Message From Bev and Kim 

Ice-cream delights

Big thanks to Dan Vaughan and the team at The Pantry for the generous donation of delicious ice-cream delights last week to celebrate the return to school. Its hard to believe that we have completed the designated 4 week ‘surveillance’ safe return to face to face schooling.  As we head towards the half term term, classroom communities are buzzing as students are now settling into social groupings and taking the time for mindfulness to still and calm their thinking. This sets them up to focus  for exploring learning concepts more deeply linked to Australian History and Community; developing and honing explicit reading strategies and Mathematics number concepts. Check out ‘BBPS Life’ for more.

Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to all our participants, and our winning house Dendy. Big thank you to all our parents who helped facilitate the day, and Josh Ancrum for his organisation. Although a disappointing loss for the teacher relay team... All enjoyed a wonderful day of sportsmanship with big cheers for our parent and parent-student relay teams who took first and second place this year.

The sentiments from one parent summed up our day – “ …thank you for managing such a great BBPS House Swimming  Carnival! It was fantastic. It was so seamless – from the race events, to the marshalling, and the kids knowing their races and age-groups. You had obviously put in lots of work getting things organised before the day, and briefing all the kids and staff so they know exactly what they had to do! There was also a great sense of House Spirit, which was fun to witness. From banners to the allocated house seating, it was so orderly but fun. Well done…thanks for being a great PE Teacher – BBPS is lucky to have you.’ 

We sure are, and through the hard work and dedication of Josh Ancrum the Swim Carnival is a favourite! Our thanks also go to the year Six Sports Captains who embrace their vital roles to build house team spirit and inclusion of all participants – swimmers and spectators. What is an absolute delight is to see the learning and subsequent motivation for students as they experience the house swimming sports for the first time in year 4 and then ready themselves for the carnival the following year. The pride they have in their achievements having ‘set their sights on some ribbons after last year’s house carnival.’

 We are indeed grateful that our parents take the time to give us feedback and for the generous offers of support when Mr Ancrum reaches out. We also acknowledge the impact the COVID safe parameters  has on the numbers that can assist.

Parent Expo: Following the latest DET extension of COVIDSafe operations, we can confirm that our annual Parent Expo / Curriculum Night will take place in a hybrid model this year throughout week 6.

P-6 Curriculum Booklets will be shared via Compass. 

Prep will hold an information night on Tuesday, 8th March at 5:30pm. This session will be held at school and will provide details of the Prep Learning Curriculum and how you can help at home. Visitors will be required to show proof of vaccination on arrival. 

Grade 1 and 2 will be offering access to a range of online resources focussed on early literacy and numeracy.

The ¾ Hub will hold an information night on Wednesday, 9th March at 5:30pm. This session will provide details about the introduction of the 1:1 BYOD program as well as the ¾ Hub ethos to teaching and learning.

Grade 5 and 6 will tailor their information in response to an initial survey that they will share w families via Compass shortly. 

Buildings and Grounds Update

Thank you to Shane, our School Maintenance  Manager, who has been busy finishing the final touches to our library renovation. Our Library Captains, Tyler and Will, have been busy organising furniture and book sections with a team of helpers. This week classes popped their heads in and helped to categorise a section of the library, building a shared ownership of our new learning space. We are excited by the new lay-out and the student friendly book shelves. We are waiting for the circulation desk, which is coming in April and look forward to celebrating with an official community opening planned for Term 2.

Minor Capital Works 

Project playground resurfacing is set to start. The site set up commenced Thursday this week. There are 2 parts to this upgrade. The demolition and removal of the existing asphalt playground on Windermere and the installation of synthetic turf and new basketball/netball court will completely upgrade this area. Part two is the replacement of the asphalt in front of the CLC.

One set of classroom spaces will be required to relocate for the first week of March. 2 C and 2 R will move into the main building this coming Monday. Some detours for entry to the buildings will be signed as areas become out of bounds due to the works in progress. We will keep the BBPS Community informed via Compass as to best access points.

