Principal's Report
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, learn and play. We pay respect to Wurundjeri elders past, present and emerging and extend our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families of Bimbadeen Heights Primary School.
Despite the drizzly weather, our Open Night and Art Show on Wednesday, 20 May was a wonderful success, with a fantastic turnout of families and friends from across our community. It was lovely to see so many people engaging so positively with our school, exploring classrooms, celebrating student learning, and spending time together throughout the evening.
The school looked fantastic, beautifully decorated with vibrant student work that showcased the creativity, imagination, and learning happening every day at Bimbadeen. Families enjoyed wandering through classrooms and participating in our Activity Trail and hands-on activities.
One of the highlights of the evening was our student scavenger hunt, which students absolutely loved participating in as they explored the school with their families.
Our annual Art Show was, once again, a massive hit! Featuring two or more artworks from every student, this year’s inspiring theme, Food, Glorious Food!, brought colour, creativity, and excitement to every display. A huge thank you to Ms Laird for her incredible creativity and vision in bringing the exhibition to life. It was wonderful to see students so proudly sharing their artwork with their families throughout the evening.
This year, we also introduced a Silent Auction featuring collaborative class artworks. We were thrilled that every piece sold, raising almost $1,200 to directly support our Visual Art program. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to this wonderful initiative.
We received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from families who thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and we would like to sincerely thank all staff for the care, effort, and teamwork that went into preparing classrooms and learning spaces. Your dedication and pride in our school were evident throughout the evening and helped create such a memorable celebration of creativity, learning, and community.
Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the evening such a special success.
This year, our school proudly joined millions of children across Australia in celebrating National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS), a much-loved annual event that promotes the joy of reading and storytelling.
At 12:00 pm on Wednesday 27 May, classes across the school came together to share this year’s featured story, Luna Roo the Kangaroo Baller by Adam Jackson and Adrian Lloyd. The story follows Luna Roo, a nervous soccer captain, as she learns to overcome challenges and lead her team with courage and determination, an energetic and inspiring underdog tale that students thoroughly enjoyed.
National Simultaneous Storytime is coordinated annually by the Australian Library & Information Association (ALIA), with schools, libraries, childcare centres, and families all reading the same Australian picture book at the same time across the country, and even around the world.
Students loved being part of this special shared reading experience, and it was wonderful to see classes celebrating together through stories, discussion, and related classroom activities. Events like NSS help foster a lifelong love of reading while strengthening our sense of community and connection through literature.
Every year on 26 May, National Sorry Day is a day we acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation. While this date carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is also commemorated by Australians right around the country.
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2026, 'All In', a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.
At school we will acknowledge this week through our classroom teaching and learning. We have a strong commitment to ensuring our community is safe and inclusive. This is reflected in our 'Inclusion and Diversity' policy which you can access from our school website. Further, we have been supporting the implementation of the Department of Education Marrung Action Plan which helps to ensure we recognise and support First Nation teaching, learning, inclusion and safety for our families at BHPS.
If you would like to find out more about Sorry Day and Reconciliation week, we encourage you to visit this website: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/
We are committed to ensuring all families can communicate confidently with our school and access important information about their child’s education.
Families who require language support can access a free interpreting service to assist with communication between home and school. Interpreters are available across a wide range of languages and can support parents and carers when discussing important matters relating to their child’s learning, wellbeing, attendance, or school programs.
The attached guide provides simple step-by-step instructions for accessing an interpreter, including contact numbers for specific languages and information about how the service works.
We encourage families to make use of this valuable service to help strengthen communication and partnership between home and school.
You may have noticed some of our Year 6 student leaders wearing rainbow capes if you have visited the school on a Friday and wondered why. Those colourful capes are our ‘birthday capes’, and they are a sign that our Student Leadership Team is either on their way to celebrate a student’s birthday or returning from one of these special visits.
At Bimbadeen, celebrating our students and helping them feel known and valued has long been an important part of our school culture. For many years, members of our Principal Class Team delivered birthday cards and birthday visits to students as part of this much-loved tradition. In 2026, our Student Leadership Team enthusiastically took over this special role, proudly continuing the tradition of celebrating students each week with birthday visits and cards.
Every Friday, our student leaders proudly visit classrooms wearing the birthday capes to deliver birthday cards and celebrate students who have birthdays that week. The cards, designed by our Year 6 students, are a wonderful keepsake, with students collecting a different design each year throughout their time at Bimbadeen.
The initiative has been enthusiastically received by our students, with many eagerly looking forward to their birthday visit each year. The excitement and smiles that come with seeing our student leaders arrive in their rainbow capes have brought so much joy to our school community.
Beyond delivering cards, these visits provide a valuable opportunity for connection, celebration, and student leadership. Our student leaders have embraced the role with kindness, pride, and enthusiasm, helping to make every student feel recognised and celebrated on their special day.
The birthday capes continue to bring a little extra colour, fun, and happiness to our Fridays at Bimbadeen, and it has been wonderful to see this tradition evolve through the leadership and care of our students.
You may be aware that industrial action across Victorian government schools has currently been paused following an in-principle agreement being reached. While this is a positive step forward, there may still be some impacts on Semester One reports as we approach the end of the semester.
As part of the industrial action, some teachers who had been participating may not complete General Comments or the Effort and Behaviour scale on reports this semester. However, all students will continue to receive their progression point information, ensuring families are informed about student achievement and progress.
In classes where teaching responsibilities are shared between staff members, a proportional approach may be taken to the completion of report comments and Effort and Behaviour ratings.
Mid-year reports will be available to parents and carers on the Sentral Parent Portal from Friday 26 June at 4pm. Reports can be viewed online as a PDF or printed at your convenience.
To access the reports, you will need to be registered and able to log in to the Sentral Parent Portal. If you haven’t registered yet or are experiencing any difficulties, please contact our Sentral coordinator, Melinda Ruscitti, at Melinda.Ruscitti@education.vic.gov.au, or reach out to Shelley or Emma in the office for assistance.
The Department of Education is also currently working towards a more consistent reporting format across Victorian government schools from next year, with the aim of simplifying reporting processes while continuing to provide meaningful information about student learning and growth.
We appreciate the understanding and ongoing support of our school community as these changes are implemented.
Parent/Teacher Interviews will be held in Weeks 2 and 3 of Term 3, with information being sent to families later this term. Bookings will open at the beginning of the final week of term and can be made online via Sentral.
Interviews will be held either in person, with a Webex and telephone option.
The May meeting of School Council was held on Wednesday 20 May. School Councils play an important role in Victorian government schools. The Bimbadeen Heights PS School Council is committed to sharing our work with the Bimbadeen community. To strengthen communication between council and our parents/carers, after each School Council meeting, we share information about School Council, including general information about the functions and operations of council and the specific work of our own council at Bimbadeen.
The work of our School Council is guided by the key functions of School Councils. These functions are prescribed in the Education and Training Reform Act and the Education and Training Reform Regulations and provide a clear picture about what school council does. To support our community with their understanding of the role and work of our council, below is a summary of the key functions of school councils:
We hope you enjoy a lovely weekend.
Warm regards,
Adele Gregson, Sabrina George, Marty Gill and Bree King
