Principal's Report

Principal’s Message

We have enjoyed a very successful start to the school term with lots of special activities taking place in classrooms to help our students get to know each other and settle in at school with their new classmates and teachers.

We are privileged to have started the year with a full complement of staff and we celebrate the talent we have within the school to educate our children. 

Family Night

Our annual Family Night, on Monday March 18th, is great fun and very popular with our families. Come along and join in the fun and activities and enjoy a sausage sizzle with lots of other families. We also need parent volunteers to help during the evening. 

School Council 2024

Congratulations to the following parents who were nominated successfully for School Council for the next two years, March 2024 to March 2026; Kellie Collet, Tanja Russo, and Nathan Smith. The nominated staff member is Jules De Angelis (Ms Jules). Nathan Smith was previously a co-opted community member, and his position does not need to be filled.

Thank you to the following School Councillors for all their hard work and commitment to our school community: Krystle Kalomakaefu, Anthea Macdonald, and Amy Armstrong (staff). 

2024 Parent Contributions

Parent Payments help the school to operate effectively. Bundoora Primary School provides a significant range of programs and resources including laptops, iPads, and other materials that cannot be supplied without the optional support of families. We would like to thank the parents who have already made these contributions. 

It is Not Great to be Late

Students need to arrive promptly at school, ready to engage and learn. Please note that children need to be at school and at their classrooms, ready to learn, by 8:55 am each school day.Students must visit the office if they are late to get a late pass to ensure they are marked in for the day.  Further information and instructions how to mark your child absent on compass can be found in the 'every day counts' section of this issue. 

Breakfast club is available in the palace daily (fruit, toast, and cereal), and the Social Enterprise Café also sells cheese toasties and hot chocolate before school.

For families where both parents may work and therefore need to drop off their children before 8:45 am, the school provides an Out of School Hours Care program, managed by TheirCare. Registration is via their website.

Teachers will open the classroom doors at 8:45 to allow students to put their school bags, reading bags and drink bottles away, and prepare for the day. 

New Canteen Service

Our new canteen service is working very well. If you would like to order food for your child for lunch whilst they are at school please visit www.beaverstail.com.au

School Uniform

We still have a small selection of discontinued uniform for sale through our office. Prep polo's, rugby jumpers and inter school sport tops are available. We also have a small stock of school hats for sale.  If you require any other uniform please visit the Spartan website. 

Student Mobile Phones at School

We understand that some parents wish their children to have a mobile phone to use for safety reasons when coming to school or returning home. These phones need to be handed in to the office as soon as your child arrives at school, and then can be collected after school. Students are not permitted to have mobile phones with them during the day at school. Students are also not permitted to film other students at school without their permission. If possible, it is best to leave mobile phones at home.  For more information please visit the mobile phone policy section in this issue. 

Kiss and Drop Zone

Please remember that the Kiss and Drop Zone on Bendoran Crescent is not a parking area. The idea is that cars wait in a single file, pull in and collect their child (2 minutes maximum), then pull out. If your child is not there it is best to go around the block again and rejoin the queue. Please do not double park or make U-turns in front of the school as this is not safe for our students.

Auslan recommencing in Classrooms next week

I am please to announce that we have been successful in recruiting an Auslan Education Support staff member who will commence in the Auslan program next week. Ms Courtney Emmins will work with Mrs Newell to deliver Auslan content through fun activities in conjunction with our classroom teachers. Mrs Newell will continue to teach Auslan through Performing Arts also.

It will be interesting to see who learns Auslan first; our students or our teachers!!

Celebrating Neurodiversity Week

Bundoora Primary School is an inclusive school, and we celebrate our diverse community, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students from many different nationalities and backgrounds, and neurodiverse students. 

This year we will celebrate Neurodiversity week (from March 18th to 24th) with a ‘Wear your favourite colour’ Day on March 20th. This is nota gold coin donation event, but rather a celebration of who we are and what makes each of us unique.

Social Support group for Parents of Neurodiverse Children

Some of our school parents have formed a social support group as parents of neurodiverse children. If you would like to be part of this group, please contact me or the office and we will put you in contact with them.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Aaradhana V who has been selected to be a Principal Vocalist for the 2024 Victorian State Schools Spectacular. This is a huge honour and shows the hard work that Aaradhana puts in to foster and build her talent. 

Aaradhana will feature in four songs with students from all over the state. We wish Aaradhana well in all the rehearsals and performances.

Congratulations to our District Swimming Team who competed at the 2024 WDSSA Swimming Carnival last week. 

Stella, Morgan, Zara, Yu Hao and Bradley (not pictured) participated in Freestyle and Backstroke races. See the Celebration section of this issue to see their fantastic results.

Thank you to the students’ parents for taking them to the event and cheering them on.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Warm regards,

Sherrin Strathairn

Principal