Principal's Report 

‘Welcome’ - the languages represented in our Bimbadeen Community

The Welcome sign at the entrance of our Administration building features the languages represented by our Bimbadeen Heights students and families. Since its installation, we have been very pleased to add new languages to our sign as families from other multi-cultural backgrounds join our community. 

Our sign represents 18 languages. 

If any of our new families speaks a language not represented on our sign, please let us know, so we can add it, and acknowledge your background and heritage.

2024 Excursions, Incursions and Camps

Our teachers have been busy planning a range of exciting excursions and incursions for our students this year. Teachers have been mindful of cost when planning these activities, and throughout 2024 we will be tracking activities across the school with the aim of spreading out and minimising extra costs to parents/carers. Information about excursions and incursions will be provided to parents and carers ahead of time.

Our school camping program planning is also well under way, with bookings secured for all camping experiences in 2024. Our school camping program is an essential part of our extra-curricular program, and supports our students to develop their independence, and step out of their comfort zone and learn new skills. Camping activities are implemented at all year levels across the school and include:

• Foundation – Healthy day
• Year 1 – An extended day on-site
• Year 2 – An extended day off-site (Location to be confirmed)
• Year 3 – 3-day Oasis Camp, Mount Evelyn
• Year 4 - 3-day Oasis Camp, Mount Evelyn
• Year 5 – 3-day Sovereign Hill Camp, Ballarat
• Year 6 – 3-day Camp Wilkin, Anglesea.
• Somers Camp for selected students in Years 5 and 6.

Information will be sent to parents/carers about specific Year Level camps in advance, and a variety of payment options are available, including payment plans that are available to all families, and access to the Department of Education Camps, Sports, and Excursion Fund for eligible families.

2024 Student Excellence Program

We have exciting plans for continuing to grow our Student Excellence Program in 2024, under the leadership of Alec Baroni, Learning Specialist, and Blair Blackburn, an experienced teacher who has returned to Bimbadeen this year after teaching in Year 3/4 in 2022. 

Alec and Blair have planned a variety of opportunities for our students this year including opportunities to participate in the Tournament of the Minds, Science Talent Search, Maths Olympiad, Maths Explorer, Maths Quest, and John Monash Science School opportunities.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

We are eagerly awaiting the outcome of our application for a 2023 Gold Award in School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS). SWPBS is a framework for preventing, reducing, and replacing problem behaviours and is embedded across our school. The purpose of this framework is to explicitly teach positive, appropriate behaviours while creating an environment in which these behaviours are more acceptable than are other negative, inappropriate behaviours. 

Our school values are integral to SWPBS as they are the basis of all the positive behaviours that we are encouraging at Bimbadeen. Mr Marty Gill is continuing to lead the program in 2024. Parent and carer involvement in SWPBS and our Student Wellbeing committee is important and warmly welcomed. If you would like to join our Student Wellbeing committee, please contact Mr Gill on Angad.Marty.Gill@education.vic.gov.au 

A Valued Beginning

Supporting SWPBS is the Valued Beginning program. At the beginning of the school year, all teachers base their class program on student wellbeing and the building of positive relationships within the classroom.  Valued Beginning activities focus on creating an environment of trust and co-operation, establishing class routines and expectations, and developing a common understanding of our school values. Our Valued Beginning program this year has seen the development of structured, orderly environments and settled students and staff. 

Berry Street Education Model (BSEM)

As part of the Department of Education’s Mental Health Initiative for Schools, we will be continuing the implementation of the Berry Street Education Model in 2024. BSEM provides strategies for teaching and learning that enables teachers to increase engagement of students with complex, unmet learning needs and to successfully improve all students’ self-regulation, relationships, wellbeing, growth, and academic achievement. BSEM pedagogical strategies incorporate trauma-informed teaching, positive education, and wellbeing practices. BSEM’s unique approach is informed by the last 25 years of trauma-informed practice, positive psychology, and the science of learning research. Further information about BSEM can be accessed at https://www.berrystreet.org.au/learning-and-resources/berry-street-education-model/about-bsem 

Students’ Mobile Phones and Wearable Digital Devices

A reminder that the Department of Education has in place a mobile phone ban that requires students who bring mobiles phones and digital devices to school to have them switched off and securely put away during school hours. 

The department is requiring all schools to ensure this ban is in place and enforced from the start of the 2024 school year. The ban applies equally to all government schools right across the state. This helps ensure that school is a learning environment free from unnecessary distractions and disruptions. 

All Bimbadeen students who bring their mobile phone or digital device with them to school must sign in their device at the office upon arrival. All devices will be locked in a secure location during the day. Students then need to sign out and collect their device at the end of the day. If your child brings a digital device to school, please discuss this expectation with them and ensure your child signs in their mobile device/s at the office by 8:55am and collect them after school by 3:40pm.

In addition, any student who brings a wearable device to school, such as a smart watch, must have ‘school mode’ enabled to prevent them using the device to make calls and send messages during the school day. If ‘school mode’ is not enabled, the student will be required to sign in their device at the office and collect it after school, in line with the Department of Education policy.

By ensuring mobile phones are kept away at recess and lunch times, students can interact with each other face-to-face, without the distractions and social pressures that mobile phones can cause. We ask for the support of all our families, staff, and students in continuing to support the implementation of this policy in our school. 

For a small number of students with particular health needs, an exception to the policy may be granted. Please contact Adele Gregson or Sabrina George if you would like to discuss this. 

In the event of an emergency or if you need to immediately contact your child, I ask that families contact the school office who will pass on a message as required.

A copy of our school’s local mobile phone policy, which implements the government’s mobile policy in line with our local context, is available on our school website. The Mobile phones in schools webpage provides links to resources for families to help them balance their children’s time using mobile phones. If you have further questions, please contact the administration office.

