A Message from Keir and Emma

“We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the first people to dream, create, wonder, dance, play and learn on this breathtaking land. This land was cared for and respected for tens of thousands of years. The First Nations people lived in companionship with the animals and the life on this land. We acknowledge that this is stolen land and we pay our respects to elders, past, present and emerging.” 

Rayma Atkinson (2023 Suzanne Peterson Award Recipient)

Front Office Staff 

Many of you may have noticed that Danni has not been working in the front office for a little while. Danni is taking some leave and hopes to return to BNWPS sometime next term.

We would like to officially welcome Ross Sexton Carroll who will be covering some of Danni’s time in the office. Ross works full time at BNWPS and splits his time between classroom support and admin in the office. Please make sure you say a big BNWPS ‘HELLO!’ to Ross if you see him around. 

Audrie, Mayii and Ange may also be moving their schedules around to cover Danni’s absence, and you might see them at different times when you come past the front office. 

Talking to your children about War 

The escalating conflict in the Middle East, and the accompanying media coverage can be a confronting and triggering situation for many of our students and their families. Even for adults, images on the news can be distressing and take a toll on our mental health. It is likely that at some stage of the media coverage, some of our students might have some questions or wonderings. As adults, we don't need to have all the answers to have a meaningful conversation and settle their nerves. Here are a few things to keep in mind when those conversations arise. 

• Make time for the conversation and actively listen to your child’s concerns. Be aware of any assumptions in their knowledge that you might be making. 
• Be aware that they will hear information from other sources, even if they do not hear it from you
• Remain calm during the conversation - they will read your emotions and mirror them. 
• Be honest, but make sure your conversation is age appropriate
• Reassure them that they are safe and that their established and expected routines will continue 

Communicating with Teachers through Sentral 

We ask that all written communication from parents and carers be sent to teachers through Sentral. Teachers will then reply back to parents and carers through Sentral. Written communication through Sentral is our preferred method of communication, as it means that teachers can respond to queries when they have the time and space to do so. As we are sure everyone would agree, the main role that a teacher has is to put maximum effort into educating the students in their class or subject and helping them navigate social and emotional challenges and successes. This means that teachers may not get around to answering messages in Sentral as promptly as parents/carers might like. Each classroom teacher has only two hours in the week when they are not working directly with students or planning collaboratively with their team. Teachers do not often have the time to check and respond to Sentral messages while they are teaching or planning. In addition, teachers are not expected to answer Sentral messages outside of work hours. 

We ask parents/carers to be patient if they are waiting for a response from the teacher through Sentral, and, if the matter requires urgent or immediate attention, please contact the front office or the Learning Community Leader by phone or email. We also ask that parents/carers send just one Sentral message at a time and then wait for a response. Sending multiple messages over one night or across a school day can confuse and slow down the teachers’ ability to respond to messages promptly and succinctly. 

In addition, we would like to remind all parents and carers that we expect any messages sent to teachers (or any member of staff!)  to be respectful in both tone and language. 

If you are unsure how to use Sentral to communicate with your child’s class teacher, please reach out to a member of the front office.

Education Committee 

The education committee is a sub-committee of the school council. We are a group of staff and parents/carers who meet up to twice a term to discuss and unpack the educational experiences offered through our school. 

Sometimes we dive deeply into one part of the curriculum, sometimes we analyse whole-school data and identify trends, challenges or successes and we also address questions and wonderings from parents and carers.  In our next few meetings for 2026, we will be unpacking our four specialist programs. 

We meet online, and we would love to welcome new members.  If you would like to join the Education sub-committee please email Emma  (Emma.mallia@education.vic.gov.au ) and we will include you in the invitation and share the agenda with you