“We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the first people to dream, create, wonder, dance, play and learn on this breathtaking land. This land was cared for and respected for tens of thousands of years. The First Nations people lived in companionship with the animals and the life on this land. We acknowledge that this is stolen land and we pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging.”

Rayma Atkinson (2023 Suzanne Peterson Award Recipient)

Student-Led Conferences

Thank you to everyone for your engagement in student-led conferences last week. We hope the improvements we were able to make at short notice had an impact and we look forward to making further improvements next year.

As our specialist teaching team never has enough time slots to see everyone, they have each created a short presentation that they shared on Wednesday morning and has been recorded for your reference. We’ve had some technical difficulties uploading the video to a place you can all access, but hope to get that sorted very soon - we will send out a link through Sentral once the video is ready for viewing.

Our New Basketball Court

It is with great pleasure that we can announce the newly surfaced basketball court is now open for the students (and community) to play on - and it looks fantastic! Thank you to Jake Elms from Show Court Surfaces for your attention to detail, to Paul Broadhurst for starting this process so long ago, to Audrie for your organisation of us all and to everyone for your patience!

Just before 10am this morning the temporary fencing came down and the sound of joy and laughter that almost instantly erupted was truly warming to the heart. You can see a photo of the court below and see it in person at school or the market this Saturday.

Farewell from Hannah

The time has come for me to say farewell to the spectacular community that is Brunswick North West. I will continue in my role as principal until the end of this year before moving interstate in January 2025. It has been an incredible honour to know, teach and lead those connected to this special place; an honour I will never forget.

I first encountered BNWPS as a student teacher and there is no doubt that it shaped my view of what it means to educate young people and to be a community. Over the (almost) 25 years since that first encounter, I have taught in schools across Melbourne and in NYC and can attest to the fact that I have never encountered a school or community quite like ours.

I have been here as a student teacher, CRT, classroom teacher, assistant principal and principal, and have spent more time on this plot of land than I have in any of my homes, including those from childhood. I have gained lifelong friends and developed more skills than I thought ever existed by knowing each of you. I feel as though this school will always remain a part of me and I hope that part of me will always remain here with you.

I had a number of hopes and dreams as I took on the role of principal and I can proudly say that the school is ready to keep flourishing without me. The students, staff, leadership and families are all taking flight in beautiful ways. Together we have faced massive highlights, global pandemics, personal challenges, triumphs, laughter and tears. I appreciate each and every one of you for the uniqueness that you bring to our community and for how you support all our young people to thrive. I know that this might be surprising to many of you (though I hear word had gotten out to some of the students last week!) and want to assure you all that I am healthy and well and that you and your children will all be much more than OK. A strong and focused leadership team will remain, along with the dedicated staff who work with your children every day. At the school review last term, we were commended on our approach to teaching and wellbeing, with suggestions made that we are on the precipice of leading other schools in best practice.

We know there will be questions about what will happen next, here at BNWPS. Once we have been informed of the process, we will let you all know.

Although it doesn’t feel fully real yet, I am preparing to carry tissues with me for the rest of term, as I gradually say goodbye to each of you and your precious children. Hopefully I will get to catch up with lots of you on Saturday at the market.

With kindness,

Hannah

Sprout

Kris Bidenko