THE HEIGHTS BYTES

Respectful | Safe | Engaged

what's coming up at barrack heights?!

This calendar is a screenshot of our School Bytes Calendar that can be viewed live in your School Bytes app!

The calendar can also be linked directly to your phone's calendar. Follow this link for instructions on how - Parent Portal: Syncing the calendar to your phone or device – School Bytes

To ensure you don’t miss out on any important reminders or calendar notices, please make sure you are connected to our School Bytes app and receiving notifications. This will help you stay updated on all the happenings and ensure your family is fully engaged in our school community.

Burri Burri Boccia Team!

Did you know… Boccia is a Paralympic sport that focuses on precision, strategy, teamwork and determination?

Our amazing students from Burri Burri were so excited to be representing Barrack Heights Public School at the NSW Schools Sport Unit Boccia Competition last week on Thursday 21st May!

These nine superstars had been working hard to develop their skills, encourage one another, and show incredible sportsmanship every step of the way. From focused throws to cheering on their teammates, they have made us incredibly proud.

Boccia is more than just a game, it builds confidence, resilience, communication and teamwork, and our students are embracing every moment of the experience.

They represented BHPS with pride, positivity and determination.

Carly's helping hearts

On Thursday, Carly’s Helping Hearts visited our school to offer our students a fantastic free opportunity through their Hearts in Schools program. As part of this opportunity, Stage 3 students practiced important emergency response skills, including applying the DRSABCD action plan on adult, child, and infant manikins. They also learned how to use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) and discussed action plans for various emergency situations to ensure the safety of themselves and others. This hands-on session was an invaluable experience in building confidence and preparedness. We thank Carly’s Helping Hearts for providing such a meaningful and practical learning opportunity! For more information, visit carlyshelpinghearts.com.au/hearts-in-schools.

National simultaneous storytime

On Wednesday, 27th of May students had the opportunity to participate in National Simultaneous Storytime.

National Simultaneous Storytime is an annual event held by the Australian Library and Information Association that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy.

Each year, a picture book is chosen that is written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator. This year's chosen book was 'Luna Roo: the Kangaroo Baller' written by Adam Jackson and Adrian Lloyd, and illustrated by Jake A Minton. The story follows the spirited kangaroo Luna and her friends as they chase their football dreams across the outback, blending action, teamwork and fun to inspire young readers.

Stage 3 Girls - Growing with Confidence

On Monday, Stage 3 girls at Barrack Heights Public School participated in our “Growing with Confidence” presentation alongside their parents and carers. Presented by Susan Wilford from the Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinics program, the session provided valuable information about puberty, personal hygiene, periods, body changes and wellbeing in a supportive and respectful environment. Students had the opportunity to ask questions, build confidence and develop a better understanding of the changes that occur during adolescence. We thank the families who attended and supported this important learning experience.

burri burri poetry pandemonium

Creative Celebration!

Our Burri Burri Support Unit students amazed us with their recent Poetry Pandemonium show, a special event for students and staff only. The performance was a vibrant celebration of creativity, as students showcased their incredible talent, confidence, and passion for poetry. Each act highlighted their expressive voices and imaginative ideas, creating an uplifting and inspiring atmosphere within our school. Congratulations to all the students and staff involved your dedication and enthusiasm made this internal showcase a truly memorable experience for everyone who attended.

🧡 WEAR ORANGE WEDNESDAY🧡

What an amazing day it was for our community as we came together to celebrate Wear Orange Wednesday!

This special day is dedicated to showing our thanks and gratitude to the heroic members of the State Emergency Service (SES) for their unwavering support and tireless efforts in keeping us safe.

Thank you to all volunteers and staff for your commitment and bravery, we appreciate everything you do!

Yanggaa Garaba On Country Day

The Yanggaa Garaba dancers had a wonderful day of dance, culture, connection and fun with friends. The dance they are learning from choreographer Alira is looking so magical and the smoking ceremony was such a special experience. We can’t wait for the next rehearsal!

positive behaviour support

Behaviour support is a shared responsibility and requires a combined effort by the school and community. We are all jointly committed to a student’s success.

PBS Focus Weeks 7 &8 - Engaged

PBS Focus Week 9 - Safe

nharrawangay PBS Reward

Congratulations to Nharrawangay class for achieving their whole-class PBS reward for Term 2! To celebrate their hard work and positive behaviour, students enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate—just perfect for warming up on a chilly day. Well done, Nharrawangay!

bilima PBS reward

Congratulations to Bilima class for achieving their Term 2 reward through our PBS acknowledgement system! This success is a result of their outstanding teamwork, positive behaviour, and consistent effort as a group.

To celebrate, students enjoyed watching an episode of Bluey together and sharing popcorn as a class treat. This special activity recognises their joint achievement and the supportive spirit they have shown as a team.

Green Connect farm

Life education - healthy harold

Students at Barrack Heights Public School recently had an exciting opportunity to visit the Life Education van.

