We would like to acknowledge and honour the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which our school stands. We pay our respects to all First Nations elders, past present, and emerging.

Term 3 is always a great term for lots of learning; students and teachers know each other well and the learning in classrooms has reached a comfortable routine. With our new approach to Guided Play and Inquiry, we are seeing even greater learning opportunities form as our whole school inquiry is no longer bound by term dates and follows two distinct, yet linked phases. It has been fantastic to see students heading out to excursions so early in the term and to hear such thoughtful conversations between students and teachers about their learning.

Calling All Enrolments

Applications to enroll at Brunswick North West Primary School in 2024 are closing soon; all applications to enroll must be submitted by the end of July. Enrollment numbers are used when planning class structures and teacher teams for 2024, and the more accurate information that we have when making these decisions means that our plans can be clear and accurate.

Winter Magic Market

Our Winter Magic Market is a little less than four weeks away and plans are beginning to take shape with plenty of chatter about food stalls, glitter face paint, hair feathers, book stalls, music performances, art auctions and a small tipple by a fire - it warms the belly just thinking about it!

We are holding an online planning meeting this Wednesday at 7pm for anyone with experience or interest in being involved in the lead up to our market. Wednesday’s meeting will focus on planning and sharing contacts, there will be no expectation to volunteer copious hours. A link to the meeting has already been sent to vollies from previous markets, if you have not yet received a link but would like to be involved in the planning meeting, please contact the school office and they will send the link to you.

Next week we will share a hyperlink for parents, carers and special friends to sign up for a shift on the day. We implore everyone to give a helping hand on Saturday 12th August - many hands make light work and there is a special kind of magic that volunteers feel when they are part of such a special community event.

If you have any questions about the market and how you can get involved, please contact Ange at ange.hopkins@education.vic.gov.au or through the front office.

NAPLAN Reports

NAPLAN tests have been marked and data collated, individual student reports will be distributed to schools and then families over the coming weeks. There have been a few changes this year to how NAPLAN results are reported and shared; you can read all about the changes in the pamphlet below.

Communications Tree

Here at BNW we want to make sure that members of our community feel that they are able to ask questions and raise concerns about any aspect of the school’s operations whenever they feel that it is necessary. As our annual half-yearly reminder, we are republishing the ‘Communications Tree’ to ensure that everyone is aware of the recommended and required process to follow when raising a concern, complaint or question.

The school council sub committees are also a great place to work together with the school on clarification of questions or the process of solving complaints or concerns. Details of the chairs of each sub committee can be found in previous newsletters, or, alternatively, please give our front office a call and they can point you in the right direction.

Body Safety Info Night

Last Wednesday Jay Jones from Body Safety Australia (BSA) joined some of our senior school parents and carers to discuss two programs they will be facilitating with our students this term. The first program, Unique You is a sex and sexuality education program that has been run in our school for a number of years that covers bodies, sex and gender, puberty, emotions, consent, birth and healthy relationships both online and offline. We love partnering with BSA as their values closely align with ours and they have an up-to-date and inclusive approach to everything they teach.

The second program is being piloted with a small group of students in our school and starts this week. Connect-U is a strength’s based leadership program designed to empower communities to improve school engagement and reframe effective leadership for children and young people. The program also aims to build on the capacity of the school and parent/carer community to best support the needs of all students, acknowledging the different ways [dis]engagement presents across gender and neurotype. Although this pilot is only available to a small group of students, there is a strong correlation between this program and the whole school Inquiry we are about to undertake and we will be exploring many of the same concepts.

The Nor'Wester

BNWPS is committed to Child Safe Standards and prevention of child abuse

Issue 20 · 17 Jul 2023

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