Mr Baker's Message
Hello families, and welcome to our fourth edition of the school newsletter for Term 1, 2026.
This term is flying along and summer is holding on for as long as it can before the leaves start to turn and Ballan comes into its own. Last week our Year 5/6 students attended Campaspe Downs for their camp. I had the pleasure of spending some time there with the group and it was wonderful to see the students challenging themselves, supporting one another and making the most of the experience. Thank you to our staff for their support and organisation, and well done to our students for the way they represented our school.
Sports Day Postponement
It was with great disappointment that we had to postpone our Years 3-6 Sports Day a couple of weeks ago due to the weather. However, I’m pleased to confirm that we now have a new date locked in for Monday 27th April in Week 2 of Term 2.
The Sports Day will still be held at Masons Lane Reserve in Bacchus Marsh, which has an excellent track and field set-up, with all equipment available for us to use.
Buses will still be used to transport students to and from the venue, with costs and approval already completed through Xuno. Our parent volunteers will also be running the special lunch on the day for students who purchased a hot dog.
We will provide more information for families as we get closer to the event in the first week of Term 2. I can confirm that the event at Masons Lane will be for students in Grades 3–6 only. A separate Junior Sports Day for younger students will still take place at school later in the year, with a date to be advised.
Ballan Autumn Festival
This Sunday 15th March is the Ballan Autumn Festival, and we invite all our students and families to join us in the parade down the main street.
We are float number 13. Our float theme is “Ballan’s Backyard - Birds, Bees, Bugs, Butterflies and Beautiful Blooms’. You can wear whatever you like that fits the theme. Come dressed as a gardener, a scarecrow, your favourite flower, or insect.
Please join us in our walking float if you can and make it a bumper turn out for the school.
We meet Mrs Spencer and the teachers around 10:00am and the parade begins at 10:30am sharp. Students in Grades Prep to 3 need to be accompanied by an adult please, as it is impossible for us to have our eyes on everyone, in this setting. We would love to see strong representation from the older classes too.
You do not need to buy an outfit. Rumage through dress ups, borrow from a friend, checkout op shop donations. Have fun putting together your outfit
Questions: contact Melissa Spencer at Melissa.Spencer@education.vic.gov.au
School Council 2026
It was fantastic to receive new interest for our parent representatives through the School Council nomination process. Nominations have now closed and I am pleased to share with you our School Council representatives for 2026.
Our parent representatives will be Zoe Edwards, Brendon Chavasse, Alex Cairns, Simon Finn, Jade Dargan, Karlee Litchfield and Lisa Noll as a community member.
Our staff representatives will continue to be Lachlan Carlyle, Lisa Grech, Stacey Grech, Martina Allan, and myself.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Colin Meikle for his contributions to the School Council during his tenure as president and as a representative.
NAPLAN
A big congratulations to our Grade 3 and Grade 5 students for the calm and focused way they approached NAPLAN testing this week. Students have now completed three assessments in Writing, Reading, and Conventions of Language. Next week students will complete their Numeracy assessment followed by any catch up testing for students who have been absent during the NAPLAN testing window.
Our message to our students has been very simple - try your best, have a go, and show what you know. We are very proud of the positive attitude and effort students have shown throughout the process.
Stay Connected via socials
Remember to like and follow our school on Facebook and Instagram for the latest snippets and updates, news and photos from the classroom and school yard in between newsletters. It’s a great way to keep connected with what’s happening at Ballan PS. Remember to always view Xuno notifications as they pop up.
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Mr James Baker
Acting Principal
Healthy Eating at BPS
