Marie Bashir Public School Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow

159 Albert Road Phone: (02) 8736 4400 Strathfield NSW 2135 Fax: (02) 8736 4450

Website: www.mariebashirpublicschool.com.au Email: MarieBashir-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Issue 2/2015 27 February 2015

DATES TO REMEMBER Term 1, 2015 11 March Public Speaking Finals Stage 2 and 3 12 March Selective High School Test 18 March Public Speaking Finals Stage 1 20 March Harmony Day 26 March Cross Country 27 March Last Chess Lesson for Term 1 1 April Bilby Hunt 2 April Easter Raffle and Hat Parade

Principals Message It has truly been an eventful month. A special thank you is extended to parents for their support at the swimming carnival at Enfield Pools. The students tried extremely hard with many of the students participating. Thank you to Mrs Ling who organised the carnival and teachers who assisted. The level of support we receive from parents enables us to have a carnival in which students can participate. Without parental support the day would not have been a success. Thank you to all teachers and parents for attending parent/teacher interviews. It was great to see the high number of parents attend the evening. The newsletter will be distributed monthly. Hard copies of the newsletter will only be made available at the front office and via email.

Staffing The process for selecting two Assistant Principals for Marie Bashir Public School has been finalised. I am pleased to inform you that Erin Thursby from Epping West Public School and Amenah Mourad from Haberfield Public School are our two Assistant Principals. Mrs Thursby will be commencing on Monday, 16 March on class 4P. Miss Mourad will be starting on 1S on Tuesday 21 April 2015. Mr Phillips will be teaching the students Science. I would like to thank Mr Phillips for taking 4P for the first seven weeks of Term 1 and Miss Zong for doing a marvellous job teaching Science. School Leadership- House Captains The House Captains were elected at the beginning of the year. Congratulations to the following students. BLIGH: Maryam Ibrahim (6D) and Gabriella Yates (5A) KING: Ketaki Nirbhavane (6D) and Angela Wootton (5A) PHILLIP: Alexa Rogaris (6D) and Mahima Boby (5A) HUNTER: Muhammad Nijati (5A) and Kevin Lee (5A)

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Aussie Of The Month As part of the schools student welfare program, each month at a special assembly a student is named Aussie Of The Month and presented with a certificate. Our Aussie Of the Month for February is Adam. Congratulations Adam!

School Sport Students are reminded that they are to wear their sports uniform on their sport day and white runners (white must be the predominant colour). Students Leaving School With Another Parent Parents are advised to write a letter to the class teacher if there is a change of person picking their child up in the afternoon. Parents and Citizens Association On Wednesday, 18 March, 2015 at 6:30pm, Marie Bashir Public School will be conducting its next P & C meeting in the library. I would encourage as many parents as possible to attend. It was great to see so many faces at the last P & C meeting. Raincoats It is advised that parents include a raincoat in their childs bag in the event of rain after school. Parent Visitors Parents are requested not to visit classrooms or approach class teachers during class hours or whilst teachers are on playground duty. If volunteering in a classroom, parents are expected to sign in at the front office and wear a visitors badge during their visit. Teachers have been advised to direct any inquiries, parents or visitors without badges to the front office. If you would like to make an appointment to speak to your childs class teacher, please telephone the school office.

Morning Drop Off Please do not follow your childs class to the classroom. This can be disruptive and does not help your child to settle. NAPLAN Each year the students in Years 3 & 5 complete a basic skills test called The National Assessment Program In Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). This year the test will be conducted on the 12-15 May 2015. Lunch I encourage all parents to pack a healthy morning tea and lunch for their child. Fruit, crackers, sandwiches and a rice salad are examples of food you need to pack. Do not send chocolate, lollies, sweet biscuits and chips. These are treats you can keep at home. Parents are asked to pack peanut free/ nut free/ sesame seed free lunches for their child. This will ensure a safe school environment for students who have nut and sesame seed allergies. Permission Notes and Payments All permission notes and payments that need to be returned to the school are to be sent to the front office in and envelope with your childs name and class unless otherwise stated on the note. Receipts will be issued for payments. SRC Congratulations to the following students who are their class SRC representatives for term 1. KH: Jackson, Samantha KL: Geethikka , Alister KN: Sasha, Justin 1M: Faye, Flynn 1S: Hannah, Kingston 2B: Youssef, Angela 3L: Anhaar, Joshua 4P: Cynthia, Hoa 5A: Kevin, Armani 6D: Sisi, Jana

Sunscreen Parents are asked to apply their childs sunscreen each morning. Students will have the responsibility to re-apply if they wish at recess or lunch time.

