Engagement & Wellbeing
Students Bringing Mobile Phones to School (including the School Concert)
A reminder to all families that in accordance with the Department’s Mobile Phones — Student Use Policy issued by the Minister for Education, personal mobile phones must not be used at Buninyong Primary School during school hours, including lunchtime and recess, unless an exception has been granted.
For the purpose of the policy, “mobile phone” refers to mobile phones and any device that may connect to or have a similar functionality to a mobile phone such as smart watches.
Buninyong Primary School understands that students may bring a personal mobile phone to school, particularly if they are travelling independently to and from school.
- Students who choose to bring mobile phones to school must have them switched off and securely stored during school hours. In our school, this currently means these devices should be given to their teacher and kept in the office.
- When emergencies occur, parents or carers should reach their child by calling the school’s office.
Mobile phones owned by students at Buninyong Primary School are considered valuable items and are brought to school at the owner’s (student or parent/carer) risk. Students are encouraged not to bring a mobile phone to school unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Please note that Buninyong Primary School does not have accident insurance for accidental property damage or theft. Students and their parents/carers are encouraged to obtain appropriate insurance for valuable items.
Further information for parents regarding Mobile Phones in Schools can be found at https://www.vic.gov.au/mobile-phones-schools and also on our school website.
Please note that the policy applies to all school events, including camps and the upcoming school concert. Any student who brings a phone to the concert must have this switched off and hand it in to a teacher.
We thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
FOOTY COLOURS DAY proudly supporting the Mphatso Children’s Foundation
A reminder that on the last day of term three, students are invited to come dressed in their favourite team colours. Usually students are asked to bring a gold coin donation on casual dress days to support a good cause.
On footy colours day, we encourage students to collect as many coins as they can. Five cent coins have become synonymous with Mphatso, as this is how much it previously cost to provide a bowl of porridge to a student each day at school. For many of the children, this is the only food they will have for the day. Unfortunately, inflation has also hit Malawi and the cost of a bowl of porridge has risen to 10 cents.
Students may bring along as many coins as they wish, and coins can be of any denomination.
Students can then deposit their coins into their favourite team’s container. The team at the end of the day with the most donations (in volume, not value) will be crowned the winner of the Buninyong Cup!
All donations will then be forwarded to the Mphatso Children’s Foundation on behalf of our school.
As many of you may know, we have had an ongoing relationship with Mphatso Children’s Foundation in Malawi for many years. A former parent of Buninyong PS, Robyn Casey, established the Mphatso Children’s Foundation back in 2004. Their mission is to FEED THE CHILDREN, GROW THE COMMUNITY & IMPACT THE FUTURE.
We thank you for your ongoing support.
For more information about Mphatso, please visit their website https://www.mphatso.org/ or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/mphatsochildrensorg
Bunjil Awards
Congratulations to the following students who received a Specialist Bunjil Award at last week’s assembly.
Bunjil awards recognise student achievement and those who display our school values of being respectful, responsible and kind.
Well done! All of our recipients enjoyed a hot chocolate or zooper dooper with a principal (and our Student Principals!).
