Welcome back everyone

Welcome back everyone. It was lovely to see happy faces and sunshine on Monday morning. The students looked relaxed and ready to start the term.

Classroom routines are well underway and there is a wonderful combination of calm and activity around the school.

A friendly reminder about COVID19 practices in schools

Families will be aware the Victorian Government further relaxed its COVIDSafe settings for the broader community at the end of last term.

Changes to the COVIDSafe settings include allowing more visitors in the home, changes to mask wearing in some settings and updates to density limits in some settings. However The Department of Education and Training advises there are limited operational changes for schools.

Visitors continue to be welcomed at our school, however face masks must be carried by individuals 12 years and over at all times (excluding primary school students when at school) and worn when physical distancing of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.

In Term 2 we will continue with arrangements in place for Term 1.

Parents are reminded to:

drop off and pick up without exceeding 15 minutes on the school grounds. Gates will open at 8.45am when the grounds will be supervised by teachers on yard duty. The Kitchen Garden Gate will be open at 7.00am for parents dropping off their children at before school care. The gates will be locked again once all students enrolled at before school care have arrived
remember gates will be locked during school hours to ensure all visitors enter through the front office to enable us to maintain a record of all visitors to the school, particularly sign in and out practices for visits beyond 15 minutes
enter the school at the front office where the office team will help you with general queries, late arrivals, or early pick up of your children
adhere to social distancing at all times and carry a mask for use when social distancing is compromised
continue to remain outside rather than enter classrooms
understand that whole school assemblies will continue to be available online to ensure we comply with density limits as well as community expectations regarding social distancing.

Overall our community has been absolutely amazing. We greatly appreciate the understanding, willingness and positivity we experience from our BPS families in adapting to the new normal. We will get through this, and when we do, we will be happy and healthy.

If the Department of Education and Training advises schools of changes during Term 2 we will advise our community.

Thank you for your support this year as we continue to implement COVIDSafe practices at our school for the health of our staff in their workplace, and also the health of our students and parents. The five day lockdown in Term One was a salient reminder that we are in a pandemic and, we must at all times, remain vigilant in safeguarding our own health and the health of others.

Solar panels installed

We are delighted to advise our community that the panels have been installed on the roof of the Pavilion. The project is a fantastic addition to our school as it both supports and enriches our students' understanding of their capacity to engage in BPS, local and global sustainability initiatives.

A date for your calendar: Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN assessment May 11th, 12th and 13th.

NAPLAN is a national assessment strategy for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

Students in Year 3 and Year 5 will be assessed in Language Conventions (Grammar and Spelling), Writing, Reading and Numeracy. In the coming weeks, more information about NAPLAN will provided to Year 3 and Year 5 families.

Holiday Maintenance

In addition to the installation of solar panels, the holiday period provided a great opportunity to complete general maintenance including:

Mowing the oval/grass area

Resealing the deck around the pavilion

Renovating the Performing Arts Room-painting and installation of pin board

General garden maintenance

Telstra preparations to improve our internet speed and connectivity

Carpet steam cleaning

Student led whole school ANZAC Day Commemoration Friday 23rd April at 3pm

Families are invited to attend our service online via Webex this Friday at 3pm. Our School Captains and Vice Captains will lead the commemoration.

Thank you to our Junior School Councillors for overseeing the sale of ANZAC commemorative items to support the Beaumaris RSL annual ANZAC Appeal.

Thank you to our School Captains, Sam, Annabel and Vice Captain, Harvey, for their attendance as representatives of our school at the Beaumaris RSL Community ANZAC Commemoration on Sunday 18th April. The service took place at the Beaumaris Memorial Community Centre Forecourt and Cenotaph.

During the service our student leaders laid a wreath on behalf of our school community.

Quote of the Week: The Ode of Remembrance

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

Mindfulness

What are three things that went well for you today?

What are the best things that happened to you today?

Who are you most grateful for and why?

What are you looking forward to most about tomorrow?

Sheryl Skewes Ellen Wilson

Principal Assistant Principal

TeamKids: OSHC