Schools are safe and open for full time face-to-face learning

All public schools are returning to full on-campus learning from Monday 25 May. All school activities and operations will be in line with Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and NSW Health guidelines as applicable.

School students do not need to follow physical distancing guidelines, but should follow good hygiene practices like: • Regularly washing hands • Avoiding sharing drinks or food • Coughing or sneezing into your elbow, or a tissue which should be discarded immediately. School attendance All students should be at school unless: • They have a medical certificate which states that they are unable to return to school due to an ongoing medical condition • They are currently unwell. Students who have a medical certificate to stay at home will be supported to learn from home in line with regular procedures if they are able to. These regular procedures are different to what was offered during the learning from home period. If you require work to be provided to your child whilst they are at home due to an underlying health condition, you should contact the school for assistance.

Please note, students who live with a family member in one of the categories identified as

Carolyn Nugent - Principal 21 Auckland Street BEGA NSW 2550

PO Box 667 BEGA NSW 2550 School Office Hours: 8.30am to 3.30pm Phone 02 6492 1280 ▪ Fax 02 6492 3965

Bega Valley Public School

Great Expectations ~ Great Attitude ~ Great Opportunities

NEWSLETTER - Term 2 Week 4

Phone: (02) 64 921 280

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents/Carers

School will resume for ALL students fulltime from Monday 25 May. Please read the details regarding the return to school in this newsletter. This week is National Volunteers’ Week and we acknowledge the generous contribution of our nation’s volunteers. At this uncertain time we feel that it is more important than ever to recognise and acknowledge Australia’s volunteers. At BVPS we would like to thank our P&C, the Breakfast Club Helpers, our classroom volunteers and reading helpers, the SES, the Rural Fire Service, our Scripture and Ethics presenters, our local volunteers who help out in our Indigenous garden, parents who regularly volunteer to drive our students to sporting and academic events offsite and all of the wonderful people who share their time for the benefit of our school, we are grateful for ALL of your support!

being at increased risk by the AHPPC, should attend school unless a medical practitioner advises otherwise in writing. If your child is unwell, do not send them to school. If they are unwell at school you or your nominated emergency contact will need to collect them immediately. Please make sure your contact details are up to date. If a student is absent without a medical reason for more than three days, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and followed up by the school. If you need any support to get your child back to school, please contact your school. Reporting and assessment Your child has been assessed during the learning from home period and will receive additional assessment on their return to school. You will receive your child’s semester 1 report at the end of Term 2. This will be a simplified version of the report you normally receive. Teachers are encouraged to discuss your child’s progress with you before the written report is issued. School activities Teachers will continue to follow the same school curriculum with the exception of some activities that can’t go ahead for now. What children can do: • Use the school library • Engage in non-contact sporting activities What students can’t do: • School assemblies (unless for critical information) • School incursions and excursions including camps • Inter-school activities (debating, inter-school sport) • In-school activities requiring parent or other volunteers • Drink from a water bubbler – bring a water bottle instead School cleaning and hygiene supplies Our school is receiving additional cleaning in line with the AHPPC guidelines and advice from NSW Health. Targeted areas include high-touch areas and other hard surfaces, door handles, lockers, light switches and handrails in stairways and movement areas. There will also be additional cleaning of toilets and bubblers and topping up of supplies like soap.

School grounds There should be no visitors to school sites unless they are essential and with principal’s approval. Responding to COVID-19 cases There is a clear plan in place for schools to respond to any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our schools. The Dept of Education is working closely with NSW Health and will communicate with parents if a situation was to arise. Carolyn Nugent Principal

Science in K6M Students who returned to school on Monday this week were able to complete their scale(ish) model of the solar system. This is part of our unit on space. Students made a distance from the sun model, which measured 5cm=50million km.

Class News K/1B

What a different start to term 2! It has been so lovely to start seeing students at school again as we begin phase one of our return. It will be fantastic to all be together in the classroom on Monday. A big thankyou to all the parents and carers who have supported the continuity of learning for all students in K/1B. It has been lovely to be able to share our learning over Dojo and see the effort students have put in with their home learning packs. We have really enjoyed our focus text for writing ‘The Return of Thelma the Unicorn’ over the past week. In the book, Thelma learns, with the help of her friend Otis, that she should just be herself to be happy. Students were asked to write about what makes them happy. Nate B – “I am happy being me because I have a fun family. They play games with me and make me laugh. Playing with my dogs also makes me happy. Other things that make me happy are the beach, the park and soccer.” Zander – “What makes me happy is going camping. We go to a caravan park that has a pool, a jumping pillow, a games room and putt putt. It’s so fun we take our caravan and I sleep on the top bunk.” Number of the day has been another popular home learning task for students.

