Term 1, Week 10 30 April 2019

Blakehurst Public School, Dewrang Street, Carss Park, NSW 2221 Tel: 9546 1555 Fax: 9547 1796 E-mail: blakehurst-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: blakehurst-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

A Message from our Principal, Mr Cameron Smyth-Gapps

Welcome Back

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all students, teachers and parents back to the

school for a wonderful new term. I also extend this welcome to new families who have joined our

school since the end of last term. I trust that everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday break.

Our students were involved in a number of significant events leading into the end of last term and

in this edition of The Bush Telegraph, we recognise and celebrate some of our special events

and achievements.

Reflecting on a Wonderful Term 1

Opportunities for Parents to Engage with the School

It was wonderful to see so many parents attending our ‘Meet the Teacher’ evenings earlier in

the term and more recently the Parent Teacher Interviews. We had over 120 bookings for

Parent Teacher Interviews this year which was absolutely outstanding!

We also had many parents attend the school throughout the term to hold informal meetings with

teachers or to contribute to whole school events. It has been great to see the school and our

community working in close partnership for the benefit of all students.

P&C and Parent Involvement in School Committees

Last term, our P&C Annual General Meeting was held and Sam Redmond was elected as our

new President. We also saw a number of new faces join the school’s P&C Committee and a

Community Engagement Committee was also established within the school to ensure that

parents were actively involved in decision making processes across the school. I would like to

thank these committee members for their contributions to the organisation of the Easter Hat

Parade and ANZAC Day Assembly last term and look forward to their direct involvement in the

organisation of Harmony Day and a number of capital works projects this term. Parents are

always welcome to attend our P&C meetings on the last Thursday of each month at 7pm. Our

next Community Engagement Committee (CEC) meeting is scheduled for this Thursday 2nd May

at 3:30pm. New parents are always welcome to join the committee.

The Bush Telegraph

Blakehurst Public School Newsletter

A caring community school - safe, respectful, resilient, engaged.

Canteen

Our canteen menu went through a significant transformation last term and I am pleased that our

children are having the opportunity to eat such healthy food on a daily basis. There were some

adjustments made to the menu following a canteen meeting at the end of the term, so please

look out for the adjusted menu for Term 2.

I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work of Angela, Mary, Taj and the volunteers who

work so hard to give us a wonderful canteen. The canteen always needs new volunteers in

order stay operational and we ask any parents who are able to spare any time during the

week – especially between 9:30am and 11am in the morning – to please contact the

school.

School Leaders

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with our School Captains and Prefects this term. Our leaders

have had the opportunity to attend the GRIP Leadership Conference at Sydney Olympic Park

as well as the Leadership by the River workshop held at The Kyle Bay (see pictures below).

I am very pleased that we have been able to offer additional opportunities for our leaders to

develop their skills and look forward to offering more leadership opportunities throughout the

year.

Christian Vasilevski, Amelie Akkari, Clare Cini and Geordie Antonopoulos at ‘Leadership by the River’ with Captains

and Prefects from many other local primary and high schools.

Leadership by the River

On Thursday 4th April the school captains and prefects attended ‘Leadership by the River’ at

The Kyle Bay. This is a day where student leadership teams from local primary and high

schools get together to participate in activities to develop their leadership skills. It was an

amazing day filled with keynote speakers, workshops, discussions and opportunities to plan a

project for the school. The student leaders developed their understanding of what leadership

is, contributed to Department of Education planning for Education Week 2019 and spent time

working on their action plan for their project. Stay tuned to find out more about what they are

going to be leading that will make a difference to the school community. The leaders will

attend another workshop later in the year where they will get the chance to share what they

have worked on over the year.

Miss L. Blewitt

Easter Hat Parade, Raffle and Jellybean Draw

Our students went above and beyond with their hats and costumes for the Easter Hat Parade

last term. Our students had a wonderful time showcasing their creative talents and I would also

like to acknowledge and thank the many parents who attended the parade to support the

children.

Our students parading their wonderful hats and the choir performing for the parents.

On behalf of the entire school community, I would also like to thank the parents who arranged and contributed to our wonderful Easter Raffle this year. The prize baskets were outstanding and the interest led to many ticket sales. Thank you to everyone for supporting the raffle and congratulations to the many families who won prizes on the day! Our Year 6 students also ran a Jellybean Guessing Competition in the weeks leading up to the Easter Hat Parade. Congratulations to Cyrena Zhao and Vivian Ye in 5/6B who both made a guess that was closest to the actual amount. The girls guessed that the jar contained 325 jellybeans. The official number was 328. Well done girls!

Money raised from our Easter Fundraising in 2019

Easter Raffle $1,392

Jellybean Guessing

$1,113

Election Day Barbecue

Last term, our Year 6 parents and teachers also held a fundraising barbecue at the school on the morning of the State Elections. Thank you to the teachers and parents who donated drinks and cakes or assisted with the running of the barbecue on the day. Your efforts were greatly appreciated! The barbecue raised a total of $748, which will go towards subsidising the cost of the Year 6 Farewell at the end of the year.

ANZAC Day Events

On the last day of Term 1, the school held its annual ANZAC Day Assembly. I would like to thank the many parents who joined us for the assembly and especially thank Mr Greg Smith, a parent at our school, who joined Adrian Cahill from South Hurstville RSL as a part of the official party. Our school held a poetry competition leading up to ANZAC day, with the winners being given the opportunity to read their poem at the assembly. Teachers were very impressed with the quality of the poems and I would like to congratulate the following students for being selected as grade winners: Ana Vasilevski 1/2P Penny Cartwright 3/4K Zack Strkljevic 5/6T

Declan Wheeler 1/2P Claire Bishop 3/4K

Kainoa Fong 3/4K Maeve Wheeler 5/6B

I would also like to acknowledge our Captains, Prefects and SRC members for the professional and respectful way in which they completed their duties on the day. It was a wonderful way to finish the term! The school was also heavily represented at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service held during the holidays at Hurstville RSL Club. Mrs Smith, Mrs Wheeler and myself had the privilege of participating in the local march with students and parents from the school. It was wonderful to see so many members of the school community being part of this very significant event.

Looking ahead to a busy Term 2

School Calendar – 2019 Upcoming events at Blakehurst Public School Please put these dates in your diary. Dates and events are subject to change. Check the school website for recent updates and changes. Term 2 – Week 1 2019

Monday 29 April School Development Day Tuesday 30 April Thursday 2 May Friday 3 May

Students return to school (winter uniform) Community Engagement Committee meeting New PSSA season commences

Term 2 Week 2 2019

Monday 6 May Tuesday 7 May

Debating Workshop at Bonnet Bay PS Harmony Day

Friday 10 May Mother’s Day stall Term 2 Week 3 2019

Tuesday 14 May NAPLAN – Writing Test Years 3 & 5 Wednesday 15 May NAPLAN – Reading Test Year 3 & 5

It was wonderful to see so

More information regarding our Term 2 events will be made available in next week’s Bush Telegraph