1
BULAHDELAH CENTRAL SCHOOL
A PRIDE School Strive to Achieve Term 1 Week 10 Issue 5 31st March, 2014
Strive to Achieve
BULAHDELAH CENTRAL SCHOOL
A PRIDE School
Strive to Achieve Term 1 Week 4 Issue 2 18th February, 2013
BULAHDELAH CENTRAL SCHOOL
A PRIDE School
Strive to Achieve Term 1 Week 4 Issue 2 18th February, 2013
GREAT NEWS INSIDE * National Day of Action
* Lest We Forget
* World Autism Day
* State Music Camp
* Year 7 Advisor
* New Canteen Menu
BCS SCHOOL PROGRAMS VALUE OF THE WEEK
Excellence. We do our best to
achieve excellence. Have you
done your best?
2
The 2014 National Day of Action against Bullying
and Violence was held on Friday 21st March.
This annual day provided a focus for BCS to say “Bullying, No Way!” and to “Take a Stand Together” to strengthen the existing message that bullying and violence at school are not okay, at any time. This year, we were among the 2100 schools, with more than 960,000 students across Australia, which participated, in the event, by running local events, and running classroom lessons.
The day commenced with all students, Years K-12, participating in age appropriate lessons which explained key concepts and definitions, the prevalence and impact of bullying, and the need for a comprehensive approach to bullying in schools. The lessons also promoted the responsible reporting of student bullying as an important part of finding positive solutions to this complex social problem. Most definitely, the highlight of the day was the creation, by students and staff, of the colourful “Bullying, No Way”, “Take a Stand Together” mural. Each student and teacher contributed a colourful hand print to the mural. The hand is a symbol which, when held out, means STOP. Hopefully, the mural will remind students to STOP and stand up for victims of bullying and associated violence. All students and staff were very keen to contribute, to this masterpiece, and participated enthusiastically. Everyone was also issued with a “Bullying, No Way”, “Take a Stand Together” wristband in acknowledgement of their input into the day’s activities. I would like to thank students and staff for their insights and contributions, on the day, which contributed to the overall success of the day. If you’re at school at anytime, head down to the back of the hall and check out the mural. You won’t be disappointed.
3
In the early months of 1915, World War I was
raging in most of Europe, including the Ottoman
Empire in the geographical area that is now
Turkey. Russian troops were fighting on many
fronts, particularly against troops from Germany
and the Ottoman and Austro -Hungarian empires.
At dawn on April 25th 1915, forces from France,
Great Britain and the British Empire, including
Australia and New Zealand, landed at a number
of places on the Gallipoli peninsula. The campaign
aimed to open up new fronts for the Allied forces
and a trade route to Russia.
In the ensuing battle, many lives were lost on both sides and the Allied forces did not succeed in opening a trade route to Russia. The last ANZAC forces withdrew from the Gallipoli Peninsula by December 20th, 1915, in a successful operation with very few casualties.
In spite of their losses, the ANZAC servicemen and many Australians and New Zealanders saw this battle as the start of the ANZAC spirit. This is an Australasian ideal based on the "mateship" and cheerful suffering the forces showed during this campaign
ANZAC Day is also a public holiday and day of remembrance in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga. It is also commemorated with special services and events on or around April 25th in a range of countries across the globe. These include: the United Kingdom, France, Turkey, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Canada and the United States (including Hawaii).
Many ceremonies, parades and other activities are held on ANZAC Day to remember the lives of those who participated or died in military action, particularly on the Gallipoli Peninsula in World War I. Dawn prayer or church services are a particularly important aspect of ANZAC Day. These represent the comradeship that the soldiers experienced as they rose each morning to prepare for another day of military action. After the services, gunfire breakfast (coffee with rum in it) is often served.
In major cities and many smaller towns, parades, marches and reunions of current and past military personnel and memorial services are held. The fourth stanza or verse of a well known poem, known as The Ode, is read aloud at many ceremonies. The poem is called "For The Fallen" and was written by Laurence Binyon in 1914. It commemorates those who died and can never grow old.
LEST WE FORGET:
ARE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS UP-TO-DATE?
4
BCS DEPUTY PRINCIPAL:
Congratulations to the staff and students of our school on the
exceptional improvement in our attendance figures over the last twelve months. Recent figures from the Department show that the attendance team have not only met, but exceeded, their targets set in our 2013 attendance policy. The introduction of online marking, SMS alerts, absence proformas, reviews of students' attendance every fortnight and support from our Home School Liaison Officer (HSLO) have increased attendance of students, acceptable explanations for absences and reduced truancy. The team are currently working on the 2014 plan to increase attendance further and reward student attendance for over 90%. This group's formation was a result of our Situational Analysis held in 2011/12 to investigate Stage 6 results within the school. Student attendance was seen to be a large contributing factor in the student's results. Research into this area shows that the student's patterns of attendance are developed at a much earlier level, starting even at Kindergarten. Students who have a high level of absenteeism, including lateness, in the early years of schooling are at a huge disadvantage in academic and social development, more likely to drop out of school and struggle to maintain employment. In NSW it is a legal requirement for children under the age of 17 years to attend school. Parents are asked to carefully monitor their child's attendance to ensure they have the best opportunities available in the future. As a simple guide, students should be away no more than 1 day per fortnight. At the time of writing this report, students from our Myall Learning Community are involved in an SRC (Student Representative Council) organised and operated sports day. Everyone appeared to be having a lot of fun and the students should be very proud of their efforts.
Continuing the sporting focus for the week, students from Years 3-12 will be participating in the school cross country on Friday 28th. The track has had to have changes made due to the opening of the bypass; however students assure me it is still very challenging. Hopefully the weather will be kind. I have had several phone calls this week regarding students who have not met the deadline for submitting an assessment task. The school has an extensive policy for assessment within the school for students from Years 9-12. There is an application form, supplied to every student, that must be completed for students who need an extension (or need to sit an assessment earlier) due to circumstances. These forms must provide a reason why there needs to be a change and be supported by the parent. They are then submitted to the teacher and Head Teacher for consideration. Importantly, these are considered on a case by case basis and not every submission will be successful. Students are reminded that technology issues such as USB/ hard drive failure and printing issues are not acceptable reasons for misadventure. All Year 12 students were provided with a change to their assessment booklet recently to follow the recommendation of the Board of Studies that all late assessments score zero marks, where our policy previously allowed a 20% penalty for assessments completed within 24 hours. Whilst this seems quite harsh, it is a valuable life lesson for our students as many things in life have deadlines that must be met, including timetables, application forms and bills. It also brings the policy at BCS into line with other schools. As a last attempt for students to submit an assessment task by the required time, may I suggest sending it in with a sibling or friend if the student is unable to attend school or email it into the school or directly to the staff member.
5
There have been conversations recently regarding a perceived increase in swearing by students. Unfortunately there have been some cases of students abusing staff and other students which are clearly unacceptable, particularly in a central school where older students are seen as role models for our younger members of the school. I do ask parents to discuss with their child(ren) the language they use when talking to their friends, swearing in general and particularly how they speak to staff, students and other adults (including the parents). I understand that some students get frustrated, may not like what they are being asked to do or may have personality clashes with others, however I cannot think of any situation that excuses people speaking in such a distasteful manner. I think we all agree that staff and students do not come to their workplace to be abused. Each situation is considered on a case by case basis and the discipline policy applied, including suspension. Congratulations to Cordel Murphy who did compete in the Lions Youth Of The Year competition on Saturday 29th March (results to follow next term) and Daniel Sayhoun who is attending the National Autism Awards in Sydney on 8th April. Both of these young men are to be very proud of their achievements to date.
If parents or students have news of our students achieving awards/ exceptional results in or outside school activities such as academic, sporting or cultural areas, please let me know as I would like to acknowledge their achievements in this column. We certainly are aware that we have some very talented students, in a very broad range of events at Bulahdelah Central. Activities in the next few weeks for students include Autism Week in Week 10 with an out of uniform day (theme: Blue) on 4th April, a school disco (theme: Under the Sea) on 10th April, Royal Easter Show excursion on 11th April, Yr 9/10 debating on 4th April and a soccer match at Great Lakes on the 7th April. I believe that there are still some places available for any of our Year 11 ladies wanting to be a part of the Debutante Ball -please let me know if you are interested.
