning activities. As we grow in our use of these Learning Walls, students are gaining more ownership of their learning and are able to talk about their learning to a higher level. The questions we ask them at school are: -
- What are you learning?
- How are you doing?
- How do you know?
- How can you improve?
- Where do you go for help?
These questions are a great structure for conversations about the learning that is occurring with our students from Prep to Year 6.
Parents, as our students’ “first teachers”, you can be hugely influential in your child’s learning. I’m sure we’ve all had times when we’ve asked our children “How was your day?”, only to be told “fine” or “good”. If this is the typical responses you receive from your students, you may like to try asking these five questions to create informative conversations with your child(ren): -
- What did you learn today?
- How did you go with that?
- What did you do if you didn’t understand?
- How can you improve on your learning?
- What are you most proud of?
You may use all or some of these questions in your conversations! The focus is to give you some prompts, if your child usually doesn’t share much about their learning each day, and just have fun talking with them.
School Disco Wrap Up
Last Friday’s Junior and Senior Discos were a great success! A huge thank you to Mr Young for coordinating the two events and being our DJ Extraordinaire, to the P&C for managing the tickets, monitoring the door and setting up the canteen, and for the staff who gave up their Friday evenings to come along and join in the fun.
We look forward to holding further discos in the future.
Parent Teacher Interviews – Week 10
With Semester 1 Report Cards emailed to parents early this term, class teachers will now be working with students towards achieving their new learning goals. The opportunity for parents and teachers to meet to discuss their student’s progress with these new goals, and to discuss progress since the Semester 1 Reports, will be offered to all parents in Week 10 of this term. Please look out for an email in the next few weeks inviting you to book your interview time through PTO.
Eisteddfod Entries
Later this term several of our Performing Arts groups will be competing in either the Gold Coast Eisteddfod or Cluster Schools Performing Arts Video Competition. Next week, both the Intermediate and Senior Choirs will be competing at HOTA.
Then, in Weeks 4 and 5, our Strings and Band Orchestras will also be competing; Strings will compete in a live performance at HOTA, with the Talga Band entering a video to the Cluster Schools Performing Arts Competition.
Thank you to our Performing Arts Team for their hard work with these groups – and good luck to all students involved!
Liz Watt - Deputy Principal
Barnyard Babies Visit Prep!
As part of the Science Curriculum, Prep are focusing on living things and their needs, so it was ‘farm-tastic’ to receive a visit from Farmer David and his baby farm animals. The day started with Prep students arriving at school in their farmer costumes. The children were very pleased to spend time patting, brushing and cuddling a piglet, chickens, lambs, ducks and goats. They even fed a lamb a bottle of milk! Students learnt about baby farm animals, their needs and how to care for them. The Preps reflected on their visit through a variety of literacy and maths activities. For some students it was their very first time to hold or feed a farm animal. It was great to see so many smiles. The farm visit was a wonderful provocation to build our learning about caring for living things.
Barnyard Babies
Year 1 Learning Focus - Term 3
The students in year 1 are learning about the structure of information reports in English, whilst in Science, they are learning about small creatures they may encounter in their backyards. Students will learn how animals move, feed and protect themselves, whilst learning the scientific terms for each of these. They will then write an information report about the backyard animal of their choice.
Each classroom is building their Learning Wall which will help students keep track of their learning so they know “how they are going” and “how they can improve”.
Check out some of the students in 1C investigating mini-beasts as little scientists, and talking about their learning.
Year 1 Science
GO News
Head of Inclusion News
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019).
Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:
- year of schooling
- category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
- level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.
This information assists schools to:
- formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
- consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
- develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.
The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.
The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy. (https://www.education.gov.au/privacy-policy)
Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).
If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school.
Sarah Du Kamp - Head of Inclusion
Head of Positive Education News
STEM @ BPSS
Hi Bellevue families,
There are so many STEMtastic events and competitions happening this term for you to be aware of.
Our School STEM Competition is due at the end of week 4. Students can bring completed entries to the STEMoSphere at first break any time next week. Please remember to have all parts of the project and the journal clearly labelled with your child’s name and class. We are looking forward to seeing what our students have created.
Next, we have the ICAS Science tests. These are held all over Australia during this term through the University of NSW.