The visit complemented our curriculum by addressing outcomes from the PDHPE syllabus. Students engaged in a range of interactive activities and participated in learning experiences led by the Life Education educator.

They explored important health and wellbeing concepts and were encouraged to ask questions, problem-solve and think critically.

The visit was both engaging and enjoyable, with many students very excited to meet Healthy Harold!

hpag Extend Program

Last week was Gifted Awareness Week, celebrating the Varied Voices of gifted students, especially those who may present in unexpected ways. Recognising and embracing every student’s unique journey helps create a vibrant and supportive learning community.

Our HPAG Extend classes started this term and we’ve been learning about big ideas like the Big Bang and the expanding universe, electromagnetism and gravity, light diffraction, and advanced our maths skills working with massive numbers, scientific notation, indices, and factors. Creativity has flourished through the design of Rube Goldberg machines and the beginning of an innovation and invention unit, encouraging problem-solving and inventiveness. All in this in just the first 5 days!

Gifted Awareness Week reminds us to support and celebrate the diversity of gifted learners, ensuring each student has the opportunity to shine and learn.

Grow your mind

At Barrack Heights Public School, we are excited to begin sharing our new Grow Your Mind Family Cheat Sheets with our community.

Every fortnight, families will receive a simple, engaging cheat sheet focused on one of the Grow Your Mind animals and the important brain function it represents. Initially the cheat sheet will be shared via School Bytes and the following week you will find it in ur Heights Bytes.

These resources are designed to help families better understand the language and strategies we are using with students at school, so we can work together to support children’s wellbeing, emotional regulation and resilience.

This week, we launched our very first cheat sheet:

Meet the Guard Dog!

The Guard Dog represents the amygdala; the part of the brain that helps keep us safe by responding to danger and stress. Students are learning that sometimes our Guard Dog can become a little “too loud,” even when we are safe, and there are strategies we can use to help calm it.

Over the last two weeks, staff have been reinforcing Guard Dog language and strategies in classrooms, wellbeing check-ins and everyday conversations. We encourage families to do the same at home by asking questions such as:

“How is your Guard Dog feeling today?”
“What could help shrink your Guard Dog?”
“Could this be a challenge or an opportunity?”
“Would finger breathing help right now?”

At the end of each fortnight, we will be capturing student voice and creating a short social media reel where students share:

what each animal represents,
what they have learnt,
and strategies they can use to help themselves and others.

Our hope is that by using the same language at school and at home, students will feel more confident recognising emotions, understanding how their brain works, and using practical strategies to thrive.

Over the coming weeks, families will also meet:
The Wise Owl
Sifting Sooty
The Elephant
The Sensitive Octopus

We can’t wait to continue growing strong minds together!

Growing Our Minds

in Nharrawangay

This term, students in Nharrawangay have been participating in Grow Your Mind lessons, learning about resilience, kindness and leadership through songs, poems and discussions.

Students created their own Grow Your Mind posters inspired by the program's animals and messages. We are proud of the creativity and thoughtfulness shown in their work as they continue to develop the skills needed to be positive leaders, caring classmates and respectful members of our school community.

burri burri symbio - postponed - new date 1st july

Due to unforeseen weather, we decided to postpone our excursion to Symbio. It will now be on Wednesday, 1st July. We look forward to not only seeing our favourite Little Penguin but meeting many more fascinating animals, exploring the beautiful grounds of Symbio and enjoying the sunshine. Permissions and payments are still open on School Bytes.

Book club

Book Club Issue 4 has arrived!

Students would have brought home a Book Club catalogue. Keep an eye out for the 'Every Child Deserves a Book' initiative with books starting from as little as $3!!!

Orders must be placed on or before Monday, 15th June. Orders are to be made online through LOOP. Money cannot be accepted at the school office.

Happy Reading!

KINDERGARTEN 2027

Enrolments are open!

At Barrack Heights we are dedicated to providing a supportive and enriching environment where every student’s learning and wellbeing is valued.

Whether you yourself or someone you know who might be new to our area have children who will be starting Kindergarten next year, we encourage you to visit, meet our wonderful staff and students, and discover the opportunities we offer, from academic excellence and creative programs to sporting, cultural, and wellbeing initiatives.

Now is the perfect time to start your enrolment journey. We’re here to answer your questions and support you through the process. Become part of a caring, inclusive school community where every student thrives and every family is welcomed.

Enrolmentrs coming Soon...

Our Hall Upgrade

We are incredibly excited to share a progress update on our long-awaited hall upgrade. The transformation is well underway, with major milestones already completed as part of the Phase 1 works funded through our successful Federal Government Grant.

Our hall now features a brand new ceiling, newly installed air conditioning units and a refreshed stage area complete with upgraded stage lighting and a facelift. In addition, the upper viewing balconies have now been enclosed, creating valuable new breakout learning spaces for our upstairs classrooms.

