dear BNW community,

This is my last newsletter article for 2020, as I will unfortunately not be at school next week for our final newsletter. I want to start by wishing everyone a safe and relaxing holiday, after a year that has required incredible resilience, empathy and flexible thinking from everyone throughout our community and beyond. I look forward to seeing most of you in the new year, for what will hopefully be a much calmer and predictable year!

Class formation

Class lists were sent home Wednesday of this week, which is later than the date outlined in our class formation policy. We apologise for the delay, and will extend the opportunity for appeals until next Thursday 17th December 2020 to allow families time to make contact with the school. If you have an appeal you would like to make to the school, please send an email to brunswick.nw.ps@education.vic.gov.au, outlining your concerns.

Please note that an appeal does not mean a change will necessarily be made to classes. Whilst we acknowledge that sometimes we need to review decisions made, the outcome is more often an explanation as to why the teachers have considered this the best placement for your child.

Graduation

Last Tuesday night, our Graduating Grade 6 students attended a wonderful ceremony to celebrate their time at primary school. Although we had to limit the number of family members attending due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was a lovely night under the trees on the asphalt. Thank you to Tim and the Senior teachers for organising three different graduation ceremonies (with each change in restrictions), it was spectacular to see our students and families together on this special occasion and watch our students reflect on their time at BNWPS.

I would also like to make a special mention of Alice Atkinson, our 2020 Suzanne Peterson award recipient, who is to be commended for her ongoing dedication to supporting her peers, her teachers and our whole school community.

New Assistant Principal

In last week’s newsletter, you would have seen that our Wonderful Wendy White is retiring from the Department at the end of this year. While Wendy has only worked with us for three years, she has made incredible impact to the way our school operates, dedicating incredible energies to working with students with additional needs and improving the wellbeing program for all students. Personally speaking, Wendy has been a rock for me in my early years of leadership and again this year, during increasingly trying times. It is not possible for anyone to replace Wendy, as she is a unique individual who has brought amazing strength, clarity, compassion and creative thinking to our school, our students and our community. But with this being said, we are pleased to announce that we have found a new AP to start in 2021. Our panel conducted interviews earlier this week, with special guests from our JSC to ask the applicants a wellbeing question they had created themselves. The successful applicant is Keir Jasper, who has over a decade of experience in being an Assistant Principal across a number of schools, including Parkwood Green Primary and Collingwood College. Keir’s experience means he is a well-rounded leader, though his areas of expertise are in play-based learning, inquiry learning and Literacy. We are thrilled to have another high-quality leader joining our school community, who is ready to add to the richness of our community.

I want to also take a moment to thank Tom Hortop for the work he has done in supporting Wendy, our teachers and our students during Term 4. While Tom has only been with us for a term, he has already made great relationships with some of our community, has offered insightful comments during our parent information forum and school council meetings and has provided great professional learning opportunities for our staff. We wish Tom the best of luck for his future endeavours.

Leaving Families

As the end of the year comes to a close, we say goodbye to some of our staff, but also a number of families. I made a brief mention of our graduating families during Tuesday night’s celebrations, but our tradition of acknowledging these (and other students and families moving to other states and schools) at our last assembly for the year is unfortunately not possible, as we are not allowed to have most of our parents and carers on site yet! Please stay tuned to next week’s newsletter, where we will say thanks and so long (not goodbye!) to the families.

2020 Excursion Levy Credits

As you are well aware, between the remote learning program and COVID-19 restrictions, our teachers have not been able to offer students the full excursion/incursion program we had initially planned. At our last school council meeting, a motion was passed to have unused excursion levy funds credited back to families. Family Accounts have been credited this week and statements are going home in the mail. Accompanying these statements is information providing options for families whose accounts are now in credit; for example, rollover funds against 2021 school fees, obtain a refund or make a donation to our tax deductible building fund.

School Council & Sub Committees

I want to lastly say thanks to our school council and sub committees, for the amazing things they have achieved during this difficult year. Our school council and sub committees are always highly productive and valued groups across the school, however this year we feel it is important to acknowledge how creative and supportive they have been to our school community and our staff.

Starting with our sub committees, I want to thank our Finance Committee for your ongoing support in improving our financial position, especially during a year when there is so much uncertainty. Thank you to our Education Committee for supporting the transition to remote learning and collaborating with teachers for our education forum. Thank you to the OSHC Committee for supporting families with an impeccable childcare and supervision program during remote learning. Thank you to our Communications Working Party for driving improvements to the Sentral family app - we are excited to share more about this in the new year! Thank you to Sprout for the take home meals for families and the staff wellbeing meals, they were incredibly nourishing and appreciated by all. Thank you to our Buildings & Grounds committee for the working bees, installing drinking taps and essential sanitation stations that mean we can all stay safe while at school. Thank you to our Community Events Team for the online Art Auction, the trivia nights, the walkathon and all the special elements of teacher appreciation day!

Lastly, I would like to say thank you to Sam Cohen, our School Council President, who is graduating (along with his youngest daughters) to high school and all the wonders of life beyond primary school. It is possible that many of you are not aware of who Sam is, he is a quiet achiever, who has dedicated over a decade to our school through a number of roles. Sam was our school’s Treasurer for 9 years, finishing up his time on our school council with one year as President (and what a year that was!). Throughout his time he has spent countless hours working with staff, families and students for the betterment of our school. Some of Sam’s achievements include working on numerous School Review panels, Strategic Planning meetings, sitting on the panel to find a new principal for the school and so much more. An excellent example of Sam’s selfless dedication is the amount of time and energy he put into gaining substantial funding for our STELLA building, with full knowledge that none of his children would ever reap the benefits of the outcome, as they are all moving on to high school. Sam has always been an incredible advocate for public education and our school more specifically. Sam, we thank you for everything you have helped us through over the past ten years and look forward to you and your family continuing to attend our community events (and maybe still turning a sausage or two at the barbecue).

Take Care,

Hannah

The Nor'Wester

Issue 37 · 11 Dec 2020

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