ICAS is available for purchase through the ICAS website: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps
Using our school code: BHX899
Once you have purchased the test your child/ren will have an account created and we will advise of test times during school hours in weeks 6 and 7. If you are looking to apply to high school academic programs the ICAS test is a great addition as well as teaching them some valuable examination skills.
BPSS is celebrating Science week in week 6 and there are several events taking place. Years 1- 4 have Street Science coming to do a Science show in the hall, we have the STEM Competition entries on display in the STEMoSphere, year 3 have a STEM careers presentation and there will be lots of exciting and engaging activities in the school hall at lunch.
Lastly, we have our Science Fair evening in week 10. This is a chance for us to put our top 20 entries on display and compete against some other Gold Coast Primary Schools for some fantastic prizes. It will also be an opportunity for our STEM Excellence students in years 5 and 6 to showcase their Entrepreneurial projects they have been working on this term.
Keep your eyes peeled in your emails and on our school Facebook in the coming weeks for more details about STEM this term.
Thank you to all the families that have helped with the STEM Competition entries, volunteering for STEM events and supporting your child/ren in STEM education at BPSS.
Jada Tourish
Head of Curriculum STEM
Performing Arts
Please see the link below if you would like to purchase tickets at the cost of $12.50 to the movie viewing of, ‘Music of AUS’. Watch your students perform our fantastic show with your students!!!! See letter sent home for details.
You can also buy tickets over the phone (please call 5588 4000) or in person at the venue (135 Bundall Rd, Surfers Paradise QLD 4217)
Ticket Link:
https://tickets.hota.com.au/overview/1865
*It is the same movie being shown at each session.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Why is our show not performed live on stage?
Due to Covid restrictions, venues have very limited backstage access for holding areas. This would not work for our P – 6 production.
Are parents/caregivers the only ones who can buy tickets to the event?
No, parents/caregivers, Bellevue community and students can all buy a ticket for any of the movie sessions and yes, you can go more than once.
Will there be a USB available of the show for sale?
You can buy the USB now through Qkr.
Do I need to buy a ticket for my student?
Yes. Anyone who wants to watch the movie of the production must purchase a ticket.
Can I have my (eg) Prep student and Year 6 student watch the same movie together?
Yes. All screenings are the same. They are just broken up across three viewings due to COVID restrictions in the theatre.
LOTE
Sport
Congratulations to Archie A who made the Broadwater Team for cricket. Archie will now represent Broadwater at regional trials which will be held mid-August. Good Luck Archie!
On Tuesday some classes were lucky enough to watch Chelsea (school captain from 2013) swim at the Olympic Games. We are all so proud of her and can’t wait to watch her again on Friday night in the Women’s 4 x 100m Medley relay. Go Chelsea!!!!
Rebel Sport Community Kickbacks Program
Did you know that Bellevue Park State School is a participant in the Rebel Sport Community Kickbacks program? The Community Kickbacks program gives the school 5% of all purchases from members who have registered with Team Rebel loyalty program. This benefits Bellevue Park by providing our school with new sporting equipment.
You can register in-store (it takes just a few minutes) or register on-line
www.rebelsport.com.au/account/register.
You are then provided with a membership card giving you access to member only competitions, VIP shopping events and exclusive offers. If you are already a member, then simply head to your nearest store and link your account to Bellevue Park State School.
Recently Bellevue Park was able to purchase over $400 worth of sporting equipment due to the support of parents and the community. So remember to nominate Bellevue Park as your Kickbacks Community team that you wish to support!
EVENTS
DO YOU WANT TO HELP US SAVE LIVES???
Bellevue Park State School is proud to be part of Lifeblood Teams, the group donation program of Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. We need your help as we are participating in the QLD and Northern NSW School Community Blood Drive from Sun 1 Aug – Sun 31 Oct, 2021. By giving together, school communities are aiming to save 2,400 lives during the blood drive!
Join our team, then donate blood or plasma during the blood drive to make your donation count. Get involved by booking your donation at https://www.donateblood.com.au/donate
To check your eligibility to donate visit https://www.donateblood.com.au/eligibility
Our nearest donation centre can be found here: 59-61 Ferry Rd Southport – Ph: 131495
https://www.donateblood.com.au/blood-donor-centre/southport-donor-centre
DONATE ON OUR TEAM “BELLEVUE PARK STATE SCHOOL ANGELS”
