TERM 1 WEEK 7 - MONDAY 6TH MARCH 2023
SCIENCE
Year 7 have settled into a routine of high school and have spent some time exploring the labs and looking at safety. Most classes have used the Bunsen burners for the first time and have even gained their licences! They are reminded about having correct footwear (enclosed leather shoes with no mesh) when working in the lab and to ensure that all long hair is tied back. Well done Year 7 for a safe transition into high school Science.
Students in Year 8 will don their lab coats and begin their Greenhouse Assessment this week. Students will develop their practical skills and ability to analyse data. Fingers crossed for some sunny weather so we can get outside!
Year 9 students are studying ecosystems and as part of their assessment this term, they will be exploring their own backyards or local park areas. They will look closely at the organisms they find and explore the way they interact.
Year 10 have started the year with a Chemistry unit. They will experience each of the major branches of Science before making their selections as to what they would like to study into their senior years.
Year 11 Biology have started their senior studies by looking at cells and using microscopes. They have drawn the cells whilst looking down the microscopes, counted blood cells and modelled the structure and function of membranes. Students are working towards their first senior assessment at the end of this term.
Students in Year 12 Biology have begun their unit on Infectious Diseases, a very topical unit indeed. They will look in depth at the factors involved in the spread of Infectious Diseases and how we, as a population, can restrict the spread. Sound familiar?
The HSC Physicists have been working hard on electromagnetism. They are currently building simple DC motors as part of their second assessment task for the HSC year! This task requires them to design and perform an experiment aimed to test the functionality of the motor. Plenty of fun being had in the lab and plenty of inquiry-based learning giving the boys a deep understanding of the ways of moving charge and magnetic fields.
Year 12 Chemistry is currently undertaking a depth study on titrations. Students have been learning about the importance of titrations as an analytical technique in industry. When conducting a titration, students use calibrated, volumetric equipment to determine unknown concentrations of acids and bases.
Ms Cassie Middleton - Head Teacher Science
LANGUAGES
JAPANESE NEWS
Year 7 Japanese students have learned to introduce themselves and their friends, say common greetings and phrases, perform class routines and ask how you are. They have been introduced to 3 celebrations of the year. Oshougatsu, Setsubun and Valentines Day.
Oshougatsu is the Japanese New Year’s celebrations where people send New Year Greeting cards featuring the oriental zodiac animal for the year (the rabbit) and play traditional games such as Kendama (cup and ball) and koma-mawashi (spinning tops).
Setsubun sees the change in seasons and the throwing of soy beans at Oni (demons) to get rid of bad luck and welcome good luck into the home. Valentines Day has females giving tomo-choko (various types of chocolate to friends), giri-choko (chocolate to colleagues) and honmei-choko (chocolate for partners). Never fear, this is reciprocated on White Day on the 14th of March when males offer gifts.
Year 9 Japanese and Year 11 Japanese Beginners have been focusing on mastering their use of hiragana, the Japanese alphabet, and using common greetings and phrases. Year 9 have also been learning numbers and have enjoyed playing karuta, a traditional snapping game, which helps students remember their kanji numbers.
Year 10 and 12 Japanese have been working to consolidate their coursework and incorporate new grammatical structures, vocabulary and kanji into their written texts.
Ms Sheridan Hargreaves - Classroom Teacher Japanese
“WE FOSTER AN INCLUSIVE LEARNING COMMUNITY, INSPIRING STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE THEIR PERSONAL BEST BY BECOMING LIFELONG LEARNERS, CRITICAL THINKERS AND HEALTHY CREATIVE MEMBERS OF A GLOBAL SOCIETY.”
ATTENDANCE PROCEDURE CHANGE
We are starting a process of review for our attendance procedures and how the school will follow up to meet its reporting and policy guidelines. We will ensure accurate information continues to be shared with parent/caregivers in a timely manner. There will be no change to the daily attendance text message, which remains the simplest method of response when explaining an absence in writing. What may change is the wording in our letters and who may be in contact with you when patterns of attendance indicate a concern. The progress development of these procedures will be shared in future P and C meetings in further detail and you are welcomed to join this conversation. Once finalised, we will share the updated process in our Newsletter and Facebook.
