Beaumaris Primary School: Stop Press

School News 

 

School Council Update from 

Bruce Baker School Council President

Howdy All,

 

I trust that this newsletter finds you all well in these interesting times! No doubt every family within our school community will be coping differently with the challenges that we are currently presented with, especially with the extended remote learning environment. All we can do is keep in touch with each other so that we all come out on the other side healthy. 

 

I thought that I would provide an update on school council activities. The council and the various sub-committees have been very busy over the past two months as we actively continue with planning and implementing ideas so that when school returns to normal activities the students will see changes and additions to the school.

 

The B&G sub-committee have been very busy preparing submissions for a number of government grant opportunities. These include a grant for installation of a solar power system for the school, which coincidentally has been a long term junior school council suggestion for sustainability. We have also submitted a comprehensive grant application to upgrade the playing surface and surrounds on the oval. As part of the work in preparing this submission, we conducted surveys with the school community, teaching staff, and students to garner ideas that we can use to create a master plan. We want to thank everyone who participated in the survey. The ideas will be used as guiding principles for the master plan which will be issued for comments once finalised. Regardless of the success of this particular grant, the master plan for the oval will provide a long term objective for the school and future school councils.

 

The school council has also been busy reviewing submissions for the outside hours care (OSHC) contract. The contract for the current provider, Camp Australia, ends in December this year. One of the roles of school council is to review this contract and make recommendations on the provider of the service going forward. Along with Sheryl and her team, we put together an expression of interest for providers to tender on, from which we have shortlisted 3 vendors. At the school council meeting this week we had presentations from each of the shortlisted candidates. In the coming weeks we will finalise reviews and reference checks, and assess each vendor based on alignment with the school and our values, value for money for the school community, and quality of the programs provided.

 

The selected OSHC provider will be announced in October with an onsite start or continuation in January 2021.

 

Until next time, stay safe and look out for each other.

 

Bruce 

 

DET has issued new school email addresses

BPS school email address has changed to: beaumaris.ps@education.vic.gov.au

The Department of Education and Training is currently in the process of issuing new email addresses to each school. Our previous email address will continue to function for a short while to allow our families to transition to the new email address. However we ask families to please start to develop the habit of using the above email address when contacting the school.

Webinars for parents and carers to help build family resilience

On Tuesday 25 August, the Department of Education and Training is presenting a free webinar for parents and carers by renowned child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, on building family resilience during coronavirus (COVID-19).

Parents and carers play a vital role in helping children feel safe through uncertain times.

Dr Carr-Gregg’s webinar is aptly named Managing the Coronacoaster – Tips for building resilient families in the coronavirus era.

In this webinar, Dr Carr-Gregg provides tools and strategies for parents and carers to help manage the lockdown and remote learning. Topics include:

  • your supportive role
  • setting the emotional tone
  • focusing on what you can control
  • how to deal with disappointment
  • further resources and where to get help.

Dr Carr-Gregg’s presentation will run for 45 minutes. This will be followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session in which parents and carers can ask Dr Carr-Gregg questions.

Webinar details

  • When: Tuesday 25 August
  • Time: 7:30pm
  • Duration: 45-minute presentation followed by 15-minute questions and answers session
  • Format: online via Webex
  • Cost: free

How to register

To register and for more information visit the Open link in new tabhttps://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/managing-the-coronacoaster-tips-for-building-resilient-families-registration-116837404823

Home Learning tip of the week:

Could we please remind families that it is best that children use headphones/earphones when in their class or group online meetings, as this means there is less distraction for them. If your child is working onsite, please remind them to bring their headphones or earphones along.