From the Principal Team

Child Safe & OHS Volunteer Induction

Parents and carers play an important role in supporting our school programs, including excursions, camps, class reading, and other activities. To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students, any parent or carer assisting in these activities must hold a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC), with a copy provided to the school office.

In addition, all volunteers are required to complete the Volunteer Induction Course. This is now an online module that covers both Child Safe and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) requirements at Bell Primary School. The course is available on our school website under the Community tab and must be completed annually.

We thank our parent and carer volunteers for their ongoing support and commitment to keeping our school a safe and positive environment for everyone.

School Calendar Integration 

We are currently in the process of adding events from our school calendar into Compass, which is now integrated with our website. This ensures that both platforms are updated with key dates and enables parents and carers to add school events directly to their own personal calendars, making it easier to stay up to date with school activities.

School Council 

There are three parent representative positions open for the upcoming School Council elections. Self-nomination forms and additional council information will be available from the school office from Monday 9 February.  Key dates are as follows:

• Closing date for nominations: Monday 16 February at 4.00pm

• Publication of eligible candidates: By Wednesday 18 February via a Compass Newsfeed. If insufficient nominations are received, a second call for nominations will be issued.

• Distribution of ballot papers (if required): Wednesday 25 February

• Close of ballot (if required): Wednesday 4 March. If an election is required, further details about the process and candidate requirements will be provided to the school community.

• First meeting of the new School Council: Thursday 26 March at 7.00pm

For more information about the role of the School Council, please refer to the following Fact Sheet or contact me if you have any questions.

Indigenous Biodiversity Garden

Our Indigenous Biodiversity Garden is almost complete, with some final works still to be finished, including mulching, installation of a section of circular seating, and the transition to the Yarning Circle rocks.

From Monday, we will open the side gate as an alternate entrance and exit to the school. Students are asked to stick to the path when moving through the garden. The plants and habitats are still developing, so it’s important to protect them. We also ask families who use the school grounds on weekends to follow these guidelines. 

If students are playing in this area before or after school:

• Do not move sticks or structures within the garden.

• If your child would like to build cubbies or engage in nature play, please encourage them to do so in the garden beds around the North Oval.

   

During the school day, the Indigenous Biodiversity Garden will be accessible only to classes with their classroom teachers, who will use it to support specific learning opportunities. Due to restricted visibility, the garden is not a general play space.

Thank you for helping us care for this important learning space.

Community Bell Blitz – Indigenous Biodiversity Garden and School Grounds

In an effort to complete our Indigenous Biodiversity Garden and ensure our school grounds look presentable for the school fete on March 28, we will be holding a Community Bell Blitz on Sunday 1 March from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm.

The focus will be on tidying and upkeep of the garden and surrounding school grounds. We want all community members to feel pride in our school space at the fete, and would greatly appreciate any assistance you can offer during the blitz.

Safety Networks

An integral part of the Start-Up Program involves students creating a Helping Hand to identify five trusted adults at school whom they feel comfortable approaching for support.

Today, students moved throughout the school to locate their five safety people. This activity helped strengthen their connections with these support figures and ensured they know where to find them in times of need.

Your child/ren will bring home a copy of their Helping Hand to support conversations now, and as a future reminder of the adults at school who will always be there to help.

House Captains 

Our House Captains were proudly presented with their leadership badges, recognising their important role within our school. As leaders, House Captains are responsible for leading house meetings, building house pride, and strengthening connections between students across different year levels. We look forward to seeing them grow in confidence as they support and represent their houses throughout the year.

Emma Heywood

Principal

Grade Level Information Nights

Year 1-6 Grade Level Information Nights will be conducted in Week 3 of this term (Monday 9 - Friday 13 February). Information Nights are an opportunity to begin the establishment of home-school partnerships at the beginning of the school year with your child’s grade level team. These nights provide parents/carers with an understanding of the learning foci, teaching and learning approaches and extra-curricular events and activities for the year. 

The Grade allocated times and locations for parents to attend are contained in the table below:

Where parents/carers are unable to attend the information session, the PowerPoint presented by the team will be sent out via Compass for access following the session and prioritised at the top of the Compass Newsfeed for the term. 

Prep: Getting to Know You Meetings

Prep teachers will be conducting Getting to Know You Meetings with Prep parents earlier in Week 3 on Wednesday 11 February. Prep families have had access to bookings on Compass since earler this week. Please make sure you have made a booking as this closes on Monday. Bookings can still be made after this date, but only by calling the office or directly contacting the classroom teacher.

Paul Nicholson

Assistant Principal