Principal Report
Our school is located on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.
Open Classrooms
We are excited to have had our families in classrooms on our Open Classrooms this afternoon - 3.45-5.45pm.
We hope you are able to take up the opportunity to visit your child's classroom to meet their teacher(s) and find out about what is happening in the class and the year level for 2023. This is a chance to see the classroom environment, hear about the learning programs and ask any questions you have about the teaching and learning program or what’s happening throughout the year.
You do not need to stay for the whole session, come when you can. If you are unable to attend, an information sheet outlining the programs in your child's year level will be sent home.
Declaration of School Council Election
The new School Council meets for the first time at the end of March.
Our members are:
- Joe Cook
- Michael Coulter
- Maria Cahill
- Brice Shen
- Sareen Sahib
- Davina Aliotta
- John Lee
- Shannon Reeve
- Cat Fleming
- Lisa Kanaris
- Susanne Lowe (executive officer)
We have two casual parent positions and one employee casual position each for one year to fill. The Council will co-opt members to these positions at the meeting.
We thank our retiring members Lisa Di Censo, Sophia Louie, Frank Fu and Georgina Dimopoulos for their service to School Council. They have each contributed to school life throughout their time on Council. They have contributed to Community Engagement (including our Fete last year), Buildings and Grounds, Canteen tender team and as Vice President of Council. We thank them for their dedication in their role.
Foundation and Year 1 morning tea
It was wonderful to see our Foundation and Year 1 parents attending morning tea on Tuesday February 21st. This was a good occasion to get to know new parents and make connections.
Special thanks to Margaret for setting up our morning tea and to our Class Rep coordinator Linda and School Council President Joe for attending.
STEM room
We have been able to set up a dedicated STEM room. Our students and their teachers are able to use the space and resources to build their skills in STEM. Keep an eye out in the newsletter for information about how everyone is using the space. We have added a great post to Instagram about how our Year 6s have started using the space.
Maths extension
In the last newsletter you will have read about our maths extension program. Nick King has been working his way through the assessments and selecting students based on the identified criteria. The program commences next Tuesday.
We will be raising the profile of mathematics as the year goes on, including challenging maths questions - are you smarter than a 10 year old, will you be able to answer the questions.
We will be adding questions to Instagram and Facebook so keep an eye out for them.
This week our Year 5/6 students have been studying exponential notion - do you know what this is?
Mother's Day and Father's Day stalls
Thank you to the first volunteer to coordinate our Mother's Day and Father's Day stalls, we need at least two volunteers for these great school events.
Email the school on boroondara.park.ps@education.vic.gov.au if you can volunteer or call the office to ask any questions you have.
Asphalt works in the yard
Next week further works will take place in our school yard. We are having the roadway at the back of the Hall replaced with asphalt and the pathway down to Balwyn Road being replaced.
This will mean the bottom oval is out of bounds and the Balwyn Rd entry will be closed off. We may also need to close off the Year 1/2 play equipment whilst the works take place.
We are excited to be able to finally replace the pathway from the entry to the play space in Area 2. The area where the works are taking place will be cordoned off and the works should take one week to complete. There will be some machinery left onsite during the week in the carpark on Ruth St.
Smile Club
In 2023, all Victorian government schools will be invited to engage in the Smile Squad school dental program.
Smile Squad provides free oral health packs (containing toothbrushes and toothpaste), examinations and follow-up treatment for all Victorian government primary, secondary and specialist school students. We will be contacted in the first half of the year to discuss the availability of services.
Couches
We have been able to engage someone to upholster the couches throughout the school. This is being undertaken with some of the fundraising from 2022. We were pleased to be able to find someone to recover the couches, which are solid and should give us 10 more years of service. We have also saved them from going into landfill by using them again.
Rubbish
You will have noticed the carpark on Ruth Street has been cleared of rubbish which was dumped. We can only assume it was all dumped by people within the neighbourhood, which is incredibly disappointing. We have had to spend $1000 to have all of the dumped times removed. Gates will shortly be installed on this carpark to dissuade dumping. Please let us know if you see anyone dumping in the school grounds, it is illegal and happens far too often. Thanks for supporting us and keeping an eye on the school out of hours.
Special mention to Terry one of our parents who noticed a leaking pipe two weekends ago and reported it to us.
PIVOT Survey - Student wellbeing for learning
Following on from the information in the last newsletter about the Pivot survey we are attaching the Pivot Wellbeing for Learning Parent Infographic for your information.
OSHC
OSHClub are launching their new program Rise and Shine for the morning program and Stay and Play for their afternoon program.
It has been great to see our numbers in the program increasing in 2023. Be sure to view the OSHC page of the newsletter for more information about their February program highlights.
Final Class Directory reminder
All families have been sent an email via COMPASS regarding the Class Directory for 2023. Thank you to those families who have filled in their details. We do not have significant numbers in some year levels so will leave the google form open until Monday February 27th. If you would like your details included please complete the form by this date. We will then download the directories and send out to families.
BPPS Facebook and Instagram
Don't forget to follow our social media accounts and see what is happening at school each day. Boroondara Park Primary School Facebook
Search @BoroondaraPark on Instagram to follow the school.
Susanne Lowe
Principal