Hats Students are reminded that they are required to wear their school hat to school, at recess and during their lunch break. Students who do not have a hat will be required to play under the covered area or in the shade. Road Safety At the beginning of the year, it is necessary to remind parents about safe and appropriate places to drop off and pick up their children at school. The school has a pick up and drop off zone at the front of the school. Please note that this is strictly a kiss and ride zone and you are not permitted to leave your car in this area. Please respect our neighbours and do not park in their driveways or contrary to road notices. Never double park or call your child across the road. Never do a u turn in front of the school and Never use the school driveway. Parents are asked to drive to the end of Albert Road where they can safely turn their vehicle at the cul de sac. A few steps on your part could save your childs life. Infringements for parking offences around schools have considerably increased and rangers will regularly supervise parking in the area. Please see note below for more details. Canteen Students can order lunch from the ACU Menu Monday to Thursday and from Marie Bashir Public School menu on Friday. Students are to leave their lunch order in the front office by 9:25am each morning before they go into class. Please write your childs name, class, lunch request and place the exact money in a brown paper bag. No change will be given. We are asking for parent volunteers to assist with taking the lunch orders to ACU canteen at 9:25am and picking up lunch orders at 12:50pm to bring them back to school. School APP Marie Bashir Public School is using a school app to communicate with parents. Parents will be notified of our news, messages, events and other communication.

Simply download the tiqbiz app to your phone or tablet. To download, search tiqbiz in your app store or download at: www.tiqbiz.com.au Open tiqbiz and register/log in. Inside the menu, click on Find and Tick. Type: Marie Bashir Public School into the search bar. Select us from the results. Click the grey tick on the boxes that apply to you. When the tick turns green, you are connected. Passcode: mbps Click on the inbox icon. This is where you will receive our instant messages. Write 4 Fun Competition Entry is now open in the 2015 Schools Writing Competition. Students from all over Australia have been invited to enter their Poem or Short Story to win great cash prizes. This year there is no theme. Entrants from kindergarten to year 6 can write about any topic and in any style.- Below is a list of rules to follow:

Only one entry per student either a Poem OR Short Story. Entries to be typed or neatly handwritten. Poems must not exceed 16 lines and Short Stories must not exceed 500 words. Entries must be in by Sunday 29th March 2015. Entries must be the original work of the author. Co-written entries will be disqualified. Entry form details must accompany each entry. Entry is FREE and all entries must be in by Sunday 29th March 2015. Enter online at www.write4fun.net

Jacqui Attard

All about apostrophes Not knowing where to place apostrophes can haunt people for their entire lives. Heres an easy guide to help your child understand what they mean, how to use them and get them right, now. Find out more: http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/homework-and-study/english/english-a-to-z/-/english_glossary/8Qum/551/apostrophe+denoting+ownership

When older kids struggle with reading Should you let your reluctant teen reader choose magazines over books? If your child is still struggling to read and write, and they're heading into high school, there are ways to get them on the right page.Find out more: http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/homework-and-study/english/english-tips/when-older-kids-struggle-with-reading

Useful Websites

Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow

Community

MARIE BASHIR OSHC CENTRE Ph: 0429 528 363

mboshc@primaryoshcare.com.au We have had a wonderful start to the year at Marie Bashir OSHC Centre! We have seen a great many more children enrolled which is fantastic! . We welcome back many of our existing families from last year and are looking forward to establishing strong relationships with our new families.

At OSHC we strive to keep our families well informed with all that is happening throughout their childs day. Parents are encouraged to use our noticeboard to find information regarding staff, menus and centre specific information. We also display journals depicting activities, photos, children; work and also daily evaluations of all our activities including those written

by children. We welcome and encourage parents to look through these anytime. Each term we hold a community meeting which all families are invented to, this term it will be held on 31st of March with more information to be provided closer to the time.

