Kindergarten 2024

KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION EVENING - 2024

Did you miss the Information Evening last week? You can catch up on the slides shown in the classrooms, here:

Kindy Information Night - 2024



Kinder 2024 Info Night Presentation.pptx

Parent Information Sessions

Don't miss our Jump Start Transition Program for students and parents.
Kindy 2023 Students will enjoy time in a classroom while parents take part in some information sessions and morning tea in the school hall.

SESSION 1 - Thursday 9 November, 2023

SESSION 2 - Thursday 16 November. 2023

SESSION 3 - Thursday 23 November. 2023

ALL SESSIONS START AT 9.30AM AND CONCLUDE AT 10.30AM. 

What is a'Best Start' Interview?

Best Start Interview 

Kindergarten students will participate in their "Best Start" Interview at the end of January, before they begin Kindy. Kindergarten teachers will observe Kindergarten students complete a range of tasks assessing where to start teaching literacy and numeracy with your child.  Kindergarten teachers have always taken time at the beginning of the year to find out how each child works with books, letters, and numbers. However, in Best Start, all Kindergarten teachers will use the same set of observation tasks utilised across NSW public schools. Interviews will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. 

The Best Start Interview is not a test. It is a process where your child’s teacher observes and records what your child already knows, understands and can do in literacy and numeracy and uses the information to guide their teaching. The teacher will look at your child’s early reading and writing, their ability to communicate with others, and how they recognise and work with numbers, groups and patterns. Your child’s teacher will provide feedback from the assessment. 

Teachers will be assessing individual children over three days at the beginning of the school year. Your child will been allocated an individual interview time on one of these days.  Parents will receive a letter in December indicating their child’s interview day and time.  You will be required to bring your child to school for their interview and wait until the assessment is complete before taking your child home. 

Kindergarten Requirements 

All students at Baulkham Hills North are provided with a Book Pack at the beginning of the year which includes all of the items required in the classroom. These include all books, stationery and a paint smock.  

Please provide a library bag for your child to use on their library day. You may wish to use the bag provided with the Kindergarten Transition to School Pack, the Book Pack, or you may choose to purchase a library bag from the uniform shop at Baulkham Hills North Public School. 

Other items you will need to provide for Kindergarten are a school bag, lunch box and drink bottle.  

Daily / Weekly Routines 

Please ensure that your child’s crunch and sip, recess (morning tea) and lunch are packed separately and marked with your child’s name. Each child will be given a “Home Folder” in the first week of Term 1. The folder is sent home each afternoon. Please check the folder on a daily basis, as it will contain items such as your child’s completed work. This folder is also for you to send any paperwork that needs to come back to school. 

You will receive a note at the beginning of the year with information about the weekly schedule for each class. This will include the library and sport day for your child’s class.  

Year Six Buddies 

Kindergarten students will meet their Year Six Buddy at the beginning of the school year. Throughout the year, students meet with their buddy once a week. They are involved in activities to develop Fundamental Movement Skills, Peer Support Lessons and eating lunch with their buddies. Kindergarten students immensely enjoy meeting with their Year Six buddies each week and close friendships are created. 

What will my child learn in Kindergarten? 

The Department of Education sets the curriculum for all Government schools. There are six Key Learning Areas (KLAs). 

These are: 

Each of the syllabus documents identify the knowledge, understanding, skills, values and attitudes that students are expected to develop in each learning area. They are designed to provide flexibility for teachers to develop their teaching and learning programs to meet the needs of their students. 

English 

Students respond to a range of spoken, written and multimodal texts from familiar contexts. They demonstrate active listening behaviours to follow simple instructions and ask relevant questions. Students mix and communicate informally with peers, teachers and known adults in informal and structured classroom settings. They deliver short presentations using familiar and learned vocabulary. Students dvelop reading, viewing and comprehension skills and strategies using context, grammar, word usage and phonics to make meaning from short, predictable printed texts on familiar topics. They interpret and provide relevant explanations of characters and main events in imaginative texts, and key ideas and visual features in short informative texts, making connections to personal experience. Students recognise, discuss and respond to the different kinds and purposes of various written, visual and digital texts from a variety of cultures. They read with some fluency and accuracy, drawing support from concepts of print and their developing sound and letter knowledge. Students explore and identify some features of texts, including the use of rhyme, letter patterns and sounds in words in written and spoken texts. Students engage in writing with an increasing awareness of the nature, purpose and conventions of written language. They create simple texts and recreate familiar imaginative texts by drawing on personal experience and through performance, drawing and images. Students retell events and experiences for known audiences that demonstrate an awareness of the text structure, basic grammar and punctuation needed. They know and use letters and sounds of the alphabet to attempt to spell known words. Students write most lower- and upper-case letters appropriately, using the NSW Foundation Style. They explore the use of digital technologies to construct a variety of multimodal texts. Students become aware of how to reflect on and assess their own and others' learning. 

  

Mathematics 

Students ask questions and use known facts to explore mathematical problems and develop fluency with mathematical ideas. They use everyday language, concrete materials and informal recordings to demonstrate understanding and link mathematical ideas. Students count to 30 and represent numbers to 20 with objects, pictures, numerals and words. They read and use ordinal numbers to at least 'tenth'. Students use concrete materials to model addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They use the language of money and recognise the coins and notes of the Australian monetary system. Students divide objects into two equal parts and describe them as halves. They recognise, describe and continue repeating patterns of objects and drawings. Students identify length, area, volume, capacity and mass, and compare and arrange objects according to these attributes. They manipulate, sort and represent three-dimensional objects and describe them using everyday language. Students manipulate, sort and describe representations of two-dimensional shapes, identifying circles, squares, triangles and rectangles. They connect events and the days of the week and explain the order and duration of events, telling the time on the hour. Students give and follow simple directions and describe position using appropriate language. Students answer simple questions to collect information. They use objects to create a data display and interpret data. 

 

Science and Technology 

Students engage in the processes of Working Scientifically, and Design and Production to make sense of the world around them. They explore their immediate surroundings and ask questions about their observations and experiences. They collect data and communicate their ideas and observations in a variety of ways. Students investigate possibilities and solutions, individually and in collaboration with others, and use the design process to develop solutions. They effectively use a range of classroom equipment and learn to work safely when using resources and materials. 

Students recognise that living things have different features and basic needs which can be met. They recognise that plants and animals can be used for food, clothing and shelter. Students identify that objects are made from materials that have observable properties, and that these properties influence their design and use. They describe how objects move and observe the effects of push and pull forces. Students identify daily and seasonal changes in the environment. Students also identify familiar digital systems and follow a simple set of instructions. 


History 

Students communicate stories of their own family heritage and the heritage of others. They identify similarities and differences between families and recognise how important family events are commemorated. Students sequence familiar events in order and pose questions about their own and their family's past. They identify and compare the features of objects from the past and the present. Students acquire information by direct observation, talking to others and by viewing, reading and/or listening to texts. Students relate a story about their past using a range of texts and language associated with time and change. 

  

Geography 

Students identify familiar places and recognise why some places are special or important to people and how they care for them. They recognise that places can be represented on maps. Students acquire information by observing, talking to others and viewing, reading and/or listening to texts. They use geographical tools and communicate geographical information in a range of forms. Students reflect on their learning from the findings of their inquiry. 

 

Creative Arts 

Students make pictures and other artworks using the media and materials given, representing both real and imagined situations. They appreciate that artists make artworks and they begin to describe some aspects of artworks. Students sing, play and move to a range of music. They experiment with sounds and begin to organise them into basic structures. Students listen and respond to a variety of music. Students engage in roles through imaginative play and dramatic situations. They use movement, spaces and objects to dramatise personal experiences. They respond to different forms of dramatic experiences. Students perform dances with some control over body movement and expression. They respond to a range of stimuli, drawing from experience and imagination, exploring the notion that dance is about moving the body to express ideas. Students watch dance performances and begin to recognise some basic components of dance. 


Personal Development, Health and Physical Education 

Students identify personal characteristics and strengths, recognise how they are growing and changing and identify different parts of the body. They describe the different emotions people experience. Students practise interpersonal skills to interact positively with others. They identify people who can assist and recognise actions that help them to be resilient, healthy, safe and active. Students explore contextual factors that influence an individual’s health, safety, wellbeing and participation in physical activity. They identify skills and strategies to stay safe and be supported. With developing self-control, students explore emotional responses and cooperate positively with others in a variety of play and group situations. 

Students explore how their body responds to movement. They practise body movement and control, demonstrating different ways the body can move in relation to space, time, objects, effort and people. Students compose and sequence simple movements. They show awareness and consideration of others during play situations. Students perform fundamental movement skills and explore possible solutions to movement challenges through participation in a range of activities. 

How to help the Kindergarten Teacher 

Help your child to have a smooth transition into Kindergarten by teaching him/her to carry out the following tasks: 

CRUNCH&SIP® 

Baulkham Hills North Public School has created an environment to support the establishment of healthy eating habits for students, teachers and staff.  Specifically, eating more fruit and vegetables and increasing water intake, at approximately 10am each day. 

