What an excellent start to the year we have had so far. Can I begin by saying how delighted and proud I feel to be leading such a wonderful school. I could not have wished for a more enjoyable start. Your children are incredibly polite and welcoming which is a huge credit.

It was great to welcome our new Foundation students as well as a number of new students across other grades (36 new students from this time last year).

We have a very a settled school and the students have made a fabulous start due to the preparation and planning of our teaching staff.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

As you would be aware from Compass earlier this year we put out the call for new parent members of School Council. Excitedly we have received more nominations than we have vacancies and therefore will require an election to select the new members of council. Please keep your eye on compass as more information will be coming out shortly.

Unfortunately this also means that we do have a number of school council members who are finishing their term and have chosen not to renominate for election. I would like to extend an enormous thank you to Andrea Nazzari, Nicole Wernert, Ben Sommerville and Cindy Kozel for their time, commitment and support given to Blackburn Primary School. I'd particularly like to thank Ben Sommerville who has held the role of School Treasurer for the last five years and seen the school into an excellent financial position.

Thanks is not enough for Cindy Kozel who has spent the last five and a half years as our School Council President. Her impact on the school has been enormous, helping lead the school though major building work, a school review, remote learning and multiple contract negotiations. It has been an absolute privilege to work with her and I have been honoured to have been able to work with Cindy in helping shape this amazing school. Thank you.

FACILITIES

We've had a busy start to the term with things happening around the school. Thank you to our parents and friends group and also to parents who have made a donation to our building and library funds. To keep the community updated, some of the things we have done -

Upgraded the furniture in 3FS to match the furniture across the school.
Installed new bookshelves in every classroom for classroom libraries and maths resources.
Had a full tree audit completed and high risk trees have been identified and maintenance completed.
Completed external high pressure cleaning of the school buildings
repairs to the cricket net and the sagging roof (thanks to the Parents and Friends groups for funding this work)
New PA system as the old one was no longer keeping time and we needed those all important bells!
Retaining wall rebuilt around the senior playground by the cricket nets.
Upgrade to the library space thank you to parent contributions to the library fund (If you haven't checked it out, it looks amazing and we would still love to do more in that space!)

Holi Festival and Welcome BBQ - Save the Date

I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet with many more of our families at the twilight picnic which is from 5pm - 7:30pm on the 9th March. As we have in the past few years we are combining the traditional Twilight Picnic with the Indian Festival of Colour, Holi. There will be Indian Street Food, a BBQ and lots of colour. For more information please see keep your eyes on the P&F section of the newsletter.

PARKING @ BLACKBURN PRIMARY SCHOOL

Surrey Road Car Park is a Staff Car Park with limited visitor spaces. Families are asked to please use Kiss ‘n’ Drop for school drop-offs and pickups and if there is a need to park and come into the school, please use the spots available in the One Community Church Car Park from 8.45am-9.15am. There is also parking in the surrounding streets being mindful of time restrictions. Parents are not permitted to park in the Whitehorse road or Blackburn Clinic Car Park.

RESILIENCE AND WELLBEING

Resilience and wellbeing are key factors to ensure a happy and fulfilling future for our young people. This year we have again chosen to partner with Resilient Youth Australia who have surveyed more than 350,000 Australian school students aged 8-18 over recent years.

The Wellbeing Survey is completely voluntary and anonymous. The survey collects the self-reported resilience and wellbeing of students and will provide valuable information to assist us create and maintain the best culture of wellbeing and resilience that we can.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s participation in this survey project, please contact Fiona Arthur (Wellbeing Co-ordinator).

PARENT–TEACHER PARTNERSHIPS

Thank you to those families who attended our recent information sessions and parent-teacher exchanges, research shows that one of the most important factors affecting a child’s performance in school is how involved their parents are in their education. When parents and teachers have strong relationships, children get many academic and social benefits.

I recently read this article about engaging with your children's school that I felt worth sharing:

STUDENT ABSENCES

Ensuring that our attendance records are correct are of utmost importance to our teachers.

If you have not indicated to us by phone or Compass, why your child is absent, you will be sent a text message asking you to provide us with an explanation. As well as minimising unexplained absences, this is also a safeguard in that should you not be aware that your child is absent, this message will alert you to this fact.

If you are arriving late please do not mark your student as absent as the kiosk at the office will update compass attendance.

Please ensure your contact details you have provided us with are up to date and that you contact the office should you have any queries about this process.

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