Teaching & Learning

Meet and Greet

Meet and Greet bookings are now open on your parent Compass portal. Thanks to those who have already booked a Meet and Greet session with their child’s classroom teacher, specialist teacher or tutor.  

To enable the conversations to go ahead on Tuesday February 15th, students will finish school at 1pm on this day. 

At this stage the Meet and Greet sessions will run face-to-face, however we understand that some may not be able to be present on the night so therefore a Webex meeting can be requested with your child’s classroom teacher if required. If this is the case for you, please refrain from booking an interview time on Compass and rather email your child’s teacher directly. Then a mutually agreeable time can be worked out.

During the Meet and Greet sessions all parents entering a school building will be required to be fully vaccinated, sanitise and wear a mask. We thank-you for your cooperation with these COVID-safe requirements.

A very common question we get asked a lot is whether or not the child should attend the Meet and Greet session. We believe that your child should always be involved in these sessions and take part in the discussion. If there are issues you would like to discuss that are sensitive and are best held without your child present, maybe it is more appropriate to organise a separate time with their teacher. 

The purpose of the Meet and Greet is to provide an opportunity for:

● Teachers and parents to meet

● Teachers to explain routines and what to expect for their children

● Parents to ask questions

● Teachers to get to know more about the student

What to do following a Meet and Greet:

• Discuss with your child the processes and structures of their classroom or specialist class.
• Discuss with your child how they can best meet homework requirements.
• Help your child set some goals for first term… making these goals based on process are going to be more successful than outcomes. Ie make a focus around reading every night or talking about their book every night rather than getting an A in English.
• Commit to building a love of learning with your child. Show interest in their learning and ask open questions about their schooling. Have discussions that promote organisation, grit, self motivation and reflection.
• Keep in touch with your child’s teachers to discuss progress.

 Homework

In recent years, the Homework policy was altered to reflect feedback gathered from students, parents, teachers and what current research says. The homework procedures for 2022 will once again be consistent across the school with it set to begin on Friday Feb 11. In Week 5 of each term normal classroom homework will be replaced by a specialist homework task. The following points summarise the homework policy:

• At Buninyong Primary School our Homework Program aims to provide students with the opportunity to:
  • Develop effective study habits and organisational skills.
  • Practise and revise skills learnt in class
  • Tune-in to future learning opportunities.
• The parental role is essentially to foster the love of learning with their child.
• Homework will be consistently applied across the school. It will be sent out on a Friday and will be required back at school on the following Thursday.
• Teachers will provide a dedicated Homework session to share student work, discuss strategies to assist in completing homework and provide feedback to students. A focus will be put on positive discussion to promote what effective homework practices look like. 
• Homework will be recorded as a Learning Task on your Compass portal. Parents will be able to track completion of homework throughout the year.
• Feedback will be provided to students each week appropriate to the task set. This could include correction, stickers, stamps, signature, comment or a rubric score. If your child requires more feedback on their homework please encourage them to ask their teacher.
• The table below is a guide as to the amount of time to spend on homework each week on top of the expected 15 minutes nightly reading.  

Student Excellence Program

Each term, students are selected by the Victorian High Ability team to participate in either an English or Maths program alongside other like minded students from across Victoria. 

The selected students participate in 10 challenging sessions throughout the term via Webex to build complex knowledge and skills in their respective areas.

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected for the program in Term 1.