Principal's Report 

‘Welcome’ - the languages represented in our Bimbadeen Community

Last year, we installed a new feature at the entrance of our Administration building. 

Our welcome sign features the languages represented by our Bimbadeen Heights students and families. 

Since its installation, we have been very pleased to add new languages to our sign, as families from other muti-cultural backgrounds join our community. 

Our sign now represents 18 languages. If your family speaks a language not represented on our sign, please let us know, so we can add it and acknowledge your background and heritage.  

2023 School Council Election

On Tuesday 14 February, we shared a Notice of School Council election and call for nominations for this year’s School Council Election. Nominations have now closed. Congratulations to Lizzy Henderson and Bree King who have filled the 2 school employee positions (each for a two-year term). 

As the four parent member positions remained unfilled, we extended the call for nominations for an additional 3 days. The new close for nominations for the four parent member positions is Friday 24 February at 4pm. Further information will be sent to families via Sentral upon the close of the extension of nominations. Next week, we will hold the final meeting of the 2022 School Council. I would like to express a heartfelt thankyou to the School Councillors who have served our school well for many years and have finished their current tenure on council. 

Thank you to Matthew Genever, Matthew Richardson, Troy Hovey, Beth Dean and Melinda Ruscitti for your contributions to our school community though our School Council and subcommittees over the past two years. We would also like to extend a particular thank you to Troy Hovey and Matthew Genever who have both led our school council in the role as president, during their tenure on council. The contributions of parents, carers and members of staff helps ensure our community continues to grow and thrive, through the voice and contributions of all stakeholders. 

The first meeting of the new 2023 School Council will be held on Wednesday, 22 March, where office-bearers will be elected and sub-committees established. This will be followed by the March meeting of School Council. 

2023 Excursions, Incursions and Camps

Our teachers have been busy planning a range of exciting excursions and incursions for our students this year. Teachers have been mindful of cost when planning these activities 

and throughout 2023, we will be tracking activities across the school with the aim of spreading out and minimising extra costs to parents/carers. Information about excursions and incursions will be provided to parents and carers ahead of time.

Our school camping program planning is also well under way, with bookings secured for all camping experiences in 2023. 

Our school camping program is an essential part of our extra-curricular program and supports our students to develop their independence and step out of their comfort zone and learn new skills. 

Camping activities are implemented at all year levels across the school and include:

• Foundation – Healthy day on-site
• Year 1 – An extended day on-site
• Year 2 – An extended day camp experience off-site (Mount Evelyn Camp)
• Year 3/4 – 3-day Phillip Island Adventure Camp
• Year 5 – 3-day City Camp
• Year 6 – 3-day Camp Wilkin, Anglesea.

Information will be sent to parents/carers about specific Year Level camps in advance and a variety of payment options are available, including payment plans that are available to all families and access to the Department of Education Camps, Sports, and Excursion Fund for eligible families.

We hope our Year 5 students have a wonderful time on Camp next                                               week! 

2023 Student Excellence Program

We have grand plans for revamping our Student Excellence Program in 2023, under the leadership of Alec Baroni, our new Learning Specialist. 

Mr Baroni has a strong background in student excellence education and is a current Tournament of the Minds judge. He has planned a variety of opportunities this year including opportunities for selected students to participate in the Tournament of the Minds, Science Talent Search, Maths Olympiad and the Global Citizenship Student Ambassador Program, to name a few. 

Keep a look out for further information about these programs on Sentral and in our fortnightly newsletter.

2023 ICT and Digital Technologies

After the introduction of robotics and coding in 2022, we have exciting new plans for the continued development of our ICT and Digital Technologies programs and utilisation of technology across the school. Under the leadership of Mr Alec Baroni, our year 5 and 6 students will be delving into the Google Education Suite. Background work is almost finalised for the roll out this term. A new scope and sequence for ICT and Digital Technologies has been developed and is being rolled out across the school this year. We look forward to sharing our students’ new learning with you in future newsletters.

