“We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the first people to dream, create, wonder, dance, play and learn on this breathtaking land. This land was cared for and respected for tens of thousands of years. The First Nations people lived in companionship with the animals and the life on this land. We acknowledge that this is stolen land and we pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging.”

Rayma Atkinson (2023 Suzanne Peterson Award Recipient)

2024 Writers Festival

What a fantastic Writers Festival we had today! It was wonderful to see all of our students engaging in the many different aspects, styles and genres of writing. We had electives where year 3-6 students were playing word games, making paper poetry puppets and writing stories in fifteen words or less. During Guided play, our Foundies and Juniors engaged with a huge variety of word and writing warm ups. Some used matching cards, some used magnetic letters.

Many of our students (and community members!) have written a poem for our Poetry wall (opposite the Basketball court) if you haven't had a chance to have a look at the wall already, it is well worth the visit. We have included some of the poems in pictures below - some of them are very profound!

Our Junior and Foundation students had a visit from Emma Bowd. Emma is a very talented Author of a variety of picture story books. Some of her most well known are; This is my Happy Place, Wonderful Shoes and The Day You were Born. Here is a link to a reading of Wonderful Shoes for you to enjoy at home.

Our middle and senior students took part in a fantastical workshop that explored myths and legends run by amazing staff from Story Studios Australia. They walked away with some great ideas for stories and will be working on those stories across the week.

And right now it’s Write Now! You can feel the writing energy all around the school. What a talented and creative group of writers we are!

A huge thank you to everyone who came along and joined in the writing fun!

Don’t forget that we have three more exciting book week events coming up;

Wednesday 28th August - 9.00 am - Basketball Court (weather permitting) Book Week Dress Up Parade; Dress up as your favourite book character
Friday 30th August - 2.30pm - Spring Family Afternoon - Classrooms Come into the classroom and celebrate some of our amazing writing
Friday 30th August - 2.30pm - Great Book Swap - Internal Corridor Opposite Sprout See the article later in the newsletter for details and information

2024 School Review - We want to hear your thoughts!

We have mentioned in earlier newsletters that this is a review year for our school. The review runs over three different days - one each week for the next three weeks, starting this week. Next week on Wednesday 4th September the review panel will be running a parent and carer focus group on the deck at Sprout, for anyone available and interested in sharing your views with our Reviewer Panel. The panel includes Emma Richardson (Reviewer), Tony Privitelli (Senior Education Improvement Leader), Ann Brennan (School Council President) and two Challenge Partners from other schools.

Please join the panel at 2:30 pm at Sprout on Wednesday 04/09 and help us spread the word to other parents and carers across the school.

3/4 Camp

Last week most of our 3/4 students attended camp at Campaspe Downs along with a number of teachers, support staff and three very valuable parents! Although we experienced some rain on the first day, the children showed fantastic resilience and an eagerness to participate in the activities scheduled.

For our grade 3 students, it was their first school camp and they took to the experience like a duck to water! Having attended the 3/4 camp last year, it was really special to see the growth and development of our grade 4 students from last year to now.

It was no great surprise to see our students supporting each other and building connections with their peers, but we never tire from hearing from people outside our school just how wonderful our little humans are.

We want to thank all the camp staff for your organisation and dedication to our young learners. Thank you for giving up your after-hours time and for sharing this experience with empathy and joy. To our parent volunteers, Amelia, Jarrod and Sal, you were an absolute delight to have on camp and legendary leaders for our students.

Thanks Tom Mansfield!

Thank you to Tom Mansfield who has worked in Unit LB for the past six weeks while Lian was on family leave for their new baby. Tom has made great connections with the students on LB and demonstrated excellent focus and commitment to supporting learning within the class and across the team. We love having Tom as a CRT, so you will likely see him working in other parts of the school throughout the rest of the year. Thanks Tom!

Big Sing

Thank you to the community who were able to attend the Big Sing yesterday; it is always a joy to see our community in the big world, especially when it is in support of another community member and a great cause!

The event, organised by our beloved Audrie Sexton-McGuire and her wife Dr Kathleen McGuire, is aimed to raise awareness and money to support those experiencing homelessness. As was stated by Kathleen during the event, “Every human being deserves dignity both in life and in death”. Kathleen has previously spoken to our students about her social justice work, for which she is known across many different countries.

This year was the tenth anniversary of the event, which also goes to show that when we are working for a good cause, sometimes we also need patience and persistence.

the Nor'Wester

BNWPS is committed to Child Safe Standards and prevention of child abuse

Issue 26 · 26 Aug 2024

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