NEWSLETTER

120 Barnier Drive

Quakers Hill, 2763

To subscribe email: barniernewsletter@gmail.com

6th March 2020

Classroom Visits

It’s been my very great pleasure to visit all classrooms over the past few weeks. I am hoping to be able to spend lots of time interacting with students and teachers in classrooms again this year. I have been speaking to all students about the importance of caring for our school environment and how important it is for our school to be the best place possible for students to work, learn, play and be happy and healthy. I was so impressed by the beautiful, respectful behaviour shown to me in every single classroom.

Our First Whole School Assembly for 2020

I had the very great pleasure of attending and speaking at our very first whole school assembly on Thursday 27th February. I was privileged to be able to present special awards to beautiful students at this assembly. I commend all of our year 6 students who led by example and displayed exemplary behaviour throughout the assembly. Special congratulations to our newly elected SRC students. I know they will do an exemplary job.

Our new school leaders did a wonderful job running the assembly.

Generosity

Our OOSH (Out of School Hours) care centre operates from our school hall 5 days a week and provides an excellent service for our school community. This organisation makes regular and significant financial donations to our school. The money they donate is used to provide financial assistance for families and students in need of help. We are so grateful for this generosity. Recently I had a visit from representatives of IGA Community Chest. They donated $326.77 to our school. This money will also be used to assist needy Barnier families.

Zone Swimming

On Wednesday 4th March 35 of our students

represented Barnier at the Zone Swimming Carnival at the Blacktown Aquatic Centre. We are so proud of all our students who displayed great sportsmanship, beautiful behaviour, excellent effort and tremendous skill. Well done to all those students! Congratulations and best wishes to those students who will be competing at a Regional level. We have at least 18 students which is a tremendous achievement. Barnier was also the overall winning school for the carnival which was definitely a team effort, a great achievement for all!

Principal’s Message

Email: barnier-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Phone: 9837 1600

Fax: 9837 1858

Longneck Lagoon Excursion

29 of our school leaders attended a student leadership day at Longneck Lagoon on Tuesday 3

rd

March accompanied by Mrs Dingwall and Mrs Feltham. These students are to be commended for their absolutely exemplary behaviour. The Longneck Lagoon staff spoke very highly of them all stating that they displayed the PBL values of respect, responsibility and resilience at all times and were an absolute pleasure to work alongside. Congratulations and well done to all! We are so proud of you.

You’ve all represented our school beautifully.

P&C Meeting – Monday 9th

March 7:30pm

Our second P&C meeting for the year will be held in the school library on Monday 9

th March at

7:30pm. I strongly encourage parents to be part of this wonderful association. It’s a great opportunity to get to know others and work together as part of a team to make a positive difference for our students and our school. I will be presenting information to parents on our School Vision, our 3 Strategic Directions, 2020 school projects, initiatives and focus areas, student reports, Barnier's learning environments and school pride. I hope to see lots of new and not-so-new parents next Monday night.

Internet use, safety and child wellbeing

The internet can be a great source of information and entertainment however it can also be dangerous, particularly for children. All children need to learn how to be safe when using the internet. Exposure to inappropriate, distressing and unsafe content can happen quickly and without warning. If children are using the internet on a small device such as a phone or Ipad with headphones, adequate adult supervision will be very difficult. Children must be supervised closely at all times when using the internet and particularly when using applications such as YouTube which regulates itself and can have up to 400 hours of video uploaded into it every minute.

The following links provide further information on cyber safety for parents:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/education-resources/

iparent

https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/play-

media-technology/digital-safety/internet-safety-6-8-

years

Social Media can also present problems and challenges for children. Please be advised of the recommended ages for the use of social media platforms.

How to Help Your Child at School

1. Let your child see you making mistakes.

Parents are their child’s first teacher and their lifetime teacher. Part of being a teacher is teaching your child how to deal with making mistakes. We all learn through making mistakes. Learning involves ‘risk taking’ and having a fear of making mistakes can be detrimental to learning.

2. Communication with your child’s teacher.

If you have concerns about your child’s learning or wellbeing, please feel comfortable talking to the teacher about it. We strongly encourage open, honest and timely communication to support our students. Don’t wait for parent/teacher interview night. If you have a concerns or a question, make an appointment with your child’s teacher as soon as possible.

3. Check your child’s homework, and then have them explain it to you.

It’s not enough to just get the answers right. To make sure your children aren’t guessing, sometimes ask them to explain what they did and why. This lets you know that the child has completed the task and for the child to actually explain their work helps their learning.

4. All children are unique.

Don’t put pressure on children to be just like others. There’s no such thing as the child that’s like every other child. They are all different. They all have strengths and weaknesses, they all have talents and challenges.

5. Speak positively about Maths.

Some parents might feel intimidated by the thought of helping children with their maths homework, especially in the upper grades but Maths is here to serve you, not to trip you up. Maths should make life easier, and mastery can start at home with parents showing that they’re not frightened by numbers. One way to make Maths more accessible is to relate it to daily activities. Capitalise on examples where Maths is useful, especially the kinds of calculations adults do daily like measuring ingredients, managing sums of money, working out distances. This way, children see how what they’re learning matters in life.

6. Help your child make connections to literature.

To help your child get the most out of books, focus on problem-solving, social skills and life experience. Take your child to the zoo (life experience). Teach them to ask an adult for help if they lose something (problem-solving) or to hold the door for others (social skills). With skills like these, children will be able to relate their own life experiences to those of book characters, improving their comprehension. If they don’t have these life experiences, when they are asked to make deeper connections to reading material, it’s hard for them.

7. Help your child develop independence.

Sometimes it’s faster to do things yourself than wait

for your children to complete a task. But having

everything done for them means they don’t learn to

take care of themselves. Empower your children to

think for themselves and be more responsible for themselves.

8. Ask about your child’s day. Stay involved in your child’s education, beyond helping with homework. Even small things, like asking a child what happened at school, can be the difference between a child who unplugs at the end of the day and one who continues thinking about what they learned. Give them the kind of feedback that acknowledges and respects their feelings so they know you are really hearing them.

Warmest regards,

Mandy Hollis

Principal Barnier PS

Ellie R 4W

Aarav D 4/5V

Anirudh D 5/6K

Sienna C 5B

Xavier B 5S

Talhan S 1MD

Shlok C 2A

Logan J 2A

Varnav R 2A

Justin A 2B

Senula B 2B

Rasif K 2B

Jessica J 2S

Pritham K 2S

Hardas S 2S

Joshua S 2S

Callan H 2W

Mason S 2W

Michael B 3A

Jack J 3A

Marlie L 3A

Arsh R 3A

Sama A 3B

Thomas B 3B

Ellayna H 3F

Revti R 3F

Suhana S 3L

Bailee H 3M

Cooper R 3M

Akshay C 3S

Ali Dean E 3S

Stephanie R 4C

Abigail S 4C

Cooper S 4C

Abbigail W 4C

Namit A 4W

Ellie R 4W

Harkirat S 4W

Niharika M 5F

Aadarsh C 5S

Devanshi K 6C

Solomon M 6C

Ethan S 6C

Zoe P 6R

Shreeya S 6T

Platinum Award Recipients

Gold Award Recipients

Week 7

9th March

Three way conferences - Online

bookings open at 9am

P&C Meeting @ 7:30pm

10th March

Hills Hornets Have-a-Go Day Yrs 2-6

Blacktown Legends Gala Day - selected

students only

QHHS Information evening Yrs 5 & 6

11th March

Hills Hornets Have-a-Go Day Yrs 2-6

Online payments for Year 6

Polo Shirt due by 6pm today.

12th March

PSSA payment due to office by

9:30am (ONLY for students who

didn’t pay last week)

Hills Hornets Have-a-Go Day Yrs 2-6

Selective Schools Placement Test

13th March

Summer PSSA Round 1

Stage 3 Assembly at 2pm hosted

by 6R

Last day for payment of Year 6

Polo Shirt

Week 8

17th March

Harmony Day Celebrations

18th March

BFoPA Combined Choir Rehearsal

Tell Them From Me Survey Yrs 4-6

Stage 1 Assembly @ 2pm hosted by

2S

19th March

Sydney West Swimming Carnival

Tell Them From Me Survey Yrs 4-6

PSSA payment due to office by

9:30am

20th March

Three way conferences - Online

bookings close @ 9am

Tell Them From Me Survey Yrs 4-6

High School forms due to the office

Summer PSSA round 2

Stage 2 Assembly @ 2pm hosted

by 4P

Week 9

24th March

GAT Information evening @

QHHS @ 6:30pm

25th March

Kindergarten Assembly @ 2pm

hosted by KB

26th March

PSSA payment due to office by

9:30am

27th March

Summer PSSA Round 3

Event Reminders

2020 Swimming Carnival

On Wednesday the 19th of February, students from Stage 2 and 3 attended the Barnier Swimming Carnival at Riverstone Swimming Centre. We had many eager participants on the day competing in a range of events including 100 and 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 50m breastroke, 50m backstroke and 200 IM. We had many successful students who made it to the Zone carnival which was held on the 4th of March at Blacktown Aquatic Centre. A SPECIAL thank you to all the parent volunteers who gave up their time to assist in the set up and organisation of the swimming carnival. Our lovely parent helpers made our swimming carnival a huge success. Barnier were commended for their exceptional behav-iour on the day. Congratulations to all the swimming participants for their fantastic effort as well as to all the Barnier school record breakers for 2020!!

Miss Araco and Mrs Reedy

Barnier Public School Swimming Records

Name & Event Time Year

Girls 100 Free

Sienna A 1.18.06 2018

Boys 100 Free

Jye M 1:18.85 2020

Girls 8 50 Free

Tara A 49.97 2018

Boys 8 50 Free

Darius P 53.09 2018

Girls 9 50 Free

Tara A 47.09 2019

Boys 9 50 Free

Darius P 42.91 2019

Girls 10 50 Free

Chloe D 42.18 2019

Boys 10 50 Free

Harrison H 37.96 2018

Girls 11 50 Free

Chloe D 41:40 2020

Boys 11 50 Free

Harrison H 35.59 2019

Girls 12 50 Free

Sienna A 35.68 2018

Boys 12 50 Free

Jye M 35:78 2020

Boys 13 50 Free

Girls 8-10 50 Breast Junior

Tara A 1:00.04 2020

Boys 8-10 50 Breast Junior

Talon A 51.53 2018

Girls 11 50 Breast

Kaisia J 56.13 2018

Boys 11 50 Breast

Talon A 49:22 2019

Girls 12-13 50 Breast

Sienna A 47.71 2018

Boys 12-13 50 Breast

Jye M 53:83 2020

Name Time Year

Girls 8-10 50 Back Junior

Tara A 54:72 2020

Boys 8-10 Back Junior

Talon A 48.06 2018

Girls 11 50 Back

Kaisia J 50.91 2018

Boys 11 50 Back

Talon A 46.24 2019

Girls 12-13 50 Back

Sienna A 43.19 2018

Boys 12-13 50 Back

Jye M 45.06 2020

Girls 8-10 50 Fly Junior

Tara A 55.09 2020

Boys 8-10 Fly Junior

Harrison H 46.72 2018

Girls 11 50 Fly

Ruby P 55.53 2019

Boys 11 50 Fly

Harrison H 44.76 2019

Girls 12-13 50 Fly

Sienna A 46.78 2018

Boys 12-13 50 Fly

Jye M 43.44 2020

Girls 8-10 200IM Junior

Tara A 4.05.76 2019

Boys 8-10 200IM Junior

Talon A 3.32.13 2018

Girls 11-13 200IM Senior

Sienna A 3.14.25 2018

Boys 11-13 200IM Senior

Talon A 3.28.14 2019

Prosperitas Project 2020

Congratulations to the following students who have recently been accepted into the

Prosperitas Project for 2020:

Catalina L 5/6K, Sathyavel L 5/6K, Bradley Y 5/6B, Marek C 5/6K, Luke T 5/6K, Ciara C

5/6K, Matthew N 5/6K, Lachlan P 5/6K, Thinuli P 5/6K.

Students have now been assigned a student and teacher mentor from Quakers Hill High

School where they will undertake several mentoring sessions throughout the year to as-

sist them in reaching their final goal of completing the program. The Prosperitas ses-

sions held at Quakers Hill High School are as follows:

Thursday 19th

March - 8.30am-9.30am

Thursday 7th

May - 8.30am-9.30am

Thursday 28th

May - 4.00pm-5.30pm - Halfway Presentation Meeting

Thursday 25th

June - 8.30am-9.30am

Thursday 6th

August - 8.30am-9.30am

Thursday 20th

August - 6.30pm-8.00pm - Final Presentation Evening

We look forward to seeing the progress of these innovative, creative and exciting

projects!

Barnier Public School is delighted to be participating in a Depart-ment of Education initiative: the Tell Them From Me student feed-back survey. The survey measures factors that are known to affect academic achievement and other student outcomes. The focus of the NSW-wide survey is on student wellbeing, engagement and ef-fective teaching practices.

More information about the survey is available at:

http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au

The survey is a great opportunity for our students to provide us with valuable and quick feedback on what they think about school life, how engaged they are with school and the different ways that teach-ers interact with them. More than 6,300 schools in Australia and around the world have used Tell Them From Me to survey 5.4 million students. Capturing the voices of our students will help improve how we do things at our school.

I want to assure you that the survey is confidential. The survey is conducted online and will typically take less than 30 minutes to com-plete. It will be administered during school hours on one of the fol-lowing dates 18

th, 19

th, 20

th March 2020. Participating in the survey

is entirely voluntary.

A consent form and FAQs for parents/carers about the survey is be-ing sent home with students. If you do not want your child or chil-dren to participate, please return the form to school by 13 March

2020.

