Principal's Report
Hello Parents and Families,
I’d like to start by acknowledging how fantastic our students are here at BNPS. Over the past few weeks, we have had a number of teams out and about competing in Division level sports, and all the feedback that has come back from the staff and parents attending with them has been first-class. Our students have represented our school with pride, hard work and good grace – to the point that this has even been fed back to us from other school principals. Absolutely wonderful to hear – I’m so proud of them!
Parent Feedback
On Monday, Kim, Carly and I hosted a fabulous group of parents for our coffee and cake session. In this session we outlined some current focus areas and changes in the teaching and learning programs at the school, gave an overview of our Restorative Practices and discussed some feedback on how the schools is running – what we are doing well, and some queries we can ponder to continue to improve. We are finding these sessions so valuable and really appreciate the feedback we are receiving to keep getting better. It is our intention to host one of these each term, so please look out for the Term 3 invitation and come along if you can.
I would just like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the importance behaving appropriately on social media. From time-to-time there are concerns that arise relating to the school or students in the school, and parents are reminded that there is a clear process to raise these with the school, and that is not through a Facebook page or other social media platform. The following is an excerpt from our Complaints Policy:
“Ballarat North Primary School is always happy to discuss with parents/carers and community members any concerns that they may have. Concerns in the first instance should be directed to with your child’s teacher, Assistant Principal or Principal. Where possible, school staff will work with you to ensure that your concerns are appropriately addressed.”
I urge you to by all means use social media to help each other out as a community to answer queries, share ideas or promote the school, but please don’t use this is a place to raise a concern or share information about a school-related issue that involves staff or students. These need to come directly to the school to follow-up and find a resolution to.
Lastly, I’d like to draw your attention to the Wellbeing page of the newsletter, where Mrs Macdonald has included some very valuable guidance for parents/carers on children and their access to devices and social media. This is well worth a read.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Until I see you in person,
David
"Every minute of every hour of every day you are making the world, just as you are making yourself, and you might as well do it with generosity and kindness and style."- Rebecca Solnit