Principal Team Message

Hello BRPS Community,

Social Night

Thank You to our Amazing Parents and Generous Supporters

On behalf of the school community, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the BRPS community that attended the night and purchased a ticket, the generous businesses and dedicated parents who made our recent Parent Social Night a huge success.

We also want to recognise the wonderful parents who organised and managed every detail, ensuring a fun and vibrant evening for everyone involved. A huge thank you to Simone Erikson for leading the team and to Laura Anderson, Elise Gillespie, Natalie O’Hare, Jessie and Thomas Wilson-Haynes, and Tanya and Mike Crittenden for your incredible dedication and hard work and the Community Events and Engagement team for their support.

Thanks to your contributions, we raised over $8,300. $1300 of these funds will be put back into the art room through the art auction and the rest of the funds will go towards continuing to update our grounds and playgrounds to support inclusion and access for all.

To our donors, thank you for your generosity and support. Hopefully the BRPS community will continue to support your businesses to show our gratitude and thanks.

1. Hoop City
2. Black Rock Yacht Club
3. True South
4. My Little Tribe Photography
5. Chiro Works Bayside
6. Le Bar Supper Club
7. Workspeak Consulting
8. Magnolia Event Signage
9. XTEND Bayside
10. Liz Bell Art - Liz Bell
11. Brighton Rotary Club
12. Black Rock Football Club
13. Verve Portraits
14. Snap Time Photobooths 
15. Sandringham Golf Course
16. My Little Tribe Photography
17. F45 Sandringham
18. Highett Youth Club
19. Classroom Cuisine
20. Gingerfox Cafe 
21. Mark Roach for the donation of two pizza ovens and a wine fridge
22. Happy Glamper
23. Woolworths
24. KX Hampton Pilates
25. Recovery Lab Hampton
26. Mr and Mrs P
27. Bounce
28. Half Moon Bay Lifesaving Club
29. Baia D Vino - Stuart and Jessica Biggs 
30. Puma - Chris Wheat
31. Marucorp - Sam and Carmen Maruca  
32. Suzy Lipsticks - Joanna French
33. All About You Skin Clinic
34. Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron
35. NAB - Ash McVey 

Together, you've made a lasting impact on our community. We’re deeply grateful for your support and look forward to future collaborations!

Online safety

Parents and carers play a key role in guiding their children as they navigate the online world and begin to learn through exploration, play and social interaction.

Parents and carers can prepare their primary school aged child to be safe on social media even if they don’t use it yet. You can do this by building good online habits and staying informed about online safety.

Read more here: https://www.vic.gov.au/safe-socials-parents-and-carers-primary 

Student Scholarships

Scholarships are available for students who complete Year 4 to Year 11 in 2024, and for students enrolled in Year 12 in 2024 who plan to do tertiary studies in 2025.

Student scholarships

The Department of Education administers a number of scholarships available to eligible students who are enrolled in Year 4 to Year 12 in 2024.

Applicants for these scholarships will be evaluated on their:

· participation in school activities

· community involvement

· academic achievement.

Scholarships are either one-off payments or cover the duration of the student’s course or annual study.

Many of these scholarships have specific eligibility criteria, so please refer to individual applications for more information. Applications are now open, and close on Saturday 1 February 2025. For information on how to apply, refer to the Departments' link via Student scholarships.

There is definitely a lot of movement on site at the moment which is wonderful to see.

Asphalt Upgrade- A Quick Update

Thanks to everyone for their cooperation with the changes to logistics during the asphalt works. The team will be finishing crack filling and patching and will start grinding before the basecoat and new netball posts go in over the next week.

Work will pause for about a week or so while the new asphalt settles, concrete around posts and base coat dries.

We have an estimated completion date of around the 22nd November and look forward to the BRPS community enjoying our upgraded asphalt.

Reminders

Getting to school safely

A special note from Sue our crossing supervisor - please discuss road safety with your child and ensure your child uses the designated crossing, instead of crossing the road between parked cars.  

School policy when collecting students early

Parents/carers must report to the front office if collecting children early for appointments, get an early departure pass and then collect students from the classroom. We are not able to send students for collection to the front office. 

Intentions for 2025

If you are intending on leaving our school community in 2024 or 2025 due to relocation or any other reason could please advise us as soon as possible via the front office. For future planning purposes, we will be submitting an enrolment projection for 2025 to the Department of Education and Training this week, so such advice would be really helpful!

We hope you have a wonderful month ahead!

Medical Updates

Protecting against mosquito-borne diseases

Warm and wet weather can result in greater numbers of mosquitoes and increased risk of illnesses from mosquito bites. While the overall risk is low, some mosquitoes carry diseases that make people sick.

The best protection against mosquito-borne illness is to avoid mosquito bites.

Families can protect against mosquito bites by:

· covering up as much as possible with long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing

· applying insect repellent that contains picaridin or DEET on exposed skin when leaving home

· limiting outdoor activity if lots of mosquitoes are active. Families with any health concerns should see their doctor or phone NURSE-ON-CALL: 1300 606 024 (available 24 hours).

Thunderstorm asthma – be prepared this pollen season

Grass pollen season, which typically runs from October to December each year in Victoria, brings an increase in asthma and hay fever symptoms. It also increases the risk of thunderstorm asthma. For people with asthma or hay fever, especially those who experience wheezing or coughing with their hay fever, thunderstorm asthma can be sudden, serious and even life threatening.

BRPS will implement a range of measures to keep our school community safe as the risk of thunderstorm asthma increases.

Many of our staff are trained in asthma first aid, and we will monitor the VicEmergency app to receive thunderstorm warnings, and, where appropriate, keep students indoors when weather forecasts identify greater risk.

During the season, there are some things you can do to prepare and protect yourself and your family:

· If your child has ever had asthma, talk to your doctor about what you can do to help protect them from the risk of thunderstorm asthma this pollen season, including updating your asthma action plan. Taking an asthma preventer properly and regularly is key to preventing asthma, including thunderstorm asthma.

· If your child has hay fever, see your pharmacist or doctor for a hay fever treatment plan and check if you should have an asthma reliever puffer. These are available from a pharmacy without a prescription.

· If your child has hay fever and experiences wheezing and coughing, it is important to make sure they don’t also have asthma. Speak to your doctor about an asthma action plan.

· Where possible, avoid being outside during thunderstorms from October to December, especially during the wind gusts that come before the storm. Go inside and close your doors and windows. If you have your air conditioning on, turn it to ‘recirculate’.

Protect yourself this pollen season – managing asthma and allergies matters.

Find out more For more information, speak to your doctor. You can also visit the Better Health Channel website.

Nicola Smith

PRINCIPAL

Emily Harvey

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL