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BLACKWELL BUDDIES
PUBLIC SPEAKING
DISCO
KINDER ENROLMENTS
CONTACT DETAILS
CUSTODIAL POLES
Congratulations to our PAWS Award Students
A lunch to recognise these students will be held on
Thursday, 15th December 2022.
Kinder 2023 Enrolments. Please ensure you have collected an enrolment form, complete and return as soon as possible so we have an accurate indication of our kinder numbers for 2023. All enrolments must have proof of address and live within our school boundaries. Enrolment guidelines are to be strictly enforced as we are over our entitlements and as such are capped for Blackwell. Siblings do NOT automatically guarantee an enrolment this year.
If you have a child due to start school who is turning 5 on or before 31st July 2023, or know of someone with a school aged child living in the area, please let them know that they can come and collect an enrolment form from our front office and when completed it can be returned to our office with:
- Original Birth certificate
- Current Immunisation certificate
- Proof of Address - 100 points ID (eg Utility Bill, Rental Agreement or Council Rates)
News from the Deputy Principal
Welcome back to a very busy Term 4.
We have lots of exciting events on this term for our students, especially our Year 6. Students have been reminded that to attend these events we do expect great behaviour at school. School camps, sporting events and excursions are a privilege and if students are unable to behave and be respectful at school then unfortunately there is no way we will be taking them out of the school. Our senior students are very aware of this expectation and need to be responsible for their own behaviour.
ATHLETICS
Congratulations to all the athletes who represented St Marys and Blackwell at the Sydney West Athletics Carnival on the final day of term 3. Some great results and personal best results. A very big congratulations to Jax J, Beau A, Baylee L and Levi W at coming 3rd in the Junior Boys relay and making the State Carnival.
ASSESSMENTS
Students are currently undertaking a number of external assessments Blackwell completes every year. Progressive Assessment Tests, Check in Assessments and Tell them from Me Surveys are currently being conducted in some of our classes. All of these assessments are completed on iPads and we are encouraging our students to slow down and to do their very best.
ATTENDANCE
It is important to come to school every day when you are well. I have been monitoring attendance this year and looking at individuals, cohorts, and whole school data. We have been having a little competition between classes. Congratulations to the following classes:
What is attendance and non-attendance and why does it matter?
School attendance impacts students’ academic achievement and other long-term outcomes
- Non-attendance is linked with poorer academic achievement and long-term student outcomes.
- Higher rates of absences have been associated with lower NAPLAN scores (Hancock et al. 2013; Daraganova et al. 2014).
- The association between absences and achievement is stronger among students in disadvantaged schools (Hancock et al. 2013).
- Unauthorised absences have a greater impact on achievement than authorised absences (Hancock et al. 2013; Gershenson et al. 2017).
- In NSW, students who report positive attendance behaviours in Year 7 are on average 3 months ahead in their learning by Year 9, compared with students who have poor attendance behaviours (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) 2017).
The effect of attendance behaviours in Year 7 on Year 9 NAPLAN reading scores (CESE 2017:6)
- Students’ prior attendance is a strong predictor of their future attendance. A student’s attendance patterns may be established in early primary school, with school readiness being an important protective factor.
- Students with chronic absenteeism are more likely to drop out of school and experience poorer long-term health and social outcomes.
PHOTOS
We had group photos taken on Friday and when available we will send out a link for parents to view the photos and then order if they wish. The following photos were taken
- District, Area and State Swimming,
- Cross Country and Athletics
- Choir
- Dance Troupe
- Senior Leaders
- SRC
- House Captains
- Library Monitors
We also had the Year 6 Photo taken but that photo cannot be ordered as we are giving it to the Year 6 students on their graduation day as a gift from the school.
