Principal Team Message

Hello BRPS Community,

Three Weeks Left of Term!

Time has flown by, and it’s hard to believe we’re nearing the end of the term. I want to thank everyone for the kind messages of welcome and support I’ve received over the past two terms at Black Rock Primary School. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know the staff, students, and families, and I feel privileged to be part of such a wonderful community.

A special thank you to Emily Harvey for her incredible support in my transition as principal. Her patience and extensive knowledge of the school have been invaluable in ensuring things run smoothly. I appreciate her dedication and generosity in sharing her expertise.

With only a few weeks left of the school year, we are committed to ensuring the structures and routines continue and learning experiences remain the focus.

Staffing update for 2025

We will be saying farewell to several valued staff members at the end of the term who will be moving on to new opportunities in 2025. We extend our thanks to Matthew Berry, Steph Burns, Jo Hayes, Christina De Maio, Nivedita Jha, Tori Lancaster, Olivia South, Georgie Harris, Katrina Hutchins, Brittany Lazzarini-Pholi, Andrew Wilkinson and Olivia Winfield. Each of these dedicated professionals has brought passion, commitment and care to Black Rock Primary School, leaving a lasting impact on our community. Please take the time to say goodbye and thank you over the coming weeks!

2025 Student Leadership Opportunities

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Tori Lancaster, Rose Thompson and Catherine Brand for their hard work in coordinating and implementing a fair and robust selection process for our 2025 student leaders at BRPS. Their efforts ensure that every candidate has the opportunity to showcase their potential and commitment to leadership. We wish all applicants the very best of luck as we move through this important process, and thank the 2024 captains for inspiring and leading the future captains and leaders.

I look forward to sharing the names of the successful applicants who will assume leadership roles in 2025 with our school community in the next edition of our newsletter.

School Council

Our final School Council meeting for 2024 will be held at school on Thursday, 5th December. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of all members to our school and thank them for their ongoing support.

The council comprises the following parent/carer members: Laura Anderson, Ari Jenshel, Cheryl Toner, Nives Zubcevic-Basic, Thomas Wilson-Haynes and Nick Vakrinos

as well as school staff: Davina Dibbs, Matt Berry, Emily Harvey and Tanya Gundry.

Emergency Management Drill

We recently had our off site emergency evacuation drill. We were SO impressed with how responsible and respectful all students were, walking in their beautifully formed lines. The whole school was lined up at the back of the oval in less than 10 minutes!

Getting to School on Time

Missing a few minutes each day may not seem like a big deal but your child may be missing more than you realise if they are continually late. Research shows that mornings for most children are the most productive time of the day. When children arrive late and take time to settle in, this can be disconcerting for them and distracting for the teacher and other students. Establishing good morning routines with checklists, reducing distractions such as televisions and devices and aiming to get to school ten minutes before the bell can all help your child get to school on time. 

Buildings and Grounds update

Thank you so much everyone for your patience with the BRPS asphalt resurfacing project. As you may be aware, we have had several delays due to weather and some unexpected tree roots that needed to be dug up causing a section to be re-laid. The new asphalt has been in the process of curing, which must occur for a minimum of 14 to 30 days, prior to application of the sport surfacing system. The team are now patching up further cracks as well as cleaning the oils from the new asphalt section. Based on the current weather forecast, they will start applying another base coat and then final coats this week or next.  We hope to see a lot of progress from here on in as we get closer to project completion! We appreciate your understanding and look forward to seeing the final result shortly.

In other buildings and grounds news, we are looking forward to having a number of upgrades to our facilities as the result of a recent successful visibility and accessibility grant submitted by Nicole Large. This will include ramps, signage, window blinds and automated doors.

Over the summer break, we will also have maintenance work completed on our oval, and a shade sail installed by the Performing Arts room.

Policies update

Our newly established Education Subcommittee have recently updated the following policies: 

• Communication Guidelines - outlines who you should contact and the expected mode and time frame for responses. This will be sent out via Compass once reviewed by School Council and then shared with the community. 
• Dogs at School Policy - we are facing an increasing amount of feedback from families and our wider community regarding dogs off leash, dog poo and dogs being left tied up and unattended, creating a health and safety risk to our students. Please note that our policy states that dogs must be kept on a leash at all times and that dogs must not be left tied up or unattended, even for a short period of time. Please support us by sharing our policy with members of the public who you see letting their dogs off the leash after hours, which results in an oval of dog poo obstacles. We intend to share our policy with all local community members via a letter drop. 
• Traffic Management Policy - due to recent events in our wider community, we have reviewed our traffic management processes, and will be increasing signage and awareness around the car park entry/exit gates. Please remind your family to be aware when crossing driveways and not to walk through the staff car parks as a short cut into the school grounds. We thank everyone in our community for supporting our students to arrive and depart school safely. 

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our School Community

As we approach the busy end of the year, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to all members of our parent/carer and wider community who contribute in countless ways to make our school a wonderful place for learning and growth.

Your support, whether big or small, helps create a nurturing and connected environment for all our students and families. From serving as Parent Representatives and keeping your class families on track, leading fundraising efforts, Running Club, Gardening Club, Dads Club and volunteering in classrooms, the library and the art room, to joining working bees or offering your expertise to build, to coach our talented students in a range of sports, to improve initiatives like updating the school website or support with securing funding to offer cyber-safety nights or supporting student-fundraising projects —your contributions are deeply appreciated.

We also acknowledge the quiet yet significant acts of kindness that keep our community strong: the parents and carers who work hard to ensure their children are at school each morning, those who lend a hand with pickups or drop-offs for other families, and those who extend a listening ear or offer support in times of need.

These moments of connection, collaboration, and generosity are what truly make our school special. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our students and our school community. Together, we’re building a positive and supportive environment where everyone can thrive.

Nicola Smith

PRINCIPAL

Emily Harvey

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL