Principal's Report

Term 1 Draws to a Close

As always, term 1 has flown by and there have been lots of great things happening across the school.

The term 1 calendar was certainly action packed. Some of the key celebrations from this term include:

Two productive pupil free days before the kids started, ensuring the school year started well.
We’re making good progress with key priorities for this year, in both the teaching and learning space and the wellbeing space. A focus on explicit teaching and learning routines continues to have a positive impact.
In 2025 we lifted expectations in terms of how the kids look after their schoolbooks and how work is recorded and presented. The difference was significant and we have carried that work into 2026.
Overall, the term has been very settled, both in classrooms and the yard. Speaking of the yard, the 1s and 2s at the Buninyong Campus are loving the new basketball set up on the synthetic turf area. This was funded by the 2025 Canteen Team, who chose this as the project they would fund with the profits made across the year. A second basketball set up will be added to the prep area soon….also funded by the 2025 Canteen Team.
We had 2 very successful Open Mornings.
We’ve had some great sporting events, including the 3-6 aths back in week 7.
All 5 scholarship programs are off to a strong start.
Chess Club has been very popular and we look forward to competing against other schools early next term.
Our grade 6 teams are up and about and doing great things. That will keep these kids engaged and connected to the school, which is crucial later in the year.
We managed NAPLAN with a minimum of fuss and anxiety.

There has been a steady stream of excursions & incursions, including the Prep’s Teddy Bear’s Picnic, GRIP Leadership Conference for the 6s & the 1s heading to Sovereign Hill and having a visit of transport from days gone by.
The VOTS Team is more active than ever, which the kids are loving.
Planning for the concert is underway.
Considerable work has gone into preparations for the Japan trip and EBT, ensuring the success of these programs later in the year.
We contributed to the Sustainability Expo, which was well received by the community.
The Bunjil Award morning tea sessions have been great and enjoyed by students and principals.
We know our 3s will have a successful camp at Cave Hill Creek.

So overall we are really pleased with what has been achieved in term 1 and look forward to a productive term 2. Thankfully the calendar for term 2 doesn’t look as busy, which will give us the opportunity to settle into our classroom routines and the learning program.

At the moment, key events we have planned for term 2 include:

The inter-house cross country and a chess tournament in week 1
A Book Fair and School Photos in week 2
Japan Day in week 3
A Mother's Day Breakfast and the Mother's Day Stall in week 3
Grade 4 Camp in week 8
The usual range of inter-school sporting events across the term
A series of parenting sessions (Tuning into Kids)
Reports going home in week 9, followed by Parent Teacher Interviews in week 10.

Casual Dress for the Last Day of Term

Don’t forget the kids are invited to come along in casual dress and to bring along a gold coin donation on Thursday. Proceeds will go to the Ballarat Animal Shelter, a charity chosen by our VOTS Team.

Dismissal time is 2:30pm on Thursday. We hope you all get a chance to relax and enjoy some family time over the break. Lots of families head off camping over Easter and the forecast is looking good as it often is at this time of year.

School returns on Monday, April 20.