This year there is a new acronym for school education in NSW. Many parents may be aware that the Board of Studies, commonly known as BOS has been the statutory authority that shapes the NSW curriculum, determines much of what is taught in school and manages all aspects of the HSC each year. From the beginning of this year BOS has been renamed BOSTES, Board of Studies Teaching & Education Standards. This means that one organisation strategically has the oversight of the curriculum taught, school quality and teacher standards.

Last week a team from BOSTES completed a registration inspection of NBCS as the school is now directly accredited by BOSTES. It was a thorough process by the inspection team, looking at all aspects of the school's operation, including assessment of documentation and procedures, along with curriculum compliance. Much of this work was undertaken off-site prior to the visit, followed by an in-person review of the site.

The inspectors gave very positive feedback:

• School curriculum documentation and programs were all very satisfactory
• Students and teachers in every space were very engaged
• The school has outstanding facilities
• Compliant in all mandated areas (WHS, policy, procedures and curriculum)
• It was recognised that the school is an innovative leader

After all the hard work of the staff in preparation, I am very pleased to report that the BOSTES inspectors had the final paperwork completed within an hour of coming on-site, giving NBCS five years before the next registration is required.

Learning Frontiers

NBCS has been selected to participate in Learning Frontiers – a national program that seeks to equip Australian schools. The program will focus on improving student engagement and learning. Last week, Stephen Harris, Anne Knock and Stephen Collis attended the first workshop to set the scene and frame this exciting opportunity.

Learning Frontiers is co-ordinated by AITSL (the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership) and the UK Innovation Unit. Four schools across Australia have been selected as leading schools, grouped in 2 ‘Labs Sites’. They will work closely with schools who are seeking to develop and grow in their practice. NBCS is honoured to be the only non-government school selected as a Lab Site.
 

Mr Stephen Harris
Principal

Week 6 was buzzing with activity, with classes immersed in learning, and many projects coming to life as we reach the mid-way point of the term.

On Wednesday, Year 11 and 12 students participated in a series of seminars focused on study skills with Elevate Education. The sessions looked at skills for time management, independent learning and dynamic reading, as well as tips and advice for note taking and managing assessments. We are confident that students found these sessions insightful and timely as they continue their Preliminary and HSC studies.

The week finished with disco fever for Primary, as the Primary Disco transformed the Zone, SCIL Building and MPC into dance floors late on Friday afternoon. The event, combined with a mufti day, was a fundraiser for the GO Program, and was an idea originally put forward by students. A lot of laughter and fun was enjoyed by students and staff alike, and a great time to further strengthen community amongst the students.

Due to changes in legislation, we have recently been able to make changes to the Absentee Policy, simplifying the procedures related to being absent from and returning to school. As these changes are implemented, we would like to assist by clarifying the process and expectations.
 

When a student is absent

On the day of absence (before 9am if possible), parents/guardians must advise NBCS via either email or phone:

• Email: absent@nbcs.nsw.edu.au
• Phone: 9450 1311 (choose option 1)

Parents/guardians must provide an explanation for the absence including:

1. child’s name
2. date of absence and expected duration
3. reason for the absence.

Returning to school

When your child returns to School, please download the Return to Class form found from the Download Centre.

To access this document from the website, go to the NBCS or Wavelength websites and follow the links to the Download Centre (password: orange). The completed form is to be returned to Student Reception.
 

Notifying parents of an absence

If a reason for absence has not been recorded by the time attendance rolls are marked, a text message will be sent to parents/guardians alerting them of their child's absence from School. If you receive an SMS alert please follow the procedure outlined above.

If necessary, the SMS notification will be followed up later in the week by an Unexplained Absences or Late Arrival letter reminding parents/guardians to notify the School of the reason their child was absent.

We would like to thank you for the positive feedback and prompt responses we have been receiving to the new SMS notifications. It is possible that as we implement the new system inaccuracies may occur. Please let us know if there is a discrepancy in the attendance records as this will enable us to further refine the process.

Thank you again for your support.

Mrs Karen Bright
Administration

Stage 5 Elective Commerce recently hosted a guest speaker, looking at way to make visual presentations more captivating for their audience. Below are some student reflections on the workshop.

On Friday 28 February, Mrs Cristina Herringe came into our Commerce class to teach us how to make an interesting and exciting presentation, using PowerPoint. This lecture was very helpful for our group presentation. We learnt many new ways to make a speech more interesting. Mrs Herringe discussed the techniques used to represent Tokyo in their Olympics bid and ways they made it exciting. She showed us how to utilise these techniques and combine them into our own presentations.
– Skye Viviers

Mrs Herringe came into our Commerce class and taught us about different ways to make a presentation eye catching. She taught us about how to make the layout of a PowerPoint look interesting by using relevant pictures and using the same colours. She taught us to put audio and visuals to keep the audience engaged.
– Miranda Larson

This week’s Michael Grose information sheet:
Managing kids who won’t take no for an answer

In association with our Empowering Parent Seminars, we have been providing additional weekly parent information sheets to support NBCS parents. Some information will be more relevant to Primary than Secondary and vice versa. This is to support families within our school community covering all age groups.

If you would like an information sheet on a specific topic sent via Wavelength, please contact Mrs Anne Jobson via the School Office (9450 1311).