Finally some advanced warning for parents of our end of term assemblies. On Monday 7th April the PRIDE assembly will be held to acknowledge our students who have upheld the school’s values. Our annual ANZAC assembly will be held on 10th April 2014 starting at 10:30am in the gym, with parents welcome to join us.
6
SRC Out of Uniform Day – Friday 4th April
The SRC will be holding an out of uniform day on
Friday 4thApril. Students will be asked to
contribute a gold coin on the day with funds
raised being split evenly between Autism
Australia and the Bulahdelah Central School SRC
(Student Representative Council).
Students must come dressed appropriately which
includes:
- No revealing clothing, singlet tops or
‘short’ shorts.
- No shirts with offensive slogans.
- Appropriate leather shoes; no canvas or
open toed shoes.
Members of the SRC will collect the gold coin
donation during roll call on the day.
April is Autism Awareness month and events are
being held all over the world to support the “Go
Blue for Autism” campaign. This is a global
initiative which aims to give people a better
understanding of what autism means. Autism
affects as many as 1 in 88 people worldwide and
its causes are still unknown. It is a lifelong
condition and there is currently no cure.
During the secondary assembly on Monday 31st
March, members of the SRC will make a short
presentation explaining this condition to the
students.
April 2nd is World Autism Day and over 750
buildings and landmarks in 90 countries will light
up blue in support of the campaign. These
include the Sydney Opera House, The Empire
State Building in New York and the Kingdom
Tower in Saudi Arabia.
The funds raised at BCS will be donated to Autism
Spectrum Australia to assist with research and
services for this disability. The SRC are proud to
support such a worthy cause and look forward to
the students of BCS assisting with this global
campaign.
Apr 2-3 Yrs9-12 Sydney Art Daze
2 Yrs5-6 Rugby League Gala Day
3 Careers Through Reading
4 Yrs4-6 Tell Them from Me survey
7 PRIDE Assembly 11.00am
P&C Meeting Tea Gardens
10 ANZAC Formal Assembly
K-6 Disco 2.30pm 7-12 Disco 5.00pm - 9.00pm
Yrs5-6 Science Challenge
11 Yrs9-12 Royal Easter Show
K-6 Easter Hat Parade 12.00pm
Last day of Term 1
28 First day of Term 2
30 Secondary Athletics Carnival
May 1-2 Yr12 Armidale Uni Open Day
3 Yrs7-12 Zone Cross Country
5-10 Taree Eisteddfod
7 Primary Athletics Carnival
IMPORTANT DATES:
7
BCS DEPUTY PRI. PRINCIPAL:
We welcome back Mr Backhouse and trust that he enjoyed his extended
leave. I would like to thank Miss Ottignon for her efforts in teaching the class from the beginning of the year and getting them off to a great start. We will continue to have Miss Ottignon taking our garden classes and some of our RFF (Relief Face to Face) duties two days a week. The “Careers Through Reading” program has only one week to go. Our Year 5 students, along with their peers from Coolongolook, have really enjoyed learning about university, what it has to offer and career aspirations and options. This program has been underpinned by building literacy skills while developing a deep understanding, in our students, of a specific area of socially constructed knowledge. We are very fortunate to have been able to work so closely with the university, over the past 4 years, to provide our students with quality learning opportunities. The visiting uni students have been absolutely fabulous in their delivery of the program and the school students have really enjoyed the scope of learning activities undertaken. Each child has a workbook that they have been recording information in each week. If your child has been a part of the program, take the time to talk to them about what they have learned, from the program, and have a look at their book. I think you will be pleasantly surprised! The Myall Learning Community Sports Day was held last Thursday and was once again well received and enjoyed by the students. The aim of the day is to familiarise the Year 6 students, from our partner schools, with the physical surroundings of BCS as well as encouraging students to socialise with their peers from other schools, in preparation for high school. This is the first of many events, to be hosted by BCS in 2014, in making the transition to high school as smooth and stress free as possible for our current Year 6 students.