School Council Elections 2022

Thanks to our 2021 Council members, who held their final meeting as a 2021 Council last night. Special thanks to all members for their time and commitment.  We can’t thank you enough for your unwavering support and availability throughout the past disrupted year. We thank the president for being available at very short notice sometimes and also the dedicated finance team and their accounting skill sets that support Sue Klein in all her efforts to balance the budgets within the tight constraints of state education. We also thank our council members for their behind the scenes roles coordinating the second hand uniforms for example and the generous donations that threaten to spill out the doors and the hands on help to remove masses of packaging to the dumpster. Every little bit helps and is very much appreciated. 

Nominations for 2022 School Council are now open. 

We are always very grateful to parents who put themselves forward for this role.  Please talk to one of our council members to find out more. David Capps, Violetta Wuiske, Helen Tiver, Candice McGowan, Basil Tambanis remain on school council for 2022. We thank Marnie Lewis, Emma Liley and Sharon Andrew for completing their two year term on council. 

See Benita for nomination forms if you would like to nominate of re-nominate for a position on the BBPS School Council. Forms need to be signed and returned to the office by 4.00pm Thursday 3rd March.

At yesterday’s meeting we celebrated a number of achievements so far this year:

• Finance - the 2022 voluntary contributions are at 65% of families – thank you for your generosity. We appreciate that every family's circumstances are different and commitments are met as they can be!
• The Education and Policy Team have been busy updating policies, which will continue to be shared with community via our school website and newsletter. Stay tuned for the latest Visitor and Volunteer Policy in next week’s newsletter, which will now be updated to reflect the latest DET COVID operations guidelines, expected this week following the latest government announcements.
• The approval for the Year 5 Camp to Phillip Island including provision for Covid safe management.
• Buildings and Grounds – Whilst the Minor Capital Works project is clearly our focus for the next 6 weeks other projects are also in train, including the installation of two new shade sails to support outdoor learning spaces around the CLC. 

Parent Association - New members welcome.

The Parent Association for 2022 meets on Friday 11th March at 9am. All parents are welcome to join. Our meeting will be held in the Kitchen Garden, attendees will be required to sign in at our Admin Office and show proof of vaccination upon entry. 

In particular, we are currently looking for parent/s or as preferred in some year levels a team of parents who would like to share the role of Class Rep. This is a multi-faceted coordination role predominantly geared to fund raising and the organisation of social events or care packages with the key purpose of building connections to the school . Thanks to those parents/carers who have reached out and volunteered to be a Parent Rep this year. There are still a number of classes needing representatives – please speak directly to your classroom teacher if you are interested in taking on this role.

Another important role at each year level is someone prepared to welcome and support new families that come into the school throughout the year. This has been known as the  New Family Convenor. Usually teaming with the Class Rep this role is for someone who can reach out and support new families to the school. If you are interested (or would like to know more), please reach out to Kim Ancrum (Assistant Principal) or come to the first PA Meeting. 

With the disruption of the past two years we are really hoping to build our PA Involvement and to support the first much anticipated (by the students) famous fundraising event – The BBPS Easter Raffle which has traditionally been the domain of the Prep Parents.

It takes a ‘village to raise a child’ and our parents, grandparents, carers and helpers are an integral part of the school community. Being involved can take many forms and the connections through technology and online platforms have given us many more options to come together. Hope to see you on Friday the 11th of March, in the Kitchen Garden.

Class Contact Details 

Keep your eye out on the compass post titled "Class Contact Details"  This form gives permission to share your phone number with other parents in the class.  Please make sure your details are up to date on compass as we will extract parent name, child's name and phone number from this list.

Assemblies: With the DET’s initial four-week transition period now complete, a COVID-Safe Assembly program can now begin.

Grade 6 Leadership Assembly will be held on Monday, March 7th at 2:45pm. Grade 6 parents only will be invited to attend, and will be required to show proof of vaccination on arrival.