“We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the first people to dream, create, wonder, dance, play and learn on this breathtaking land. This land was cared for and respected for tens of thousands of years. The First Nations people lived in companionship with the animals and the life on this land. We acknowledge that this is stolen land and we pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging.”

Rayma Atkinson (2023 Suzanne Peterson Award Recipient)

School Values

Hannah has been working with the Senior School this term to develop a process for teaching Philosophy to (and with) students. It has been an exciting experience to see how our students are able to engage with big questions and dive into deep discussions that explore important concepts.

At a primary school level, philosophy is about learning to ask questions, to explore concepts and opinions from different viewpoints and to build an understanding that very little in our world is black and white, but instead many different shades of grey. Philosophy links to the curriculum in many different ways, including but not limited to critical and creative thinking, speaking and listening as well as ethical capabilities.

This term the Seniors have started to explore our four school values: Authenticity, Respect, Connection and Creativity. When diving into the concept of Authenticity, our classes asked questions such as “What makes up our sense of identity?”, “What makes us us - and how much of us can change before we become someone else?” as well as “Is it ever OK to break the rules, if it means we are honoring ourselves and our needs?” While examining the value of Respect, our classes have wanted to discuss questions such as; “Is telling on someone always dobbing/snitching?”, “Is it ever OK to break promises?” and “Can you ever really run away from your problems?” I can’t wait to see what they will ask when we get to Connection and Creativity!

While teachers plan the provocations, philosophy sessions are guided by the needs and wants of students and provide them with a space to ask questions and explore ideas that might have otherwise been considered ‘off-limits’. It has been beautiful to watch students develop an understanding that they can disagree with each other in a respectful manner and they have the freedom to pose ideas or ask questions that are important to them. As always, teachers will never push their own agenda in regards to beliefs - through discussions the students are encouraged to come up with their own ideas of what is ‘most reasonable’ or ‘most accurate’ for each question, always understanding that others may have a different understanding or viewpoint to their own.

Over the coming terms we will start introducing elements of Philosophy to the Foundies, Juniors and Middles, so they are all able to explore important concepts and practice discussing ideas with others whom they may not agree with.

School Council Nominations

We have received six nominations for our new School Council, which will begin in term two, after our Annual Public Meeting. As this is equal to the number of vacant positions, we will not need to undergo a ballot process. We would like to extend a warm welcome to the following parents and carers:

Sara Webster, Jack Furphy, Aleesha Harrison-Grace, Theresa Alston, Ranjodh Singh and Ann Brennan.

Thank you to all of you for committing your time and expertise to this important role. We look forward to working with you over the next two years.

Education Committee

The education committee is a sub-committee of the school council. We are a group of staff and parents/carers who meet up to twice a term to discuss and unpack the educational experiences offered through our school.

Sometimes we dive deeply into one part of the curriculum, sometimes we analyse whole-school data and identify trends, challenges or successes and we also address questions and wonderings from parents and carers.

On the 18th of March at 6.30pm we will be having our first meeting. We meet online, and we would love to welcome new members. If you would like to join the Education sub-committee please email Keir (Keir.jasper@education.vic.gov.au) and we will include you in the invitation and share the agenda with you.

The Nor'Wester

BNWPS is committed to Child Safe Standards and prevention of child abuse

Issue 7 · 12 Mar 2024

In this issue