Don't forget to keep all your receipts from back-to-school expenses so that you can take advantage of the Education Tax Refund. The refund gives eligible parents and caregivers a 50 per cent refund on a range of primary and secondary school education expenses, including school uniforms. For the 2011-2012 financial year you may be eligible for the following: Primary school child You can claim a maximum of $818 for each of your primary school children – that is a refund of up to $409. Secondary school student You can claim a maximum of $1,636... Read more

A suite of resources, including the School A to Z website and the annual back-to-school hotline, is available to help parents prepare for the new school year. School A to Z website The School A to Z website provides you with practical help to get involved and support your children's learning and includes a webcast on the theme of ‘Getting off to a great start at school'. The School A to Z webcast answers commonly asked questions that range from how to motivate children for learning, to tips on how to manage technology use at home, bullying,... Read more

The state's most talented young singers, dancers and musicians displayed their skills during four exciting and extravagant performances at the 2011 Schools Spectacular, held recently at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. If you missed the live shows or if you just want to enjoy it all again, you can catch the highlights on ABC TV. Two telecasts are scheduled (check your local TV guide for confirmation): 7.30pm Sunday, 18 December on ABC1 (1hr version) 7.00pm Saturday, 31 December on ABC2 (2.5hr version). The brilliantly choreographed and... Read more

Royal Life Saving NSW has emphasised the importance of swimming and water safety education, saying 50,000 children are leaving primary school every year unable to swim. The organisation says participation in swimming lessons has been in decline for the past 10 years and many Australian children are at risk of drowning. Both Royal Life Saving and the NSW Government agency Sport and Recreation offer learn-to-swim lessons throughout the state under the Swim and Survive banner. The Sport and Recreation program caters for children aged between 18... Read more

Each year the North Coast School Sports Association presents an award for outstanding achievement in each of the sports contested by students in our region, which encompasses over 66,000 students. Brianna C has been named recipient of this year's award for Athletics and Cross Country. Brianna remained undefeated through all levels of competition to be awarded Regional Age Champion in Cross Country, and for the 100m, 200m and 800m events in Athletics. Her impressive performance at the Regional Athletics Carnival in Coffs Harbour also saw her... Read more

Students from Bangalow Public School have been achieving some great results in academic competitions recently. Tomas, Abbie and Julian each achieved a Distinction in the Newcastle Permanent Mathematics Competition. Maths Olympiad 14 students took part in the Maths Oympiad held at Byron Bay High School in early November. ICAS A group of students from Stages 2 & 3 achieved Credits and Distinctions in the ICAS tests this year.... Read more

Campfire Skills Canoeing Hiking The last week in Term 3 saw Stage 2 students head off for 3 days at the Tayalgum Ridge Retreat. The sports and recreation camp put the 54 students and 4 teachers through days of adventure and nights of fun. Everyone had the chance to be challenged on the high ropes course, jump on a flying fox, go canoeing, treck through the beautiful surrounding bushland, get up close and personal with lots of wildlife and learn how to build a campfire and cook damper. A great place for a few days of... Read more

A great Sydney adventure, 44 students, 3 teachers and a fantastic bus driver named Mark. Late in Term 3 Stage 3 set off bound for Sydney. The days were action packed and the weather sensational. We left Bangalow at 8pm on Sunday night as ready as we could be for the 12 hour bus trip ahead. Day 1 : A morning stroll over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Power House Museum, Opera House tour, Sydney Aquarium and night wander through Hyde Park Day 2 : Walking around The Rocks, Hyde Park Barracks, Justice & Peace Museum, Parliament House and... Read more

You can't always trust what you read when researching information for assignments. Here are ways your child can tell a good website from a bad one. With so much information on the web and no-one responsible for fact checking, kids need to look out for: bias and hidden agendas factual errors outdated information information which is country-specific commercially motivated information. Play the detective The ability to question information is a vital tool for all school kids. People can publish something that looks great but is full of factual... Read more

You don't have to be an expert to help your child with writing. Simply supporting your child with the areas of writing that you feel confident with will benefit them. When you're writing something down such as the shopping list, sending an email or filling in a form, talk to your child about what you're doing, why you're writing it and who you expect to read it. When writing at home, make it purposeful and interesting for yourself and your child. It's essential that kids learn that we write for a purpose It's important that your child... Read more

A dance troupe from Bangalow Public took part in The Lighthouse Valley Community of Schools Dance Festival held at Byron Bay High School. The troupe put on a great performance over 3 days.... Read more

The Bangalow Alive! ~ Imagination Art Show was held in conjuction with the Bangalow Community Children's Centre from August 18 to 20 at the A&I Hall. As well as every child having an individual artwork on display, each class created a masterpiece which was auctioned on the opening night. These eight artworks attracted nearly $3,000 in bids!... Read more

Recently you may have noticed some familiar faces on posters in the main street of Bangalow. The students of 3S took part in the Global Inside Out Art Project in Term 2. The project aims to transform messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Use the following link to see how the project has come about and how Bangalow Public School has contributed! Inside Out Project Website Use the link below if you would like to know more about JR, the Paris street artist and photographer who started the project. Interview with JR... Read more

Early on August 9th the Bangalow main street was turned into a happy carnival. Lots of our students were out there early, showing Australia how happy Bangalow really is! You Tube Video #1 You Tube Video #2... Read more

Parents can now access quality information to help with their child's homework and assignments while on the go. The School A to Z mobile app, available free for iPhone, iPad and Android devices, is part of a new online parent resource developed by the education department. The app features: plain-English definitions of maths, English and technology terms, including videos and help sheets information and useful links to help with common classroom assignments Maths Monkey times tables learning game Spelling Bee learning game. The Spelling Bee... Read more

Popular author Tristan Bancks launched his two new books at Bangalow Public School this week to the delight of many students. My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up and Galactic Adventures First Kids In Space are now available in the library for student borrowing.... Read more

Well known children's authors, Alison Lester and Tony Wilson visited Bangalow Public School this week to entertain students with their stories. It was indeed a treat to have such talented authors share their secrets. See the photos on the albums page.... Read more

Parents can support their child's learning with a new purpose-built resource that includes a website, mobile applications and social media channels. The School A to Z online school community, developed by the education department, provides practical advice about homework, tips on learning, wellbeing, technology and resources to help parents and carers support their child's social, physical and mental development. It includes a free mobile application for iPad and smartphones that features hundreds of definitions about maths and English terms,... Read more

Here are some practical tips to help your child work out the best way to express themselves through their writing. Help your child to understand writing tasks that they may have been given for homework. Ask them to talk about what has to be done. Help your child to use reference materials such as dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopaedias, DVDs and the internet. Before your child attempts a task, help them to understand what reference materials are needed by talking about the task and asking questions which will guide the child's planning.... Read more

24 June 2011 Encouraging your kids to pick up a few good books during the holidays is a great way to keep their hard-earned reading skills from slipping. Here are some suggestions. Books for young kids For boys and girls in Kindergarten to Year 2: The Terrible Plop - Ursula Dubosarsky Clancy & Millie and the Very Fine House - Libby Gleeson. For boys and girls in Years 3 and 4: Ballroom Bonanza - Nina Rycroft (a fabulous rhyming alphabetical picture book) The Adventures of a Late-Night Swearer - Nette Hilton The Walk Right in Detective... Read more