The objectives of the Crunch&Sip® break are to: 

In the classroom teachers will: 

In the classroom students will: 

FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND WATER GUIDELINES 

Fruit 

Vegetables  

Water 

Foods not permitted at the designated Crunch&Sip® break 

School Times 

Supervision at school does not commence until 8.25am each morning. To ensure the safety of your child, please do not drop/leave your child in the playground prior to 8:25 am or after 2:55pm, unless they are attending Before or After School Care. 

Before school 8:25am - 8:55 am 

Classrooms are not open in the morning until the bell rings at 8:55am. Children are expected to play in the Quad areas under the supervision of the teacher on duty (from 8:25 am onwards). The only exception to this is if it is excessively wet, then the classrooms are open for quiet play under the supervision of the class teacher, prior to school commencing. A warning bell rings at 8:50am to indicate that school is about to start. Once this bell has rung, children are required to line up in the quad area and wait for their teacher’s arrival. They will be supervised by the teacher on duty. At 8:55am another bell is rung to indicate the commencement of class for the school day. Arrivals after this time are recorded as partial absences and appropriate justifications will be requested from the teacher.  

Recess 10:55 am – 11:25 am 

Children eat their morning tea in the designated class area in Area 3 under the supervision of a teacher on duty. Approximately ten minutes is given for eating and twenty minutes for play. 

Lunch 1:15pm – 1:55 pm 

At lunchtime the children eat their lunch in the classroom under the supervision of their class teacher. They are given ten minutes to eat their lunch, after which time they are dismissed for play.  

Afternoon Dismissal 2.55 pm 

School concludes for the day at 2:55pm.  

During Weeks 2 – 4 (inclusive) of Term 1, Kindergarten children will be dismissed at 2:25pm to enable them to learn where they need to go without feeling overwhelmed by the presence of the rest of the students. Parents will meet their children outside their classroom. Students attending After School Care will be taken there by one of the After-School Care staff.  

Kindergarten Orientation Video.mp4

Uniform

The community of Baulkham Hills North Public School takes great pride in our stylish uniforms.  The school colours are bottle green and white.

The School Uniform is sold through Lowes. You can go into the shop located in Castle Towers Shopping Centre 7 days a week or order online.

For more information about the school uniform visit the BHNPS school website.

Canteen 

The canteen operates for recess and lunch Monday to Friday. Students can purchase morning tea snacks directly from the canteen at recess. Students can also purchase snacks, drinks and ice blocks at playtime during the lunch period. Our school canteen provides several Halal items. A copy of the Canteen menu will be provided on the LearningHub website. 

Lunch Orders can be ordered by either taking the order to the canteen in the morning or through flexischools.com.au. Ordering through flexischools eliminates the need to give your child money. Please refer to the canteen menu included in your orientation pack for details on how to order through flexischools. 

When taking the order to the canteen in the morning, it is essential that each lunch order completed clearly includes the student’s name, class and room number to ensure prompt and accurate delivery. Lunch canteen orders are collected by class canteen monitors and delivered to the classroom at eating time. 

We strongly encourage parents to refrain from giving their children money to buy from the canteen in term one. The Kindergarten students are on a steep learning curve in the first term and learning to navigate our large playground is a difficult task, so adding the complexities of visiting a busy canteen is best left until they are more familiar with the school layout. 

Primary OSHCare

The Baulkham Hills North Before and After school care program is run by Primary OSHCare. The session times are from 7am - 8:25am and 2:55pm - 6pm on school days, and from 7am – 6pm during Vacation Care. It caters for students from Kindergarten to Year 6 and provides the children with a range of educational and recreational activities.

Contact can be made by phoning or emailing Primary OSH on bhoshc@primaryoshcare.com.au or 0499 950 236. The school office also has details on how to enrol via the Primary OSHCare website.

Please visit http://www.primaryoshcare.com.au/our-centres-1/baulkham-hills-north-oshc-centre for more information.

Baulkham-Hills-North-OSHC-2020.pdf

Helping your child with literacy and numeracy at home

These resources have been created for parents, carers and families of children in the early years of school. The activities support the important learning that happens at home. They are designed for you to have fun with your child and to help them have a great start at school.

Helping_your_child_with_literacy_and_numeracy_at_home.pdf
getting-ready-for-school.pdf

Getting ready for primary school

Advice from the NSW Department of Education

Ten frame

The ten frame supports your child to make connections between counting, adding and subtracting.

The use of the objects in the frame visually helps your child with:

Image:

Examples of using a ten frame

Use objects in the squares to create games around counting, adding and subtracting to 10. The objects can be arranged in different ways to represent different numbers.

You can use any small objects, such as pebbles or pieces of lego.


Ten_frame_card (1).pdf