We are whole again!

It has been a fantastic week as our students have returned to learning at school, full-time.

The playgrounds have been buzzing with fun and excitement and our classrooms have been busy with the sounds of everyone reconnecting and learning together. At last, our community is whole again.

This period of remote and flexible learning has been long, complex, and very challenging for our students, families, and staff, and we are so very thankful that we have been able to welcome back our students for the final two months of the school year.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to our fantastic parents and carers who have supported our students at home and thank our teachers and support staff who have done a wonderful job in partnering with families to help our students to continue their learning during this time.

As our students return, our staff is dedicated to prioritising well-being and fostering connections and have planned comprehensively to ensure the continuation of learning for all students. Our teachers are planning a range of in class experiences to enrich learning for our students this term, to ensure a positive and strong end to what has been a challenging year for all.

We have implemented comprehensive protocols within our return to school plan that align with DET and CHO directions to best minimise risk for our community. With this in mind, we will be continuing our current protocols until further notice, including allocated drop off and pick up gates, year level bubbles, virtual assemblies and limiting parents and carers onsite. These protocols are in place to maximise the level of safety for our staff, students, and families. Please refer to this link for our current protocols. These will be updated as any changes happen throughout the term.

Face Masks

One of the key changes as our students have returned on-site is the protocols about wearing face masks. Staff members are required to wear face masks indoors, and when teaching when practicable. Students in Years 3-6 are required to wear face masks when indoors, and Foundation-Year 2 students are strongly recommended to wear face masks when indoors at school.

Teachers have led discussions with students about using masks in a hygienic manner. We recommend students bring their own small bag or pencil case to keep their mask/s in. Classrooms will have spare zip-loc bags for students who don't already have a way to keep their face masks stored cleanly when they take them off to eat/drink and go outside. Please ensure you send a spare named face mask along with your children as they come to school.

Students with exceptions are not required to wear a mask at school. If your child has an exception from wearing a mask, please send an email to bimbadeen.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au for our records, and so we can support your child at school.

Drop Off Zone Reminder

Please refrain from using the drop-off zone during this time – we ask that parents and carers do not ‘park’ in this zone to deliver their child to their classroom. This is a drop and leave zone only. The area is governed by the Shire of Yarra Ranges and Bimbadeen staff are unable to direct traffic on the road due to Occupational Health and Safety guidelines. Please support the safety of our community and enable smooth flow of traffic around our school by only using this zone to stop briefly to let your child out of the car, and then exit the zone to allow cars behind to utilise the zone.

Ann, is resting-up and will be back soon

Thank you to our wonderful parents, carers and community members who rendered assistance to our crossing supervisor, Ann, on Orrong Road, on Thursday morning.

We are happy to report that Ann is at home and recovering well, and she is looking forward to supervising our crossing again soon.

Sunsmart – Hats Compulsory This Term

Just a reminder that Bimbadeen is a SunSmart school and hats are compulsory in Terms 1 and 4. Children will not be allowed to play out in the sun without their hats this term or in Term 1 next year and will be asked to remain under the veranda in front of the hall at recess and lunch times. If you child has misplaced their hat or requires a new one, new hats can be purchased from our uniform shop via the link on our school website.

State School’s Relief

State Schools’ Relief is a not-for-profit organisation that works closely with all government schools across Victoria. Each year State Schools’ Relief aids families experiencing financial disadvantage with school uniforms and footwear. During this year, vouchers were distributed to some of our Bimbadeen families. Due to the impact of lockdowns, many of those vouchers were unable to be used and have now expired. If your family received a State School’s Relief voucher this year that was unused and has now expired, please contact Mrs Buckland on Catherine.Buckland@education.vic.gov.au or 9726 9989 (Monday-Wednesday) and she will be able to assist you.

School Council Update

Thank you to our community members who attended our annual School Council Reporting Meeting on Wednesday evening this week. At the meeting, Troy Hovey, School Council President, and Adele Gregson, Principal, shared a presentation covering 2020 School Council key activities and achievements, the 2020 Annual Report, and the audited accounts from last year. A copy of the Annual Report is published on our school website each year, so parents and carers who missed the meeting can read about our activities and achievements.

Bimbadeen Heights PS School Council is committed to sharing our work with the Bimbadeen community. This newsletter, we would like to share with you, the work of the Council’s Fundraising Sub-Committee:

Fundraising Sub-Committee

Purpose:

The Fundraising Sub-Committee is responsible for overseeing school Fundraising, involving liaising with the wider school community to support the school in their designated fundraising events.

When we meet:

The Fundraising Sub-committee meet 8 times per year (or more frequently where required) and report back at the next School Council meeting on each occasion.

What we do:

Organise events for the calendar year
Advertise fundraising events, giving families as much notice as possible
Attending meetings as scheduled
Allocate jobs that need to be done to run each of the agreed upon events
Make suggestions to school council about the allocation of funds raised
Communicate with the wider community, including local businesses and companies, for donations and promotion of events
Seek ideas from students about how they could be involved in fundraising as a school community
Communicate with school community about how much funds are raised per event
Seek support/volunteers from wider school community for help with upcoming events via the school newsletter and Sentral
Thank the wider community, including local businesses for their support via the school newsletter, Sentral and Certificates of Appreciation
Seek and reflect on community feedback from events to improve for future planning.

How you can help:

Join our team. We would love to hear your opinion or suggestions on future fundraising events.
If joining a committee is not your thing, however you would like to contribute another way, we are always looking for volunteers to turn up on the day and help run each fundraising event

Events we have run and are involved in:

Hot Cross Bun Drive
Easter Raffle AFLW / Celebrating Women in Sport Day
Mother’s Day Stall
Chirnside Park School Rewards
Bimbadeen Trivia Night
Father’s Day Stall
Bunnings BBQ
Spring Fair
Walkathon
Christmas Concert Family Fun Night
Christmas Tarts
Christmas Raffle.

In 2021 we have raised:

Hot Cross Bun Drive – we raised $498.00
Easter Raffle - we raised $1197
AFLW / Celebrating Women in Sport Day – we raised $480.45
Mother’s Day Stall - $3882 raised.

Contact:

If you would like to join the Fundraising Committee or contribute in anyway, please contact:

Bree King – convenor: bree.king@education.vic.gov.au
School Office: Bimbadeen.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au
School Phone: 9726 9989

We hope you enjoy a lovely weekend with your family, and we look forward to another fantastic week of learning at Bimbadeen.

Kind regards,

Adele Gregson and Sabrina George

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