This Terms Clubs:

Each term we create clubs based on childrens ideas and interests. This term we will be focusing on Culture, Cooking and Science which will run in conjunction with our daily programme.

In addition to these clubs we also have Homework Club which is offered every morning and Monday Thursday afternoon.

The OSHC team:

Centre Manager / Co-ordinator: Ezia Cimillo and Sam Grbin

Sam is our centre co-ordinator, studying Primary Education and Special Education as well as working within the area of OSHC for the past 5 years. Ezia Cimillo is our Regional Manager, visiting on a weekly basis to offer her support and experience in creating an inclusive and stimulating environment.

Educators: Andrew Hutchinson, Annabel Forrest, Sonia Hutchinson and Daniel Gaughan

All of our casual staff members have a great amount of practical experience through working at different Centres and areas. They are all trained in CPR, Asthma and anaphylaxis, First aid and WHS. All of our staff are very well informed and are willing to help! So please do not hesitate to ask them any questions if you need assistance!

If you are interested in enrolling your child please come down to the Centre and feel free to make any enquiries, forms can be picked up from the centre or within the school office.

Families can contact staff at the Centre by calling 0429 528 363 or emailing mboshc@primaryoshcare.com.au

Thank you for your support.

Sam, Sonia, Andrew, Annabel, Daniel and Ezia

FRIENDS OF SYMPHONIA JUBILATE CHORALE

Starts......Tuesday 24th of February. Marie Bashir School Hall

Albert Rd Strathfield Enquires:Nicole Thomson nonybeth@gmail.com

Ph: 0414 716 968 Come and join our new community choir!

3 times a term onTuesday evenings from7.30-9pm. Contemporary and traditional repertoire.

No experience needed and lots of fun! Run by Nicole Thomson and Georgina Andrews. Trained singers with lots of experience

National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy 2015 Test Dates

Dear Parent or Carer

The test dates for the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be as follows:

Test name Includes Date of test Language Conventions test

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

Tuesday 12 May 2015

Writing test Writing task Tuesday 12 May 2015 Reading test Reading Wednesday 13 May 2015 Numeracy test (Years 3 and 5)

Number, Algebra, Function and pattern, Measurement, chance and data, and Space. There is one numeracy test for Years 3 and 5. (No calculator allowed.)

Thursday 14 May 2015

Numeracy tests (Years 7 and 9)

Number, Algebra, Function and pattern, Measurement, chance and data, and Space. There are two numeracy tests for Years 7 and 9. (Calculator allowed followed by non- calculator.)

Thursday 14 May 2015

Catch-up day For students who missed a section of the test or were absent on a particular day.

Friday 15 May 2015

SCHOOL PARKING INFORMATION

Parking signs around schools are there to maximise childrens safety.

Demerit points apply for offences committed in School Zones.

Double park: $304 *(2 Demerit Points) Stop on or near childrens crossing or pedestrian crossing: $405 *(2 Demerit Points) Stop on path/nature strip in built up area: $169 *(2 Demerit Points) Stop on or across driveway: $169 *(2 Demerit Points)

INFORMATION EFFECTIVE AT 1 JULY 2013 AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE

ROAD SAFETY

No Parking areas are where children can be set down or picked up. You cannot park there, you must be in the act of setting down or picking up and the driver cannot leave the vehicle unattended. * (2 Demerit Points)

Penalty

$169

No Stopping means that you cannot stop in this area under any circumstances. These areas provide clear vision at danger points and where children may cross roads.

*(2 Demerit Points)

Penalty

$304

Only buses are permitted to pick up or set down passengers in a bus zone. You must not stop in a BUS ZONE under any circumstances.

*(2 Demerit Points)

Penalty

$304

.Starts......Tuesday 24th of February.Marie Bashir School HallAlbert Rd StrathfieldEnquires:Nicole Thomsonnonybeth@gmail.comPh: 0414 716 968Come and join our new community choir!3 times a term onTuesday evenings from7.30-9pm.Contemporary and traditional repertoire.No experience needed and lots of fun!Run by Nicole Thomson and Georgina Andrews. Trained singers with lots of experience

Parking signs around schools are there to maximise childrens safety.Demerit points apply for offences committed in School Zones.

Penalty$169Penalty$304Penalty$304