I would like to thank Ms Page and the members of the SRC (Student Representative Council) for their organisation and running of the day. They did an amazing job! Another great example of one of the many opportunities that students at BCS have to develop and refine their leadership skills for the good of the wider school community. We have lots of competent students at BCS who have a lot to offer. Thanks guys and well done! Four students, Finlay O’Connell, Kobi Watt, Toby Crispin and Angus Devon, represented BCS on Friday 21st March, at the Zone Soccer Selection Trials, at Tomaree. All students acquitted themselves well to the task. Kobi was selected to proceed to the next level – selection for the Hunter Zone team. I am proud of all their efforts and wish Kobi luck for his next challenge on Friday 4th April. Go Kobi! We will be holding a PRIDE Assembly on Monday 7th April at 11am to acknowledge and publicly recognise students, K-12, who have consistently demonstrated one or more of the school’s 5 core values; Participation, Respect, Innovation, Determination and Excellence. You are welcome to attend this assembly which will be held in the school’s gymnasium. ANZAC day falls in the school holidays, this year. The school will once again be represented (full school uniform required) in the ANZAC day march which will assemble at the hospital from 10.00am to 10.15am in readiness for the march to the cenotaph and service, which will commence at 11.00am. Our Captains will be involved in the delivery of the service at the cenotaph following the march. If you are going to be at home in Bulahdelah, on this day, we would encourage all students to be a part of this important community event. As this is the last newsletter for the term, I would like to thank all parents for your support this term. We have had a very positive start to the year. Have a safe and relaxing holiday. All students K-6 return to school on Tuesday 29th April.
8
MISSING
We are missing a number of text books which have been given out to students. If you have seen any
of the above text or any other text laying around at home taking up precious cupboard space, could
you please have your child return them to either the Office or the Library as soon as convenient.
Don’t forget to also check ‘under the bed’; it is amazing how many books are found there!
REWARD
The English Department are organising a pizza party for the class with the most books returned. Well
worth a look!
Daylight saving ends in NSW on Sunday 6th April
2014, when clocks go back one hour at 3:00am.
Daylight saving will begin again in NSW on Sunday 5th October 2014, when clocks will go
forward one hour at 2:00am.
For future summers, daylight saving in New South
Wales begins at 2:00am, Eastern Standard Time, on the first Sunday in October and ends at
3:00am Eastern Daylight Saving Time on the first Sunday in April.
9
Year 8 student, Shannah Barrish, has been accepted to participate in the NSW Public Schools’ State Music Camp. This will be held from 3rd - 6th of May at Lakes Ainsworth on the North Coast. Shannah has been accepted as a vocalist and will join over 100 other students from schools around the state. Shannah is also a member of the NSW Public Schools’ choir and she will be travelling to Austria and Germany later this year to perform with this group. She has also recently auditioned as a solo artist in Schools’ Spectacular. Congratulations to Shannah, and we wish her all the best in her musical endeavours.
Eggs are sign of new life.
Bunny is a sign of hopping around with glee.
So hop around because you are given a new life to enjoy.
Happy Easter!
STATE MUSIC CAMP:
10
INTRODUCING HEATHER MONCRIEFF YEAR 7 ADVISOR:
Hello to the wonderful parents and guardians of
Bulahdelah Central School. My name is Heather
Moncrieff and I am the current Year 7 Advisor for
2014. This is my fifth year teaching at Bulahdelah
Central School and I absolutely love it! I
graduated from the University of Newcastle with
a double degree majoring in Secondary
Education, English and Ancient History. Whilst
History and English are my passions I have a very
strong love for the performing arts having
performed on stage most of my young life.
Moving into my adult years I found my talents for
sewing, design and make up move me more
backstage into costume design and stage make-
up. The school’s annual musical is a personal
highlight for me as it provides an opportunity to
work with the students on a different level
through acting, singing or stage design.
