BBPSLife

GATEWAYS - Extension opportunities at BBPS for 2026

With a high percentage of students achieving above expected level at BBPS, teachers are thoughtfully planning a differentiated learning program within classrooms to ensure appropriate challenge.

In addition, we are pleased to again access an external enrichment opportunity through GATEWAYS in 2026 for Grade 1-6. GATEWAYS is a long-standing extension program designed for high-ability students, offering rigorous, engaging learning experiences that extend beyond the regular curriculum. This year, one program will run onsite each term:

Term 1 Science and Investigation

Term 2 Language and Literature

Term 3 Maths & Inqiury

Term 4 Critical and Creative Thinking

We have been invited to host due to our strong academic data, students from our network schools will also be in attendance.

Students will be teacher-nominated using multiple sources of school-based data, including achievement results and demonstrated capacity for advanced learning. Families of selected students will be contacted directly. As this is an external program, a participation cost applies.

Selection is based on the criteria, as set out by each GATEWAYs Program, https://www.gateways.edu.au/_files/ugd/aea888_6c28a6bb764f4e86bf04a79706408c09.pdf 

We thank Marnie Bignell, our High Ability Coordinator, for her leadership in strengthening our extension opportunities across the school. Please contact her should you have any furhter questions. 

Prep

Grade 1

Grade 2

Head swimming with teacher talk after our curriculum night, and discussion re our synthetic phonics program? See below to help you with the language of phonics!

Grades 3 and 4

Over several days during our swimming program, all of Year 3 built solar ovens and explored how sunlight carries energy, how dark surfaces absorb heat, and how insulation traps warmth. It was a rich, hands-on STEM experience that helped students see how our world works using simple materials and clear scientific thinking. 

This connects to the Victorian Curriculum standards in Science (heat and energy) and Design and Technologies through investigation, construction and real-world application. We then put our learning into action and cooked nachos and s’mores using only the power of the sun—practical, purposeful learning at its best.

Students in the Hub will be engaging in our Enrichment Program weekly - with a focus on STEM for Term 1 and Term 2.

Ruby "We made our own solar ovens. We cooked nachos and s'mores. I enjoyed it a lot. At the end we got to eat the nachos and s'mores. My favourite was the nachos."

Hugo "We made s'mores and we also made nachos. We made a solar oven. We had shoe boxes and we scrunched up newspaper and then a tray with some foil. We put the food on the tray and the lid had a window. All the heat went through and got trapped got hotter and hotter and cooked the food."

Riho "We are learning about what the different levels are responsible for. The federal government is responsible for the postal service and defence. The state government is responsible for health and housing. The local government is responsible for libraries and recreational facilities."

LuLu "In maths we've been learning about fractions. Yesterday some people were doing decimals, percentages and shaded blocks on paper. We had to match them."

Billy "We played a game where we spin a spinner and if you land on a number you have to halve the number and then you get to put a counter on what the answer was. I enjoy those games because they are fun to play and they help with my maths." 

Grades 5

Welcome back Mrs White, and thanks to Ms Paitaridis on creating such a rich classroom community to start the year. 

With a focus on the mantra 'Let it Go' our wellbeing focus for Grade 5 is to support our students to repair and rebuild for positive relationships with each other. Check out their classroom windows for the agreements they have made about how they want to treat each other and their learning space this year.

"When things haven't gone to plan, how do we fix it?"

"That happened in Grade 4, we're now in Grade 5. Let it gooooooo"

"Two positives before a negative"

"Its ok to not get it right, learn from those mistakes"

Amelia and Jude: "We spent a few weeks talking about letting things go. When we walked through the streamers on the doorway we had to let one thing go. For example if you had a fight with someone you had to let it go and move on. It was something that we said inside our heads without sharing with our classmates. In the last week the teachers dressed up as Elsa. We listened to music to let stuff go. We wrote down worries and angry feelings and then Ms P shred them. We also blew bubbles and as we blew the bubbles we let stuff go that was bothering us." 

Grade 6

What if we didn't have opposable thumbs? Grade 6 students explored this physical advantage that has made humans the dominant species on this planet as part of their science knowledge-rich unit on Biology and Adaptation.

Frankie "We taped our thumbs because we wanted to know how hard it was to live a life without thumbs and how important they are. The lesson was interactive. We learned about adaptations. We recorded activities with and without thumbs so we could compare the experience."

Elena "Some of the tasks were tying shoelaces, unscrewing a water bottle lid and filling it up and writing our names. It was very difficult to hold onto the objects and it took alot longer."

Interschool Sport Grade 5 and 6

Exciting times as our students embark on their first summer sport competition round.

Our selection process for teams is multi-layered, factoring in numerous aspects when considering all students and their preferences:

*Year 6’s get preference and are given one of their top two choices. 

*Year 5 students then fill the remaining spots. As you can appreciate, not all students will ge their top preferences due to the puzzle involved in filling teams.

*This year, Year 4s (those showing interest and who excel in Physical Education) have been offered remaining spots to ensure our school can fill a team. This has allowed us to continue to offer 4 summer sport options - basketball, oztag, cricket and volleyball.

*Some consideration is made to student behaviour in class, where relevant, and ensuring that a team is well balanced.

Students have met with their coaches, rules and processes have been clarified, specific uniforms sent home to wear on game day, and behaviour expectations revisited. These can further be accessed via the Compass Event - please ensure you have consented to ensure that your child can participate in their first game tomorrow. Students will be offiste, representing our school, and we expect all students to display our 6Rs to opponents, coaches and parent managers, and each other. Thank you for reinforcing this with your child, and also demonstrating our school values yourselves as you cheer from the sidelines as spectators. 

Good luck to all the teams. 

Swimming Carnival