Principal's Report
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, learn and play. We pay respect to Wurundjeri elders past, present and emerging and extend our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families of Bimbadeen Heights Primary School.
A big warm welcome to the 2026 school year to our students, parents/carers, grandparents, special friends and the entire Bimbadeen community. We hope you and your family enjoyed a restful and relaxing break over the school holiday period and have had a positive start to the year.
The school year has started well, with our students and staff settling in quickly, and focusing on building strong, positive relationships within and across classroom communities. Our students have started the new school year with enthusiasm and the determination to work hard and enjoy their time at school. Walking around our classrooms over the past two and a half weeks, it has been very pleasing to see how quickly and easily everyone has settled into their new class and adapted to new routines.
We are now full steam ahead into what promises to be a fantastic year of learning, fun and growth.
At our first assembly held on Friday 30 January, we were very fortunate to have Mr Aaron Violi MP, Federal Member for Casey, and Ms Bridget Vallence, MP, State Member for Evelyn, present the badges to our 2026 Student Leadership Team.
We look forward to working with our School Captains, Vice School Captains, House Captains, Sustainability Captains and Wellbeing and Inclusion Captains this year, to continually improve our school for all members of the community.
It is fabulous to see how quickly our 74 new Foundation students have settled into school life. This reflects the effectiveness of the pre-school and Kindergarten programs run by our Early Childhood colleagues, our comprehensive school transition program, the efforts put in by parents and carers to ensure school readiness, and the warm and welcoming classroom environments created by our wonderful Foundation teaching team. Our Founders students are quickly becoming familiar with routines, expectations and how to be a school kid.
This year we have welcomed several new families to the Bimbadeen community. Many of our new families are first-time Founders parents and others are new families who have moved into the area. Making the move to a new school can sometimes be daunting, however, our new students are settling in well and have already formed some great friendships.
A warm welcome to all new families to our school.
We look forward to working with you and your children this year and into the future.
We are excited to be welcoming 6 new staff members to our community in 2025, in either Classroom Teacher, Specialist Teacher or Education Support staff roles. We are pleased to share the following introductions to our new members of staff:
Welcome back to Mrs Olivia Maestri and Ms Michelle Franks who are returning to their role of classroom teacher at Bimbadeen this year and are sharing a class in Year 3.
We are delighted to warmly welcome Caitlyn and the TeamKids team to the Bimbadeen Heights community.
TeamKids commenced operations over the school holidays with a strong focus on providing a welcoming, engaging and child-centred service. We have received very positive feedback from families regarding the high-quality environment, well-resourced program and the professionalism of the educators.
Caitlyn is our Service Director and is supported by a team of regular TeamKids educators who are already building strong connections with our children and families. The team has demonstrated excellent communication with school leadership, promptly addressing considerations and working collaboratively with us to ensure the program runs smoothly.
We look forward to continuing this positive partnership and are excited to have TeamKids as part of our school community.
Please see further information about TeamKids later in the newsletter.
At Bimbadeen Heights Primary School, we are committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment where every child can succeed. We celebrate diversity and recognise the unique strengths and potential of every student.
Our approach is guided by the Department of Education’s Disability Inclusion model, the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and relevant legislation to ensure all students have fair access to learning. We make reasonable adjustments - such as curriculum modifications, specialised equipment, or tailored support - so every child can fully participate in school life.
We use a tiered model of support:
Our Inclusion Team works in partnership with families and allied health professionals to design and implement adjustments that remove barriers and empower students to thrive. At Bimbadeen Heights, inclusion is a core value - every child belongs, is supported, and has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Our weekly Breakfast Club and Active club program will begin in Week 4 this term. Breakfast Club will generally operate on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:15am to 8:45am, and Active Club will generally operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30am to 8:45am. The aim of Breakfast Club and Active Club is to support our students to develop healthy habits that support their wellbeing and connect with each other and our staff members. Our families are welcome to attend these morning activities before school.
With the Victorian Government Schools Agreement and the impact of time in lieu on staff working hours, there will be weeks throughout each term where Breakfast Club and Active Club will reduce the number of days they operate, or not operate at all, to ensure our staff are working within their designated working hours. We will endeavour to provide families with advance notice of these changes.
