Principal Team Message

Hello BRPS Community,

As we draw near to the end of Term 1, it's again hard to imagine that nine weeks of school have gone by already in 2024.  

We are proud of our students' involvement in learning and extracurricular activities, from sports to arts and beyond. Their enthusiasm and passion have shone through in every endeavor, whether on the field, stage, or in the classroom. 

Foundation students have successfully completed their first ever school term and settled in wonderfully.  

Congratulations to our dedicated staff, supportive parents, and enthusiastic students - your contributions make Black Rock Primary School the vibrant and nurturing community that it is.

Final Day of Term One - 2.30pm Dismissal

Tomorrow (Thursday 28 March) is the final day  of Term One.  Students will be dismissed at 2.30pm  - please ensure that suitable arrangements are in place for the earlier than usual pick-up time. 

Easter Hat Parade and Raffle

Our world famous Easter Hat Parade and raffle will take place tomorrow starting just after 9am on the asphalt in front of the stage. All community members are invited to attend this favourite event on the school calendar. 

Celebrating Achievements

This term has been filled with achievements both big and small. From academic accomplishments to personal growth, our students have continuously impressed us. We've seen fantastic progress in literacy and numeracy, with students embracing new challenges and expanding their knowledge each day.

The Student of the Week Awards have highlighted the students' commitment to learning and the exemplary attitude and values demonstrated at our school every day. Please take the time to read through and celebrate our SOTW recipients for March in this newsletter. 

Attendance - Every Day Counts!

A focus for Black Rock Primary School and a priority focus for  the Victorian Department of Education this year is to maximise attendance at school. 

In Term One, we have had a 94% attendance rate across all students F-6, with 300 out of 481 students maintaining a 95% or above attendance rate. 

We would love to maintain our average attendance rate at 94% or above for the whole year to ensure consistency and continuity of learning. 

2024 School Goals & Improvement Priorities

At BRPS, we have prepared an Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) that supports the operationalisation of the four year SSP, articulating how the school will implement, monitor and evaluate progress each year. 

Our AIP outlines the four year goals, targets and Key Improvement Strategy (KIS) selected for focus in the coming year, the 12 month targets that will support the school to progress towards the four year targets of the SSP, and actions to support their implementation. 

Our two core priorities for 2024 will include:

Learning - After a three year focus on implementing significant change to our Reading and Spelling curriculum and instructional practices, this year we will have a closer focus on the Writing curriculum. 

Wellbeing - our Wellbeing focus will be to strengthen engagement and wellbeing of all students through the continued implementation of our Wellbeing Framework and emphasising work with our school values.

Our School Values

This year we have made the undertaking to review and renew our school values. We believe that values education is an integral part of our school and by revisiting and promoting a strong set of core values they will be central to the work we do, guiding students, staff and our wider community by providing the framework and expectations for the way we act, learn and interact at BRPS.

Curriculum Day

On Friday 8th March, our whole staff completed a day of professional learning together with a focus on the development of Writing curriculum and  instruction in our classrooms. 

Expertly led by a school team of Emily Harvey, Margot Hudson, Jacqui Hutchinson, Nicole Large and Tori Lancaster, staff delved deep into grammar, punctuation and complex sentence structure as a starting point. We also explored how writing can be embedded into all areas of the curriculum to support knowledge building and learning. 

NAPLAN

Congratulations to our Year Three and Year Five students who recently completed the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). They were expertly supported by our Year Three and Year Five teachers. We're very proud of the efforts of all involved and look forward to receiving our results to build on our strengths and understand our areas for improvement. A big thank you to Steph Thorpe for co-ordinating our NAPLAN for 2024

Intensive Swimming Programs 

From 2017, the Victorian Curriculum F–10 has required swimming and water safety education to be taught as part of the Health and Physical Education learning area.

By the end of Year 6, schools are required to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills identified in the Victorian Water Safety Certificate. 

Our school schedules an 8-day intensive swimming program for all students throughout the year. We have exlusive use of the MGGS pool, experienced instuctors and small group sizes. The benefits of an intensive program are:

• Improved muscle memory of swim skills due to repetition.
• Increased swim confidence as a result of better recall and repetition.
• Improved swim strokes as a result of daily practice.
• Faster progression of swim ability as skills are built on daily.
• Boosts enjoyment in swimming
• Great introduction to swimming for all ages if they haven’t had swimming lessons previously.

The first intensive program for the year is for Year 3/4 and will take place over the first weeks of Term Two. 

2024 Student-Free Days

Each year government schools are provided with four student-free days for professional development, school planning and administration, curriculum development, and student assessment and reporting purposes. The first day of Term 1 is a student-free day in all government schools to allow for appropriate planning to take place for the arrival of students. The remaining three student-free days are determined by each individual school.

Teachers are also granted one Professional Practice Day (PPD) per year from 2024 onwards. Schools have the option of scheduling the PPD as a common, student-free day which we are electing to do this year. School Council has confirmed the following student-free days for the remainder of 2024: 

• Mon 29 Jan - Curric 1 (Statewide) 
• Fri 8 Mar - Curric 2 (Curriculum Focus - Writing) 
• Fri 31 May - Curric 3 (Report Writing) 
• Mon 11 Nov - PPD (common - student free) 
• Fri 20 Dec - Curric 4 (End Year Handover and Preparation) 

Welcome Picnic & Fun Run

The weather decided to co-operate and it was a wonderful afternoon enjoyed by the students, staff and those members of the community that were able to join us. 

A huge thanks to the CEET Committee/Parent Reps, the Year Six families and the Year Six teaching team for their support in organising the event and to parents Karen Y, Cait E, Adriana G and Sarah M for their support in setting up the course.

A round of applause to Mr Badman, Miss Pholi, Miss South and Mr Tyndall for being such great sports when it came to being slimed!! We are sure that 6B, 2P and 1S will enjoy their icy-poles as a well-deserved treat for being the three classes with the highest fundraising total.

Below is our top ten fundraisers in class order! It was a wonderful whole-school community event and a very successful fundraising event where we able to raise triple the amount of funds we did last year that will go to the school. Thank you to everyone that contributed. Go BRPS! 

Fun Run Prizes

For the families that did contribute to the fundraising aspect of the school Fun Run don't forget to update or edit their child’s class name and order your prizes! 

CEET Meeting

Our next CEET meeting will be held in the staffroom at 7 pm on Tuesday, 30th April. BRPS Community members are welcome.

2025 Foundation Enrolments

Our 2025 Foundation Information night will be held in the second week of Term 2, on Tuesday 23rd April. School tours and classroom open mornings are scheduled in the weeks after that. If you are aware of any families that are seeking a school for next year please direct them to our website for information about these events and the enrolment process. Sibling enrolments for Foundation 2025 will open on Monday 15th April. 

Letter To My Teacher

Letter to My Teacher 2024: Write a ‘thank you’ letter to your teacher | KidsNews

If you would like to write a letter to your teacher to thank them for all that they do, we recommend families visit the above link and check out the details if they would like their child/ren to submit a letter. We are sure that teachers would love to know that their students are motivated to write to their teachers to thank them for their dedication to supporting their learning and development. 

We wish everyone a safe and relaxed Easter holiday break and look forward to an exciting Term Two ahead!

Sam Tyndall

PRINCIPAL

Emily Harvey

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL