NAIDOC Week

From www.naidoc.org.au

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

You can support and get to know your local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities through activities and events held across the country.

BPPS NAIDOC event

We are excited to be undertaking a NAIDOC event on Tuesday June 20th. Our whole school will meet in the Stadium first thing in the morning to have a presentation from one of our students and her parent about their indigenous culture.

For more information see the Junior School Council page of this newsletter.

Communication at Boroondara Park PS

Thank you to the 81 members of our community who have taken up the opportunity to complete the Google form on communication at BPPS.

The message so far from our community:

What method of communication do you access?

In order so far:

Compass
Email
WhatsApp Groups
Newsletter

Do you read the newsletter?

Always - 58%

Sometimes - 37%

Never - 5%

It will take a little time to analyse the best communication methods. We also have a few extra ideas suggested by those who completed the form.

We will keep the form open until Monday June 19th so if you have a few minutes follow this link - Communication at BPPS

Our staff and School Council will start reviewing all responses and have some further information to share early next term.

Whole School Production

Have you got your tickets for the whole school production of Rock Bottom?

We know one family are so excited we think they have bought an entire row of tickets to bring all of their family and friends.

We have heard some of our community have asked why the production is being held over two nights.

Our school has traditionally held our productions and concerts at The Besen Centre in Burwood. This theatre has been used because of the size of the theatre, with enough seats for our families and enough seats for our students to sit in when not performing. In order to enable the purchase of unlimited number of tickets we have held the production over two nights.

As we have a whole school production this year rather than just Year 3-6 students the school felt it was essential to give all members of the community the opportunity to attend, therefore we continued with two nights.

We did explore other venues close to school but they had a smaller capacity which would mean we would have to limit the number of tickets each family could purchase.

We will as part of our review after this production seek feedback on the venue and holding the production over two nights. The main focus when finding a venue is the opportunity for a theatre experience for students and fitting in all of our community.

Be sure to get your tickets, we are so proud of our students who are working hard at practice, learning their lines, songs and crew roles.

A special thanks to the parents supporting us with costumes and props.

Rights and responsibilities

The first in our series about our Rights and Responsibilities will involve a student forum and a parent forum early next term. We aim to invite you to join us to discuss what the right to learn looks like at Boroondara Park PS.

As part of our Start Up program our students spend time identifying what this looks like in their individual classrooms when school starts.

Our school bases learning on the Victorian Curriculum, we use research based strategies and programs to implement the learning programs.

An excellent example is the Smart Spelling program, which is phonics based, explicit teaching in spelling. It is tailored to the needs of individual students and supports them to learn spelling which they then transfer into their writing. This is a whole school approach, which ensures as students move from year to year many of the same expectations and processes are used, there is not re-learning just extension to the next step in their spelling learning journey.

Each class has students at many different levels, our teachers are continually developing their skills and knowledge to ensure they can cater for all of the students who sit in front of them each day.

BPPS supports students through the extension maths program, literacy and tutor learning program and the development of individual education plans. Our school is inclusive and aims to work with parents to provide the best education possible for each student.

Student Wellbeing Boost

Early next term the school will receive an allocation of funds under the Federal Government. Every Australian school will receive one-off funding through the Australian Government’s Student Wellbeing Boost to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of students.

Victorian government schools will receive base funding of $15,000, plus additional per student funding. The average amount per school is $20,000, we will know at the start of next term how much has been allocated to Boroondara Park PS.

Our boost funding must be spent on mental health and wellbeing activities, which could include:

extra school mental health professionals, such as psychologists and school counsellors
camps, excursions, sporting and social activities that improve students’ wellbeing
proven student wellbeing, student engagement and mental health initiatives.

In Victoria there are a number of programs and funding arrangements to support student wellbeing including the Schools Mental Health Fund, Mental Health Practitioners, and Mental Health in Primary School programs.

In 2024 our school will also have an allocation of funding from the Schools Mental Health Fund. Our Pupil Free Day on July 17th will focus on Student Mental Health and Wellbeing, exploring resources, strategies and programs. We will also be identifying options for the expenditure of the funds being allocated next year under this fund.

Our school has also applied for funding under

the National Student Wellbeing Program. The NSWP provides:

pastoral care services
strategies that support the wellbeing of the broader school community.

Should we be successful in our application the services will be developed in consultation with school staff and school community.

Each of these programs provide some exciting opportunities to continue our work to support student wellbeing and mental health.

ICAS

Each year Boroondara Park PS offers the opportunity for our students to participate in the ICAS competitions.

Over 10 million school students from 16,000 schools across 41 countries have participated in this annual event which began over 40 years ago.

At BPPS we offer students the opportunity to participate in English, Mathematics, Science and Digital Technologies.

The competitions take place in August on the following dates. As a school we set up a timetable to supervise and undertake the competitions within the window they are open for students. These dates for our school will be confirmed next term.

Digital Technologies - between August 7th to 11th
English - Between August 14th and 18th
Science - between August 21st and 25th
Mathematics - between August 28th to September 1st.

Learn more about ICAS

If you would like your child to participate in ICAS this year the links below will provide the information you need: 

ICAS subjects and prices 

Read the terms and conditions

Go to Parent Portal to purchase tests 

Enter our school’s access code – RCC232

Enter your child’s details, select the tests you would like to purchase, then proceed to payment. 

The attached letter also gives you the details required to sign up your child for these competitions. It also includes the privacy collection statement.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact either Shannon or myself.

Has your child lost their glasses?

When glasses are lost at school they are often handed in at the office. At the moment we have a numbers of glasses which must belong to someone in our community.

If you or your child recognize any of the glasses in this photo please pop into the office and collect them.

eSafety Commissioner

This week we share a resource which has a series of videos and advice sheets to enable you to have confident conversations with your children about online safety. They give you tips to help your children stay safe online and what to do if something bad happens online.

Videos and advice sheets are available in a variety of languages.

Online safety for every family

Helping kids thrive online - attached - provides lots of information and resources under the following headings:

General tips for supporting your child online
Harmful content
Contact with strangers
Cyberbullying

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

Keen Green Team (KGT)

Proud to support our school!