Principal's Report

Principal report May 23rd. 

Annual Report to the Community

Last night I presented the Annual Report to the Community. If you were not able to attend, you can access this presentation on Compass and the report will be available on the school website shortly.

In the presentation I outlined data collected by the School for the Department of Education and outline the school’s response to the data. I then asked the attendees to respond to the following question: 

“ What do you believe are the three most important things we should be focussing on at Bundoora Primary School?

If you would like to share your response to this question you may either email your response to me at sherrin.strathairn@education.vic.gov.au or place an anonymous response in the green box in the office. Miss Jodie can direct you to this box.

Physical Education and Wellbeing

I have become quite concerned at the number of students sitting out of PE each week. Mr Kret does a wonderful job ensuring that fundamental motor skills are taught in a fun and engaging way and he is thoughtful and kind when interacting with students. 

 PE is part of the Victorian Curriculum and is a non-negotiable, just like maths, reading, or writing. In addition, Physical exercise has a direct link to the mental health and feeling good, so when students don’t participate in PE, they miss out on these essential ‘feel good’ moments at school. 

I spoke to some year 5/6 boys and girls who were sitting out of PE yesterday and the reason for not joining in the game was that they ‘didn’t feel like it.’ This is not a good reason to skip PE.

If your child is unwell or has an injury, please send a note or email to your child’s teacher, or directly to Mr Kret, so that we know they are unable to participate in sport on that day. Students who do not have this will be participating in every sporting session in future.

Kiss and Drop

The parking in front of the administration building in a Kiss and Drop Zone only. Parents who park in this area to walk their children into school may face a $200 fine for doing so.

The Kiss and Drop Zone is designed for parents to move to the front of the line before letting their children swiftly exit the car. The driver should then pull out and leave via Balmoral Ave. If we do this correctly, the line of traffic should move quickly in a single file, allowing parents to disburse quickly. 

I am concerned that an accident is going to occur, or a child is going to be hit in this area as people form a double line or traffic or perform U-turn near this line of traffic. If you are unable to pull in at first, please wait at the end of the line or go around the block and join the link again. The alternative is to park in a side street and walk to school, enjoying time to chat to your children and the rush of feel-good endorphins as you walk along.

Please think before you place our students in danger.

ANZAC Day

On the 25th of April, our school leaders and Mrs Dunn represented our school at the Watsonia RSL ANZAC Day ceremony. I am always so proud of our captains when they attend this event on behalf of the school. They are respect and well-mannered and always display our school values.

Thank you to Ebony, Amber and Hazel who created a hand-made wreath to lay on the day.

Kindy Storytime

Kindy Storytime is being run by our prep teachers this term. We have two sessions with Mrs Dean and Mrs Lancaster and the children have thoroughly enjoyed coming in to listen to stories, sing songs, and do some drawing. 

Storytime is the first part of our three-term Prep transition program. In term two the kindy students will meet the specialist teachers, followed by our comprehensive term four program, where the children participate in school activities and get to know our prep teachers.

If you have a child commencing school in 2026, please enrol them as soon as possible so that we can stay on top of staffing.

Mobile Phone Policy

Please remind your child the that the Department of Education and Bundoora Primary School have a strict mobile phone policy to enhance wellbeing and learning at school.

All mobile phones, and any other device with the capacity to make phone calls, send emails, or take photos, must be handed in at the office upon arrival each day. The devices can then be collected after the bell.

Mobile phones and other devices must not be used by students on school grounds. In addition, please remind your child that they cannot take another person’s photo, nor place it on social media, without that person’s direct permission.

Book Fair

Miss Jessica Skerry, our Library Technician, has just completed another successful book fair with your help. Jess has told me that the total sales figure from the Book Fair was $3669, which has earned the school $1100 in commission, to be redeemed as books. This year Jessica is planning on replenishing the picture story book collection with the commission. 

Principal Conference

Mrs Dunn and I were privileged to attend the Banyule/Nillumbik Principal Conference for two days earlier in May.

Not only is this a chance to network with other schools; we were also able to learn from two fantastic presenters.

Dr Judi Newman was the keynote speaker who spoke to us on the first day about the Neuroscience of Teaching and Learning. This gave us practical strategies for teaching and learning for evidence-based practice. 

One thing I took away from Dr Newman’s information was the importance of regularly recalling new information so that it moves over time from the short-term memory to the working memory (or long-term memory). Basically, if you can’t recall a piece of information, you haven’t properly learned it.

Daily reviews and recalls are an integral part of the way our teachers teach at Bundoora Primary School. we know that this is essential in order for our students to achieve their best and feel successful at school, which in turn leads to wellbeing and good mental health.

On the second day we heard from Dr Ryan Dunn (no relation to Mrs Dunn) who spoke to us about Leading Improvements in Complex Environments. Dr Dunn taught us about the need to decide on what to focus on, and where to begin. This is essential knowledge for leadership in schools as we work to keep our students at the centre of everything do and every decision we make.

Calendar

I have been speaking with staff, Parents Association and School Council about how we can further refine and improve our communication with parents. We believe we do some things well but have room for improvement in other areas.

Once per term, participants from the above organisations will meet together to plan the next term’s dates to try to avoid the conflicts that crop up from time to time. These dates will then be placed on the Compass calendar for all to access in advance. 

I look forward to working with Parents Association, School Council and Staff to improve our communication moving forward.

Concert and Pupil Free Day

As you know, our School Concert is rapidly approaching. Mrs Newell and her team put a huge effort into the concert, ensuring that this is an absolute spectacular, unseen in any other primary school.

Due to Time-in-Lieu requirements for staff under the Victorian Government Schools Agreement, School council have approved a Pupil Free Day the day after the concert, 20th of August. OSCH will be running on the day, and bookings will open shortly via the Their Care online portal.

We feel that our students will also benefit from a day of rest following the intense build up to and performances during the concert.

Work Experience

It was great to have three ex-students back to do work experience at our wonderful school.

Have a wonderful weekend with your family. Stay warm and love hard.

Best wishes,

Sherrin Strathairn