Principal's Report
Blackburn Primary School
Another fantastic fortnight of learning and excitement at BPS as we very quickly move into the final months of 2026. As we get ready to welcome our 2027 Foundation students for transition next week, our current Foundation students have had plenty of excitement over the last couple of weeks with their Buddy Zoo excursion, a visit from the Fire Brigade for an educational session and topped off with our F - 2 Kaboom Sports day on Tuesday this week.
Today we also celebrate the exceptional work of all of our teachers on World Teachers' Day. We are incredibly fortunate to have a group of teachers who bring the expertise and genuine care for our children to our classrooms every day. Teaching is an incredibly demanding and complex, yet rewarding profession and I am grateful for the positive impact our teachers have on our school community. I am sure you will join me in wishing all of our teachers a Happy World Teachers' Day today. A shout out as well to Susan B and our parent crew at Style Bundle for their contribution to making today special for our staff, and to all the parents and students that donated towards a coffee for our teachers. Thanks also to Helena, Gerry and the team at Corner and Bench for their contributions to our teacher morning tea. You certainly made their day!
Student Free Days
A reminder that we have a student-free day coming up on Monday 2nd November. Our teachers will be using this time to focus on Semester Two assessments and begin working on end-of-year reports. Having this dedicated time is important for staff to review each student's progress as we head toward the end of the year. For families needing supervision, TheirCare will be running a program on the day. A reminder also that our final student-free day of the year will be Friday 18th December.
School Council also endorsed two of our student free days for 2027 at Monday night’s meeting. This is in addition to the statewide student free day on Wednesday 27th January. Our confirmed student free days for 2027 are:
- Wednesday 27th January (statewide)
- Thursday 28th January
- Friday 17th December
This means all students will have their first day back at school on Friday 29th January in 2027.
Staffing Update
As we continue our workforce planning for 2027, there will naturally be a few changes to our staffing profile. We look forward to welcoming back to the school Danae Sage, Danielle Fountain, Esra Uzunbay and Emily Chau who have all been on leave this year. We are also excited to announce that Dylan Ramos and Isobel Gilson, two teachers well known to our students, will be joining the BPS team in 2027.
We will also be farewelling a number of our teachers. Daniel Liebrich will be taking a year of leave to spend time at home with his new baby. Angelo Merlino has long had the goal of working in a bi-lingual school and is excited to have the opportunity to do so at Footscray Primary School next year. Wendy Bennett and her family will be moving to Dubai in 2027, while Molly Lawlor will be moving to North Melbourne Primary School, a school much closer to home. I would like to thank Daniel, Angelo, Wendy and Molly for their hard work and contributions to BPS, and we wish them all the best for next year.
We are continuing to finalise our teaching teams for 2027 and will share the full staff structure with the community once it is completed.
Grade Structures 2027
As we finalise our enrolment numbers for 2027, I am pleased to share our grade structures for next year:
- Foundation: 4 classes
- Grade 1: 4 classes
- Grade 2: 3 classes
- Grade 3: 2 classes
- Grade 3/4: 1 class
- Grade 4: 2 classes
- Grade 5: 3 classes
- Grade 6: 2 classes
Stepping Up Transition Program
In mid-Term 4 every year, students from Foundation to Year 5 take part in four whole-school Stepping Up sessions. Spending time in the year level above is a great way to students feel comfortable and prepared for next year. We know that a smooth transition is incredibly important for building their confidence and reducing any nerves they might have about moving up.
During these sessions, students will participate in a range of activities to get a feel for what to expect in their new grade for 2027. You can support your child at home through this process by asking positive questions such as:
- What are you looking forward to the most next year?
- What things are you really good at?
- How can you make new friends?
- What would you like me to tell your new teacher about you?
More information will come out about this in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, we will enjoy meeting and getting to know our new Foundation students for 2027 as they begin their transition to school sessions starting next Friday 6th November.
Parent Payment Policy for 2027
There have been a number of changes to our Parent Payment Policy for 2027. Please see the next page in our newsletter for full details.
Policy Updates
Our Volunteers, Visitors and Attendance policies have been updated and are now available on our website. You can find these updated documents via the links below:
We have also recently updated our Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy. As part of the review process, this policy is now open for community consultation before it is officially finalised. You can access the policy via the link below:
If you would like to provide any feedback, please email the school office directly at blackburn.ps@education.vic.gov.au