To ensure our students are appropriately supervised before school, we ask that parents and carers please do not rely on these activities for the purpose of before school care for your child/ren. School staff are not on duty to provide supervision in the yard before 8:45am. It is the responsibility of parents and carers to ensure their children are supervised prior to 8:45am, if they are on school grounds. If you require care for your child/ren before school, please contact TeamKids who provide a before and after school service for our community.
This week saw the conclusion of our two weeks of Get to Know You Interviews. These parent/teacher interviews privilege time for parents and carers to meet with their child’s classroom teacher to ensure we know everything we can about each student and their needs, and develop a strong, collaborative relationship between each teacher and their students, and their parents and carers. If you have not met with your child’s classroom teacher, please ensure you make a time to meet with them to help set your child up for success at school this year. If you are experiencing difficulties with using Sentral, please see Emma or Shelley in office for assistance.
We would like to remind all members of our school community that the Staff Carpark is not a drop off or pick up zone. The safety of our students, staff and community members is paramount.
When using the drop off zone at the front of the school, please reverse into car spots with care and be courteous to other drivers. As per Victorian road rules, when driving out of a car park indicate, check mirrors and blind spots and give way to all vehicles and pedestrians on the road.
This includes giving way to drivers who are reversing into car spots and waiting for them to park before you drive out of your car spot.
Please be mindful of your speed on the road and please do not block driveways while parking or queueing on Hayrick Lane. Please ensure you adhere to parking limits as there have been numerous reports to local council already this year of parents/carers who have been parking in spaces for longer times than permitted.
In 2023, the National Student Wellbeing Program (NSWP) replaced the National Schools Chaplain Program. The change in this program meant were able to appoint a student wellbeing officer to support the general wellbeing of students, and the broader community. Liam Bransgrove, one of our Student Counsellors, is our Student Wellbeing Coordinator. As a key member of our School Wellbeing team, Liam will continue to provide short-term support to students in his counselling role, he will also coordinate school-wide strategies to support the general wellbeing of students and the broader community.
For students to work with Liam in his role as our Student Wellbeing Coordinator, and/or Student Counsellor, we must have an NSWP Consent Form competed by the student’s parent/carer. The role of the Student Wellbeing Coordinator and Student Counsellors is not to provide clinical therapy; it is to support school-based intervention and wellbeing across the community. For further information, or to discuss your child’s needs, please contact Marty Gill.
The School Council warmly welcomes everyone to the start of a new school year and extends a greeting to all new families and staff joining our school community. We hope you are already feeling settled and connected.
School Council elections will be held in the coming weeks, and we’ll share more information about the process very soon. If you’re thinking about nominating, please remember that you’ll need a valid Working with Children Check, so it’s a good idea to apply now if you don’t already have one.
There are lots of ways for parents and carers to be involved in school life, and we’d love to see as many people participating as possible. You might like to nominate for School Council, or take part in one of our School Council sub-committees focusing on Student Wellbeing, Buildings and Grounds, Student Learning, Finance, or Community Links - you don’t need to be a School Council member to join these. There are also opportunities to help in the classroom or library, or to get involved in our fundraising events. We’ll be sharing more details about all of these in future newsletters.
We’re really looking forward to the year ahead and to working together to build a strong, welcoming and connected school community. Wishing everyone a great year.
As we welcome students back for the start of the 2026 school year, we would like to share the following information about department services and resources with our families.
Transition tips
Back to school is an exciting time for students and families. It can be a big step – particularly for those starting prep or moving to secondary school. For advice in multiple languages on how parents and carers can help their child have a positive start to school, refer to Tips for starting school.
Help with school costs
Please contact Adele Gates, Business Manager, if you are having difficulty with school costs. Programs like Affordable School Uniforms and the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund can help with the cost of school uniforms and other essential school items as well as school activities for eligible students. For more information, please see Help with school costs and fees.
Health and wellbeing
The department’s mental and wellbeing health toolkit, offers guidance to help you support your child’s mental health and wellbeing at home, and advice on working with your school and seeking help if you have concerns.
What to expect at school
A range of information for parents and carers is available on the department’s website that explain school policies, requirements, and expectations, as well as available support services. For more information, please see Attending school and Building a positive relationship with your child's school.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please feel free to pop in for a chat with myself or any other member of our Leadership team should you wish to discuss anything. Our doors are always open!
Warm regards,
Adele Gregson, Sabrina George, Marty Gill and Bree King