Parking, Traffic Management & Active Travel

This is a very common and regular section of our newsletter as traffic around our school is such a challenge due to the narrow roads and minimal parking in the local area. Drop-off and pick-up are the times when members of our community, particularly our children, are at most risk of an accident. It is critical that all parents, carers, and drivers take all precautions and care to reduce the risks to children. Please be patient and extra vigilant to ensure that our children are safe when travelling to and from school. Please consider using active travel such as parking away from our school and letting your children walk the last couple of blocks or arriving at around 8:45am in the morning or after 3:35pm to avoid rush times. 

Please ensure you adhere to the parking signs installed around our school. The parking area outside the front of the school is a 5-minute zone only between the hours of 8am-9am and 3pm-4pm, this time covered both drop off and pick up times. Please do not park in these spaces longer than 5 minutes during this time. 

Please also ensure you do not block the school crossing at the front of the school. There have been numerous incidents where members of our community have blocked or reversed their car across the school crossing after blocking the school driveway.

We have been notified by the local council that Safer Community Officers will be patrolling the area around our school and may issue infringements to cars parked illegally. This is to ensure the safety of our community. 

Sabrina George is currently working with the local council to implement an assessment of the parking around the school and explore the options available to council.

Back to School Kit

Thank you to the many families who have already returned the forms from the Back to School kit that was sent home at the end of the second week of school. 

If you have not yet read through the kit and/or returned the relevant forms to school, please do this at your earliest opportunity.

Sentral App

Sentral is our main form of communication between school and home. We expect that parents and carers are checking Sentral regularly for upcoming dates on the calendar, newsletters, excursion notices and year and school level communications. If you are experiencing difficulties with Sentral, please don’t hesitate to speak with Shelley and Emma at the office.

Free Sanitary Products

The Victorian Government is committed to continuing to provide free pads and tampons in all government primary, secondary and specialist schools. Sanitary items are a necessity, not a luxury, and this initiative supports tens of thousands of girls and young women in schools across the state. Our dispenser is installed in the female bathroom in the BER Building (Year 5 & 6 building) and is available for any student who may need to access sanitary products while at school. The aim of this initiative is to:

• Provide students with the confidence that there will always be sanitary items available at school.
• Relieve female students of the stigma, anxiety and discomfort that can be associated with menstruation and its management so they can focus on their studies.
• Ease the cost of living for families.

National Young Leaders Day – 2024 Student Leadership Team Report and Highlights

By Eliza, Zac, Lexi, Beau, Ryder, Addison, Caitlyn, Riley, Dom, Makenzie. 

On Friday 16 February the Student Leadership Team travelled by train to the Melbourne Convention Centre for the National Young Leaders Day. The conference was held in the main auditorium that was right near the Lume where we had our whole school excursion last year. 

The day involved four inspirational speakers who told us about their life stories and how they developed their leadership skills. They shared their personal journeys and gave us messages and tips about building resilience and bouncing back, encouraged us to not shy away from big moments and tackle the challenge, if we don’t succeed, try again when another opportunity comes along. 

The first speaker was Anastasia Woolmer, who was a two-time Memory Champion winner (and the first ever female winner), she was on Australian Survivor and was a former ballet dancer. She told us about how everyone learns differently and of her own strengths and challenges. Anastasia told us about how she struggled as a learner when she was young and how she decided she needed to work very hard to improve her memory.

The next speaker was Bryson Klein who was Australian Ninja Champion, who told us about using our fear to get ahead. He told us about the importance of working and training hard, doing something you are good at, and challenging yourself to improve. Bryson said ‘the difference between the master and the apprentice is the master has failed more times than the apprentice has tried’. We were really lucky to meet Bryson during one of our breaks.

Jane Bunn, who many of you might know from the Channel 7 Weather report, spoke to us about how she followed her passion for weather, and went to university to complete a number of degrees in Science to become a Meteorologist. She told us about her adventures living in the snow, overseas and working for the SES and how she uses her celebrity status to raise money for charities. 

The final speaker was Melissa Barbieri, she is the Matilda’s Goal Keeper and former captain. She told us that she had missed out on representing Australia at the Olympics four times but didn't give up. When Melissa was younger, she was told she couldn’t play soccer because they didn’t have a girls’ team. So, she found another way and played with the boys team, which really helped her develop her skills. Melissa told us about coming back from multiple injuries and how she changed her playing position from left wing to goal keeper so she could continue to play. She told us to ‘find your flame’ and work hard.

Some of our highlights were:

• Learning the dances and getting a shout out from DJ Raf during our brain breaks - Lexi
• Hearing Melissa Barbieri’s journey about how she became the champion she is now - Beau
• Dance battles during our brain breaks (and our side won) – Ryder
• Learning the dance moves from Dean – Addi
• Meeting Bryce Klein and getting a photo with him – Caitlyn
• Learning about Melissa’s leadership journey – Riley
• Listing to all the inspirational speakers and hearing how they pushed through their challenges and are doing the things they love – Dom
• Hearing about everyone’s journey and how they pushed through – Zac
• Jane Bunn and how she sees herself as a Meteorologist who shares information about the Weather on TV, not a TV reporter - Eliza
• Hearing about their life journeys and hearing about the people who inspired them – Makenzie.

We would like to share a message with our fellow students at Bimbadeen. Everyone can be a leader. Find something you love and work hard, stick to it, and follow your dreams. 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please feel free to pop in for a chat with either of us, Mr Gill or any other member of our Leadership team should you wish to discuss anything. 

Our doors are always open! 

Kind regards, 

Adele Gregson and Sabrina George