DECEMBER

10th Kinde & Stage 1

Presentation

12th Stage 2 & 3

Presentation Assembly

Yr 6 Graduation

13th Yr 6 Farewell Dinner

15th Stage 1 Choir

Carols

16th Talent Quest

17th Class Parties

18th Final Assembly

Last Day

PLEASE REFER TO THE SCHOOL WEBSITE OR

SKOOLBAG FOR RELEVANT NOTES & FURTHER

INFORMATION

Blackheath Public School Website: www.blackheath-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

Leichhardt Street, Blackheath NSW 2785 Email: Blackheath-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Office hours: 8.30 a.m.—3.15 p.m. Phone: 4787 8253 Fax: 4787 8320

Term 4, Weeks 7 & 8,

2019

Dear Parents, Carers & Friends,

This is the year’s and my last newsletter as

principal. Thank you for reading the

newsletter, as we spend a lot of time

preparing it each fortnight and believe that the information it

contains is useful and supports our parents and community.

Thank you for your support over the past seven years. I am

truly proud of this fine school. I have been blessed to work with

dedicated professionals who provide a rich, supportive and welcoming learning environment

each and every day for our students. I include in this teachers, SLSOs and office staff. Our team

always comes from ‘what is best for the students?” and then work collaboratively to this end. It

has been an absolute pleasure to lead

the BPS team and I will miss it very

much.

The last two weeks of term are filled

with exciting events and I look forward

to sharing these with you. I send my

very best wishes for the summer break.

May it be happy, healthy and safe (and

no fires!).

Warm Regards, Jane Davies Principal

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

BPS MARKETS

1st Sunday of each

month

Coordinator Murray

042 904 1704

Markets ceased until

February 2020

As you will be aware, our wonderful Principal Mrs Davies, will be leaving us at the end of the year. Mrs Davies has been a proud Principal for seven years at Blackheath Public School. Under her leadership the school has become well known for its quality teaching and learning practises, diversity of

extra-curricular activities, strong community connections, continuous focus on student wellbeing and excellent academic achievement. Mrs Davies has demonstrated genuine care for the students, teachers, families and the community of Blackheath. She has

instigated many improvements in the school which make it the hub of enjoyment and excellence in learning it is today. Her passion for education and the strong moral values she upholds have most certainly been a positive influence in the school. We will all be

very sad to see Mrs Davies leave and will remember her fondly. We wish her all the very best for a retirement of exciting adventures, rest & relaxation and lots of fun with her beautiful family. Mrs Hardge & all the staff at BPS

FAREWELL MRS DAVIES

MERIT AWARDS

LEADERSHIP TEAM 2020 It gives us great pleasure to announce to you the 2020 Leadership team:

Captains: Julia Ross & Alexander Fraser

Vice Captains: Charli Manwaring & Ned

Tomlinson

Prefects: Ginger Foster, Olivia Erskine, Jasper Brown & Finn Wardell

Congratulations to these worthy students. A big congratulations also goes out to all other students who bravely took to the

stage to present a leadership speech. The speeches were all of a very high quality and all candidates should be very proud of their efforts.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing 2019 Leadership team. Captains Oliver & Emily, Vice Captains Jordan & Taylah and prefects Angus, Matilda, Abbas and Rachel have all performed their duties admirably and with pride. Their dedication and commitment to their roles has been appreciated by all. We wish them all the very best as they head off to High School.