RESILIENCE IN OUR TEENS (RIOT)
Our RIOT trained teachers, RIOT Champions, have conducted their first training sessions with all of our students. The program aims to assist students in managing their anxious behaviour. All of our staff have completed professional learning about what RIOT is and how staff conversations can assist in limiting the impact of anxiety on our learners.
EVACUATION DRILL
We held a successful evacuation emergency drill on Thursday 2 March. From this, we gathered valuable feedback on the timely responses of our procedures and can adjust our plans to improve the safety of students, staff and community members in the event of a real emergency. The WH&S team would like to thank the students for the manner they responded to instructions during the drill. We are required to conduct another practice drill later in the year.
SERVICE NSW QUIET HOUR
Service NSW has been trialling ‘Quiet Hours’ across a number of locations this year to better support customers who prefer a less stimulating environment. Service NSW will now introduce a Quiet Hour in more locations, where they will have music turned down and phones set to silent to make visits more comfortable for customers. Tweed Heads Service Centre will be running a quiet hour on Tuesdays between 9:30 and 10:30am starting Tuesday 21 March. For more information please see the Service NSW homepage.
Mr Damien Borg - Rel. Principal
- Monday 6 March - P&C Meeting
- Tuesday 7 March - FNC Open Netball - Cavanbah Centre, Byron Bay
- Tuesday 14 March - T5 Visual Art Enrichment Day at Tweed River Art Gallery – Year 12 Vis. Art
- Tuesday 14 March - FNC Basketball at Ballina Indoor Sports Centre
- Wednesday 15 March - NAPLAN (15 March to 27 March)
- Monday 20 March - Supernova testing at BPHS for Year 7 students in 2024
- Monday 27 March - 'Catch Up' day for Supernova testing at BPHS
NAPLAN
NAPLAN will run from the 15 to the 27 March. Below is some information that the Department has provided to assist parents and carers.
SUPERNOVA TESTING
Banora Point High School plans to continue competitive selective classes across all years. For Year 7 2024, this class will be referred to as Year 7 "Supernova". It will fit within our highly successful Middle School structure. Placement in the Supernova Class is decided through a well-defined process. The Year 7 Supernova Class process commences with a selection test that will be conducted by members of our staff in the library at Banora Point High School on Monday 20 March, starting at 9.00am.
A separate 'catch-up' day will be run at Banora Point High School on Monday 27 March starting at 9.00am for students from Primary Schools who cannot make it on the 20 March. Letters will be delivered to BPPS, CPS and TPS soon. If your child does not attend these primary schools but you are intending to apply to BPHS, please contact Kerry King or Vince Duff at BPHS on 07 55131960, by Wednesday 15 March.
NEED TO PICK YOUR CHILD UP FROM SCHOOL EARLIER?
We understand that it is necessary sometimes for you to collect your child during the school day for emergency reasons. When this occurs, can you kindly call the school prior to collecting your child so we can ensure they are waiting in the office for when you arrive. Our office number is 07 55131960. If you arrive at the school unannounced, it is not always possible to get them from their classrooms promptly. Doing this can create disruption to other classmates and teachers who are providing an education to our students. If you are aware at the commencement of the school day that that you need to collect your child for an appointment, please ensure they bring a note to the office before roll call at 8.30am. Please make sure the note states the time your child is being picked up, by whom and for what purpose. Please note that you MUST be listed as a contact on your child’s registration for you to be able to pick them up. Once a note has been given to our friendly administration staff, they will issue your child with a ‘school leave pass for partial absence’ card. The student then presents this card to their teacher during the applicable period they are leaving so they can be excused from the classroom to attend the office and await collection. Can you kindly discourage your child from contacting you via text message. They will not be dismissed from class without the ‘school leave pass for partial absence' card. Thank you for your assistance.
