Deputy Principal's Message
Thank you to the many parents, carers, grandparents and family members who attended our recent Learning Showcases and Celebration of Learning Assemblies. It was wonderful to celebrate the achievements of our students with our community.
Congratulations to the many students who were involved in the assemblies on their magnificent musical performances and impressive presentation skills.
Thank you to our students, families, P&C, teachers, and support and office staff for a great year. Wishing you a happy and relaxing holiday break and we look forward to seeing you in 2025!
Dangers of Roblox
Roblox is a popular game played by many primary aged students; however, the open chat room function of the game contains many hidden dangers and can leave children highly vulnerable to risk from online predators. Please see the related ABC article about the risks of Roblox, a timely reminder for the holiday period (warning: the article contains distressing content).
2026 Year 5 selective class applications - reminder
Applications for 2026 entry into a Year 5 opportunity class are now open. The Year 5 & 6 opportunity class for Armidale is located at Armidale City PS. Applications are currently open and close on 21 February 2025.
2024 SRC Report
The Ben Venue SRC prides itself on being an important mechanism in the school that gives each and every one of our students a voice and allows them input into their schooling. It allows us to share ideas with each other to help improve our school and make us more active and aware citizens.
Our meetings are held in our Yarning Circle. Here, we listen to each representative share the ideas their class would like the SRC and the school executive to consider. We then discuss each idea as a team and vote on our decision.
This year, the SRC has focused on being active citizens and wanted to organise a fundraiser for a charity. There were many options brought to the table, including Ronald MacDonald House, The Salvos, and Vinnies but after a bit of discussion, it became apparent that all classes wanted to support a charity with a sustainability focus. The SRC voted unanimously to support our native wildlife through WWF Australia. Students and teachers dressed up in their best pyjamas, onesies, Oodies and dressing gowns to support our PJ Day. We raised $622.30, which was one of the most successful fundraisers we have ever had. We were very proud to be able to donate the money to World Wildlife Fund Australia on behalf of Ben Venue.
Another initiative the SRC was involved in this year was Olympics related. We wanted to get involved in the Olympic spirit and support our Australian team, so we organised a daily update where we announced all the latest Olympic news over the school’s sound system. Our Stage 1 SRC members made the announcements to start the day each morning and although they were nervous at first, just like the athletes, they did not let their fear get in the way. They persisted and each day became more and more confident on the microphone. The Olympic celebrations ended with a special Green and Gold Day organised by the SRC to celebrate the Australian team’s achievements.
Some of the other things that we initiated this year was arranging for the play equipment to be accessible at recess for students to play on. We have also made the system for borrowing sports equipment from the sports shed easier.
This year has been another wonderful year for our SRC and it has been a great experience. We encourage anyone who would like to be involved, to put their hand up to be a part of the SRC next year.
Ben Venue PS 2024 Student Representative Council
Friday Dance Party
Every Friday, many students enjoy dancing like nobody is watching, under the COLA over lunchtime. It is wonderful to see students of all ages dancing and interacting together so positively.
Photos from the recent Garden Club sale
Thank you to Mr Cotter and all of our Garden Club students for another great year in gardening.
Lana Howlett
Deputy Principal