Primary Mathematics Specialist Initiative

We were very pleased to be granted three positions in the Department of Education’s Primary Mathematics Specialist Initiative for 2023 and 2024. This program aims to drive sustainable change in the way mathematics is taught across the school and to improve student engagement and outcomes in numeracy and mathematics. Ms Beth Dean, Mrs Rebecca Davenport and Ms Melinda Ruscitti have been appointed to the roles of Primary Mathematics Specialist teachers for this and next year and will work part-time in a classroom teaching role and part-time in their Primary Mathematics Specialist role. We look forward to sharing more about this initiative through the year. 

2023 Classroom Helpers Program

On Wednesday evening, Ms Emily Russell and Ms Beth Dean ran our Classroom Helpers program. Completing the Parent Helpers program is a requirement for all parents/carers who wish to volunteer and assist in classrooms at Bimbadeen. Over 25 parents and carers and special friends, including many grandparents, completed the program that not only gave them a range of strategies to use to support their own children with their reading and learning, they are now able to help in our classrooms and provide support to our teachers and other students. 

An essential part of the program is inducting our classroom helpers as volunteers in our community. It is a requirement of School Council that all classroom helpers complete this training and a requirement of the Department of Education that all volunteers complete an induction into Child Safety. 

The support we receive from our parents/carers and classroom helpers is very much appreciated and goes a long way to support the learning needs of our students. Thank you to all our parent/carer helpers and volunteers for your contributions to our school. If you are new to volunteering at Bimbadeen, please contact your child’s teacher to discuss ways you can contribute. 

If you missed out on attending our training program and are interested in volunteering at our school this year, please contact Ms Russell on Emily.Russell@education.vic.gov.au  If there is enough interest, an additional training program will be offered later this term.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

We are eagerly awaiting the outcome of our application for a 2022 Gold Award in School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS). SWPBS is a framework for preventing, reducing and replacing problem behaviours and is embedded across our school. The purpose of this framework is to explicitly teach positive, appropriate behaviours while creating an environment in which these behaviours are more acceptable than are other negative, inappropriate behaviours. 

Our school values are integral to SWPBS as they are the basis of all the positive behaviours that we are encouraging at Bimbadeen. Mr Marty Gill is continuing to lead the program in 2023. Parent and carer involvement in SWPBS and our Student Wellbeing committee is important and warmly welcomed. 

If you would like to join our Student Wellbeing committee, please contact Mr Gill on Angad.Marty.Gill@education.vic.gov.au 

A Valued Beginning

Supporting SWPBS is the Valued Beginning program. At the beginning of the school year, all teachers base their class program on student wellbeing and the building of positive relationships within the classroom.  Valued Beginning activities focus on creating an environment of trust and co-operation, establishing class routines and expectations and developing a common understanding of our school values. Our Valued Beginning program this year has seen the development of structured, orderly environments and settled students and staff. 

Berry Street Education Model (BSEM)

Today, we held a pupil free day to provide time for our staff to begin their training in the Berry Street Education Model. As part of the Department of Education’s Mental Health 

Initiative for Schools, we will be introducing the Berry Street Education Model to Bimbadeen over the next two years, to complement our existing structures. BSEM provides strategies for teaching and learning that enables teachers to increase engagement of students with complex, unmet learning needs and to successfully improve all students’ self-regulation, relationships, wellbeing, growth and academic achievement. BSEM pedagogical strategies incorporate trauma-informed teaching, positive education and wellbeing practices. BSEM’s unique approach is informed by the last 25 years of trauma-informed practice, positive psychology and the science of learning research. Further information about BSEM can be accessed at https://www.berrystreet.org.au/learning-and-resources/berry-street-education-model/about-bsem 

We have 3 more pupil free days planned for the 2023 school year (Tuesday 30 May, Monday 24 July, and Monday 13 November). On pupil free days, students are not required at school. Please ensure you have made appropriate arrangements for the care and supervision of your child on these dates. TheirCare runs a whole day care program on each pupil free day. If you need to book your child into the service, please contact the service directly. Contact details are available on our website https://www.bimbadeenheightsps.vic.edu.au/before-and-after-care/

STOPIT service

STOPIT is a new Victoria Police text notification service enabling commuters, including school students, to report any form of inappropriate behaviour that makes them feel uncomfortable, frightened, or threatened on the public transport network.