WEEK 6

K-G Nakita Bray, & Dusty Stanford

K-R Mae Kirchner

K-1H Reece Barwick, Amy Hedgcoe & Peyton

Tomiczek

1-2K Lieke Chambers-Rennert

1-2N Ella-May Martin

1-2R Thaihoa Exner & Charlotte Pellegrini

1-2S Jojo Anderson & Sasha Kirkpatrick

WEEK 7

K-G Annie Zhou & Lucas McDonald

K-R Maddison Pearson & Lilly Lamb

K-1H Eli Manning-Groves & Flynn

Bagnall

1-2K Colton Michalski

1-2N Joe Kelly & Poppy Banffy

1-2R Reuben Whelan-Smith & Bailey

Down

1-2S Thomas Fisk & Frankie Littleford

SCHOOL SWIM SCHEME

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Recently, 60 children from

Blackheath went swimming

everyday at Katoomba Aquatic

Centre as part of the School

Swimming Program. It was

fabulous to see so much

improvement in the two weeks

with some non-swimmers

starting to really love the water

by the end of the program. We

did miss one day due to the

Catastrophic fire rating but we

were lucky enough to have

lovely warm weather this year. It

is wonderful to see so many

Blackheath families

participating in this important

program.

Kate Blackwell & Erin Reeves

K-G Ava Starkey & Carter Bosman

K-R Glenn Roe & Thaonhi Exner

K-1H Sam Clarke & Charlie Tseng

1-2K Colton Michalski & Frankie Combs

1-2N Izac Finn & Joe Kelly

1-2R Esther Johnston & Bailey Curtis

1-2S Alonso Ho & Freya Bryant

3-4B Oliver Anderson

3-4M Sophie Abel & Sasha Kelly

3-4Y Georgia Cooper & Amber Shiels

5-6H Baxter Newton & Sophia Andersen

5-6L Ella Stacy & Anna Fergus

5-6M Miette Hoekstra & Julia Robinson

5-6T Natalia Taranto & Keira Atkinson

STAMPS Do you throw away your used stamps? If so, please tear off the stamp and bring it

to Sue in the school office for donation to the Red Cross. Money raised by the

foundation is used to support under-privileged families in Australia

ILLNESS AT SCHOOL AND NOTIFYING

Please do not send your child to school if they are sick. If your child has been vomiting or had diarrhea, they must not have vomited or had runny

stools for a minimum of 24 hours (even if they feel better) as they may still be infectious. Staff have only the best interests of our students at heart when we ask this so as to avoid outbreaks in classrooms. We also have children with compromised immune systems at school for whom contracting these illnesses can have serious repercussions. It is important for these students that they participate actively in the day to day school program without any major limitations. Towards this end another major concern is if these children were to develop measles, chickenpox, whooping cough or influenza so I seek your cooperation in preventing this situation.

If your child has, or may have, measles, chicken pox or other infectious illness, I would ask that you please: 1. Do not send them to school. 2. Notify the School Principal as soon as possible. 3. Take them to your GP or medical centre to confirm diagnosis if possible. Thanking you in anticipation, Jane Davies Principal

A gentle reminder that all payments MUST be in by the

due date on the note. Owing to our Department of

Education system we cannot process money that comes in

after the closing date. You may find that the online payment may seem to work as this is the bank ’s system but the money

cannot be processed for that event and will be put into credit for your future use. If finance is an issue PLEASE complete the

assistance form BEFORE the due date. You are more than welcome to reimburse us after the date.

PAYMENTS

NSW public schools work in partnership with parents to encourage and support regular attendance. When your child attends

school every day, learning becomes easier and your child will build and maintain friendships with other children.

It is also important to arrive on time to:

-ensure students do not miss out on learning activities scheduled early in the day

–help students learn the importance of punctuality and routine

–give students time to greet their friends before class

–reduce classroom disruption.

Please follow this link for further information https://schoolsequella.det.nsw.edu.au/

file/51561b22-712a-4e98-9873-6a14eae6cac1/1/english-compulsory-school-attendance-parent-brochure.pdf

LOST PROPERTY We have 2 huge piles of lost property which need to be dealt with before

the end of term. It is planned to sort and allocate items to the uniform shop

or for use as spare clothing on Friday 6th. If you are missing an item of

clothing please check lost property before this date. Thank you

Auditions are being held at lunchtimes, in the music room, for the Talent Quest on

Monday December 16th. All students are invited to audition with an act that will

impress the judges and entertain the audience! 45 acts will be selected and the

successful acts will be posted on the hall door on Wednesday December 11th.

