Welcome back to Term 2. We hope our Bimbadeen families enjoyed a lovely break over the school holidays and your children have enjoyed a strong start to the term. We have an exciting term ahead with many incursions and excursions, our annual Open Night and the start of our camping program, along with many other exciting activities.

House Cross Country

Last Thursday, there was much excitement about our first major house competition for the year, our Whole School Cross Country Carnival. Teachers and students alike enjoyed this exciting event on our sporting calendar. Parents, carers and volunteers assisted with supervising at various points on the circuit and helped to cheer on our students. We all enjoyed the opportunity for our school community to come together for this special event.

Congratulations to Blair house who were the winning house on the day. Well done to all our students who put in their best effort and demonstrated our school values of resilience during the run, as well as compassion as they encouraged and supported their peers and fellow house members throughout the competition.

A special thank you to Ms Tallentyre, Mr Gates, Mrs Maestri, Mr Skinner and Ms Elkin who did a wonderful job coordinating the event, and our staff and wonderful parent and carer volunteers who assisted on the day.

Bimbadeen Heights PS ANZAC Commemorative Service

Our annual ANZAC commemorative service was held on Friday 24 April and once again was a wonderful service of reflection, learning and remembrance for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

We were honoured to welcome special guests; Mr Aaron Violi MP, Federal Member for Casey, Mr Bruce ‘Stretch’ Jarvis - Chairman of the Kindred Organisation at ANZAC House (grandfather of Murphy), Piper, Veteran Iain Townsley, Bugler and former Bimbadeen Parent Tom Steele, Mooroolbark College Captains, Aliyah and Jordan, and Mooroolbark College Assistant Principal, Mr Matthew Bell. Our Student Leadership Team and Student Representative Council played important roles in our service.

Our ANZAC service is always a proud moment for our school and an important experience to ensure our students learn about the importance of recognising the service of others and pay respect to those who have fought for our country so that we have the freedoms and peace that we enjoy today.

We were immensely proud of the respect and honour that our students demonstrated throughout the service. The service included readings and stories from our school captains and house captains, and the laying of wreaths and rosemary at our ANZAC Memorial.

We also were privileged to receive an address by Mr Bruce ‘Stretch’ Jarvis who spoke about the importance of commemoration and remembrance, and the symbols that we see on ANZAC Day including citations, medals and rosemary.

Our service featured the special ANZAC song, written by our former music teacher Mrs Lynne Burt, which was also a highlight as our student leaders spoke each verse and lead the school in singing the words of the chorus;

“We remember, we remember,

A legend not of victory but courage under fire.

We remember, we remember,

Gallipoli on ANZAC Day.”

Thank you to all community members who came along and helped to make it a special event and to the children who brought along family medals or other mementos and shared stories with their peers.

Lilydale ANZAC Day Dawn Service

On ANZAC Day, three members of our student leadership team, joined Mrs Gregson, to represent the Bimbadeen community at the Lilydale ANZAC Day Dawn Service, held at the Lilydale Cenotaph. Mr Bill Dobson, President, Lilydale RSL, invited our School Captains to raise and lower the flag, and our Vice Captains to lay a wreath at the cenotaph as part of the service. Many other members of the Bimbadeen community turned out for this early-morning service to honour our service personnel who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and those who continue to serve. Thank you to our Student Representative Council members who attended with their families, along with Mrs Bailey and Miss Janssen. Thank you to Aiden and Maisie for assisting with the flag, and to Alyssa for laying a wreath on behalf of our community.

ANZAC Appeal - Thank you!

Thank you to our Student Leadership Team for selling ANZAC items throughout the last two weeks to help raise funds for the Lilydale RSL through the annual ANZAC Appeal. It has been fantastic to see our students proudly wearing their badges and wrist bands and using their bag tags and key rings.

Thank you to all community members who supported the Lilydale RSL ANZAC Appeal through the purchase of commemorative merchandise to support the valuable work of our local RSL.

2026 Open Night

We warmly invite our Bimbadeen families and prospective families along to the school for Open Night on Wednesday 20th May. Please join us in celebrating our students Annual Art show and feast your eyes on this year’s special theme. Classrooms will also be open from 5:15pm to 6:30pm, with a family activity trail in our classrooms and specialist areas across the school.

Please see the Open Night flyer in this newsletter and the advertisement board that will be on display at the front of the school for further information.

We would love to see all Bimbadeen families attend our Open Night. We hope to see you there!

Double Grand Final Glory for Heath & Karl

Congratulations to Heath and Karl on an outstanding achievement at the end of last term. Both boys played together in the SEBC Saints U12s and the Heathmont Hornets U13s, winning the Grand Finals for both teams.

To be part of not one but two championship wins on the same day is a remarkable accomplishment, showcasing their skill, teamwork, and dedication to the game. We are incredibly proud of Heath and Karl and look forward to seeing what they accomplish next. Well done, boys!

Before and After School Yard Supervision

Student safety at Bimbadeen Heights Primary School is our highest priority and the safe and appropriate supervision of students is an important element of our duty of care to students. Part of this duty is ensuring parents and students are aware of our student supervision arrangements before and after school.

Before school: School grounds are supervised at 8:45am until 9am each day, with three members of staff on duty, covering the school grounds and main exits and entry points to the grounds.

After school: School grounds are supervised from 3:30pm to 3:45pm each day, with three members of staff on duty, covering the school grounds and main exits and entry points to the grounds.

Students on school grounds outside these times will not be supervised (unless they are attending a before or after school care program or supervised extracurricular activity such as Active Club or Breakfast Club).

Parents/carers are requested to ensure that students do not attend school outside of these supervised times unless they are attending before or after school care, or a pre-arranged supervised activity.

Families are encouraged to contact TeamKids via the information on our website for more information about the before and after school care facilities available to our school community or contact the office if you would like any further information about our student supervision arrangements.

For a copy of our school’s Yard Duty and Supervision Policy please see the School Policies page on our website at https://www.bimbadeenheightsps.vic.edu.au/policies-documents/ This policy includes Example School’s student supervision arrangements across the school day, including before and after school.

2026 Attitude to School Survey

Over the next few weeks students in Years 4, 5 and 6 will participate in the 2026 Attitude to School Survey. As in previous years children will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool. The confidentiality of your child’s responses is always protected.

It is important to note that we are not in any way ‘testing’ the children. We value student voice as it informs and supports our work to improve student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting the survey to find out what your child thinks of our school.

The Attitudes to School Survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. We will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.

The survey results will be reported back to the school later this year. All survey data that is made available in reports are for groups of students only so that no individual student can be identified.

A Sentral Post with further information about the 2026 Attitude to School Survey has been sent home to parents and carers of students in Years 4, 5 and 6 this week.

2027 Foundation Enrolments

Enrolments are now open for Foundation in 2027. We encourage prospective parents 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 wonderful school and answer any questions you might have or discuss your child’s individual needs.

This year our school is using an online system for 2027 Foundation enrolments called VicStudents. VicStudents is available for students who are enrolling in a Victorian Government School for the first time. This includes Foundation (Prep) enrolments for 2027.

VicStudents has been assessed by the Department of Education to a high degree of security in line with the Victorian Protective Data Security Standards and is compliant with ISO 27001, the leading international standard for information security.

For more information about enrolling your child into a Victorian government primary school, visit Enrolling in Foundation (Prep).

Please contact our school office on 9726 9989 or via email to Bimbadeen.Heights.PS@education.vic.gov.au should you need any further information or help to complete your child’s enrolment application.

Easing Into Adolescence – Resources for Families

Free resources for families of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years.

The Department of Education has launched an Easing into adolescence webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 (Grade 5 to Year 8).

The webpage has information and strategies you can use to help ease your child into adolescence and secondary school. These include:

a guide to emotion coaching. Staff from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning into Teens Kids program developed the guidance.
how to support your 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 on the webpage are available in 10 languages. You can select your preferred language on the translations page.

For questions about these resources, contact the Strategic Partnerships, Transitions and Student Voice team. You can email them at Secondary.School.Transition@education.vic.gov.au

Statement of Commitment to Child Safety and Child Safety Principles

Bimbadeen Heights Primary School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. This will be the primary focus of our care and decision-making.

The school’s approach to creating and maintaining a child safe school environment is guided by our school philosophy and values. At Bimbadeen Heights Primary School our vision is to provide each child with the opportunity to develop their full potential, whilst promoting the school values of respect, resilience, integrity, and compassion. We know children can struggle to achieve their personal best if they are not safe from abuse.

At Bimbadeen Heights Primary School our values guide the decisions and behaviours of all members of our school community, including in relation to child safety. Our school values are:

Respect for self, others, property and the environment is shown when people speak and act towards each other with courtesy, consideration, care and appreciation.
Resilience is demonstrated when there is the capacity to recover confidently from difficulties with persistence and optimistic thinking, actions and attitude.
Integrity is shown through an attitude of fairness and honesty that requires a sincere, truthful relationship between members of the school community.
Compassion is shown when all members of the school community embrace diversity through demonstrating a kind, caring and understanding attitude and a willingness to help others.

These core values are supported by the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Framework.

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.

Thank you for your contributions

On behalf of School Council and the Finance Committee, we would like to extend a big thank you to our parents and carers for their parent payments and voluntary contributions.

Parent contributions are vital to support the continuation and development of our teaching and learning programs and resources for our students.

Stay well this winter

Influenza (flu) can be serious, especially for children. Choose to protect yourself and your loved ones with an annual flu vaccine. The earlier you and your family get vaccinated, the better your protection heading into winter.

Keeping our school community well

We encourage parents and carers and students to:

wash or sanitise your hands thoroughly and regularly, particularly before and after touching your face
cough or sneeze into your elbow
stay home if unwell and consult your GP or Nurse-on-Call as needed
stay up to date with your flu vaccinations.

Flu vaccinations

Flu vaccination is recommended for everyone aged 6 months and older.

Some people are more at risk of severe illness from flu, especially babies and toddlers. They can get a free vaccination as part of the National Immunisation Program.

You can book a flu vaccine through your GP or pharmacy, or find a flu vaccine near you.

RSV vaccinations for mothers and babies

RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is a common virus that causes colds and ear infections. In babies, it can cause severe illness like bronchiolitis.

The RSV vaccine is available for pregnant women as part of the National Immunisation Program. In Victoria, eligible babies can also get the RSV vaccine until Wednesday 30 September 2026.

You can speak with your GP or midwife about the vaccine.

Find out more

For more information about staying well this winter, refer to:

your GP, pharmacist or midwife
the Better Health Channel - Don’t risk the flu campaign, including information about flu and other vaccines. This information is available in different languages
the Better Health Channel - RSV vaccine for mothers and infants
the Raising Children Network - influenza, COVID-19, bronchiolitis and helping your child prepare for vaccination.

Protecting against measles

Measles cases are rising in Victoria and around the world. Returned travellers make up most cases, but local spread has also been detected.

Vaccination is the most safe and effective way to protect yourself and others against measles. People need 2 doses of a measles-containing vaccine to be fully protected.

To help protect against measles, you should check your family’s measles vaccinations today.

This is particularly important if you are:

planning any travel
were born during or after 1966
were born overseas.

You can check your measles vaccination records:

on your Medicare online account through MyGov or by contacting the Australian Immunisation Register on 1800 653 809
on your personal health records, such as your childhood immunisation records
by speaking to your GP or immunisation provider.

About measles

Measles is a viral infection. It spreads easily from airborne droplets, such as from coughing or sneezing, and nose and throat secretions.

Symptoms may include:

fever
feeling tired or unwell
cough or runny nose
sore and red eyes (conjunctivitis)
diarrhoea – especially in infants.

This is usually followed by a red, blotchy, non-itchy rash that often starts on the face before spreading down the body.

Measles can cause serious illness and be life-threatening. People who are not fully immunised or have not had a previous measles infection are at increased risk.

Pregnant women, children aged under 5 years and those with weakened immune systems are at increased risk of severe illness and complications.

If your child develops measles symptoms, you should:

keep your child home from school and seek medical care and testing
call the health service and wear a face mask when travelling to and attending the health service
let our school know if your child has measles, or is being tested for measles
keep your child at home until well and advised by a health professional.

Free measles vaccines

Anyone who does not have 2 doses of measles vaccine, or is unsure, can get a measles vaccine.

Free vaccines are available for:

infants aged 12 months to 18 months
children and teenagers aged under 20 years
adult refugees and humanitarian entrants.

Free vaccines are also available for anyone with or without a Medicare card if they are:

born during or after 1966 who have not received 2 doses or are unsure, including people born overseas
infants from 6 months and before 11 months of age before overseas travel.

Vaccination is widely available at your GP, local pharmacist, local council or Aboriginal Health Service. Call ahead to see if you are eligible for a free vaccine.

If your child has had new or catch-up vaccines, we encourage you to give our school an updated immunisation history statement.

Find out more

For more information, refer to:

the Better Health Channel web page How to find your immunisation records
the Department of Health for translated resources about measles and measles immunisations
your GP, local pharmacist, local council or Aboriginal Health Service.

We hope you enjoy a fantastic weekend.

Warm regards,

Adele Gregson, Sabrina George, Marty Gill and Bree King

Whole School Happenings

Easter Raffle 2026