birchgrove buzz march 2017€¦ · music sport student parliament 2017 t 1 22/3 24/3 26/3 27/3 28/3...

Birchgrove Buzz Newsletter of the Birchgrove Public School Ph: 02 9810 2469

A NSW Government School Fax: 02 9555 8653

Birchgrove Road, E: [email protected]

Balmain NSW 2041 W: www.birchgrove-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Term 1 Week 9 22nd

March 2017 November 2016

P&C Splendour in the Grove has sold out. If you missed out on purchasing your tickets let Frankie (P&C Social Event Liaison Officer Email: [email protected]) know and she will put you on the waiting list in case there is a cancelation.

Dates to Remember

Parent Music Sport Student Parliament

2017 T 1

22/3 24/3 26/3 27/3 28/3 28/3 29/3

Learning Support Interviews – Day 3 Magazine Ministry – Easter Writing/ Drawing Competition ends. Sunday Music Jam Club Charities Ministry – Crazy Hair Day Interrelate Lessons Stage 3 Year 3 Parent/ Teacher interviews – Library Year 2 & ½ Flyinfg Foxes Parent/ Teacher interviews - Library

30/3 31/3 3/4 4/4 5/4 & 6/4 6/4 7/4

School Cross Country Carnival Splendour in the Grove 2 7:00-11:30pm Kindergarten Parent/ Teacher interviews Social Functions Ministry - Talent Quest 3-6 - Lunch State Swimming Easter Hat Parade Last Day Term 1

T2 26/4 Students Return

2/5-3/5 Stage 2 Cockatoo Island Sleepover

7/5 Combined Bands (Training and Concert) workshop, at school

9/5 Naplan Year 3 & 5 Language Conventions & Writing

10/5 Naplan Year 3 & 5 Reading 11/5 Naplan Year 3 & 5 Numeracy 13/5 School Fete

17/5 P&C Meeting 7pm Staffroom

21/5 Strings Workshop (Intermediate and Concert Strings)

21/6 P&C Meeting 7pm Staffroom

23/5 ICAS Years 3-6 Digital Technologies 8am

30/5 ICAS Years 3-6 Science 8am

14/6 ICAS Years 3-6 Spelling 8am

27/6-30/6 Stage 3 Camp Canberra

T3 1/8 ICAS Years 3-6 English 8am

15/8 ICAS Years 3-6 Mathematics 8am

5/9 Music Night, at school in the evening

T4 12/10 – 13/10

Music Camp (Year 3 + only) Training Band, Concert Band, Rock Band, Concert Strings

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]





Term 1 Week 9 22nd


Principal

St Patricks Day was lots of fun with $420 being raised for our World Vision Sponsor children and $600 being raised to help the canteen with operating costs as well. We wore green, ate green and had green activities in class!

Parent/ Teacher Interviews: Our first formal parent teacher interviews have commenced and the following classes are coming up. All bookings are done online. There is a booking instruction sheet in last week’s newsletter. The main days for each teacher are:

Tuesday 28th

March: Cassowaries (Ms Corliss), Rosellas (Mrs Copping) & Emus (Mr Press). Wednesday 29

th March: Bandicoots (Miss Gill), Bilbies (Mr Fitzgerald) & Flying Foxes (Miss Preece).

Monday 3rd

April: Kangaroos (Mrs Weber), Echidnas (Miss Sarina) & Koalas (Mrs Mall) Thursday 30

th March, Friday 31

st March and Thursday 6

th April - Preschool Red (Mrs Mitchell) before and after

school.

Kindergarten Koala’s have been enjoyed hearing the Rainbow Serpent dreamtime story and painted these incredible water colour pictures inspired by the story. Kindergarten Kangaroos have been looking at patterns and continuing repartitioning mathematics. We are developing into great mathematicians’. Kindergarten attended their first assembly this week and Kindergarten Echidnas won the K to 2 Trophy for the best listening manners, congratulations Echidnas.

See you at the Easter Parade,

Tracy Gray

Annual Easter Hat Parade Preschool to Year 6 – It’s time to start making and decorating your Easter Hat for the Parade Venue: Basket Ball Court (hall if raining) Date: Thursday 6/4/2017 Time: 9:15am Come along and watch the parade and!

21 March was Harmony Day - Our diversity makes Australia a great place to live. Harmony Day is a celebration of our

cultural diversity – a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home. The Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The message of Harmony Day is ‘everyone belongs’, the Day aims to engage people to participate in their community, respect cultural and religious diversity and foster sense of belonging for everyone.

mailto:[email protected]





Term 1 Week 9 22nd


Library Redgum Book orders should arrive this week. I will distribute the orders to the children, thank you for your support. Parent Teacher Interviews will be in the Library, this means that Library borrowing and returning will be effected. Please read all class emails. Thanking You in Advance. Mrs Ilieff

Student Parliament

Music Quiz The Education ministry would like to thank every participant who took part in the music quiz last week. It was a big success and we hope that everyone had a good time. It was great to see people working together as a team. We hope you learnt some new songs and artists. The winning team was called the Ice-creams and their winning score was a whopping 36 out of 40, but it was close contest. One of the contestants said that they had a great time and she also said it was well organised. A huge thanks to all teachers (Mr Cormack, Miss Carroll and Mr Dodds) who helped to make this event successful.