For any additional information about the Tell Them From Me Survey, please see the link below.

http://surveys.cese.nsw.gov.au/images/FAQs/2020/

TTFM_Student_Survey_FAQs_Parent_and_Carers_T12020.pdf

Tell Them From Me student feedback survey (Term 1 2020)

Dear Barnier Families,

Thank you to the parents who joined the Funtastic morning tea and acknowledged P&C day. We met new faces and Principal Mandy Hollis was able to speak about the synergy the school has with the P&C. Many hands make light work is really what it’s all about in bringing our community together. Did you know that we can email the minutes to you each month so you can keep up to date? Member-ship is $1 and can be paid through flexischools. https://www.flexischools.com.au/

NEW LOOK LOST PROPERTY RACK

Lost property has received a new look and loca-tion. Any item clearly labelled will be hung on the 'lost property rack'. The rack will be placed outside the P&C room. Please return hangers to the rack.

Balls and hats will continue to be placed in the blue tubs. Our aim is to make it easier for students to access and reclaim their jumpers, jackets and hats. Help us make students responsible and accounta-ble for their property.

Please help us by clearly labelling all items, as all Items that are not clearly labelled will end up in charity bins, used as rags or in the 2nd hand uni-form stall. Thank you for your cooperation.

Thank you to our community sponsor Synergy Mind and Body for donating a gift voucher $45 for our lucky door prize for our morning tea

https://www.synergymindandbody.com.au/

0405 391 955

School Banking

Look at the banking incentives that can be rewarded after 10 deposits. Children have a chance to build on positive saving habits and receive small interest in there account. We are also always looking for volunteers if you would like to help out we will be in the school hall from 8:45am, we appreciate any help we can get.

Want to join the Working Bees Group to complete projects around the school? Please contact Evelyn Ransom. You are welcome to assist or be part of these teams please follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barnierpandc/ or email us barnierpublicschool-pres@pandcaffiliate.org.au.

We value and are always grateful for the effort and

contribution volunteers dedicate to the P&C.

https://www.facebook.com/barnierpandc/

email us : barnierpublicschool-pres@pandcaffiliate.org.au

KEY DATES TO REMEMBER:

School banking program on Tuesdays.

Next P&C meeting: Monday 9th of March at 7.30pm in the Barnier school library. Next working Bee is on Wednesday 11

th March

9am – We will be weeding the front garden. Your P&C

METROPOLITAN NORTH OPERATIONAL DIRECTORATE Nirimba Office Nirimba Education Precinct, Building T3C, Eastern Road, QUAKERS HILL NSW 2763 Telephone: 02 9208 7611 metronorthnirimba@det.nsw.edu.au education.nsw.gov.au

Dear Parents and Carers I am writing to provide you information in regards to revised catchment areas for secondary schools in the area. I recognise that this can be an exciting time for your family as we support and prepare your child to finish their primary school years and make their transition to high school. NSW Department of Education secondary schools provide students from Years 7 to 12 with a quality education in a broad range of subjects. As well as comprehensive high schools, some schools focus on a particular area such as creative and performing arts, sports, technology in addition to selective high schools. In 2015, The Ponds High School opened in our area with a process for enrolment. This process was completed at the beginning of this school year, 2020, with the first group of Year 12 students. As The Ponds High School has now reached its capacity, the catchment areas for several high schools have changed as part of a broader strategy to manage growth across the north-west growth corridor. The new catchment areas apply now for any students enrolling into the following high schools:

• Rouse Hill High School • The Ponds High School • Glenwood High School • Riverstone High School • Quakers Hill High School

As outlined in the department’s enrolment policy, local students who live within the catchment area (found using the School Finder) may enrol at their local school. Schools may accept enrolments from outside their designated local enrolment area only if places are available. Please see Changes to the Enrolment Policy - Information for Parents document for further information.

As a transition arrangement, students considered a non-local enrolment will be accepted if they have a sibling who is currently attending, who was enrolled as a local student prior to the boundary change and the family has not moved since that enrolment. If a sibling was enrolled as a local student but the family has moved and is now non-local regardless of the new catchment area, the school may only accept enrolment of the other child if the school has capacity. We appreciate not everyone’s circumstances are the same, and there are instances where exceptional and compelling circumstances will need to be considered. If this is the case, you should talk to the principal of your local high school. Please contact your local high school or the Department’s Nirimba Education Office on telephone number 9208 7611 or via email at metronorthnirimba@det.nsw.edu.au if you have any enquiries or require support. Yours sincerely

Joanne Wilcher RELIEVING DIRECTOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP QUAKERS HILL NETWORK 2 March 2020