Hello BRPS community,

Welcome to the latest edition of the BRPS Newsletter. I encourage you to explore this bumper edition and take note of the many student achievements and activities within. There are also key dates to note in your diary, none more important than the Parent Cybersafety session with Susan McLean, below.

Cybersafety -

Susan McLean

Parent Session 7pm, Thursday 15th November

The school has booked cybersafety expert Susan McLean to visit the school and provide both student and parent sessions. Susan is highly sought after and is considered one of the leading voices in Australia on cybersafety and device management.

Please put this date in your diary as this will be an extremely important and informative event and although it is an incredibly busy time of the year, I urge all families to have representation on the night.

For more information, visit Susan's website:

http://www.cybersafetysolutions.com.au/

Curriculum Day Reminder

Monday 5th November (Pupil Free)

Please be reminded that this coming Monday (day before Melbourne Cup) is a pupil free day. All staff will be attending professional learning onsite, however students are NOT required to attend school.

2019 Staffing and Class Structure

Throughout Term 4 until early December, we will be working on our class structures and student combinations for next year. This is a very complex process, influenced by many factors including changes in student numbers and staffing combinations that will cause us to reshape our proposed class structures several times throughout this term. We maintain our commitment to small average class sizes across the school.

Due to this, it is vital that we are made aware of any circumstances that may impact on our enrolment numbers. Please let us know urgently if you intend to enrol a child at our school, if you are aware of people in our community who will be enrolling, or if you intend to transfer to another school. We require this information as soon as possible in order to establish grade structures for the start of the new school year.

If your child is currently in Grades Prep – 5 and will not be enroled at BRPS next year please notify the office in writing at your earliest convenience.

2019 Program Priorities

A number of changes and developments are currently being planned to enhance and enrich the positive climate for learning at Black Rock PS, as well as work towards our long term priorities to continually improve student outcomes focused on engagement, wellbeing and academic outcomes. Some of the key areas of focus are:

Transition from a parallel (single-gender) model of learning to a co-educational model in Year 5/6
Expansion and development of a whole-school integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) program and dedicated space.
Continued focus on developing a growth mindset, positive outlook and targeted, individualised learning experiences.
Restructuring of our Digital Technologies device provisioning model to allow increased and more flexible access to support the learning of all students, F-6.

We look forward to working hard with the entire school community to implement these changes throughout 2019 and beyond.

Family Literacy Evening

Wed 7th Nov

5.30pm - 6.30pm

This year we have had a strong focus on developing student writing across the school. Our English Curriculum Committee and teaching teams have collaborated to renew the curriculum and continue to develop a consistent instructional model for Writing at each level. Student development has been amazing and our NAPLAN growth results were absolutely outstanding.

Come along and view the fantastic writing that takes place in our classrooms and engage in literacy activities with your child.

Principal for the Day

What a wonderful day I enjoyed last Friday with 'Principal Lachlan'. As the winner of the 'Principal for the Day' Silent Auction prize at our recent fete, Lachlan from 1K confidently stepped into the Principal role for the entire day. Beginning at 7:30am to serve breakfast to the Year 2 sleepover crew, Lachlan then went on to send some important emails and address the school over the PA, complete school master planning and attend activities such as Bike Ed & 'Footsteps' dance. We also visited classrooms, patrolled the yard on duty, ate a special lunch in the Principal's office with a few lucky friends and finished with a special award and presentation at the whole school assembly.

Thanks for such a great day Lachlan, I could see your confidence grow from strength to strength. I'm already looking forward to the next 'Principal for a Day' event!

Year 2 Sleepover

The Year 2 Sleepover was a roaring success and everyone who attended had a great time.

We thank all the volunteer teachers for helping and the BBQ parent helpers.

Highlights were: the Silent Disco, Sleeping at school, Luke the Magician and all the great food.

I would especially like to thank the many school staff who organised, slept over, arrived early to provide breakfast or generally helped out in anyway. All efforts went a long way to making this such an enjoyable experience for students.

Special Student Events

Foundation Grandparents and Special Friends Day

Last Wednesday the Foundation students had a visit from their Grandparents and Special Friends. They had a wonderful time serving them scones with jam and cream and serenading them with our Three Billy Goats Gruff song!

Foundation - Hands on Science:

The Foundation students had such a fabulous time at our Hands On Science Incursion last week. They learnt more about different objects that can move by using a range of forces and were even able to create their very own rocket!

Year 1 - Hands On Science

As part of the Science Inquiry topic, ‘Bend it! Stretch it!, the Year One students have experimented with different chemical and physical changes. During their incursion this week they had a fun-filled session looking at the changes and reactions that occur in the kitchen.

SunSmart

No Hat, No Play

With the warm weather well and truly here, this is a reminder that all students are required to wear school hats from September 1st until April (typically the end of Term 1). If you need to buy a new one, please make an order at the uniform shop or visit them during their opening hours of 8.45am-9.30am on Thursdays. Black Rock PS is a SunSmart school and we have a ‘no hat no play’ policy, so please ensure that your child’s hat is packed every day.

State Athletics Campionships

Congratulations to our elite performing students who competed brilliantly at the State Athletics Championships on Monday. Please see the Sports page for a detailed description of the performances on the day.

Have a great fortnight everyone,

Sam Tyndall

PRINCIPAL

Family Literacy Night

Black Rock PS Family Open Night

Date: Wednesday November 7th

Time: Drop in between 5:30pm to 6:30pm

Place: Your child(ren)’s classroom

Come along and view the fantastic writing that takes place in our classrooms and engage in literacy activities with your child.