1 March 2021 Week 6 Term 1

BRISBANIA PUBLIC SCHOOL

1 High Street Saratoga NSW 2251

Phone: (02) 4369 1246

Fax: (02) 4363 1068

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

School Web Page: www.brisbania-p.schools.nsw.edu.au

WE ARE NOW ON FACEBOOK!

School Security: 1300 880 021

Skoolbag: www.skoolbag.com.au

We also have a

school App which

you can download

for free at iTunes or

Google play. Just

search for

Brisbania PS

COVID-19 GUIDELINES Following the Department of Education guidelines, parents are not to walk through the school, unless attending a preorganised meeting with a teacher or the school counsellor. Our unique QR code must be scanned on entry or the school sign in sheet completed additionally the visitors book must be filled in located in the office. Thanks for your understanding in complying with the guidelines. All upcoming excursions will be leaving from The High St entry. The Shaw St gate will not be open. SWIMMING CARNIVAL All the best to the Brisbania Zone Swimming team who will compete on 9 March. We know you will do your best for yourself and Brisbania PS. KINDERGARTEN AND YEAR 5 BUDDIES Our annual Teddy Bears’ Picnic was held last Thursday. It was terrific to see the Kindy students enjoying the picnic with their Year 5 buddies and teddies or favourite fluffy toys. See the photos that follow in the newsletter. ENJOY! DOUBLE DRAGONS- THE CHINESE GARDENS AND CHINATOWN Congratulations to the Stage Two students on their behaviour and enthusiasm on their excursion last week to Chinatown and The Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour. Many thanks to Ms Simpson for all her hard work in organising the excursion, to complement their History unit on Community and Remembrance. Thanks to all the teachers and School Learning Support Officers who accompanied the students. It must have been good, as Mr Carey and Ms Simpson went twice! See accounts from the students, later in the newsletter. LEARNING PACKS AND VOLUNTARY FEES Thank you to the parents/carers who have paid for Learning packs $65 and Voluntary Fees- 1 child $40, 2 children $60 and 3 or more children $70. PARENT/ TEACHER/ STUDENT MEETINGS- 2 MARCH Teachers are looking forward to the parent/ carer/ teacher/student meetings tomorrow to learn more about your child to support their learning in 2021. Each teacher will have the QR code and School Sign in book in their rooms for parents/carers. SECURITY Our school security hotline is 1300 880 021. Please call the hotline if you see or hear anyone on the premises during non school hours. We have had youths on the property again, after school last week. Have a wonderful week Annette Parrey

Brisbania Public

School Uniform Shop

Orders via Flexischools

Uniform Coordinators:

Renae Godden & Caitlin Richards

0416 207 330 Uniforms will come

home on Fridays

PRINCIPAL’S GOLD BOOK

Pixie

Teddy Bears Picnic If you went down into the COLA last Thursday you got a very big surprise as Kindergarten and their Year 5 buddies along with their teddy bears had gathered for the annual Teddy Bears Picnic. There were lots of marvellous foods to eat, dancing that was done and

laughter could be heard throughout the school. At the end of the event there was very tired little teddy bears!

Stage Two Excursion On the 23 of February we went to Sydney to experience Chinese culture.

We saw sea cucumbers and lots of different Chinese food.

After, we went and saw lots of cool fish, water dragons and one turtle.

We went on a little quest to collect keys to open a book. I learnt that I was born in the year of the rabbit.

After that, at the end of our adventure around the Chinese Gardens, we made a colourful rat using origami.

Liam 3/4D

On the way to Sydney, I sat next to Jett. I saw the Harbour Bridge and everyone was screaming with excitement.

When we had recess, we walked up to Chinatown and found Leonie, she was going to teach us.

We saw lion statues; a female and a male. The female was holding a cub and the male was holding the earth.

We went through Chinatown, it was so cool. Then we learnt about the lanterns, the bigger they are, the more

good luck they have.

Then we looked at some food. There were sea cucumbers and shark fins.

After lunch, we went to the Chinese Gardens. This was my favourite place. We had to solve riddles and get keys

to open a locked case with a book in it.

After all that, we had to run back to the bus, where I got on sneakily. I sat at the back with Jack. We watched

Paddington. I had a great day. Ethan 3/4D

After we got off the boring bus trip, we went exploring through Chinatown where I saw lots of fish swimming in a

giant tank. If you were to get a fish, it would be so fresh and delicious. A few minutes later, we saw sea

cucumbers, they smelt horrible and are so much money.

I learnt that 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture.

Next, we got to go to the Chinese Gardens. There were mini trees, they were so adorable. We had to do a quest

where we had to solve riddles and answer questions. Some people got to wear a red bag around their necks that

had a key in it. They would take the key out of the bag and put in a lock and only one would be able to open it.

Elisha 3/4D

Chinese Gardens and Chinatown

Yesterday, Year 4 went to Chinatown on a coach bus which was fancy. It had places to put your backpack instead of under your feet. There was an open wardrobe to put the backpacks over your head. The bus had seatbelts. We left school at 7:30am. It took longer to get there than to come back but that was probably because I was too excited. We went to Sydney because at school our theme is Community and Remembrance for History and it was Chinese New Year.

When we got there, we first learnt that China and NSW are sisters because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would go and hold their breath and get sea cucumbers. At Chinatown, the sea cucumbers cost 270 dollars for a ten pack.

Next, we went to the Chinese Gardens and saw unique Koi fish, magnificent temples, spiky bamboo and a busy body turtle that was trying to spy on us. We had a tour guide and there were riddles. If a classmate answered a riddle correctly, they got to wear a necklace with a key inside it. One of the keys opened a special book about the Jade Emperor and the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

The tour guide told us that red means good luck, green means protection and gold means wealth. The reason the Chinese homes mostly have pointed roofs is because if evil spirits land on top of the roof, they will just slide off.

One really interesting part of the excursion was when we learnt about two dragons. The one on the right is a male who protects the world. The one on the left is a female who protects humans.

Chinatown was truly incredible!

Phoebe 4L

Brisbania Public School Wellbeing Policy, 2021

ANTI -BULLYING POLICY

At Brisbania Public School we believe that all students have the right to a safe, inclusive and supportive learning environment. Bullying, including cyber bullying; harassment and violence, is totally unacceptable behaviour. Bullying and harassment are issues that are treated very seriously as they can adversely affect a student’s ability to work and learn, therefore we work hard to find solutions to stop incidents from occurring. Evidence suggests that the development of resilience and positive self-esteem can help to protect people from the harmful effects of bullying, as well as help them build positive peer relationships. The school will work with the school community and other services and agencies to support its students in being responsible and productive members of this community. Definitions Bullying: is repeated verbal, physical or social behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an individual or group towards one or more persons. Conflict or fights between students and single incidents are not regarded as bullying. Examples of Bullying: Physical: hitting, pushing, touching, grabbing, looks, stares, facial expressions, gestures, spitting, taking or

damaging property Verbal or written: spoken or written insults, threats, suggestive comments, teasing, name-calling, unfair

criticism, spreading rumours Graffiti/ Vandalism: using pictures, tags or words in a negative way Social: forming groups to exclude, ignore and disrespect; influencing, encouraging or organising someone else

to be involved in any type of bullying or harassment

Cyber Bullying: refers to bullying through information and communication technologies uses e-technology as a means of victimising others. It is the use of an internet service or mobile technologies such as email, chat rooms, discussion groups, instant messaging, web pages or SMS, with the intent of harming another person. Cyber Bullying may involve varying levels of severity, ranging from occasional messages to frequently repeated and highly disturbing threats to a person’s life. Activities can include repeated negative messages, sexual and racist harassment, denigration, impersonation, trickery, exclusion and cyber-stalking. Cyber Bullying can occur from a single act when the message or picture is sent to more than one person. For example, a person who may only press send once, but the choice to send the message to multiple addresses, makes the action more than a single incident. Discrimination occurs when people are treated less favourably than others because of: race, culture or ethnic origin, religion, physical characteristics, gender, sexual orientation, marital, parenting or economic status, age, and/or ability or disability. Discrimination is often ongoing and commonly involves exclusion or rejection. Harassment including Sexual Harassment is behaviour that targets an individual or group, and that offends, humiliates, intimidates or creates a hostile environment. Harassment is an ongoing pattern of behaviour. Bystander Behaviour A bystander is someone who sees the bullying or knows that it is happening to someone else. As bystanders, peers can reinforce the bullying behaviour through their own behaviour, disdainfully move away or intervene to stop bullying. Bystanders can be identified in the following categories: SUPPORTERS Support the person bullying, either by helping the child to bully the other person or by encouraging

the person bullying SPECTATORS Gather or deliberately stay to watch the incident (sometimes from concern and sometimes for

enjoyment) WITNESSES Are aware that the incident is occurring (know about the bullying or see it from a distance) Bystanders’ influence can be utilised in a positive and effective way to protect the person being bullied and to

motivate students who bully to change their behaviour. This can be done by supporting other students who are bullied, telling someone to seek help for that person and influencing the peer group to refrain from bullying others.

What we do at Brisbania Public to reduce bullying Annually review our Wellbeing Policy and associated procedures

Each year all classes will use the social and emotional learning programme You Can Do It! which focuses on five key foundations to being successful and happy. These include resilience, getting along, confidence, organisation and persistence

Participate in Rock and Water lessons

Establish, model and maintain respectful working and learning relationships

Staff and SLSOs will provide quality supervision in the playground

Develop programmes and initiatives that enable students to have input into their learning, educate each other and promote a school climate that will not accept bullying

Provide students with the knowledge, skills and support to be effective bystanders

Develop and foster positive relationships with students and families

Keep parents/caregivers and the school community informed about strategies we are using

Provide professional development for staff

Ensure all staff are aware of how to address incidents of bullying and harassment within the framework of our Wellbeing Policy and related policies and procedures

Work in partnership with outside agencies to provide supplementary programmes for targeted students

Work with students who report bullying by listening to their concerns and support them to develop a range of

strategies to deal with such issues effectively Support parents by providing links to relevant websites and resources

What should a student do about bullying? If a student is being bullied or knows someone who is being bullied, and other positive strategies have not been successful, it needs to be reported. Reporting of an incident should occur as soon after the incident as possible because this gives the school the best opportunity to follow up the incident and intervene. WHO TO REPORT TO? Report to teachers, Assistant Principal, Principal, other school staff and parents/caregivers HOW TO REPORT? Report where and how often the bullying is occurring and what has already been tried to stop it happening. Students’ responsibilities are to: Actively participate in social and emotional learning lessons regarding anti-bullying and developing positive

behaviours

Communicate with an appropriate adult if bullied or harassed or if they are aware that someone else is being bullied or harassed

Not retaliate but allow the school to manage the incident

Learn to be an effective bystander, so that bullying and harassment are discouraged through peer influence

What parents can do: Encourage their child to report incidents

Work with the school and maintain regular contact with your child’s class teacher

Support their child to not bully others

Support their child to follow school procedures and not retaliate in such cases

Not become part of the problem if they witness bullying, but to report the issue to the school

Communicate in a respectful manner with the school staff about issues of concern as soon as possible after these concerns arise

Keep the school informed of concerns about behaviour, their child’s health issues or other matters of relevance

If you believe your child is being bullied and has not reported it, please report it.

HOW TO REPORT? 1. Arrange a meeting with an appropriate staff member (class teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal). 2. Bring to the meeting the facts in writing providing as much detail as possible about each of the incidents. Written

details of bullying incidents should include: when, where, what happened, who was involved (including bystanders), and any action your child has taken to stop it.

3. Work with your child and the school staff on a plan to keep your child safe, including strategies to avoid being bullied and responses to future bullying. Please do not approach any children involved or their parents.

It is difficult for the school to follow up on an incident if it is unaware of it and, therefore we encourage students and parents to inform the school of such incidents immediately. What the school will do when bullying is reported: Take all reports of bullying seriously and record the incidents

The role of bystanders in bullying situations will be acknowledged and recorded details will include who was a bystander

Actively listen and talk to the target and the perpetrator, at all times reassuring the target that they have shown strength to report

Where appropriate, parents will be informed and asked to meet with a member of the executive team

The bullying behaviour or threats will be investigated and the bullying stopped quickly. Responses may take the form of counselling (for both the target and the perpetrator) or adult mediation.

After the incident / incidents have been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored to ensure repeated bullying does not take place

Put appropriate consequences into place if required. Consequences will be dependant upon the nature, severity and extent of individual cases and may include: student removed from class/playground; on-going monitoring of behaviour; apology; counselling; parent/student/school conferencing; suspension.

Sunday 7 March is Clean Up Australia Day. We are very fortunate that Brisbania PS is always clean and tidy, so we will be talking in class about how we can 'Take 3 for the Sea' to keep our beautiful waterways clean. Please take some time to discuss this initiative with your child; together we can make a difference to end plastic pollution.

2021 PREMIERS READING CHALLENGE The aim of the challenge is to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and enable them to experience quality literature. It isn’t a competition but a challenge for each student to read more and read more widely. All students will be given an opportunity to read some of these books in the school library each week during class sessions. The challenge is commencing from today (Monday 1 March). When a student enters the Challenge, they become eligible for a certificate. Certificates have the student’s name and school printed on them. Due to child protection issues, the organisers are no longer publishing an Honour Roll on the website and therefore we no longer need signed permission notes from parents or caregivers. Mr Lemmon (the Teacher Librarian) will keep a record of Premier’s Reading Challenge books read by students during the year. Rules for the Challenge are on the website: http://www.premiersreading challenge.nsw.edu.au. Kindergarten to Year 2 will be reading 30 books (ones with mainly lots of illustrations) and Years 3 to 6 will read 20 books (mostly

Non Fiction) to complete the challenge, with many being read to students during library sessions.

The school swimming carnival took place on Friday 19 February and was a great success. It was so great to see so many students competing to earn points for their sports houses and clapping positively from the stands. The overall results from the day were reviewed to determine the overall places. The swimming carnival ribbons were given out last Friday in a special Years 2-6 assembly. Congratulations to all of the 120+ ribbon recipients. The SCPSSA released updated qualifying times over the weekend for the Zone Swimming competition. We have a team of 17 students that were fast enough to gain a place in our 2021 Zone Swimming Team. Letters will be

sent home ready for the Zone carnival next Tuesday, 9 March.

A big thank you to the parents who attended the carnival, albeit under COVID restrictions and to all the staff and students for making it such an enjoyable day of swimming.

Mitzi Self