Principals' News

Principal News 27/06/2025

Dear Banyan Fields Primary School Community,

As we come to the end of Term 2, we hope everyone is staying warm and well during these chilly winter days. It’s been a busy and productive term, and we thank our students, families, and staff for their ongoing support and commitment to learning and wellbeing.

Tenacity: We try, we learn, we never give up.

Student Attendance and Punctuality

Since moving to an 8:45am start at the beginning of this year, the school staff have reported that the students are coming to school more relaxed for morning circle and are in the ‘green’ zone (ready to learn) by 9am. Over the past few weeks, however, we have seen an increased number of students arriving between 8:45 and 9am. For those students, it means that they have to rush to class without having the opportunity to socialise before the bell, and try to catch up with their classmates who have already organised themselves for their day. The other students in the class are interrupted from their learning and preparation tasks by the late arrival of students, which can delay every student in the space. While we acknowledge that we are all late from time to time, it is also important for parents to know that being 5 minutes late for school every day, actually means they are 15 minutes late by the time they get themselves set up and ready to learn. If that happens several times per week, it means the students can miss an hour of learning time, which equates to more than a full week of school over the course of the year. We strongly encourage all parents to aim to have their children at school by 8:30 every morning. That allows some flexibility on days when there are traffic delays, etc. and should still allow the children time to interact with their friends before the beginning of the school day.

On the days that you are running late, please remind your child that they will need to visit the office to collect a late pass. It is preferable that parents/carers escort the child/ren into the school and sign them in using the kiosk as this will produce an explanatory note. When a child arrives after the bell without a parent/carer, the office staff sign them in - this late arrival will then need to be explained by a parent/carer on Compass. This is an extremely important process as we have a legal responsibility to maintain accurate records of attendance, punctuality and explanations of why students are not at school between 8:45am and 3:10pm.

We appreciate your support.

Synergy: We listen, we learn, we grow together.

A Peek Into PLC: This Fortnight’s Focus

This week, we focused on categorising how we support students and staff in the classroom by identifying the two main types of behavioural support and what this might look like:

Type One: Lower-level concerns usually managed by classroom teachers.
Type Two: More serious incidents that require school leadership involvement and communication with families.

We also explored ways to support students, staff, and families in these situations, with a focus on:

Clear expectations and routines.
Providing positive and corrective feedback to students.
De-escalation strategies to help students calm down when upset.
Consistent responses to behaviour.

Additionally, we have begun discussing what a token economy might look like at Banyan Fields and how it can enhance our overall behaviour support system.

Why This Matters

Understanding and responding appropriately to different levels of behaviour helps create a safe, respectful, and supportive learning environment. By working together and using clear strategies, we ensure students receive the guidance they need to make positive choices. This collaboration also helps staff feel confident and supported in managing behaviours effectively.

Our Next Steps

Develop and implement a token economy system that complements our behaviour support procedures.

Equity: We include, we respect, we support.

Reports

Student reports for Semester 1 are now available on COMPASS. We trust that this report provides valuable insight into your child’s learning and progress. You will have the opportunity to discuss the contents of the report with your child’s teacher during the parent-teacher interviews scheduled for Tuesday, August 19th. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the report prior to this date, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher directly.

Stewardship: We care for people, places, and possibilities.

Farewell:

Jacqui Sampson, our Assistant Principal, will be leaving the school at the end of the term. Jacqui has been a valued member of the leadership team, here at Banyan Fields, for the last four years. She has built strong relationships with staff, students and their families and strengthened community connections around Carrum Downs. We thank her for her contributions to the school and wish her all the best. You will be missed!

In other news, we want to congratulate Jennifer Churcher who was successful in her application for our substantive assistant principal position. She will formally begin in Term 3. Jen has already formed strong relationships with the students, staff and families and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in curriculum, pedagogy, and wellbeing supports to our school.

We also want to congratulate Lisa-Marie Schneehage who has accepted an exciting opportunity to join the team an Brandon Park Primary School for the remainder of the year. We wish Lisa-Marie all the very best on this learning experience and look forward to welcoming her back to Banyan Fields in 2026. The team are currently working through the recruitment process and hope to introduce our new team member to the student and community before the end of term.

End of Term

Term 2 ends at 2:30pm on Friday, July 4th. School will be closed for two weeks, and Term 3 will begin on Monday, July 21st. Congratulations to our students and staff who have demonstrated all four of our values this term.

Patrick Halpin - Principal

Jacqui Sampson - Assistant Principal

Jennifer Churcher - Assistant Principal

Sharleen Nason - Assistant Principal