This week's newsletter contributions were written before we lost internet connection on Tuesday morning ... apologies for the dated news! Telstra managed to get us back online around lunchtime today.

THE 2025 SCHOOL YEAR DRAWS TO A CLOSE

The last few weeks have been very busy and there has been lots happening for our students as they finish up the school year.

Since last week’s newsletter we have finished off Parent Teacher Interviews and held the Meet the Teacher session. Yesterday the Scotsburn Campus had its end of year concert, where the staff and students did a fabulous job. It was great to see lots of parents and other family members in attendance to support the students. Well done to Kylie Smith who delivered a lovely speech on behalf of the Scotsburn parents.

Tonight, we have our Grade 6 Graduation which will take place on the outdoor stage at the Buninyong Campus beside the gym. This is always an exciting celebration and a fabulous way for the school community to wish our Grade 6 graduates all the very best as they head off to secondary school. ... it was a great night!

On Thursday morning we’ll hold the final assembly for 2025. As always, this will be a large event, and we welcome parents, carers and extended family members to come along and join us. The final assembly in December is a great opportunity to celebrate the year. In keeping with tradition, the assembly will conclude with a guard of honour for our Grade 6 students as they make their way out to the oval before counting down and throwing their hats in the air. This is a really nice way of celebrating their time at primary school and finishing off the year.

Thanks to those who could make it to the assembly, it was wonderful to see so many there!

As we reflect on the year, it’s good to think about what we have achieved at both campuses this year. Some key reflections include:

School Fete – The school fete was very successful and attracted an enormous crowd. This was a true community event, and everyone left well fed and with a smile on their face.
VSSS (Victorian State School Spectacular) – We participate in this event every second year (non-concert years) and the experience for this year’s participants was outstanding….something they will never forget.
Book Week and Home Reading – This year we had the time and space to make a big deal of Book Week, culminating in a dress up day which was great fun. And across the year a big effort was made to encourage home reading, with excellent results. It was lovely to see so many children receiving awards at assemblies for hitting home reading milestones.
Colour Run – The colour run campaign created great excitement across the school, culminating in the actual event on October 24. Everyone had a great time, and it was nice to see so many family members come along to watch.
Father’s Day Breakfast – Our Scotsburn Campus led the way and held Father’s Day Breakfasts for a number of years. We finally caught up at the Buninyong campus this year and held the event for the first time. The kids and dads loved it, meaning this will now be an annual event.
Scholarships – There was a lot of learning from our first year of running scholarship programs in 2024. As a result, this year’s programs took the concept to a new level. The quality of presentations at the celebration evening on November 27 were impressive.

Throughout the year our students have also had many opportunities to participate in a range of extracurricular activities. Students have been involved with Energy Breakthrough, school Disco, Grade 3, 4 & 5/6 Camps, Japanese Festival Day, Karuta Club, Grandparents & Special Friends Day, Debating, our Choir, the Young Authors’ Program, sleep overs, the Grade 6 GRIP Leadership Conference in Melbourne, the GALS in STEM program, the Bulldogs Read Program, the Victorian High Ability Program, Footy Colours Day and an array of interschool sports (often making it through to regional and state level).

There is certainly something for everyone that is willing to give things a try at our school, and we love the fact that we have so many students willing to challenge themselves and give things a try.

A big thank you to our staff, parents and broader Buninyong community for your contribution to our school in 2025. We know this comes in many forms and hope you understand it is appreciated. All the very best to our Grade 6 students and other students and families moving on. We hope you will have fond memories of your involvement with Buninyong PS.

We acknowledge members of staff that are moving on, those being Rachel Middlin, Paul Wilson, Jess Donald, Nick Gonzalez, Hannah Hocking and Archie Eichler. We thank each for their contribution to BPS and wish them all the best.

We wish you all a merry Christmas and happy new year and we look forward to doing this all again in 2026.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS FOR 2026

Last week announcements were made regarding successful candidates for the 2026 Scholarship Program. We congratulate all applicants for the quality of their applications. In total we received 198 applications, which is testament to the value being placed on the programs. We wish our successful candidates all the very best as they pursue their interests in their chosen scholarship subject.

ACCESS TO COMPASS FOR STUDENTS LEAVING OUR SCHOOL (including year 6)

As advised through Compass earlier this week, students who are not enrolled at Buninyong PS in 2025 at the end of the current school year will be removed at the end of this week. This means that families will no longer have access to any information stored on Compass, such as school reports, beyond the end of this week. Please ensure you have downloaded or printed anything you wish to keep before the the close of business tomorrow.

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