I cannot believe we are almost into December already, the year seems to have gone incredibly quickly and the last few weeks at school have been extremely busy with a lot happening on top of the normal teaching and learning! A staff member mentioned to me this week that there is 19 school days left and I incorrectly did not believe her!

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP NEWS

As you will have recently read from our School Council President I have recently been appointed as the incoming President of the Australian Principals Federation, commencing in 2026. This is a significant professional honour, and I am deeply grateful for the support of our community that has helped shape my leadership over the past eight years.

During this time, Blackburn Primary School has achieved strong academic growth, enhanced facilities, strengthened wellbeing and a deeply connected school culture. These achievements belong to our whole community, and I am immensely proud of what we have built together.

An Acting Principal appointment process will take place throughout 2025, for term one and a permanent replacement selected early in 2026, further information will be shared in due course. For now, I want to assure you that our school remains in a strong position, with an exceptional staff team and a clear strategic direction.

Evening of Music

Thanks to Lisa, Ken and Alwaynne and the other instrumental teachers for the most amazing Evening of Music. Our children are amazing and we should be so proud of them. It was a concert, not a “school concert”! As I said on the night we absolutely have THE BEST MUSIC PROGRAM IN THE STATE! Recruitment night last week was another very successful event and great to see so many students and families wanting to be part of our band program. I believe that there were over 50 applications to join the program received on the night!

BREAKFAST CLUB

A huge thank you to the Lisa Osborne and her team of volunteers who have reignited our Schools Breakfast program this term.

They have been able to feed and connect with so many children. On average, about 30-40 children join us each week, with numbers starting around five regulars and then gradually building throughout the morning to reach a peak between 8:30 and 8:40 am. The program’s popularity is evident from the amount of food consumed! I won't even begin to guess how much butter and jam they've used!

We are incredibly thankful for the volunteers and thank them for their involvement at BPS. The last breakfast club will be on Monday 8th December.

Meet the Teacher Day

On Wednesday 10th December is ‘Meet the Teacher’ day for all students who will be attending Blackburn in 2026. Students will spend time with their home room teacher and classmates in their new classroom and be actively involved in different tasks to further connections with their home group peers. There will be plenty of excitement and energy across the school as students explore their new learning community. On this day, we will also welcome new students and teachers to BPS.

Over the last few weeks the children have enjoyed the our new Stepping Up program, as part of their transition into the 2026 year level. The students very positively and excitedly enjoyed the opportunity to step into the new year level. We have an outstanding teaching team and all children will be very well supported by their current and future teachers.

At the meet the teacher stage, we do not make any further changes to the grades as staff have spent much time and effort developing the best class structure and student placement possible.

As teachers, we ask that you support your child at this time by speaking positively about the new school experiences and wonderful opportunities that 2026 will bring.

You can support your child through the transition by asking positive questions such as:

What are you looking forward to the most next year?
What things are you really good at?
How can you make new friends?
What would you like me to tell your new teacher about you?

2026 STAFF LIST

00B - Wendy Bennett

00C - Alannah Cole

00S - Vicky Soldatos (Team Leader)

00W - Simone Wood

1C - Eileen Crabb

1N - Joel Nestor

1R - Michael Ringin

12G - Kirsten Goss (Team Leader)

2F - Emma Finnerty

2M - Michelle Fabris & Angelo Merlino

2U - Esra Uzunbay

3C – Emma Callery

3M - Sarah Morris

34T - Lou Tribolet

4A - Fiona Arthur (Team Leader)

4S - Kelly Sotiriadis

5L - Daniel Liebrich (Team Leader)

5T - Emily Tainsh

56R - Sarah Rohit

6B - Will Burke

6L - Molly Lawlor

Art - Liz Dixon (Team Leader)

LOTE - Yi Zhang

Music - Lisa Shacklock

PE - Merissa Pickford

Science - Tanya Stansfield

Disability Inclusion Leader - Amanda Chetcuti

I am very pleased with the teaching team we have put together and know their collective expertise and strong expectation of collaboration and best practise will see students flourish.

Please note that teachers are allocated to classes on the detailed knowledge we have as a school on their strengths and how this will best match the composition of the entire class. It is on this basis that teacher requests are not considered.

FAREWELLS

Danielle Fountain and Zoe Bartus

This term we say farewell to Dani and Zoe as they begin Family Leave. Their care and commitment to our students have been hallmarks of their contribution, and their impact will continue to resonate across the school. We wish them every success as they step into this next chapter and look forward to welcoming them back when the time is right.

Danae Sage

We also acknowledge Danae as she steps away for 2026 and prepares to return to BPS in 2027. Her involvement right across the school and mentoring particularly of our JSC and sustainability captains have been invaluable. We wish her a restorative and fulfilling year ahead and look forward to welcoming her back refreshed and ready for the next phase of our work together.

REPORTS

Teachers have been working on your children's reports, BPS provides comprehensive reports that detail students’ achievements and progress, along with the next steps for educational development. The report aims to provide consistent, clear and concise information to parents about your child’s achievement against state-wide standards.

Taking on board feedback from families, we have designed a simplified report that includes a general comment about a student’s social and emotional development, work habits and overall performance.

THE GIVING TREE - CHRISTMAS DONATIONS

As you know, BPS has partnered with One Church to collect and distribute presents and food items to people in need during Christmas time. We are collecting wrapped presents, with tags on under our tree in the front office. We are also collecting nonperishable food items at the front office as well. Thank you to families who have already donated, there are so many people in need this year. Extra tags for presents are available at the front desk.

HELPERS MORNING TEA

The staff warmly invite all parents and friends who have helped throughout the year to a Special Morning Tea on Tuesday 9th December 2024 from 10.20am – 11.20am in the Gym Foyer.

Parents and friends help in many, many ways across the school e.g. band committee, book club, icypoles, Patch cooking & working bees, classroom helpers, excursions, camps, sports days, PE/sports committees, Chinese day, graduation, running club, literacy helpers (book sorting etc), sickbay washing, second-hand uniform sales, Parents and Friends committee, classroom reps, Kids Hope mentors etc.

Everybody’s help and support is valued and appreciated and we would like to celebrate another great year with you all. We look forward to seeing you all there.

STUDENTS LEAVING BPS

As much as this would sadden us, we know that many families might have a change in circumstances in 2026. To support our forward planning, we would really appreciate knowledge of any student/s that might be leaving BPS at the end of 2025. This does not include our Year 6 students, who we know will be graduating. Please email the school office on blackburn.ps@education.vic.gov.au to inform us.

2025 END OF SCHOOL YEAR

The last day of school is Thursday 18th December, with school finishing at 1.30pm. Parents are asked to ensure their children are picked up on time or booked into after school care which will commence at 1.30pm. Friday 19th is our final student free day for the year.

BPS Netball