I am a teacher who believes that students can
learn just as much out of the classroom as they
do in. At the end of 2012, my Year 7 History
students were studying life during medieval
times. The students were provided the
opportunity to participate in archery, sword
battles, handle real chain mail, weapons and
armour and view real medieval medical
instruments. The day was capped off with a full
armoured knights’ joust on the school’s top oval.
Also in 2012 I was lucky enough to represent
Bulahdelah Central School as an exchange
teacher with our partner school in Tai’an. I was
given the fantastic opportunity to experience
another culture and a different way of teaching.
The experience I had in China has been
invaluable, and many of the experiences I had in
China I share with my students during class. I
have similarly had the opportunity to travel
overseas to Europe, having dual citizenship with
Ireland, with many of my stories and experiences
making up parts of my history lessons.
I was beyond ecstatic when I was awarded the
position of Year Advisor; I am relishing my role
and enjoying the fostering of relationships with
not only the students but the parents as well.
Throughout my short time as a year advisor I
have observed many students being rewarded for
their hard work and effort. We have recently
returned from our Year 7 camp where I was
privileged enough to start to get to know your
children, who they are and their personalities. I
loved hearing about their out of school
achievements, dreams and aspirations.
I encourage all parents of our Year 7 students to
contact me if they would like to discuss any issues
or concerns they have regarding their child's time
at school.
11
Are you a litter bug?
This fortnight the messiest area in the high school
area was around the gym and the messiest area
for primary was the bottom oval. We hope that
next fortnight the amount of rubbish drops
because this fortnight's results add up to 4,438
pieces of rubbish.
It’s unfortunately a humungous amount of
rubbish for just over this short time. We hope
YOU aren’t responsible for this and if you are
please stop. Look around at what you have
caused!
The Litter Preventers.
Easter is here with all that it brings
Chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies and other little things.
So I would like to wish you a wonderful time
and hope that your Easter break is full of sunshine.
THE LITTER PREVENTERS:
12
As I rub shoulders with the students of BCS the
most frequent question I find myself asking is
“How are you going” or “What’s happening?”
And the response is often ‘OK’, ‘fine’ or ‘nothing’.
Occasionally, though when I venture to ask, kids
will answer ‘not good’ or another comment that
indicates they have something on their mind.
What I find most fascinating however, is that
almost every student answers. In fact, more than
that, they seem to love being asked. No matter
what age, when I ask students how things are
going at school, at home, on the bus, or how was
the weekend, they are usually only too happy to
tell me their adventures and dramas. It seems as
though they love the opportunity to talk about
the general stuff that is happening in their lives.
And they love it when someone takes the time to
listen. Usually, I don’t even need to say much to
keep the conversation going. Just being available
to hear their stories seems sufficient.
So my invitation is to those who:
prepare the afternoon snack when they get home from school;
sit at the table when dinner is served; drive the car on the way home.
Take the initiative to ask them ‘how was your day
at school’ and then see what they say.
When you ask though, try to word your question
in such a way that they cannot answer ‘yes’, ‘no’
or ‘I don’t know’ (my son’s personal favourite
response when an answer requires thought).
Some children find it very hard to articulate how
their day was, or even remember what it was that
they did all day, so they may need more specific
questions. Instead of asking “Did you have a
good day at school” which will be answered ‘yep’,
‘nup’, or ‘dunno’, ask them an open ended
question, such as:
What was the funniest thing that happened today?
What made you angry today? What was the funniest thing that a
teacher said today? What made you laugh out loud today? What was the best thing that happened
today? What was the worst thing that happened
today?
It may be that you get nothing. You may only get
a shrug or a grunt (completely normal non-verbal
communication for teenagers). Even if this is the
case, stay silent and let the silence be the
indicator that you are waiting for them to
continue.
When you feel you’ve graduated from these
questions (ie. you are receiving coherent answers
that practically resemble full sentences) you may
want to move onto questions that require a little
more thinking:
Who’s your best friend at the moment, and why?
