13 March 2025

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Induction Assembly for the 2025 SRC Representatives and House Captains 

The Student Representative Council (SRC) and House Captain Induction Assembly was held this week, on Monday 10^th March. Congratulations to all 2025 SRC Representatives and House Captains. I am sure they will represent the school with great integrity and pride. 

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Zone Swimming Carnival

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Meet the Teacher Afternoon for Year 1 to Year 6 

Last week we held our Meet the Teacher - Parent Information afternoons for Years 1-6 families. There were over 500 meetings booked and most classes had a large number of parents who took the opportunity to discuss some of their child’s learning needs with their teacher in person.   

This was not a time for teachers to give in-depth information on students’ academic performance but a time for teachers and parents to meet, make a connection and for teachers to find out a little more about how they can best cater for your child’s learning needs. 

I am hoping that families found this a valuable experience. I would also like to acknowledge the enormous commitment by our teachers in providing this personalised approach to this school activity.  

Formal parent-teacher interviews will be held at the end of Term 2. 

Scripture  

Scripture classes started this week.   

If you believe your child is attending the incorrect scripture group or have changed scripture preferences we require this information in writing.  

Please contact the office.   

Swim School 

We held a successful and very popular Intensive Swimming Program over the past week. 120 students from across Years 2 to 4 were involved in two swimming lessons each day over the five days.  

School Photos - Monday 24th March 

Our school photo day will be held on Monday 24th March. On this day we will be taking class photos, individual student photos and family photos.  

Our school photographer is MSP Photographers. We are encouraging families to quickly and easily order photos online. Please follow the links below:

A brochure was also sent home with your child this week.

Please Note - FULL SUMMER SCHOOL UNIFORM to be worn on the day. Not the sports uniform.    

Pulse Alive 2025 

I would like to congratulate and wish the very best to our Pulse dancers, who will be performing as part of Pulse Alive at Ken Rosewall Arena, Sydney Olympic Park on the evening of the 20^th March.  

These 18 dancers have worked particularly hard under the supervision of Mrs Harvey-Phillips over Term 4 of last year and the last few weeks of this year. I am very much looking forward to being in the audience for their night performance. 

Harmony Day/Festival of Cultures 2025 – Thursday 15^th May - Term 2

This year our Harmony Day will be having a name change. We will now be calling the day when we celebrate the many cultures we have in our school as Festival of Cultures Day.

It will be held in Term 2, on Thursday 15^th May and will include our school celebrations and parade.

Harmony Day/Anti-Racism Day – Friday 21st March

On Friday 21^st March we are encouraging students to “Wear a splash of Orange” to celebrate Harmony Day and support anti-racism.

P&C Harmony Day Donuts

Please note that the P&C is selling Harmony Day Donuts for Thursday 21^st March. Orders will close this Friday 14^th March.

School Events - Term 1 

• K- 2 Easter Hat Parade – Wednesday 9^th April 
• Year 6 Parent High School Enrolment Support session – Monday 17^th March
• School Cross Country – Monday 7^th April 
• Last Day of Term 1 – Friday 11^th April

Before School Reminders - Playground Expectations and Rules  

Students Arriving Early: There are a number of students who are being dropped at school early and students who are choosing to arrive early to meet their friends at school. 

Please remember: 

• No students should be at school before 8:45am, unless they are being delivered to

      Before School Care by their parents / carers.   

• Students who arrive between 8:45am and 8:55am must be seated on the silver

seats, this is not playtime.  

• Staff are on duty from 8:45am to supervise the silver seats area. 
• The morning play bell rings at 8:55am. Students may play in the designated areas. 

Designated Play Areas: Students may play in the designated areas from the 8.55am bell. These areas include the hard surface areas:  

• Handball and Basketball/Netball court areas. 
• Silver seats area.
• COLA and surrounding area.
• Area 1 – Between the Junior Toilets and Block 2.

Students should not be playing in the following areas: (This also includes parents waiting with their children) 

• Oval 
• Top Grass and Creative Play Area
• Area 2 – the area outside the Year 2 and 6 classrooms and school admin block 
• The area outside the kindergarten classrooms between Block 1 and 2

NAPLAN  

National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) an annual national assessment for all Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students started this week on Wednesday. 

The planned dates for each assessment are as follows: 

Wednesday 12^th March:                  Writing 
Thursday 13^th March:                      Reading 
Friday 14^th March:                            Language Conventions 
Monday 17^th March:                         Numeracy  

I encourage all families with Year 3 and 5 students to please ensure that the students are at school on time on these dates.

Attendance Update 

Improving school attendance is a target of the NSW Department of Education and therefore Blacktown South School. Throughout the year we will roll out a number of initiatives to encourage and reward good attendance. 

Our attendance procedures continue to be updated. Please see the attached note which was sent home this week. 

It is very important to notify the school about your child’s absence. This can be done by:

• Using the school App.
• Calling the school office.
• Writing a paper note that your child returns to the office on their first day back at school.