SELECTIVE HIGH SCHOOL FOR YEAR 7 2024
*ONLINE APPLICATIONS ONLY *
IMPORTANT DATES
Key Dates
- Application website opens 18 October 2022
- Application website closes 16 November 2022
- Test centre and test authority advice released 20 April 2023
- Selective High School Placement Test 4 May 2023
- Illness/misadventure requests submitted 11 May 2023
- Placement outcome expected to be released Mid-August 2023
Selective high schools cater for high potential and intellectually gifted students. They help students learn by:
- grouping them with other gifted students
- using special teaching methods so students can learn concepts in more detail and more quickly.
- supporting their wellbeing needs. Most students in selective high schools enjoy learning more when their classmates have similar abilities and interests.
As well as providing for students’ academic development, selective high schools also offer a broad range of classes and extra-curricular activities, such as:
- sports
- creative and performing arts
- music
- and special interest clubs.
Selective high schools are unzoned so you can apply no matter where you live.
Rod Woolard
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL
"Once upon a time" there was a thing called Blackwell Buddies.
Blackwell Buddies is for any pre-school aged children who would like to spend some special time here at Blackwell School each fortnight.
Next Blackwell Buddies Wednesday, 9th November from 9.15am - 10.45am, and take place each fortnight until Wednesday, 7th December 2022.
Parents and preschoolers will meet under the kinder COLA area. Please bring a hat and something to eat for "Crunch and Sip". Water, juice, fruit or vegetables.
There will be orgainsed craft / activities for each fortnightly session.
We look forward to welcoming both new and old faces.
Parents are able to make online payments to the school for amounts owing for students, via a secure payment page hosted by Westpac. Payments can be made using either a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card, and can be made via computer. The payment page is accessed from the front page of the schools website by selecting $ Make a payment Button below.
Items that can be paid include the school pack, excursions, creative and practical arts activities (these include choir, drama and dance). There is also a category called ‘Other’ to cover items not covered in the previous headings. Other can be used to make a complete payment of a school invoice.
When you access the $ Make a payment you must enter:
- the students name and class, date of birth
- contact details-full name, phone number and email address
- payment item-other, then description
These details are entered each time you make a payment as student information is not held within the payment system.
This is a secure payment system hosted by Westpac to ensure that your credit/debit card details are captured in a secure manner, these details are not passed back to the school.
You have the ability to check and change any details of the payment before the payment is processed
Details of the payments are passed daily to the school where they will be receipted against your child’s account. For any enquiries regarding the Online Payment process please contact the School Administration Office.
**PLEASE NOTE** Please do not pay any online payments which should be paid to a third party provider. For Example, School Photographers; P&C Fund-Raising etc. If unsure please call the school to check. CASH Only when paying at the Front Office.
YEAR 6 2022 SIGNATURE ITEMS
Cost: | $14 and $11 depending on item |
Due by Friday, 18th November 2022.
YEAR 6 2023 SHIRTS & JUMPERS
Size Sampling |
School Hall 9:15am - 10am Monday, 7th Nov till Friday, 11th Nov 22 |
Cost: | $50 Polo shirts AND $40 Jumper |
Due by Monday, 28th November 2022.
HOYTS MOVIE DAY - KINDER TO YEAR 5
Where: | Hoyts Penrith |
Date: | Friday, 16th December 2022 - last day of school |
Cost: | $15.00 |
Transport: | Bus |
Medication at School
Please ensure that the front office has ALL of your updated medical information and any medication required.
All Anaphylaxis & Asthma Plans need to be updated annually.
If prescribed medication is to be given to students at school, a blister pack either supplied from the chemist or in its original packaging is now required. Medication that needs to be cut will need to be done so by a pharmacist and delivered to the school in a blister pack.
Contact Information
Please ensure your contact details are updated at the front office so we can to contact you.
Student Absences - SMS Alert
If your child is absent from school you will receive an SMS at approximately 10am requesting a reason for their absence. If you could please respond to the SMS the school is then able to update their records using this system. You are not required to contact the school by phone prior to 10am to advise of your childs absence. Thank you for your continued support.
WEBSITE
https://blackwell-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/
SZAPP ALERTS
CLICK HERE FOR HOW TO GUIDE:
https://www.schoolzine.com/szapp-installation
https://www.facebook.com/blackwellps/
If you have any problems, please see the front office.
