A Message from Hannah 

This time of year is always filled with mixed emotions here at school. As each day reaches completion, we draw closer to our summer holidays and some relaxation and family time that everyone has well and truly earned throughout 2021 - for this we are excited. We also edge closer towards saying farewell to students, staff and families that we have built relationships with over the years; while we are happy to see our students progressing to the next chapter of their lives, it is bittersweet to think that we will not see those shining faces with quite the same regularity.

See you soon!

It is with sadness that we say farewell (and see you soon!) to the following families, who will be graduating on from BNW at the end of this year:

Graduation

This week members of our school community have participated in a few very special end of year events. On Tuesday evening our Grade Six students attended their graduation, which was a beautiful evening filled with reflection, connection, laughter and lots of joy.

Our students have been preparing the graduation ceremony as part of their unit of inquiry, so there was lots of fun to be had, including dinner, music, garden games, speeches and peer awards. We started a new tradition this year, presenting four awards to the students who were nominated as embodying our four new school values - congratulations to Eden Worland for his authenticity, to Phenyx Tearetoa for his respect, to Mitsuki Tanaka for his connection and to Micah Takita-Carey for her creativity. We are so proud of each of you and our entire graduating class! You are exceptional representatives of our school values and will achieve many wonderful things in your lives.

We also want to extend a special congratulations to Maddy Broadhurst, who was this year’s recipient of our Suzanne Peterson Award, which is presented to just one student each year, for continually demonstrating all of our school values every day. You can find a copy of the awards speech below.

School Council Dinner

On Thursday evening, current and previous members of our 2021 School Council and Sub Committees were invited to a thank you evening of drinks, nibbles and a cheeky little tour of STELA. Typically our School Council celebrates a year of hard work with dinner at a restaurant. This year however, our School Council President Tanya Pittard, used her influence and passion for inclusion to change up our celebrations so we could include anyone who is (or has) volunteered their time through the School Council or a sub committee.  

Although everyone was not able to make it, Thursday evening was a truly wonderful opportunity to spend time with people who have been essential to our school’s success this year and a reminder of all we can achieve when our community bands together to support the learning growth and development of our students. The funding for STELA and our renovations came from an exceptional campaign from our School Council three years ago. Keeping our students and staff safe during two challenging years of COVID was achieved with immense support from Buildings & Grounds. We managed remote learning with minimal disruptions (comparatively) and ongoing improvements to our learning came from the Education Committee working so closely with our teachers and leaders. Improvements to the way we communicate with families at a time when we could not see you or meet with you came from our Communication Sub Committee. Sprout and OSHC supported our students, staff and families both at school and at home, and our Community Events Team showed support of our teachers, our school and has continually filled our buckets, no matter the obstacles that were presented to them.

Thank you, dearest school council, sub committees and everyone who volunteered time, energy, skills or knowledge to the school throughout 2021. This year has been (another) big one, filled with surprises, disappointments, challenges and changes. But it has also been filled with special moments of generosity, kindness, success and growth. We know that teachers do not do their job for the money, but for the love. So every ounce of love you have shared with us has made us oh so much richer.