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.
Last Thursday, our Year 5/6 students participated in the Lilydale District Primary Schools Sports Association Athletics Carnival at the Mount Evelyn Athletics Track. It was a fantastic day of competition and teamwork, with Bimbadeen finishing in 5th place overall.
Today, our Year 3/4 students are taking part in their Athletics Carnival, and we look forward to hearing about their results.
These events require a great deal of organisation, and we thank Mr Skinner and the Physical Education teachers from the Lilydale District schools for their hard work in coordinating the carnivals. We also appreciate the support of our wonderful parents and carers who volunteered or came along to cheer on our students, as well as our teaching and support staff who attended.
We are very proud of the efforts of all our students and the way they demonstrated our school values and excellent sportsmanship throughout the carnivals.
It is wonderful to see our students who have embraced active travel and who are now walking to school, or riding their skateboard, scooter, or bike to school. Active travel is a great way to beat the traffic congestion while getting a dose of healthy, heart-pumping physical activity. We would like to remind everyone that bikes, skateboards, and scooters must be walked in the school grounds, to ensure the safety of all community members before and after school. Families are welcome to visit the school from 4pm or on weekends to ride their bikes, skateboards, or scooters around the yard.
Each day, our classroom doors open at 8:50am so students can settle themselves and get organised for the start of the school day. Please plan to arrive at school on time for a 9am start. Our teachers have developed strong, positive routines at the beginning of the school day to support our students settle in and engage in learning as soon as the bell rings. This includes marking the roll at 9am and beginning our teaching and learning activities straight away.
We implement this approach of opening our classrooms 10 minutes before the bell to support the wellbeing and engagement of our students. When students arrive to school late, they take longer to settle into learning, and this can be unsettling for both them and their peers. Please support your child to enjoy a positive start to the school day and their learning by planning to arrive on time.
Student Resource Funding is determined by parent codes taken from the self-nominated category on student enrolment forms. This means that funds from the Government are taken from the parent/carer occupations. We take this opportunity to remind families to advise the school of any changes to employment. As always, any information is confidential.
In the case of an emergency, we will attempt to contact parents first, and if there is no response, then we move to the emergency contacts. It is important that the office has the most current and correct contact details for any parent, to help ensure this will happen.
Please take this time to check your details on Sentral, and if you find them incorrect, email the office at bimbadeen.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au and we can amend these for you
In accordance with the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic), schooling is compulsory for children and young people aged from 6 to 17 years unless an exemption has been granted. Parents/carers must enrol a child of compulsory school age at a registered school and always ensure the child attends school when the school is open for instruction.
Students are expected to attend the school in which they are enrolled, during normal school hours every day of each term, unless there is an approved exemption from school attendance or attendance and enrolment for the student, or the student is registered for home-schooling and has only a partial enrolment in a school for activities.
Schools must advise parents/carers of unexplained absences, on the same day, as soon as practicable. We use Sentral attendance to record this at Bimbadeen Heights Primary School.
Bimbadeen Heights Primary School is committed to child safety and upholding the Child Safe Standards.
Bimbadeen Heights Primary School has zero tolerance for child abuse.
We are committed to providing a child safe environment where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Our child safe policies, procedures, strategies, and practices will be inclusive of the needs of all children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, children with disabilities, LGBTIQA+ students and children who are vulnerable including students who are in out of home care.
Every person involved in Bimbadeen Heights Primary School has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role they play individually and collectively to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.
Please see our school website for up-to-date information, including direct links to the Child Safe Standards and the website for the Commission for Children and Young People.
Bimbadeen Heights PS has a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system in operation at our school. Our school has an obligation to ensure the school environment is safe and secure, and fulfil our duty of care to students, staff, and visitors.
The CCTV system assists our school to fulfil these obligations and prevent and manage other inappropriate behaviour on school grounds. CCTV also provides enhanced capability to protect our school’s assets against vandalism and theft.
We follow Department of Education and Training policy requirements for the design, installation, management, and use of the CCTV systems. This policy is available at: CCTV in Schools – Installation and Management. We will also have a CCTV Privacy Notice on our school website with more information about our school’s use. If you have any questions or concerns at this stage, please contact the office.
At this time of the year many people are thinking about choosing a school for next year. This may be parents of children in Year 6 who are deciding on secondary schools or parents of pre-schoolers who are looking for a primary school.
Choosing the school that is best suited to your family and child’s needs can still be a challenge. The best way to determine the right school for you is to visit them, participate in the school tours and take advantage of the open days/nights and various transition events that the schools offer. This approach works equally well for primary and secondary schools.
From the first day of Term 2, we will be accepting enrolments for Foundation in 2027. We encourage prospective parents and carers to complete an online tour via the school website where you can learn about our wonderful school and meet our staff and students. Prospective families can also attend an in-person tour where we can show you our school and answer any questions you might have or discuss your child’s individual needs.
Mrs Gregson, Mrs George, Mrs King and Mr Gill have been busily providing personalised school tours for interested families, looking to enrol their child at Bimbadeen in 2027. Prospective families can book a school tour through the office on 9726 9989 or via email to Bimbadeen.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au
We will be accepting enrolments for Foundation for 2027, from the beginning of next term. Further information about choosing a school and enrolling your child is available at https://www.vic.gov.au/how-choose-school-and-enrol Enrolment information will be available at the office from Term 2.
If you know of anyone who is looking at a Primary School for next year, please encourage them to visit our website and register for the online tour where they will hear teachers, parents and students talk about our school. They are also encouraged to come and visit Bimbadeen and see our school ‘in action’ where they will get a sense of the great relationships that exist here. We love showing people around and talking about this outstanding school.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend, feel free to pop in for a chat with us should you wish to discuss anything. Our doors are always open!
Kind regards,
Adele Gregson, Sabrina George, Marty Gill and Bree King
