Dear Parents and Carers,

As we approach the end of the year, the students have been actively engaged in a number of school and extracurricular activities including the Year 2 Sleepover, Year 6 Camp and a visit from the Firefighters for our Foundation students. Across the school students have been reading a range of mentor texts from picture story books to novels. The students explore the writer’s craft, vocabulary choices and development of characters, setting and storyline to inspire their own choices in writing. The conversations students engage in about these texts supports the Big 6 of Reading, focusing on oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. By engaging with mentor texts through the lens of the Big 6 of Reading, students not only strengthen essential reading skills, but also see how those skills come together to support authentic, meaningful writing.

Transition

On Thursday, our 2026 Foundation students attended their transition session in a Foundation class. The students had an amazing time experiencing story time and creative play.

The leadership team welcomed our 2026 families, providing an overview of our school, followed by Andrew and Jani, two current BEPS parents sharing their experiences as a new parent of a Foundation student. The information presented was well received, with our families having a greater understanding of our wonderful school approaches embedded here at BEPS.

Our last transition session is on Tuesday 9th of December, where the 2026 Foundations meet their 2026 teacher and class. We look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

Assessment and Reporting:

Throughout the year we offer a number of formal opportunities for you to receive feedback on how your child is progressing and their future learning opportunities. This term you will receive your child’s Semester 2 report.

Student reports for Semester 2 will be made available online through Compass on Wednesday 17th of December. We strongly recommend parents/carer read their child’s report and focus on your child’s achievements throughout the year. We are extremely proud of what our students have achieved academically, socially and emotionally. If you have any questions regarding your child’s report, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.

Your child's Semester 2 report will contain:

a short description of what was taught across all learning areas (overview)
report achievement against the Victorian Curriculum F-10 achievement standards (including Towards Foundation Levels A-D)
Personal and Social Capabilities comments focusing on students’ achievements, as well as areas for future learning.
a five-point scale for achievement in Specialist and Inquiry learning areas.
an Attendance summary.

Families whose children are leaving the school, please download all your reports by December 18 as families will no longer have access to their BEPS Compass account after this date.

Community Spirit and Leadership Award

Each year, Dr Carina Garland (Federal Member for Chisholm) presents Community Spirit and Leadership Awards to a student from each school within the Chisholm community.

The Community Spirit and Leadership Awards recognise inspirational young people who make a difference to their communities and an important contribution to the civic life of their schools.

This year, Isabella in Year 6 received the award for Burwood East Primary School. I was privileged to attend the ceremony at Avila College last week with Izzi and her mum. Izzi was recognised for her contributions to Burwood East PS as a student and as a leader. Izzi always displays great kindness and compassion and is a role model who values supporting others in the school community. Congratulations Izzi.

School Celebration Concert

We look forward to sharing with you soon our fabulous Celebration Concert. The students have worked extremely hard rehearsing their songs and dances. Thank-you to our staff for their enthusiasm, time, and dedication in preparing for this must-see event. Please join us on Tuesday 16th of December at 9:30am.

We will be having a Celebration Concert Breakfast from 8am, with a selection of items from Bakers Delight available. Orders can be made via CompassTix for students, siblings and parents/carers. Please keep an eye out for the Compass Newsfeed for more information.

Student leadership:

Our Year 5 students are busily preparing and presenting their speeches to apply for leadership roles, including school captain. We congratulate the students for displaying confidence and resilience throughout this process. At Monday’s assembly, our Year 5 School Captain candidates will present their speeches to the community and voting will follow back in the classrooms. We look forward to hearing them highlighting their achievements, experiences, and pride they have within our school community. Good luck to all the candiates.

The process for all student leadership positions is underway and the student leadership roles will be announced at assembly on Monday the 8th of December.

Parent Morning Tea: Thank you!

At Burwood East Primary, we value the partnerships we make with parents and the wider community. It is through such partnerships that we can maximise success for our students. There are so many ways that you all contribute to our school, so in thanks we invite all our Parent and Carer Helpers to a very special morning tea.

When: Thursday, 4 December

When: 11.15 am

Where: Main staffroom

Please RSVP to: burwood.east.ps@education.vic.gov.au by Monday 1 December.

Smile Squad: Six month fluoride varnish visit December 3rd and 4th

The health Ability Smile Squad team are heading back to our school to complete six-monthly fluoride varnish applications for those students who have provided consent when students’ initial consent forms were returned earlier in the year.

Fluoride varnish applications help make sure students have the best chance of preventing tooth decay, so we’re excited Smile Squad are coming back.

Consent for this fluoride varnish application was provided. However, if anyone has changed their mind and do not wish to receive a fluoride varnish application, they can contact healthAbility directly to let them know.

Please contact the SmileSquad team via: 0405990729 or SmileSquad@healthAbility.org.au

The Smile Squad team look forward to visiting soon.

Riding or Scooting to School

Recently we have had an increase in near misses and safety concerns in relation to students riding to and from school, especially around the school perimeter and local community. Children under the age of 12 may ride on footpaths, as can a supervising adult. They are required to give way to pedestrians and to wheel their bicycles over pedestrian and children’s crossings.

Our teachers continue to reinforce the expectations of riding or scooting to and from school, however, parents and carers are responsible for their child/ren travelling to and from school (Cycling to and from school Department of Education policy). These expectations include:

Wearing a helmet - All cyclists, regardless of age, must wear an approved bicycle helmet when riding

Giving way - Riders on footpaths must give way to pedestrians and be cautious around driveways and intersections

Road awareness - Children should stop at driveways, check for cars, and use hand signals.

Alert others- Riders should ring their bells or signal ‘Passing’ using a clear voice when passing pedestrians.

We look forward to working with you to ensure our students and wider community arrive at their destinations safely. Please see some information from Vic Roads on cyclist safety for more information.

Sun Smart

Sun safety is a shared responsibility and staff, parents and students are encouraged to implement a combination of sun protection measures whenever UV levels reach 3 and above (typically from mid-August to the end of April in Victoria). Information about the daily local sun protection times is available via the school’s website, the free SunSmart app, or at sunsmart.com.au or bom.gov.au.

This term students must wear their hats for all outside activities, including recess and lunch. Students who forget their hat are encouraged to play in the COLA or visit the library which is open every recess and lunch.

Craft sand Contamination Update

You may be aware of a recent alert about craft sand products that may contain asbestos. For current information about the recall, including a list of products, visit the ACCC website.

At our school, we are taking the steps set out by the Department of Education. Current advice from national and Victorian health authorities is that there is a low risk to human health from these products.

If you have the product at home, however, the advice from the health authorities is that you should stop using it and follow the safety advice published here: Safe disposal and health information for consumers with recalled sand products | ACCC Product

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD)

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a United Nations Day, observed each year on 3 December. In Australia, it is a day to promote awareness, understanding and acceptance of the 5.5 million people with disability in the country.

Schools play an important role in creating a more inclusive and diverse community in Australia. Each year, the United Nations announces a theme for IDPwD. The theme assists in breaking down barriers and promoting diversity and inclusion.

The 2025 theme is: Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress. The theme means we all need to work together to make society fairer and respect the rights of people with disability.

Take care,

Edwina & Teri

Principal's Awards