The SZapp APP gives your access to:
Latest newsletter
Please add these dates to your calendar/diary;
Friday, 28th October
- Halloween Disco 4:30 -6pm
Monday, 14th November
- Combined Assembly 2pm
Friday, 18th November
- Step Up Day
Friday, 2nd December
- Year 6 Mini Fete
Monday, 5th December
- Combined Assembly 2pm
Tuesday, 6th December
- Talent Quest
Wednesday, 7th December
- reports go home
Monday, 12th December
- Presentation Day
Wednesday, 14th December
- K-2 Privilege Day Motiv8 Sport
Friday, 16th December
- Excursion to the movies for end of year party day notes coming home shortly
Friday, 16th December
- LAST DAY OF TERM
Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th
- STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY
2023 DATES
- Students in Years 1-6 return on Tuesday, 31st January
- Kindergarten students start on Monday, 6th
It is hard to believe we are already into the third week of the final term of 2022. Time flies.
We have a busy term ahead of us and with lots of exciting things happening, please keep your eye out on our closed Facebook page for the latest and most up to date information.
All students who are attending camp need to send in their medical form by this Friday 21st October. This will give teachers an opportunity to collate this information and also time to contact any parents if they have any questions etc. Information will also need to be sent to the camp to meet dietary requirements.
Again, we need to remind our students and families about behaviour expectations. While on camp students will be expected to follow reasonable directions and instructions by both teachers and camp staff. Our students will need to demonstrate Blackwell’s virtues of responsibility, kindness, respect, tolerance, patience and self -discipline.
Camp invitations will be withdrawn and a refund given, if students can not follow our school rules and expectations.
On Friday 2nd December, our Year 6 students run a fundraising activity called the “Mini Fete”. All students run fun activities and games for all students from Kindergarten to Year 5 to enjoy. Our Year 6 students are now looking for donations of 'McDonald's Happy Meal' style toys to use as prizes for their Mini Fete. Year 6 teachers will have containers in their classrooms to collect donations. A container will be placed outside S3B to collect any donations from students in other grades. This might be a great chance for our students to do a little spring clean in their bedrooms or toy rooms. We thank you for your support in advance.
Our 2023 leadership process is starting. Next week, Year 5 students who are interested in applying for a School Leader position will need to collect an application form from their teacher. They will have until the 11th November to complete and return their applications. Mrs Hudswell, Mr Woolard and the executive will create a shortlist of students who will present a speech to the students from Year 2 up on Monday 5th December. These students will then vote for their favourite candidates and the winners will be announced at the Presentation Assembly on Monday 12th December.
We understand that missing out on one of these positions can be upsetting because we have so many wonderful students who apply and the positions are limited, but please note there are many other leadership roles available to our Year 6 students next year. Some roles include house captains, library monitors, Kinder buddies and peer tutors.
Orders are currently being taken for the 2023 Year 6 Shirts. Last term, our current Year 5 students voted for the design below and will have until Monday 28th 2022 (Week 8) to place orders. As mentioned earlier, we place orders at the end of this year to allow our students more opportunities to wear their special shirt next year. Unfortunately, this means our school can not place orders for more shirts next year.
There will be an opportunity for family members to come up to the school hall to try both polos and jumpers on their child/children between Monday, 7th November till Friday, 11th November 2022.
If your child will not be returning to Blackwell Public School next year, can you please let their child’s teacher know as soon as possible.
This term we have a Let’s Talk task due in Week 5 (for most classes). Students are required to choose a piece of poetry to recite in front of their class. The poem should be a minimum of 10 lines and no more than 20. Information and a marking guide is available in our google classrooms. We are looking forward to seeing our students present.
The calendar below has been adjusted. There is now no Monday in Week 11. This means our Year 6 will exit the school on their last day of primary school on Friday 16th December. All staff and students will line the path to form a leavers arch to cheer on their friends and wish them luck on their next adventures.
Until next time,
Take care
Kellie Balloch on behalf of the Stage 3 team