“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)

Specialist Subjects Offered in 2026

After much consideration of the perspectives of the staff, students and the community, the leadership team has made the decision that the following specialist subjects will be offered by BNWPS in 2026;

Physical Education
Indonesian
The Arts (A combination of Visual and Performing Arts)
STEM (Science)

The decision to merge the two Arts subjects has been the result of much discussion around curriculum and pedagogy, and we are very excited to offer and launch this new specialist area next year. We are currently working out exactly how this subject will be approached, but it will definitely involve learning in all aspects of the Arts, will focus on and follow the design and creative process and will explore not only some areas of the arts in isolation, but also the relationship between different types of art technique and expression. From a curriculum point of view, this Specialist subject will be guided by ‘The Arts’ learning area from the Victorian Curriculum, and will endeavour to explore Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Dance and Media elements.

Our teachers are currently working towards a more solid vision of what this subject will entail, and we will communicate elements of this in future newsletters.

In the parent/carer survey where we asked for guidance in making this decision, some parents/carers asked for more clarification on why we were needing to offer four specialists in 2026, when we have historically offered five. As was explained in previous newsletters, there has been a shift in the funding that the school will receive in 2026. This shift means that we can no longer support the staffing cost associated with offering five specialists. Offers of fundraising to support the fifth specialist in 2026 were very touching, but this approach is both unrealistic and unsustainable.

2026 Class Structure

As part of our planning for 2026, we have finished exploring student numbers and grade structure options. We will have 17 classes again in 2026, and have made the decision that next year, our structure will be

Year Level	Structure
Foundation	3 classes of around 16
Grade 1	3 Classes of around 17
Grade 2	3 Classes of around 19
Grade 3	4 classes of around 27
Grade 4	4 classes of around 27
Grade 5	4 classes of around 27
Grade 6	4 classes of around 27
Total	17 Classes

The only change in this structure when compared to 2025, is that we will be having three year one classes and three year two classes instead of five junior (year one and two) classes. This decision has been driven by the desire to provide these two cohorts with the more focussed teaching and learning program that they each need whilst ensuring that there are a variety of opportunities to explore different learning and friendship structures.

Creating 2026 Classes

The first significant element when creating classes for 2026 involves teachers talking with their students about other students in the cohort who they believe they can learn well beside. This will take place in classrooms over the next few weeks.

Another element of our class formation process is inviting parents and carers of students who are new to the BNWPS community or whose children have particular learning, social or emotional needs to provide relevant information that can help us create a positive learning experience for their child. We will be gathering this information through this survey. The survey will be open for three weeks from today, and will close on Monday 17th November.

Please note that this survey is not about choosing teachers, rooms or friends for your child. If you are planning to share additional information that might help us place your child in 2026, please remember the complexity of finding the right class for all of our 400 students and share only essential information. Providing information about your child does not make any guarantees, and submissions referencing specific teachers will not be taken into account.

If you have already emailed a member of leadership or your child’s classroom teacher with information in relation to their 2026 class placement, we ask that you consider the boundaries of this survey, and if appropriate, please fill out the survey with your response.

Classified