P&C COMMITTEE
NEXT P&c MEETING IS TODAY AT 6.30PM
Our committee work tirelessly for our school and their support and assistance is not only very appreciated but it is very valued. It enables us to purchase resources for our students from the funds they raise. We had a very successful first meeting of the year earlier in the month and it was fantastic to see some new faces. Please consider joining our wonderful committee made up of dedicated parents and citizens. It is a great opportunity to stimulate fresh ideas and support Banora Point High School P&C initiatives.
McCALLIE'S SPORTS SHORTS
TENNIS
Gefen Bergman and Lachlan Johnson travelled down to Parramatta this week to compete at the NSWCHSSA Secondary Individual Tennis Championships. Both boys played extremely well in their individual games. The boys then paired up in the doubles and won all their games including the final 7-5. Massive congratulations to Gefen and Lachlan who also made the NSWCHSSA team to compete at the NSW All Schools championships later this year.
RUGBY LEAGUE
Several BPHS students travelled to Mullumbimby last Tuesday to trial for the FNC rugby league teams. Congratulations goes out to Thomas Whitton, Colby Ward and Bailey McKenna for making the under 15s team. Congratulations also goes out to Zac Windle, Thomas King, Matthew Whitton and Seth Galeano for making the opens FNC team. They boys will travel to Ballina this week to trial for the Northern Rivers team.
SOCCER
We had two students head to Ballina to trial for the FNC opens girls soccer team. Big congratulations to Elli Steel for making the FNC team and Lily Tough for getting a shadow position. Well done girls!
There is plenty of sport to come this term so please ensure notes and payments are made on time so excursions can go ahead.
Mr McCallie - Classroom Teacher PDHPE
THE FACTS ABOUT VAPING
Please visit the NSW Health Department website for all the facts about vaping.
Vapes are not water. The main ingredient in vapes is propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine or glyercol. Vapes can contain the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray. They just don't put it on the pack. Vapes come in a number of flavours such as blueberry or bubble-gum that make them appealing. Many vapes also contain nicotine, the same highly addictive substance found in tobacco cigarettes. Testing has shown that vapes labelled 'nicotine-free' can have high nicotine levels. People can think they are using nicotine-free vapes and can unknowingly quickly develop a nicotine addiction.
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/vaping
Orders can be placed online directly with Daylight Sportswear. Order forms are also available for both the BPHS Junior School (Years 7 to 10) and the BPHS Senior School (Years 11 and 12) on our website. These can be completed and given to the uniform store directly during the hours listed below. Payment can be made to the Daylight Schoolwear Store by EFTPOS/Mastercard/VISA card or cash. No cheques accepted. Payments for school uniforms can be made at the uniform shop only , not the school administration office.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
WEDNESDAY 8TH MARCH
International Women's Day 2023 campaign theme: #EmbraceEquity For International Women's Day and beyond, let's all fully #EmbraceEquity.
Equity isn't just a nice-to-have, it's a must-have. A focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society's DNA. And it's critical to understand the difference between equity and equality.
The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren't enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.
NATIONAL Ride2School DAY 2023
Join more than 350,000 students from more than 900 schools around Australia who will be registered to participate in this year’s National Ride2School Day.
why ride2school?
- Bike riding is the easiest way to get healthy: It is recommended that children get 60 minutes of physical activity every day to maintain their health, and riding a bike to school is an easy and fun way to make sure they are hitting this target. It’s also a great way for parents to spend quality time with their children.
- It improves physical activity rates: In the 1970’s, 80% of all school children rode or walked to school but now more than two-thirds go by car. Thanks to Ride2School that trend is reversing – schools that participate in the Ride2School Program report an average active travel rate of 54%.
- It helps build confidence: Riding, walking, skating or scooting to school will make your students feel more self-sufficient, build resilience and helps them to develop an awareness of road safety and the environment around them.
- Students perform better in class: Being active on the school journey has a much greater impact on student concentration than having breakfast before school. A Danish study has shown that children who walk or ride to school display improved concentration for 4 hours longer than those who are driven.