School Community News
Happy Neurodiversity Celebration Week!
Neurodiversity Celebration week is next week, starting Monday 16 March. Bell PS celebrates this every second year. This week celebrates the strengths of neurodiverse people and increases awareness of what neurodiversity might look like. Our own kids have found Neurodiversity Celebration week a time to acknowledge and celebrate themselves. They have chosen to do this openly by talking about their neurodiversity. It is so important for kids to understand their brains, and to be accepted for who they are.
This week might bring up questions for your kids about themselves or about other kids in their class. Talk to your kids about different people in their lives. Talk to them about how different people experience the world in different ways and how we can engage with them. The way you talk about the kid who is different and the language you use directly influences how your child treats other kids.
If yours is a neurospicey or neurosparkly family – take a moment to celebrate together the things that make you, you:
Wow, I had no idea there was so much to know about Beyblades, that is so cool!
Tell me again how the Artemis mission is going to work. (Did you know the Artemis II launch had to be pushed back to April? Seriously, stay up to date! - www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/)
When Mum’s keys disappear (again), laugh together about my brain - (sometimes) the kids help me find them. The frustrating and tough moments happen for all of us.
“Today was hard, Mum”. No worries, let’s have easy food, and time regulating on the swing or watching the iPad – we’ve got you.
“Let’s play chess versus checkers!” – a moment of brain twisting can be followed by an exploration of whether a weird, off the wall idea leads to something totally new, cool and interesting!
Sometimes our kids tell us “Mum, Dad, I love being an autistic family!” and we reply, “Us too, kid, us too!”.
For parents supporting neurodiverse kids, it can be a wild ride of highs and lows. Here are some places to look for support:
Find neuroaffirming groups online, such as Reframing Autism, Yellow Ladybugs, the iCAN network or follow NeuroWild (Insta and Facebook)
Talk to your child’s teacher as the first port of call, as they can liaise with Wellbeing Learning Specialists. Direct communication with the Wellbeing Learning Specialists can be via the school office.
Reach out to other parents – be aware that different families are at different places along their journey of understanding what neurodiversity means for their family. They might not always be ready or have capacity to talk.
Bell’s own school WhatsApp groups - Neurodiverse Families @ Bell - for Prep/Grade 1 and another for Grade 2/3, are easy to join. Find us on the school WhatsApp Community list. This is for neuroaffirming support and information finding for parents and carers supporting neurodiverse kids @ Bell.
Anyone wanting to start one for 4/5/6, please reach out to Lizzie - you can find me via the WhatsApp groups.
If anyone would like to know more about, or join the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, please contact Andy.
Lizzie & Andy Selby
SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB
Book Club is back for 2026! Thanks to all families who support Book Club, it helps the Bell Primary library to expand. Book Club catalogues have recently been sent home with the eldest child in the family. Just a few reminders and helpful tips for new Bell families:
All ordering and payments are done securely online - please visit www.scholastic.com.au/loop to order
Books are delivered straight to your child's classroom - Bell buzzes on book delivery day!
Bell Primary gets 15% of the order total to spend on new books for the school library. So far, the school has received over $18,400 in new library books. Every order you place helps the library to grow.
Participating in Book Club is completely voluntary
There is one edition of Book Club each term
Orders for Term 1 close on Thursday 19 March at 9pm
EASING INTO ADOLESCENCE
The Easing into Adolescence: Resources for Families webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 years (Grade 5 to Year 8) has recently been launched by the Department of Education. The webpage has information and strategies parents and carers can use to help their children ease into adolescence and secondary school. The webpage includes:
guidance for families on using emotion coaching to support their adolescent. Experts from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning in to Teens program developed the guidance.
information for families about how to support their adolescent with their studies and more generally. Parenting expert and clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller helped develop this resource.
Subtitles for videos by The University of Melbourne are available in 10 languages. Families can select their preferred language on the translations page.
Environmental Request - Idle Off
It has been requested that parents consider turning off their car engines when parked and waiting to pick up students after school. Idling can cause unpleasant air pollution, noise for neighbours and can contribute to climate change. For some information on the health and environmental impacts of idling engines, Parents for Climate have a good information website: https://www.parentsforclimate.org/idle_off