Bradshaw Primary School eNewsletter

Message from Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

The last two weeks have passed very quickly and our teachers are continuing to deliver high level and enjoyable learning opportunities for all our students.

On Tuesday and Thursday, Laura Jean Photography offered photo opportunities to our Bradshaw families and nearly all available slots were filled.

Last Friday we held an ‘End of Summer’ celebration. All students and staff came to school wearing very colourful summer clothes. Many Buddy Class activities took place with a disco separately for Lower and Middle/Upper Primary students. A big thank you to DJ KD (Miss Dorfman) for organizing and running the Discos.

Our School Council Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Wednesday 1^st March at 5.30 pm in the School Library. It was wonderful to see and meet many parents that evening and to see very strong parent representation on the 2023 Bradshaw School Council.

On Wednesday (8 March) afternoon from 5 pm to 6 pm Teachers in the Transition and Year 1 classes will be offering Parents an opportunity to understand Bradshaw’s approach to Reading. Research has shown the critical importance of Reading in the Early Years as a foundational skill to enable students to access their learning as they progress through school life. Please take the time to come and meet your child’s teacher for this very important opportunity.

This year NAPLAN is starting on 15^th March, which is much earlier than in previous years. This will involve our Year 3 and 5 students. They are preparing now to demonstrate their skills in literacy and numeracy and being given opportunities on practice tests. This will be the second year that the Naplan Online tests will be tailored or adaptive. Students at each level start with a similar set of questions. Depending on each student’s answer, the next set of questions may be easier or more difficult, giving students greater opportunity to demonstrate what they know.

Lastly, a reminder to use your Back to School voucher as these will expire at the end of this term. Please come into the front office to utilise your childs voucher.

Kind regards,

Amit Kundu

Principal

Year 1/2 Phillips & 2/3 Spencer-Wright - Buddy Artwork

School Council AGM Update

Thank you to all those who attended the School Council AGM on Wednesday where we reflected on the 2022 year and voted in the new school council members. It was wonderful to see so many families take time out of their busy day to attend. School council meetings will resume shortly and we look forward to your input. It has been my pleasure to be the 2022 Chairperson.

As of Monday there will be a combination of parent volunteers and school staff doing the school crossing. A big thank you to all those that have volunteered your time. There are still available time slots if anyone else would like to put their hand up to help.

Many Thanks,

Deb Micallef

School Council Chairperson

Important Dates

- Transition and Year 1 - Understanding Bradshaw's approach to Reading Information session, Wednesday 8th March, 5pm-6pm (Week 6)

- Whole School Assembly, Friday 10th March (Week 6), 8:30am, Jill Tudor Hall

- NAPLAN Year 3 and 5, 15th to 27th March (Week 7 & 8)

- Swimming for Transition and Year 1 students, 20th to 24th March (Week 8)

- Harmony Day Whole School Celebration, (Students can wear Orange) Friday 24th March (Week 8). More information to follow.

- Last day of Term 1, Thursday 6th April

Toys and Pokemon cards at school

A reminder that children should not bring toys, including Pokemon cards from home to school. Toys can get lost, misplaced or broken and this distresses the owner and distracts from the learning in the classroom. They also often cause arguments between children which again disrupts learning in the classroom while disputes are resolved.

Swimming for Transition and Year 1 students

Transition and Year 1 students will have their swimming lessons in Week 8 of this term (20th to 24th March). Notes will be going home soon so please look out for these. Consent forms will need to be returned along with payment of $40. The Back to School Voucher can be used towards this, please visit the front office to use your voucher.

Digital devices at school

The new 'Student mobile phones in government schools' policy is now in effect at all NT Government schools. This means that students are not allowed to have their mobile phone in their possession during the school day.

The policy applies to mobile phones, smart watches and all other devices that allow electronically based distractions.

At Bradshaw, our procedure is:

Mobile phones must be switched off and taken to the Front Office before the school day begins and collected at the end of the school day.

Smart watches will need to be switched to flight mode while students are in school. This mode will not give students digital updates and will ensure your child continues to engage in a focused learning environment.

Please come see us if you have any concerns.

Bradshaw Snapshot

Science with Mrs Mapstone

Spaghetti! Spaghetti! All over our face!

In science this week, some classes have been learning about the changes to food when they gain heat energy. Spaghetti begins hard and then when it gains heat energy it turns soft, sticky, wet, slippery and slimy. Will it return to its original state before it was cooked?

Year 6 Lewis

This week in 6L students have been learning about equivalent fractions and decimals by participating in hand on activities. Students have also been learning about mobile phone bans in schools in preparation for persuasive writing.

Year 2/3 Spencer-Wright

Students in 2/3 Spencer-Wright have had a great start to the year. We’ve been busy looking at the history of Australia and students have enjoyed reading the book My Place and learning more about how children lived in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. We have enjoyed the opportunity to meet and work with our buddies, creating beautiful mosaics and portraits of each other. In maths we have been using concrete materials to help us explore numbers into the thousands and have enjoyed getting creative and working in small groups.

Year 4 Zabilowicz – Ambe Akgnerre 1

We have had an awesome start to the year in Ampe Akgnerre 1! We have discovered life in Australia 60,000 years ago, and have been reading Grim Crims and Convicts to learn all about life as a convict travelling to Australia in 1788. We have been challenging ourselves to use our weekly vocabulary words in our writing too. In maths, we have started exploring the concept of time, and are becoming more and more confident with a range of math games at the beginning of each lesson.

We have also enjoyed getting to know our buddies over the last two weeks! We read a few picture story books and went out for a play on the big playground.

End of Summer Buddy Event

Students had a blast at our End of Summer Buddy Event last Friday! It was lovely to see students dressed for the occassion and joining with their Buddy class for fun activites. A special mention goes to our very own DJ Miss Dorfman who provided the beats!

Understanding Bradshaw's approach to Reading - Information session for Transition and Year 1

Back to School Vouchers and Family Contributions

Back to School Vouchers

Have you used your Back to School Voucher yet?

Back to School Vouchers ($150) are available for each student. If you have not yet redeemed your BTS Voucher please visit the Front office. BTS Vouchers can be used for Uniforms, camps, swimming, excursions. BTS Vouchers cannot be used towards Family Contributions and must be redeemed in Term 1.

Family Contributions

If you haven't yet paid your family contribution, please do so by the end of term.

The annual Family Contributions are as follows:

One child enrolled: $100
Two children enrolled: $175
Three or more children enrolled: $250
Low income family: $50 per student (max $150 per family)

This represents excellent value at around $2.50 per week per child. The school relies on family contributions to ensure high quality resources are available in classrooms and to assist with purchasing classroom consumables, subsidising incursions and travel for excursions. Please see the Front Office, contributions can be made using Cash and Eftpos.

Attendance

It is important that every student is at school every day. School starts at 8:30am and all students should be at class to start the day.

Please notify the front office when your child will not be at school and the reason they are not at school. If your child is sick for more than three days a medical certificate is required.

You can notify us by phoning us on 8955 2100 or by email to bradshaw.school@education.nt.gov.au