Principal's Report

Dear Bundoora families,

Welcome to our first newsletter for term four. As usual it is an action-packed term as we round up the year and prepare for 2024.

This is an exciting time of year in schools as teachers evaluate their goals and reflect on their own journey. Some of our teachers may move schools at the end of 2023, which is a normal part of schools in term four. We anticipate welcoming some new staff to our school to further build our team.

Similarly, we understand that family circumstances change from time to time and ask that if your family is leaving the school please tell us as soon as possible so that we can forward plan for 2024. 

If you have a child to enrol in prep for 2024, or know someone who is planning to enrol, please tell us as soon as you can as this allows us to employ the correct number of staff and set up classes for 2024. The composition of classes can sometimes change depending on numbers.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following students for the fantastic achievements:

1. George Humbke – George’s team were the Grand Final winners in the IHV Jnr Winter Ice Hockey League U13.

2. Stella Smith – Stella recently competed in the Schools Division Athletics and placed third in the 11 and under 800 metres race.

3. Bronte McGuire – Bronte and her team won the State Championship in Cheerleading.

4. Isabella Anthonisz, Tilly Goldstein, and Tobie Tait and their team who showed initiative by collecting and selling books during lunch time to raise money for the SEP. Fantastic effort, team!

5. Congratulations to the students who participated in the ICAS exams in term three. Mrs Armstrong has kindly organised a special presentation and afternoon tea.

Music Celebrations.

I was privileged to watch our Choir and Rock Band students performing at The Big Night Out at Lalor North Secondary School on August 31st. The students at Lalor North Secondary School and several primary schools also attended and I am not biased in saying that our students stood out with their musical abilities and stage presence.

Mrs Newell is an outstanding choir and rock band leader, and the students were able to perform well even though Mrs Newell was ill on the night. Thank you to Mr Sutton, Mrs Armstrong, Mrs Allibon, and the other parents who helped the students set up and perform. 

On the 27th of October a group of keen students, led by Mrs Newell took part in a flashmob outside the Watsonia Library. The students performed the concert song ‘Horror Movie’ twice in front of an encouraging crowd.

Halloween:

1. Congratulations to Mrs Newell for her spooky Haunted House inside the music room. She has put in a huge amount effort to prepare this for the students and their families to enjoy. Many families took the chance to visit before and after school during the last two weeks and families who came to tour the school during this time were also impressed.
2. Thank you to our dedicated parents and staff who made the Halloween disco so fun for our students on the 26th of October. The dedicated team, led by Ashlea Dyson, made sure the room was gorgeously decorated and Mr Cass supplied the music and atmosphere. The quiet room and glow sticks were a huge success also!
3. Ms. Strath’s mum kindly donated a handmade ‘Haunted’ Gingerbread House to raffle with our students. All students went into the draw (free entry) and the raffle was drawn on October 31st. The winner was Amelijah Spiteri. Congratulations, Amelijah and family!

Camp Adanac – grades three and four

Congratulations to our year three and four campers on their impeccable behaviour at their recent camp to Adanac (Yarra Junction). The camp leaders commented after the group returned that our students were well behaved and a pleasure to have at the camp. 

Thanks to Miss Mitchelhill and her team for the superb organisation of camp.

Prep/one/two activity day (and sleepover for year two).

The prep/one/two activity day, grade one and two dinner, and grade two sleepover will finally take place on the 17th of November. Thank you for your understanding with the delay as we waited for the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak to pass. I know our students and teachers will have a wonderful time together!

Extracurricular Activities at Bundoora Primary School

Our extracurricular activities continued to be offered at lunchtime and after school by the teachers and outside providers. 

Mrs Allibon supervises Art and sewing clubs and Mrs Newell supervises Choir and Rock band.

Other (paid) options are street dance, drama, robotics, chess, and The Music Bus for music lessons. We intend to continue with these classes in 2024 and that soccer will return also now that the yard renovations are almost complete.

Prep Transition 2024

Prep Transition is continuing with two sessions down and two sessions to go. The children have met four of our teachers, which will help them to feel familiar with more staff on yard duty in the yard next year. 

