Billanook Biala

Principal's Message 

It was lovely to welcome our students back onsite at the beginning of this week after what was a horrendous weekend for many. We had a large proportion of our school absent on Monday as families chose to spend the day recovering after the weekend’s fire. 

 

We were able to source 5 Department of Education counsellors as well as utilise Tim and Jess Brown’s expertise. Common concerns from our children were that the fire may come back or that they’re not feeling safe. As a school and a community we have spent the time this week listening and validating our children’s worries and providing reassurance that they are safe and that the adults in their lives will keep them safe.

 

We have received advice from the Department of Education counsellors and the CFA on how to speak to children about out-of-control-fires. We sent home a scanned flyer this week on the seven steps of speaking to your child. The seven steps include:

  • Let your child know that whatever they are feeling is okay
  • Reassure your child/ren that they are safe
  • Help your children know they, and others won’t be alone
  • Respond to ‘what if this happens to us or happens again?’
  • Speak to your child/ren about weather and warnings
  • Make sure your children know vital information ie their full name, address and emergency contact
  • Help them find ways to help others.

Please refer to the scanned flyer that was sent out on Compass for more information.

 

Fire Safety Community Evening Wednesday 26 March 7pm in the Gym

 

We have been fortunate to secure Liz from Montrose Fire Brigade to provide a community safety session for our community on Wednesday 26 March and 7pm. We will be meeting in the Gym. Topics of discussion will include lessons learnt from the fire, developing safety plans, school emergency plans and how to speak to children about out-of-control-fires.  All are welcome to attend.

Billanook Primary School’s Emergency Management Plan

 

After the events of the weekend we have had a few queries in regards to our Emergency Management Plan. Our Emergency Management Plan is available on our school website. Please find a quick summary of key information below.

 

The Billanook Primary School Emergency Management Plan covers all potential emergency management situations, not just fire. We annually update this and send it to the Department of Education for approval.

 

Billanook Primary School is on the Department of Education ‘Bushfire At Risk Register’, we are deemed a category 3 school, along with most schools in this area. This means we must close on days forecasted by the Bureau of Meteorology as Catastrophic in our fire weather district. 

 

We are assured we would receive warnings of potential Catastrophic days several days prior. The closures will be generated through the Department of Education, determined by the Emergency Management Commissioner, based on Bureau of Meteorology reports. This is not purely temperature based. 

 

Our Shelter-In-Place is the Multipurpose Complex which is deemed by the Department of Education as our safe place for all students. It is also large enough to accommodate all staff and students with tank water, toilets and several breakout room spaces for students if required.

 

Parent pick up will be activated by advice from CFA and Department of Education Emergency Management and parents will be notified via Compass and/or phone as to how and when to pick up children. We have a phone not reliant on a power source for this purpose and a phone tree with staff designated for specific families.

 

As a school we have a yearly planner of evacuation drills so our students and staff are very familiar with how and when they move to the prescribed areas depending on whether we practice internal, external or lockdown procedures. The idea behind extensive drill practice is to ensure confidence in the procedures and less chance of panic should a real situation develop.

 

We regularly place emergency management information in the school newsletter that all families need to be aware of.

We are confident that we have good procedures in place and are well prepared and equipped should there ever be a real emergency.

Please see the full Emergency Management Plan on our school website for further details.

 

Rescheduling of NAPLAN and Leadership Badge Ceremony

 

Thank you for your understanding as we rescheduled the final NAPLAN assessment and our leadership badge assembly. The Numeracy NAPLAN was held earlier this week and children who required catch ups have been completing them this week as well. The leadership badge assembly will be held on Monday 24 March at 2:30pm.

 

Parent’s Group Easter Raffle 

 

It has been great to receive donations for the Easter raffle. We are beginning to develop a nice collection but it’s always lovely when we can hand out multiple hampers. Last year we had 30 hampers as prizes. Any Easter themed donations will be gratefully accepted at the office.

 

School Council update

 

After 4 years as president and 6 years on School Council, Paul Garnsworthy has decided to relinquish his position. Paul took over school council during a tough period. He was vital in supporting the school and myself with the lock down restrictions and a school rebuild. He has led with integrity, diligence and good humour. We thank Paul for his service to the Billanook community and I thank him for being a fantastic School Council president to work alongside.

 

At our Annual General Meeting that was held earlier this week we congratulated Mel Alexander who will be our new School Council President. Mel has previously been on School Council and Parent’s Group as a general member and has been a fantastic community advocate for our school. 

 

We also thank Dionne Holland (vice president), Mike Kertes (minutes secretary) and Elise Hopkins (treasurer) for agreeing to take on executive roles.  We also thank our other general members who will continue in their roles in 2025.

 

Regards

Michael Puddy