Class News 5/6 R

Welcome Flynn C to 5/6R. It has been pleasing to observe students in 5/6R settling into a consistent routine this term with their learning at home and at school. The weekly timetable the students are following is being monitored when students check in with Mrs Roberts at school or through google classroom. Students are developing independent learning skills, including the positive use of technology to enhance their learning. It has been pleasing to see students continuing to read daily, complete literacy pro tests and start to add to the premiers reading challenge. Our integrated unit of learning this term is Save One Island, Save them All with focus on the book One Small Island by Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch. One Small Island is the story of a remote and precious World Heritage Site. We explore the island’s unique geological beginnings, discovery and degradation of humans, and the battle to restore the island today. In Science we are exploring Earth and the solar system, even using our artistic and creative skills to design a model to represent the solar system.

1/2D Class News

Well, what an unusual start to Term 2! I know it hasn’t been easy but I thank all the parents and carers of 1/2D for their efforts, patience and understanding through this unusual time! I cannot wait for things to go back to normal next week. I have been missing all of the students so much. The integration back to school last week and this week has been a wonderful opportunity to reconnect and re-establish our classroom routine. I can’t wait to see everyone’s bright and cheerful faces back at school, ready to learn!

Linken and Noah testing out the new PM eCollection on the iPads. If you haven't already downloaded it onto your iPad or tablet at home, please do! All children have a login so they can access their readers at home and school.

Sasha completing her

learning from home

Miley completing her writing at home. Thank you Ms Newton for the wonderful clips you uploaded to ClassDojo. Addie completing her maths from home.

Music News

Our music students have been progressing well through accessing the BVPS Musical Tutorial Google Classroom. On this site students are able to watch a multitude of tutorial videos made by Mrs McVeity & Garry. Along with the videos is all the material students need to learn Wind & Brass instruments, along with guitar. This Music Google Classroom is very valuable resource. We will be continuing to use it even when we’re all back at school to support student learning.

Stage 1 have been very engaged in learning musical skills through participation in the Music activities posted on Class Dojo. There have been some fantastic responses, including some brilliant videos of the songs we’ve learned uploaded by students.

Stage 2 have been learning about the Elements of Music through activities posted on Google Classroom. Stage 3 have also been developing their skills in identifying the Elements of Music along with playing the recorder through their Google Classroom.

The school choir is learning a lovely rendition of The Carpenter’s ‘Close to you’. The learning resources for this piece are on all the Stage 2 & 3 Google Classrooms. All Stage 2 & 3 students are welcome to learn the song and join the choir.

I am looking forward to seeing you all back at

school from next week.

Mrs McVeity

P&C Newsletter Week 4 Term 2

As we get closer to classes going back to normal, I'd like to congratulate and thank the teachers and all the staff for their hard work during the schooling from home period. One of the things that I've appreciated is how accessible the teachers were via school stream, Google Classrooms, email and on the phone. Whilst all these methods of communication were available to us as parents in the past, the restrictions have meant we've been more likely to reach out to the class teacher than ever before. If we are to take any positives out of the restrictions and look to continue something post restrictions, this increased communication between parents and teachers should be high on the list. Keep an eye on Facebook and School Stream for updates on the next P&C meeting, if the social distancing continues we will look to do an online meeting towards the end of term 2. Working Bee Postponed Due to the social distancing rules in place at the moment we will have to cancel the planned working bee for this Sunday – please keep an eye out for updates.

Important note from Tuff As Workwear Tuff-As Workwear have recently been informed that due to the coronavirus in China, the hooded jumpers which were due for delivery this month have now been delayed until later in the year.

The reason for the delay is that factories are currently operating at 15% instead of their full capacity. Whilst this is an unfortunate circumstance which is out of Tuff-As Workwear's control, they do have the new full zip polar fleece

jumper available instore and also the current BVPS jumper is available for a discounted price of $22.50. Tuff As Workwear will also soon be selling school beanies. We will let you know once these become available.

School Stream App The P&C is very supportive of the school’s move to start using the School Stream App. You can download this App for free at the

ITunes store or the equivalent App store for non-Apple phones. The School will use this App to get information like newsletters, bus breakdowns, absent notes, excursion details etc out to parents. Once you have downloaded the App you will be able to sign up to Bega Public School and get all the alerts in real time as they are posted.

Facebook Please join the schools Facebook page, it is a great source of information about what is happening in the school. Information from the

school will go out on School Stream and the info from the P&C will go out on Facebook, so make sure you join both.

Voluntary School Contribution Every year we ask families to support our school through our Voluntary School Contribution Fund. In 2020 this contribution from you will fund your child’s online subscriptions to Mathletics, Literacy Pro, Reading Eggs and iPad apps used at school. At BVPS we invite families to pay the Voluntary School Contribution fee:

$30 per child or $50 per family The Invoice for Voluntary School Contribution will be sent home with this newsletter. Payment can be made directly through the Office or online: https://bega-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/ and click on

the make a payment tab.