Our third session, to be held on October 8th from 9:30 to 12:30, will include an informal parent morning tea from 9:45 to 10:45. We welcome all 2024 prep parents to stay for a cuppa and chat. 

Our fourth transition session, to be held from 9:30 to 12:30 on November 22nd, will include a parent information session from 9:45 to 10:45.

The final prep session for 2023 will be a parent information evening on December 11th. At this meeting you will meet your child’s teacher for 2024 and the new uniform shop will be in attendance, as will the team from TheirCare and our Parents Association President.

Remember-it’s not too late to enrol for 2024!

Student leaders for 2024

In 2024 we are consolidating our Student Leadership roles as we have found the current group to be too large. 

Student leader positions for 2024 will be:

• 2 School Captains
• 2 School Vice Captains
• 4 SEP/House Captains – i.e., SEP Balmoral, SEP Gresswell, etc. 
• 1 Visual Art Captain
• 1 Performing Arts/Auslan Captain
• 1 ATSI Captain
• 1 Library Captain
• 1 Health and PE captain (including SunSmart as part of the role)
• 1 SEP Café Captain
• 1 Student Action Team Captain (SAT)
• 1 Sustainability/STEM captain

Student leadership speeches will take place on November 29th, with all students applying having an interview with the leadership team and current school captains on November 30th. Only current year five students can apply to be School Captain, but year four students can apply for other positions. 

Celebrating World Teachers Day

On the 10th of October we celebrated World Teachers’ Day. The ES team and Leadership provided a delicious morning tea for our wonderful teachers. We are very lucky with the team we have at Bundoora Primary School.!

Congratulations to Mrs McLean – new Disability Inclusion Manager

I am delighted to announce that Mrs. Louise McLean is the successful applicant for the new Disability Inclusion Manager at Bundoora Primary School after a rigorous application process. While we are sorry to lose Mrs. McLean from the office, we are confident that she is the best person to help us roll out this new program to support our neurodiverse and funded students. Mrs. McLean will remain in the office while we work through the process to find a new office manager and 'face of our school'. She will then move to her new office in another part of the school where she will work with families, staff, and children to best support our needs in this area.

What is the Disability Inclusion role all about?

Disability Inclusion involves an investment by the Victorian Government of almost $1.6 billion to ensure every student at every ability thrives at school and in life.

Disability Inclusion means schools have help to:

• Include students with disability.
• Teach students in a way that works for them.

The Disability Inclusion Plan has four parts.

1. Disability inclusion funding - Under the new plan the Victorian Government will give more money to schools for disability inclusion. There will be money for programs for groups of students with low to moderate needs and for individual students with high needs.
2. Disability Inclusion profile for students that describes what a student’s strengths and needs are, and the educational adjustments schools can make to help students with a disability. Schools will follow new steps to work out what supports students with a disability need. The profile is about: 

• Things the student is good at.
• Ways the school can help the student join in (for example, help in the classroom).

1. A Disability Inclusion facilitator, an external person who will help schools and families to include students with different needs. The role will include helping schools to make Disability Inclusion profiles about students and guiding schools and families to help students based on their needs.
2. Disability Inclusion initiatives.

Reminder - Pupil Free Day

Monday 6th of November is a pupil free day. TheirCare will be open for bookings on the day. 

Tuesday 7th of November is a public holiday. School resumes on Wednesday 8th of November.

Uniform

Mrs Dunn is working with our new uniform shop, Spartan World (located in Lower Plenty).

The team from Spartan will attend the school on December 13th to allow students to be ‘sized up’. 

Absences

With the current climate of illness, we are experiencing a high level of unmarked absences. Please ensure that you either log into Compass to report your child as absent from illness or phone the office to advise them so that they can updated Compass for you. 

Amber Taylor, our administration officer will be calling homes daily where unexplained absences are on the system. This is part of the DET requirement for student absence.

Thought for the week:

“We all have ‘issues’ because we all have a story. And no matter how much work you’ve done on yourself, we all snap back sometimes. So be easy on you. Growth is a dance. Not a light switch.