It has been wonderful watching this space evolve into a more modern, functional and welcoming environment for our students, staff and wider community. We are anticipating the hall will be completed and ready for use by the end of the term, just in time for our upcoming Three-Way Learning Conversations in Week 10.

Stay tuned not only for the final reveal of our upgraded hall, but also for exciting updates regarding Phase 2 of the project. Future works will include a brand new covered shelter over our netball and basketball courts, flattening of our football field and the installation of our very own professional 100 metre running track.

These upgrades will continue to enhance the opportunities available to our students and further strengthen our school as a vibrant hub for learning, wellbeing and community connection.

attendance

Djamalang students with 100% attendance in Week 4.

Djamalang students with 100% attendance in Week 6

SRC - meal deal

Week 10 - Tuesday 23 June - $6

In the 'payments' section of your school bytes app you will find the SRC Pasta & Popper Meal Deal charge. If your child would like to participate in this meal deal please secure their meal deal by making a payment. Cash/Eftpos will also be accepted at the office. Monies due by 22nd June.

If your child does NOT want to participate in this meal deal, please ignore this message and the reminders to come.

Thank you! BHPS SRC

nsw public school surveys

In Term 2, we are inviting parents and carers to participate in the NSW Public Schools Parent Survey.

The survey gives you the opportunity to share your experience at our school, including communication, inclusion, wellbeing and how your child’s learning is supported.

Hearing directly from our parents and carers will help us understand what’s working well and where improvements can be made. Participation in the survey is optional, your responses are anonymous, and it takes around 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

You can access at the survey at https://surveyme.education.nsw.gov.au/sc/XPBEU8GQ-dyjFr9PlPuEZg2.

Further information about the NPSS Parent Survey is available at https://education.nsw.gov.au/npss.

burri burri my say my way - parent survey

Our school is implementing My Say My Way (MSMW) this term as part of our student voice initiative. MSMW is an innovative digital application that has been designed with in-built accessibility features to support students with disability to have a voice in shaping their education. For more information, please see the MSMW website. Should you wish to opt-out, please contact the office.

Parents and carers are also invited to complete a separate survey to provide their perspectives on the wellbeing and educational experience of their child/ren in a specialist setting.

The Parent Carer Insight survey is now open and should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. Please spend some time to answer these questions as your insights will help your school better understand and respond to your child’s needs creating a more inclusive and supportive learning environment.

If you have more than one child at this school, please complete a new survey for each of your children as their needs may be different.

To access the survey click here: Parent - Carer Insights Survey

Colouring Competitions - avaliable at the office

Road Safety

Road Safey is a shared responsibility in keeping students safe on and around roads.

Road Safety Focus: Driving safely near school buses

Key Messages:

reduce speed to 40km/h when bus lights are flashing, unless a lower speed limit applies
watch out for children crossing, or about to cross the road.

2026 School Uniforms

Please send your uniform order to barrackht-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au so that orders can be put together ready for collection.

Payment can be made as an advanced payment in School Bytes or via Cash or Eftpos at pick up.

health & wellbeing

Anaphylaxis Awareness – Nut Safety Reminder

We would like to remind our school community that there are individual staff members and students who have serious, anaphylactic reactions to nuts.

Please be mindful when packing lunches and snacks, and where possible, avoid sending food containing nuts to school.

Your support helps us create a safer environment for everyone.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

SCHOOL BYTES

Barrack Heights uses School Bytes for communication, reminders, payments for excursions and sports, attendance submissions and statements of accounts. If you haven't already downloaded the app and linked your child/ren please select the appropriate link below to setup.

App Store - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/school-bytes/id6463097826
Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=education.schoolbytes

If you have any questions please contact the office for assistance.

GENERAL REMINDERS

Have you moved house or changed your phone number or email address? Please update your details at the office or by sending an email to the school at barrackht-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au
Please see the office staff if your child has any medical requirements or if medical information needs to be updated.
School times are 8.55am - 3pm. If your child is late, they must come to the office for a late note. All absences, both whole day and partial absences, need to be explained. You can do this via the School Bytes app, email, phone or at the office.
If students are marked as absent on the school roll, an SMS will be sent out before 11am on the same day advising you of the absence. Please respond via schoolbytes advising the reason for their absence.
At Barrack Heights our school hours are from 8.30am to 3.00pm. Students must NOT be on school grounds before 8:30am without parent supervision. A Teacher is on duty from 8.30am onwards.

GET SOCIAL WITH BARRACK HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOL

Are you following us on our social media platforms? You can find us on

Facebook: Barrack Heights Public School

Instagram: barrackheightsps

Twitter account: @BarrackHeights

These forums are wonderful ways to see what is happening in our school. Take a look and give us a like to stay informed.

25 Hunter Street, Barrack Heights NSW 2528

(02) 4296 4222

barrackht-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

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