How would your friends describe you? Did one of your friends do something
today that was totally unexpected? Who do you admire or look up to at
school? Why does your best friend hang around
you?
13
If your teen talks about an incident that occurred
at school, ask them some pointed questions
about how they interpret the events:
What went wrong? Who acted in an immature way? What did he/she learn by watching it? How is it similar to what happens in life?
The purpose of this last exercise is to help teens
understand their world and how different people
operate in different circumstances.
In the process they start to learn what is
appropriate and what is inappropriate in social
settings.
I hope the conversations on the way home, over
the afternoon snack or even at dinner are filled
with lively conversation about the adventures of
the day. And don’t forget to tell them about your
day as well; perhaps while they’re waiting to see
if dessert will be offered!
The Bulahdelah Soccer Club season starts on Saturday April 5th, 8.30am:
Minis 5 to 7 Years
Juniors 8 to 12 Years
Both players and parents are welcome to come along to support the Soccer Club. If you are willing to
provide a helping hand or have any questions, please contact:
Ben Holt 4997 4329 (Work)
Rhys Dawes 0448 828938
Dave Sibert 0427 563152
14
At a glance
Kids who do extracurricular activities encounter less cyberbullying.
Exercise strengthens resilience. Socially connected kids are more able to
switch off from online abuse. Parents should ask their kids about their
online activities. Computers should be in a shared area of
the house – not the child's bedroom.
We all know that getting kids off the computer and outside to play is important for their health. But researchers at Griffith University (Qld) have found kids who do extracurricular activities (such as sport or voluntary work) tend to be safer online, encounter less cyberbullying, and are more resilient to harassment if it occurs. On the other hand, researchers found that kids who spent a lot of time online were: isolated in their computer usage (such as
having the computer in their bedroom) more likely to take risks more stressed likely to report higher levels of cyberbullying
and harassment which distressed them.
Exercise strengthens resilience During the course of the study, Dr Hume found that keeping children occupied and active away from the computer for at least 30 minutes a day was one of the key components of cultivating a healthy and safe relationship with the internet, and this is where parents came to the fore.
Children who were most at risk were those who did not have a strong interest in other activities. "Exercise was a big factor. All the kids who were participating in sports or dancing and other activities not involving the internet had experienced fewer problems online," she said. The results also showed that these children had a better sense of self and wellbeing, and could balance out instances of cyberbullying with their friendships away from school and the web. They were also less likely to be negatively affected by bullying and could switch off or walk away. They found the children who were most at risk were those who were socially and geographically isolated, did not have a strong interest in other activities, and whose parents had little or no understanding of the technology their children were using.
Put the communication back into technology Dr Hume was amazed at the divide between the childrens’ computer usage and the parents' knowledge of how they used technology and what they used it for. "One thing that would really help bridge this divide is if parents said to their children, ‘Tell me about [for instance] Messenger? I'd like to have an account. Could you show me how to set it up and use it?' This way, parents have valuable interaction time with their kids and they go on the journey with them. But importantly, they also get to understand the technology their children are using and its potential. It's very powerful."
WHY ACTIVE KIDS ARE LESS LIKELY TO BE CYBERBULLIED:
15
16
BCS distributes the Tall Timbers newsletter by
FAMILY EMAIL. Please ensure that your family
email is entered correctly on our records. We also
place a copy of our newsletter on our website;
Next Newsletters for Term 2: 5th & 19th May; 2nd
& 16th June.
http://www.bulahdelah-c.schools.nsw.edu.au
We have introduced a new menu for the canteen
starting in Term 2 (as shown on the previous
page) with meals from previous specials
incorporated. Please note that some items are
only available under the Summer and Winter
headings.
The BCS Canteen staff, continue to provide a healthy
and varied selection of foods for our students and
staff.
If you have an enquiries please phone the school
or the canteen on 4997 4766.
Hippidy Hoppity hop hop,
hope that the Easter bunny drops
lots of goodies at your door.
Chocolate eggs yummy "can I have more"?
HOUSEKEEPING INFORMATION:
ARE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS UP-TO-DATE?
NEW CANTEEN MENU:
