Principal News 04/09/2026

Dear Banyan Fields Primary School Community,

It has been a very busy and exciting couple of weeks at Banyan Fields Primary School! From our wonderful Book Week celebrations to the Father’s Day Stall and Afternoon Tea, so much has been happening across our school community.

As we head into the final two weeks of Term 3, there is still plenty to look forward to. We are especially excited for our upcoming Year 3 and Year 5 concerts and the many other learning experiences and celebrations planned as we finish another fantastic term together.

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

Attendance Arrive to Thrive:

For the rest of the term, we are placing a special focus on arriving at school on time. Being ready to start the day with classmates helps students feel settled, connected and prepared for learning from the very beginning.

We appreciate families supporting this focus by establishing strong morning routines and aiming to have children at school before the bell. Every minute of learning matters — Arrive to Thrive!

Equity: We include, we respect, we support.

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

PLC

At Banyan Fields Primary School, students continue to learn spelling rules that help them become more confident readers and writers.

Change Y to I

This week, students are learning what happens when we add a suffix to a word that ends in y.

When a word ends in a consonant + y, we usually change the y to i, then add the suffix.

For example:

happy → happier

happy → happiest

cry → cried

easy → easier

lucky → luckier

A helpful way to remember it is: Consonant + y → change the y to i!

One Important Exception

When adding -ing, we keep the y.

cry → crying

try → trying

carry → carrying

How Families Can Support at Home

Ask your child:

“Does the word end in a consonant + y?”

“Do we need to change the y to i?”

“Are we adding -ing? If so, keep the y!”

Try some words together:

happy → happier

cry → cried

lucky → luckiest

carry → carrying

Spot It While Reading

While reading together, look for words where the y has changed to i before a suffix. See if your child can work out the base word.

Learning spelling rules like changing y to i helps students understand how words change and supports accurate spelling in their reading and writing.

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

We need your support with a couple of issues that have come up for us over the past few weeks:

Full school uniform should be worn to school each day. We have a range of second hand uniforms available if your child does not have a jumper or other school uniform item. Students should not wear non-uniform items to school except in emergency situations. Nor should they wear false finger nails or make up at school. Acceptable footwear include closed toe shoes or runners. Boots are not appropriate as they do not provide adequate levels of support as the students participate in movement and sport activities.
- Under 16s should not use e-scooters or e-bikes to commute to/from school or to travel in the afternoons. Any sightings around the school will be reported to the police for safety reasons.
- We have a lot of students coming to school on bikes and scooters without a helmet. This causes a significant safety concern. Please ensure your child brings a helmet with them if cycling/scooting to school and we will reinforce the message in class.

Our Parent/Carer Opinion Survey is now open. All households are invited to submit a response. Please click here or scan the attached QR code to access the ParentCarer Opinion Survey. You will need the unique school pin which can be found on Compass.

We have received 29 responses to date - your feedback will ensure that we have a representative voice, which we consider in planning for 2027.

Policy Review

Our policies help ensure Banyan Fields Primary School is a safe, inclusive and thriving community. We regularly review our policies to ensure they reflect current legislation, best practice and the needs of our students, staff and families.

Guided by our values of Tenacity, Equity, Synergy and Stewardship (TESS), policy review is an important part of our commitment to continuous improvement, child safety, inclusion and good governance.

The policies below are currently under review by the team. If you have any feedback, please let us know by emailing or calling the office.

Attendance Policy
Bullying Prevention Policy
Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
Child Safe Standards Risk Register Policy
Child Safety Code of Conduct
Child Abuse (including Grooming) - Identification and Response Policy and Procedures
Homework Policy
Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy

https://www.bfps.vic.edu.au/page/31

Patrick Halpin - Principal

Jennifer Churcher - Assistant Principal

Sharleen Nason - Assistant Principal

TheirCare