The STOPIT service enables commuters to use their mobile phone to report inappropriate behaviours promptly, easily and discreetly. To use the service, commuters simply text ‘STOPIT’ to 0499 455 455. This triggers an automated response that includes a link to where the commuter can provide more details about what’s just happened. When people report these types of inappropriate behaviours, police can investigate and identify offenders to improve safety on public transport for everyone.

Parents and carers are encouraged to consider discussing the new service with students who travel on public transport. Students who use mobile phones outside of school hours are encouraged to save the STOPIT number in their mobile phone. Please note, STOPIT is for reporting non-urgent incidents on public transport. Always phone 000 in an emergency.

For more information, please refer to sexual and anti-social behaviour on public transport on the Victoria Police website.

Students’ Mobile Phones and Wearable Digital Devices

The Department of Education has a clear policy on student use of mobile phones and digital devices during school hours. All Bimbadeen students who bring their mobile phone or digital device with them to school must sign in their device at the office upon arrival. All 

devices will be locked in a secure location during the day. Students then need to sign out and collect their device at the end of the day. If your child brings a digital device to school, please discuss this expectation with them and ensure your child signs in their mobile device/s at the office by 8:55am and collects them after school by 3:40pm.

In addition, any student who brings a wearable device to school, such as a smart watch, must have ‘school mode’ enabled to prevent them using the device to make calls and send messages during the school day. If ‘school mode’ is not enabled, the student will be required to sign in their device at the office and collect it after school, in line with the Department of Education policy.

Parking, Traffic Management & Active Travel

This is a very common and regular section of our newsletter as traffic around our school is such a challenge due to the narrow roads and minimal parking in the local area. Drop-off and pick-up are the times when members of our community, particularly our children, are at most risk of an accident. 

It is critical that all parents, carers and drivers take all precautions and care to reduce the risks to children. Please be patient and extra vigilant to ensure that our children are safe when travelling to and from school. 

Please consider using active travel such as parking away from our school and letting your children walk the last couple of blocks or arriving at around 8:45am in the morning or after 3:35pm to avoid rush times. 

Please ensure you adhere to the parking signs installed around our school. The parking area outside the front of the school is a 5-minute zone only between the hours of 8am-9am and 3pm-4pm, this time covered both drop off and pick up times. Please do not park in these spaces longer than 5 minutes during this time. 

Please also ensure you do not block the school crossing at the front of the school. There have been numerous incidents where members of our community have blocked or reversed their car across the school crossing after blocking the school driveway.

We have been notified by the local council that Safer Community Officers will be patrolling the area around our school and may issue infringements to cars parked illegally. This is to ensure the safety of our community. 

Back to School Kit

Thank you to the many families who have already returned the forms from the Back to School kit that was sent home at the end of the first week of school. 

If you have not yet read through the kit and/or returned the relevant forms to school, please do this at your earliest opportunity.

Sentral App

Sentral is our main form of communication between school and home. We expect that parents and carers are checking Sentral regularly for upcoming dates on the calendar, newsletters, excursion notices and year and school level communications. If you have any problems with Sentral, please don’t hesitate to speak to our Sentral co-ordinator Melinda Ruscitti. The best way to get in contact with Ms Ruscitti is to email her at Melinda.Ruscitti@education.vic.gov.au. Shelley and Emma are also able to provide support at the office if you are experiencing difficulties with the app. We would like every parent and carer to have this app on their phones as it will make staying in touch with the school so much easier.

Free Sanitary Products

The Victorian Government is committed to continuing to provide free pads and tampons in all government primary, secondary and specialist schools. Sanitary items are a necessity, not a luxury, and this initiative supports tens of thousands of girls and young women in schools across the state. Our dispenser is installed in the female bathroom in the BER Building (Year 5 & 6 building) and is available for any student who may need to access sanitary products while at school. The aim of this initiative is to:

• Provide students with the confidence that there will always be sanitary items available at school
• Relieve female students of the stigma, anxiety and discomfort that can be associated with menstruation and its management so they can focus on their studies
• Ease the cost of living for families.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please feel free to pop in for a chat with either of us, Mr Gill, or any other member of our Leadership team should you wish to discuss anything. 

Our doors are always open! 

Kind regards, 

Adele Gregson and Sabrina George