Principal's Message

To the school Community,

I would like to thank you all for the connections made to the school during term two this year.

Giving the students a pat on the back is important, they continue to impress with their behaviour and effort as a group of people and genuinely support and care for each other. Of course, at times students (and adults) experience bumps in the road that they need to navigate through, whether it be with their learning, social connections, behaviours or other challenges, we should all be proud of how we band together to navigate the bumps and I want to reiterate that it is crucial to communicate with us when you feel the need. Our staff will do the same when the need arises and reach out to you.

For the students though, having an Advocate at school is important, their classroom teacher is definitely their number one advocate, but identifying others at school they see as a support is crucial. I encourage you to have a chat with your kids to see who they might think could help them if they feel they need support. Three names locked in would be great. I will be making this a focus at the start of the term in my correspondence, assembly and conversations with the staff and students.  

In the photo above you will see the year One students creating their model of the community they have designed as a class. This exciting culminating activity combined reading, writing, Art, collaboration and team work to show their learning.

It was a pleasure to see the students showing high levels of engagement, fun, learning and happiness during this task. This example along with the year three wind powered vehicles are great examples of the way students learn and teachers teach at BHPS. 

In this week's Principal Message, you can read about:

1. Student Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews
2. ICAS Assessments
3. Big Child Care
4. School Uniform
5. Student Successes
6. Prep and Year 7 Enrolments
7. School Holidays
8.   Community Golf Day 

Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

Yesterday the semester One reports were made available to the parent community. I would like to thank the staff for their efforts in generating the reports that capture the student's progression against the Victorian Curriculum. 

The decision about the progression is made using multiple sources of data about learning as well as moderation between teachers to help maximise teacher judgement. I am sure that there will be elements to celebrate for each child and also areas to continue to develop. This report is an opportunity to hone in, on the strengths and areas for improvement and make this a focus of the Parent Teacher interviews on July 10th.

The teaching staff are well equipped to explain all elements of the report and goals for your child moving forward for the remainder of the year.

If you need support in accessing the reports, please let us know and we will assist.

ICAS Assessments

After the interest and success in the ICAS assessments last year, our school will once again facilitate these assessments for any parents who would like their child to participate in.

ICAS is an online academic competition that is designed to assess students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee, and Digital Technologies. 

 ICAS recognises academic performance in a way others celebrate achievements in sport or the arts. 

The questions are engaging and fun and have been designed by psychometricians, education measurement experts and experienced teachers to push students to their academic limits, as well as test higher order thinking and problem-solving abilities.

Benefits include:

Motivate, engage and challenge your academically curious students outside of the traditional classroom environment. Receive an objective ranking of your students’ or child’s performance against their classmates, school and the rest of the country. Provide students with internationally recognised evidence of academic achievement to support scholarships and new school applications Celebrate your child’s academic achievements More information to come out at the start of Term 3.

Big Child Care 

Having access to an after-school care service is important for some families at our school.

Big Child Care is an experienced provider Nationally and run an engaging program for all students.

Our partnership with Big Childcare has gone smoothly for the most part since starting in term 4 last year. The program has faced two challenges, firstly the number of families accessing the program is just below the threshold of making the program financially viable so a few more families attending would be of great benefit. Compared to private childcare the fees are very reasonable. Added to this - the program could be used as an opportunity for an after-school activity for your children experiencing making new friends, Art, Sport, Music, healthy food and fun on a daily basis.

The second challenge has been accessing staff in our area to deliver the program. After a difficult couple of weeks, we have found a number of solutions to combat this using our local networks. 

In short - the program is back on track, supported by the school, and solutions to overcome the staffing issues have been put in place to begin to devleop a consistent workforce. 

School Uniform 

Barwon Heads PS uniform is an important part of our identity. In 2018 the School Community went through an extensive consultation process to modernise our School Uniform. 

There were some important criteria, one of which was that the uniform needed to be Australian made. All of our garments except the soft-shell jacket.

It is important that all students are in full school uniform, unless there is a very good reason that is communicated in their diary or correspondence to the school.

Wearing a warm jacket that is not the school jacket is accepted but not preferred, all other garments like sports club hoodies are not accepted as part of the uniform.

Student Successes

We have a number of student successes to celebrate:

Firstly, Congratulations to Tom Mackie and Ivy Raff who will be representing our community at the State Cross Country Championships. Congratulations to both students on their effort and success. 

Matlida Cole, a great all-rounder and dedicated student and athlete, has been selected in the State School Sport Victoria Girls AFL team to represent our community at the National championships. After progressing through many selections trials Matilda is in the squad to compete as one of the emergencies. This is a mjor achievement in a very competitive environment. Well Done, Matilda.

Congratulations to the following students for their 100% attendance at school so far this year:

Baxter Cornell

Harry Bacely

Zac Walter

Ruby Zhai

Quinn Potter

Harry Proctor

Archer Cameron

Olivia Cheel

Willow Proctor

Jack Davis

Leo Lloyd

Elliot Mazery

Scarlett Anderson

Angus Cheel

Grace Cheel 

June Lloyd

Luke Hand

Beau Parfitt

Aston Crowley 

Raphael Farrelly

Prep Enrolments

If you have a prep enrolment for 2024 - please submit your forms as early as possible in term three as we will start corresponding about information nights and transition programs in the first fortnight.

Please let your friends at the Kinders know that it is important to get this done before the end of July as a matter of urgency to avoid not being in the loop about the opportunities to maximise transition to school.

Families can meet with me weekly on a Wednesday for school tours or prep information starting week One term 3.

Community Golf Day 

Don't forget to sign up for our Community Golf Day on August 6th to support the further development of our School Garden Program 

see the information on Compass and in the Community Page of this Newsletter