From the Principal Team

Welcome back to school everyone!

A special welcome to our new students and families.  We have had a very settled start to the new term. Thank you to the staff for all of the extra work they put in over the term break to ensure a smooth start.

It was wonderful to begin the year with a great community event- last night's Open Classroom and Family Picnic. It turned out to be the perfect evening to throw the picnic rug down on the oval and it seemed many in our school community agreed, showing up in droves to share kabana, crackers and conversations with friends. The night also proved helpful in welcoming our new families to Banyule and gave opportunity to meet others. Our musical act, AJ Watson, provided the perfect summer night soundtrack, albeit somewhat hijacked by a small but passionate group of BPS Swifties requesting (demanding!!) every next song be one by Taylor Swift.

The drinks, icy pole and lolly stall was busy throughout the night and while the aim of this event was 'fun-raising' more than 'fundraising', every little bit helps, and monies raised from sales will contribute to our upcoming playground projects. We thank our Community Engagement Committee for looking after the stall last night and anyone that joined them in helping serve. 

These events go a long way in creating a positive and effective school community, something that is important when striving to be a successful school. 

Staffing news: 

Welcome to our new class teachers for this year, Cristina Galceran, Alisha Spiteri, Mandy Ferris and Lauren Pavia.  We also welcome Fiona Catton who will be working part time in a leadership position. 

We are super excited to have such a talented and dedicated bunch of teachers, particularly with the teacher shortage crisis affecting many schools at the moment. We are proud that we continue to be able to attract and retain quality teaching staff.  It is a priority of ours to support all staff to feel part of the Banyule PS community and ensure they enjoy working at our school. Thank you also for your support in welcoming new staff and helping those that have been here longer feel part of this special place year after year.  

Our teachers can be contacted by email through Compass at any time if needed.  The teacher contact details also appear in the classroom community newsletters. These newsletters will come out each term outlining the curriculum focus, what’s on and what to expect for the term ahead.

Facilities news: 

A lot of progress has been made with our new building in the past few weeks. Those that have visited recently would have seen that with the addition of the steel frame of top story has meant the new building has almost doubled in size. Looking carefully at the steel skeleton we can start to really see the learning spaces take shape. What's even more pleasing is that our builders share that we remain on track for our planned completion date. This week of amazing weather has helped, so 'touch wood' progress continues at this rate. 

We are also getting more excited about our planned grounds works with the area in the north-eastern corner being cleared to a blank canvas during the holidays. The concept plans for this play space are now out to tender and we look forward to be able to proceed with this construction very soon. When finished, this space will feature mini golf holes, a giant chess board, a ga-ga pit and lots of natural themed places for children to climb and clamber or sit and chill. 

This year we have again needed to have classes occupying shared spaces. Whilst this is something relatively new for BPS it is quite common in other schools with some schools built with entirely open plan classrooms. 

Fees/Parent Payments: 

All families should now have received the invoice for 2024 payments via Compass. If you are unsure and require assistance in understanding the payment options/contributions, please do not hesitate in contacting Betty our Business Manager (9459 0732). 

The ongoing support of our families is important to ensure that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you for all your support, whether that’s through fundraising or volunteering your time. This has made a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer. Within our school continued support through these payments has allowed us to provide opportunities we couldn’t otherwise, both in the classrooms and out in the playground.  

Don’t forget that the Building Fund contributions are tax deductible and all proceeds from this fund goes towards school buildings and grounds improvement projects.

Parent Reps: 

Every year we ask each teacher to find a parent rep (or two to share the job) to help with things such as fundraisers, welcoming new families, organising outside-of-school social activities for the class. If you are interested, please let your child’s teacher know and provide your email address and mobile number. Thank you in advance to anyone who takes on this role.

Class Contact lists: 

Shortly you will receive an email asking if you would like to have your contact details included in a class contact list. This information is then shared with the other parents who have chosen to contribute. The information is to be used solely for the purposes of supporting parents to make social connections and coordinate events and activities pertaining to school.

'Get To Know You' Parent/Teacher Meetings: (20th and 21st of February)  

This is an opportunity for you to meet with your child's teacher to let them know anything you think is important to know about your child.  This information can sometimes help us cater for the needs of your child by understanding family circumstances, social concerns and anything else you think is important. Meeting times with the teacher will be booked through Compass and information of this process will be provided to parents soon. 

Supporting Resilience and Independence in Children:

Each year we begin with an in-depth and strategic Start-Up program. Drawing upon aspects of the Personal and Social Capabilities of the Victorian Curriculum, our wellbeing program at this time of the year focusing on laying, re-establishing and re-enforcing the foundations needed in both the classroom and the playground. This includes setting-up classroom rules, expectations and processes and an intensive focus on what makes a great learner and great friend. It also teaches and reminds students strategies to use to solve problems in their work and in their social play as, like life in general, navigating through school-life comes with its challenges, disagreements and misunderstandings. 

Parents and carers can support this work by reinforcing the strategies that we teach in the classroom and by allowing your child to go through the normal emotions associated with the ups and downs of school-life such as the disappointment of missing out on something they had their heart set on, being left out of a game, getting something wrong, making a poor choice or having an argument with a friend. It's also really important parents restrain themselves from becoming involved in their child's friendship issues. Children will have these and should be supported through them appropriately. 

Should you have any wellbeing concerns related to your child that you feel is beyond the normal ups and downs of school-life, please reach out to your child's teacher. 

We are looking forward to a wonderful year of learning and growing. As always, please let us know if you have any questions at all about anything. 

Natalie, Sam and Claire