“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)

Spring Magic Market

Saturday was our annual Spring Magic Market, and once again it was a huge success! The school looked fantastic, and it was wonderful to see students, their families, and members of the wider community enjoying everything on offer. This year we also invited the families of children who will be starting Foundation next year, and several took the time to share how impressed they were with the event and how warm and welcoming the BNWPS community is. The level of organisation behind the scenes to ensure the market ran so smoothly was immense. We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Spring Magic Market organising committee, led by Ange Hopkins, Vanessa Hughes and Jo Cackett, as well as to the many others who generously donated goods or volunteered their time on the day.

Wakakirri

Congratulations to the students who performed at the Wakakirri awards night on Friday. We were very excited to be invited to perform our story dance for a second time, and our students did an absolutely amazing job of telling the story of the Purple Princess and the Castle of Boxes. At the end of the evening, BNWPS was recognised with the Cultural/Social Diversity Story State Award - an award that we were very proud to accept and an award that honoured the strong and important social message that our story dance highlighted. Thank you to all of the families who came along to support our performers and a huge thank you to all of the staff who supported the students backstage in the ‘jungle’ room.

Athletics

Last Friday we also had a group of fourteen students who competed in the Divisional Athletics at the Meadowglen Athletics Track in Epping. Students participated in a range of track and field events and, while the competition was tough, Max reported that all students demonstrated the BNWPS spirit through the respect they showed to others and their willingness to collaborate and support each other. A particular example of this is the 9/10 girls relay team who, after some last minute changes to the line-up, came together to run an amazing race. A big thank you to all the parents and carers who attended the athletics, and to Max for his organisation and support of the students on the day.

Student Led Conferences

Our Student-Led Conferences are set for the first Wednesday of next term (8th October) this means students will not be required to attend school on that day - however they will be required to attend the Student-Led Conference. These conferences include students, as this supports our ongoing improvement goals of promoting student voice and agency; teachers will help students prepare for their conference at school.

We understand that some families like to use this time to talk to the classroom teacher without their child being present and we want to remind all families that you are free to make a time to meet with your child’s classroom teacher at any stage, if you have a question or concern.

Please make appointments for student-led conferences through the Sentral platform before the 8th, as we will be unable to organise any appointments on the actual day.

SunSmart

Just a reminder that term four is a sunsmart term at BNWPS.

Any time they are outside at school in term four, BNWPS students require a sun-smart hat. Sun Smart hats should either be a hat with a broad brim that goes all the way around the hat, or a legionnaires cap that has the brim at the front, and a flap at the back to protect the neck.

Baseball caps and some bucket hats, unfortunately, do not fit these requirements and are not considered to be sun smart.

Broad-brimmed hats are available in a variety of sizes to purchase for $15 from the front office.

Students who are not wearing a Sun Smart hat during recess and lunchtime in terms one and four will be asked to play in the undercover area.

Another important part of being sun smart is to make sure that students are regularly applying sunscreen. All classes at BNWPS have sunscreen that is available to students, and we have many students who bring their own sunscreen in their bags for application at school.

In addition, to be Sunsmart, we remind everyone that while students are at school, shoulders should be covered at all times, which means singlets cannot be worn outside.

Final day of Term Three

Just a reminder that Friday 19th September is the last day of school for term three. On this day, school will finish at 2.30pm. Please make sure you make arrangements to pick your child up at this altered time. We will have an assembly at 2pm for any parents or carers who would like to join us in celebrating the end of a busy and successful term.

We would like to wish everyone a safe, happy and restorative holiday. We look forward to seeing you all on Monday 6th October for a great beginning to term four.

3/4 Camp - The Ranch