Dear BEPS Families and Community,

Welcome to this week’s newsletter. We are rapidly moving through the term, and the energy around the school as always is positive. Our classrooms are buzzing with activity, and our students continue to demonstrate our school values in learning and play.

We are thrilled to share that preparations are well underway for our upcoming international exchange! From September 10 to September 20, a delegation of six Year 6 students and three staff members will travel to China to visit our sister school, Zhongshan Road Primary School in Zhenjiang.

This incredible relationship has flourished for 14 years, providing our school community with rich cultural insights and global connections. Our travelling students and staff will proudly represent BEPS, immerse themselves in daily school life in Zhenjiang, and further strengthen the deep bonds between our two school communities. We wish them all the best with their final preparations for this unforgettable journey next month.

Please also take a moment to note our upcoming Curriculum Day this Friday and the return of our Book Week Dress-Up Day.

Curriculum Day – This Friday (Student-Free Day)

A reminder that this coming Friday (21st of August) is a pupil-free Curriculum Day. Students are not expected at school. Our staff will spend the day working on student engagement and wellbeing, reviewing our current models, and building consistency and understanding around our whole-school approach to Tiers of learning and behaviours.

School Agreements & Update

Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA) Update

We wish to advise families that members of the Australian Education Union (AEU) working in Victorian public schools have voted to endorse the latest Victorian Government Schools Agreement.

The agreement was supported by 79% of AEU members who participated in the vote and includes changes to salary and working conditions for teachers, education support staff, principals, and assistant principals. The agreement will now proceed to a vote of all Victorian government school employees, as required under the Fair Work Act.

Chess Tournament Success

Congratulations to Rainier in Year 6, who recently represented BEPS at a competitive chess tournament held at Haileybury. Rainer performed exceptionally well, finishing in equal 3rd place individually out of a large field and winning 5 out of his 7 games. Outstanding effort, Rainer!

Hoop Time Basketball

Last week, BEPS fielded three teams for the Hoop Time competition at Nunawading Stadium. All participating students donned our brand-new BEPS jerseys with immense pride and team spirit. It was a highly successful day on the court for all teams. We extend a huge thank you to our wonderful parent supporters and the dedicated staff who make these valuable sporting events possible.

House Athletics Day Results

Our recent Internal Athletics Day was a fantastic success. Congratulations to Green House for taking out the overall victory this year. Here is a look at our recent champions over the last few years:

2025: Green
2024: Yellow
2023: Blue
2022: Blue

Following our internal event, we now have 70 student representatives from Years 3–6 attending the District Athletics carnival on Tuesday, 25th August. We wish them all the best!

Looking to the Future: Renaming our School Houses

We are proud to share that BEPS has formally reached out to the Wurundjeri Education Unit to begin the process of renaming our school houses in Woiwurrung, the traditional language of the Wurundjeri people.

We have received the official language request form and are currently preparing our submission. We are seeking the traditional Woiwurrung names for four iconic Australian animals to represent our four school houses:

Dingo
Blue-Tongue Lizard
Goanna
Red Kangaroo

The Wurundjeri Elders will consider our language request over the next 6–8 weeks. We are deeply excited about this meaningful step toward embedding local Indigenous language and culture into the everyday fabric of BEPS, and we look forward to sharing their guidance with you next term.

Book Week: Monday, 24th August – Friday, 28th August

Book Week is fast approaching! Inspired by our special school visit from author Andy Griffiths, our whole-school theme this year focuses on collaborative creativity. Every class will be contributing to creating the "BEPS Story Treehouse," a special literacy display celebrating reading and writing across all year levels.

Book Character Dress-Up Day – Monday, 24th August

We are thrilled to bring back our traditional Book Character Dress-Up Day. To kick off Book Week, all students and staff are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite book character on Monday, 24th August. Whether it is a timeless classic character, a modern hero, or a wonderfully quirky creation, we cannot wait to see everyone's creativity on display.

As we look ahead, I want to wish our 70 district athletics competitors the absolute best of luck this coming Tuesday.

A final reminder that school will be closed to students this Friday while our staff engage in professional learning focused on student engagement. We look forward to seeing all our students back refreshed on Monday morning, costumed and ready for an exciting start to Book Week!

Thank you for your ongoing partnership, support, and involvement in making BEPS such a great school.

Yours in partnership

Darren

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