Thanks for you cooperation in this area.  

PSSA Interschool Sport 

The Blacktown PSSA will continue to run a modified Summer and Winter Friday Interschool sport program. The Summer sport competition will run during Term 2 and the Winter sport program will operate during Term 3.  We will be holding try-outs for these teams over the coming four to six weeks of this term.  

Andrew Bowmer - Principal

Cultural Calendar March

Dear Parents,

I endeavour to include as many cultural events as possible, unfortunately I do accidently miss some. If I have missed an important cultural event for your culture or religion please inform me so I can correct it in the coming newsletter. Thanks for your help.  

March 14^th - Pi Day- The digits of this day correspond with the first three digits of ‘Pi’ (3.14). Albert Einstein was born on this day in 1879. 

March 14^th - Nanakshahi - New Year Day (Sikh) 

March 14^th -Purim/Festival of Lots (Jewish) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an Achaemenid Persian Empire official. 

March 15^th – Ides of March - is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history. 

March 14^th - 16^th March - Hola Mohalla also called Hola- is a three-day Sikh festival which most often falls in March and takes place on the second day of the lunar month of Chett, a day after the Hindu Spring festival Holi. 

March 14^th – Holi is a Hindu Spring festival, originating from the Indian subcontinent, celebrated predominantly in India, also known as the "festival of colours" or the "festival of love. 

March 17^th – St Patrick’s Day (Ireland) 

March 19^th – St Joseph’s Feast Day (Maronite) is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ.  

March 20^th – Independence Day – Tunisia 

March 20^th – Autumn Equinox Day (Southern Hemisphere)- marks the time when the sun crosses the plane of the Earth’s equator giving equal hours of day and night. 

March 20^th - National Close the Gap Day is an annual awareness event that aims to close the health and life expectancy gap between the indigenous and the non-indigenous communities in Australia.

March 20^th – 21^st - Naw-Ruz- (New Year Bahai) is the first day of the Bahá'í calendar year and one of nine holy days for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith. It occurs on the vernal equinox.

March 21^st – Harmony Day – International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

March 21^st – Independence Day – Namibia 

March 23^rd – National Day – Pakistan 

March 25^th - Independence Day – Greece 

March 26^th - Independence Day – Bangladesh 

March 26^th – Laylat al Qadr/ Night of Destiny (Muslim) is a day that observes the night when the Prophet Mohammad received the first versus of the Koran. 

Monday 31^st - Eid Al Fitr (Muslim) also called the "Festival of Breaking the Fast", is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.                                                                                                                                                              

Important Australian Milestones 

March 25th - 1949- Indigenous ex-service men were granted voting rights.

Attendance Matters

Attending school every day allows your child to get the most out of their learning and improve their career and life options.  

This includes attending school for a full day. Regular school attendance can help expand your child’s learning and create positive relationships with their peers.

If you require support in getting your child ready and motivated for school, please reach out to us. Being at school for full days is our goal. Being late is counted as an absence. Leaving school early is counted as an absence. Let's all work together to make sure children attend school every day the school is operational from 9.15am to 3.15pm. We need your help as the parent to make this happen. As we move further into the year, this will become very important for class attendance recognition and individual attendance recognition. Any absence will affect overall attendance percentages for all so we are encouraging everyone to attend full days.

Don't forget, if your child is absent it is a requirement that there is an explanation - even if they are late or leaving early. Contact the school via sZapp (our preferred option) or send in a written note upon their return. Keeping your child's attendance explained helps to build a positive communication flow between school and home whilst being compliant with mandatory requirements. Looking forward to celebrating the attendance of our students as the year progresses.

Remember #Attendance Matters.

PBL

Greetings readers,

Welcome to Week 7 and the PBL Team’s second newsletter article for Term 1.

Over the past two weeks, students at Blacktown South Public School have been focusing on listening to the speaker and speaking politely. It was great to see many students being Safe Respectful Learners in the classroom. A special congratulations to 3M for creating these fantastic posters showcasing their ideas and opinions on being a respectful speaker and listener.

Well-done!

This fortnight, we are focusing on Being a learner in the classroom by asking questions and having a go!

Why is it important to ask questions?

We ask questions when we are curious and want to learn more about a topic. Questions help us explore new ideas, solve problems, and understand instructions. In the classroom, we can ask questions when something is unclear, when we want to deepen our knowledge, or when we are interested in discovering more about a subject. Being curious and asking questions helps us become better learners!

What type of questions could you ask to help you be a learner?

You can ask questions like:

• Why does this happen?
• What do I need to do next?
• How can I improve my work?

How do we ask questions and what are some of the words we can use?

We ask questions by being respectful, raising our hands, and listening to the response. Some words we can use to start a question include:

• "Could you please..."
• "May I ask..."
• "Would it be possible to..."
• "Excuse me, can you explain..."
• "I was wondering if..."
• "Can you help me understand..."
• "Would you mind telling me..."