Jenny Lanyon

TALENT QUEST 2019

HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION PROGRAM

ALTON FREEMAN ORIENTEERING CHAMPION

Alton Freeman ended the 2019 year ranked number 1 in Australia for the Male 10 years age group.

This followed some good results in national events including wins in the Australian Champs race,

the Australian 3-days event in Western Australia in April, and in the Oceania middle distance race

(by 9 seconds) in Beechworth in October. Congratulations Alton!

ETHICS COORDINATOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST Popular Primary Ethics classes are held every Thursday morning at BPS. I am seeking expressions of interest for individuals

to take on the roles of Ethics Teachers. These are voluntary positions for parents, carers and grandparents and involve only

about an hour a week. So please consider doing something life-changing this year! Should you like to join our dedicated

team or would simply like to know what it involves please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Derek Russell Primary Ethics Blue Mts Regional Manager 0411 470 515

Last Monday and Tuesday our year 6 students were involved in our

transition to high school program. The program included a highly

engaging maths lesson with Mr Foster, a fantastic science

experiment, with Mr Hughes, where students learnt to extract DNA

from strawberries, a Japanese lesson, with Ms Jones, where they

learnt to count to ten in Japanese and how to make an origami

crane. They also practiced their culinary skills with Chris in the

canteen making pizza, slicing and dicing vegetables, bagging snacks

and getting lunch orders out on time. Ms Bishop’s lesson was

fantastique and year 6 will now be experts when ordering food

from the menu the next time they are in a French restaurant.

Unfortunately, a massive storm came in – thank goodness for

the rain – but it spooked the visiting horses in the Agriculture

lesson with Ms Blackwell. And to add to the drama, Mr Home

had year 6 pretending to be all sorts of wonderful things and

Miss Angela put the students through their paces in a dance

class. We thank these wonderful volunteers for their time, it

was a valuable experience for all our year 6 students.

Mrs Tomiczek

LIBRARY NEWS

PREMIER’S READING CHALLENGE Congratulations to

all students who completed the Premier’s Reading

Challenge during 2019. For completing the PRC four

years in a row the following students received Gold

Certificates: Thomas Curtis, Keira Atkinson, Giselle

Brogan, Ruby Dowdell & Elvie Hoekstra. The very

special Platinum certificate for completing the PRC

seven years in a row - that’s every year from

kindergarten to year 6 was awarded to Miette

Hoekstra, Rachel Bishop-Jones and (in absentia)

Anneke Godfrey. For those students who have completed the PRC and did not get a Gold or Platinum

certificate, your certificates will be sent home in your reports. I would like to

encourage you all to keep participating in the PRC– if you complete it every year

from year 3 until year 9, you will get a medal from the Premier!

LIBRARY BOOKS Please, everyone, check for your library books at home.

Borrowing has finished for the year and I am trying to ensure all books are returned

ASAP. Final overdue notices will be distributed next week. If you believe that a

book on your list has already been returned, please come and see me! If you know

you have lost or damaged a book, payment can be made to Sue at the front office -

please bring your overdue note to do so.

Thank you for all your support of our beautiful library over the course of 2019. Have a most relaxing and safe Christmas holiday. Cathy Lamond, Teacher Librarian

The ‘Terracycle Team’ members gave

their last report at this week’s

Assembly. They thanked the children

and their families for supporting the

school’s new recycling initiatives this

year. The ‘team’ spoke about the variety of ways each of our

collections of objects are being recycled and reminded their peers

about the importance of our work:

*to reduce landfill and in doing so, to help make a difference to the

environment

*to recycle things that we previously thought were rubbish, but

which can now be recycled

The children in the audience were MOST interested when the ‘team’ tipped huge piles of

textas and pens, toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes, and milk bottle and juice tops onto

the stage! There was only 1 heavy box of batteries because 5 boxes had already been

delivered to the Katoomba Waste Management Centre. Our bread tags were in a small

bucket, but there were hundreds of them!

At the end of their presentation, the ‘team’ members encouraged the children to suggest to

their families that they have a small container in a ‘handy’ place at home, into which all of

these small items can be collected and then brought to school next year for our ‘Holiday Collection’!

A big thank you to our Terracycle Team members for helping to manage this initiative throughout the

year. Giorgia, Sienna, Ned, Archie, Miette, Lyla, Jonah, Rachel and Chloe have all been responsible,

reliable and enthusiastic at meetings and assemblies and great helpers! Well done!

Hi parents and carers, this is our last message of the year! We say a bittersweet goodbye to Jane, our wonderful principal for the past 7 years. We wish Jane all the best in this new chapter of her life and give a warm welcome to Kristin who we are sure will do a fantastic job. To those parents and carers of Year 6 students we also bid a fond farewell to you and an open invitation to return at any time to our community! Wishing your children all the best as they continue their educational odyssey. Our clothes swap this past weekend saw many volunteers put in a huge effort over Saturday and Sunday - thanks

again to Mel McGrath, Julie Kingswood, Ally Drinkwater, and all the generous parents who helped out on the day - our P+C thrives on this concerted communal effort! Have a happy and safe holiday period and we hope to see you all in the new

year!

From our Fundraising Coordinator, Mel:

A big thank to all the volunteers that came and helped on the day of the Clothes Swap last Saturday, as well as those who donated clothes for the event. Thank you to Coles Katoomba for the snacks and thanks to David from the Blackheath Community Op Shop who gave us masses of donations and appeared like a hero to take all of the leftovers at the end of the day!

We have two end of year raffles happening at the moment: a Christmas hamper and a Silly Season wine hamper! Tickets are

$2 a ticket or $5 for 3 tickets, on sale at the Front Office and at the Presentation Days. Both raffles will be drawn on the 12th December at 3pm. Thank you to Ali Byrne at Magically Melted and Kitty Katt cleaning for donating the items for the Christmas hamper.

Green Team The recycling initiative headed up by Margaret Holmes and the Terracycle team has been ticking along wonderfully! Please keep sending in your recyclable items: toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, textas, milk bottle tops, and bread tags! We are excited about using the milk bottle tops for a mural in the new year- so keep them coming!

Do you know about the proposed Great Western Highway Duplication?

The RMS’ proposed highway duplication is an issue that will affect everyone in Blackheath, and our neighbours along the Great Western Highway. It is important that everyone is informed and has the chance to have their say before the 16 th December. To find out more about the proposed options, go to https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/projects/great-western-highway/katoomba-to-lithgow/index.html.

P & C NEWS

P&C news and events are shared via the Skoolbag app, our Facebook page (@BlackheathPandC),

on the noticeboard and in the newsletter. Get in touch through our Facebook page or email us at

blackheathpublicschool@pandcaffiliate.org.au Order lunch from our wonderful Wholesome Kids Café, open every day. Lunch order forms are available at the canteen, on our Facebook page and on the Skoolbag app.

Visit the Uniform Shop on Monday mornings from 8.30 to 9.30am near the canteen. Come along to our

Free Breakfast Club from 8.30-8.55am daily @ The Wholesome Kids Café. Our first P&C meeting for 2020 will be on Monday, 17th February, at 7pm in the school library.

IT IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL OF US TO BE AWARE OF AND FOLLOW THE ROAD SAFETY RULES TO ENSURE THE

SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN. PLEASE REFER TO THIS LINK FOR FUTHER INFORMATION: https://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/downloads/keeping-our-kids-safe-around-schools.pdf

BLACKHEATH STATION 150 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Blackheath station's sesquicentenary will be held on Saturday, December 14.

The celebrations will take place on the station from 10am. Celebration flags painted by Blackheath school children will be hung on the station.

After the ceremony at the station, the Quota Club of Black-heath will be serving tea in a mock-up of a railway refreshment room in the community hall, where the birthday cake will also

be cut. Students and families are welcome to attend.

STAGE 2 & 3 EQUIPMENT LIST 2020 Below is the Blackheath Newsagency order form

for all Stage 2 & 3 2020 equipment requirements.

Please note: to obtain the 20% discount, the

pack must be pre-ordered and paid for prior to

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