“Clean Up Australia “Week” Parliament Event is happening this week with the Environment Ministry. Each class over the course of the week will clean up parts of the playground. Every class, including the preschool classes, will come out once to do their part.

Junior Choir meet during first half lunch Wednesdays. They are learning two songs: 1. True Colours- Cindy Lauper https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gGrXEewfz34

2. Can’t Stop the Feeling- Justin Timberlake https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Re7OIXRT5UE

It would be great if parents could play the links to help the children learn the songs.

Canteen I would like to thank the wonderful Lynn Feldon and her fantastic bunch of helpers- Lindy Sivyer, Alex Marceau, Cathy Phillips, Frankie Gaffney, Quanchai Burns and Jennifer Peters for the St Patrick's day cake stall, it was a huge success and an amazing support to your school canteen. I can't thank Lynn and all the other ladies

enough for their support. The cake stall made $600. Karen

mailto:[email protected]://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gGrXEewfz34https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Re7OIXRT5UE





Term 1 Week 9 22nd


IMPORTANT MUSICAL DATES FOR THE DIARY Sunday 26

th March – Sunday Music Jam Club

Sunday 7th May - Combined Bands (Training and Concert) workshop, at school Saturday 13th May - School Fete Sunday May 21st - Strings Workshop (Intermediate and Concert Strings) Tuesday 5th Sept - Music Night, at school in the evening. Thurs 12th & Friday 13th October - Music Camp (Year 3 + only) Training Band, Concert Band, Rock Band, Concert Strings INSTRUMENT PRACTICE It’s that time of year when a child’s early musical enthusiasm can start to wane. This means it is more important than ever to have a regular practice regime set up. Beginners should be practising for 10 minutes a day at least 4 times a week. More advanced players should be playing for longer. If you are in doubt about what a practice session should consist of, please speak to your child's tutor. The tutor should be able to give you clear and specific direction about what your child needs to work on. Even if your child has natural talent with the instrument that they are learning, they will not be able to progress as quickly as their peers if they don't maintain a regular practice regime. How can parents help?

·Children can have short attention spans. 10-15 minutes is a realistic expectation for a beginner player, however it is better that your child picks up their instruments for 5 minutes than not at all.

·Rather than saying "Practice this for 15 minutes" (which will glue their eyes to the clock), say something like "Practice this little piece until you can play it 5 times through without looking up any of the notes" or "Practice long bows until you can keep the bow straight 3 times in a row each direction."

·Try to create a routine, so that they practice at the same time on set days.

·If possible, leave everything always set up, e.g., the instrument assembled and out of its case, the music on the music stand.

·If your child doesn't respond well to the word "practice", try "will you play for me?” instead. Provide an audience for your child, if only for part of the time. Ask them questions about what they are playing e.g., “which part is the hardest part?”, “what would that sound like slowed down?”, or ask them to play something they think you'd like.

·Praise the effort, not the end result.

·Rewards can help. Work towards a goal e.g., via a sticker chart.

·Never make practice a punishment.

·Expose your child to how their instrument can sound - take them to performances, play music round the house. Try to find contemporary as well as classical examples.

·Talk to the tutor about finding pieces that your child would enjoy learning to play.






Term 1 Week 9 22nd


Sunday Music Jam Club Jack Robertson, father of Joe and keen musician, announces a new activity for BPS musicians:

After discussing the idea with the Music Committee and the Principal (Tracy Gray), Rob Cormack and I are happy to announce a trial of what we are calling the BPS Sunday Music Jam Club. As everyone knows, at Birchgrove our kids are blessed with a fantastic music program which incorporates regular performances and first rate individual tutoring, but a few of us are interested in exploring additional options for the school’s aspiring musos. The basic idea behind what could become a monthly get-together in the school hall is to set up some PA gear, some amps and a drum kit, invite any interested BPS kids (and a parent/carer) to come along, and…well, jam. Play some music. Sing some songs. Kick around some simple chord progressions, learn a bit about improvising, interacting with other players, stagecraft, equipment, and so on. If that sounds pretty vague it’s because…the concept is still pretty vague! It’s an experiment, the aim being to get the kids to shape a Music Jam Club that suits them, not us. There’ll be more practical details closer to the date, but if your kids might be interested, pencil in Sunday 26 March, 11:00 to 13:00, in the BPS Hall. It’ll be open to all classes/ages and all instruments, key supervisors will be Rob Cormack and me (at least) BUT your child(ren) will need at least one ‘attached’ adult to stay, too. If you have queries feel free to ring me (Jack) on 0429 690 261, although don’t be surprised if I respond to your questions with ‘Not entirely sure, let’s see what the kids reckon…’ a lot. However if it does work out (if it works out at all) the emphasis will be on fun, inclusion and informality.






Term 1 Week 9 22nd


Note: Prizes are Stage Based- Early Stage 1, Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 The pictures to colour in will be printed and put into the children’s school bags with our quarterly review at the end of next week. Ray White Balmain P&C Sponsors

birchgrove buzz march 2017€¦ · music sport student parliament 2017 t 1 22/3 24/3 26/3 27/3 28/3...

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