Using polite words when asking questions shows respect and helps create a positive learning environment!

Therefore,
To be Safe: We ask questions when we are unsure, so we can complete tasks correctly and confidently without making unsafe choices.
To be Respectful: We listen carefully when others are speaking and use kind words to communicate.
To be a Learner: We stay focused, ask questions, and always try our best, even when things feel challenging. 

Have a wonderful fortnight,
The PBL Team

Year 4 – Term 1: Creative Arts

In Creative Arts, Year 4 participants learnt about the concepts of Art and Design. Students had a lot of fun painting the different landscapes of Australia, showcasing the different seasons and their ecosystems. Some classes focused on a different area of study, using interesting techniques to paint the planets that make up our Solar System.

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P&C and Uniform Shop

Our Parent and Community organisation is managed by a dedicated team of parent volunteers. Our objective is to engage with the school community and secure funding to enhance school facilities, equipment, and student support.

Firstly, a big welcome to our new and old BSPS families. We have big things planned for 2025.

Term 1 fundraisers and key dates to put in your calendars:

• Term 1 P&C Meeting Friday 14th March 2025 9:30am in the Koorie Club Room.
• Harmony Day Donuts Friday 21st March 2025. Notes have been sent home.
• Easter Hat Parents Busy Bee Thursday 27th March 2025 9:30am location is in the Club Hub.
• Easter Hat Parade Wednesday 9th April 2025.

Should you wish to volunteer your assistance at these events or throughout the year, please contact us. We are always seeking volunteers, and it's an excellent opportunity to build community connections.

Uniform Shop

Our uniform shop's new opening hours and days are:

Mondays and Thursdays, from 9:20am to 10:20am weekly. 

We are low on Caps at the moment but they are due to arrive in 1-2 weeks. Please be patient as we wait for their arrival. However, we do have Legionaires and Bucket hats available to purchase in the shop.

Winter stock is readily available in all sizes and styles so please come and see us as Autumn is just around the corner.

We also offer a second-hand rack with prices starting at just $2. We gratefully accept uniform donations, and all proceeds benefit the P&C.

Alternatively, you can order online via the link provided, these will be placed in your child's teacher's pigeon hole for distribution. We will endeavour to complete these purchases on Mondays and Thursdays. 

Click here to purchase school uniforms online

Please like our P&C/Uniform shop Facebook page for updates.

Click here to view the P&C Facebook page: 

Business donations are very much welcome. 

On our P&C website we have added the option "P&C contribution" (link below).

This is optional but it would be a great help if each family of our school could help with a donation. Thank you.

Digital Entertainment book 

This fundraiser is available to be purchased all year. The digital entertainment book is conveniently available through an app. It is full of savings on entertainment, dining, travel, activities and much more. By purchasing through our link, the P&C receive a percentage of the total, contributing towards our fundraising goals. Please purchase through the link below:

Click here to purchase:

If you too would like to join our team of volunteers, please contact us at:

pc.bsps@outlook.com.au or Renee on 0415859158

Notes

Please click below for any notes that have gone home in the past that you might have missed:

Community News

At Blacktown South Public School, we support our local community. Click on the links for further information.

School Contacts

Blacktown South Public School
183 Flushcombe Road
Blacktown NSW 2148
Ph: 9622 6034, 9622 2449
Fax: 9831 2379
Email: blacktowns-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Principal: Mr Andrew Bowmer
Deputy Principals: Mrs Kathy Price, Mrs Renee Radecki (Monday to Wednesday) and Mrs Sathiya Segaram (Thursday to Friday)
Assistant Principals - APCI: Miss Raelene Rillera, Ms Amanda Sheaves and Mrs Sathiya Segaram.
Assistant Principals:      Kindergarten           Miss Krystal Evangelou
                                        Year 1                    Miss Matilda Lee
                                        Year 2                    Miss Fiona Pearce
                                        Year 3                     Mrs Hannah Casley
                                        Year 4                    Mrs Amy Charlesworth
                                        Year 5                    Miss Alyce Rogers
                                        Year 6                    Mr Patrick Lee-Eyles
                                        Specialist Teachers Mrs Panayiota Zouriakas

Senior Administration Manager: Mrs Claire Dobbie
School Administration Officers: Mrs Robyn Taylor, Ms Doris Mifsud,
 Miss Daphne Manivong, Ms Tara Shipway and Mrs Melinda Cooper

School Counsellor:  Ms Lisa Harvey, Ms Olivia Parrott and Ms Josephine Cali

P&C Association
President:  Renee Tsingolis
Vice President:  Mandi Ashraf
Treasurer: Sarah Noor
Secretary: Hayley Hutchison
Assistant Secretary: Position Vacant
Assistant Treasurer: Position Vacant

Uniform Shop Committee: 
Manager: Hayley Hutchison
Sarah Noor, Melissa Wilson, Effie Browne, Renee Tsingolis and Mandi Ashraf.