Deputy Principal's Message
Welcome to Term 2. It was lovely to see students return to school, ready for the new term and enthusiastic about the term ahead. We have many academic, sporting and social activities filling our Term 2 calendar.
BVPS Student Representative Council (SRC)
Our 2023 SRC is well and truly underway, with students participating in a number of meetings last term. Our first meeting for Term 2 will be this Thursday. This term we are enacting another SRC initiative by trialling the opening of our Yarning Circle and surrounding areas during recess time for students to access. This will give students a quiet space to go to read, play quiet games and talk with friends or have an area for quiet reflection. We look forward to sharing many more initiatives with you over the year.
Reminder: Administration of medication at school - including asthma puffers
When any form of medication is to be administered by school staff, parents/carers are required to;
- notify the school,
- provide up to date information as required, and
- supply the medication and any 'consumables' necessary for its administration in a timely way.
Parents/carers of children who require prescribed medication to be administered at school must complete a written request form (see below). Parents/carers who wish their child to self-administer medication must also complete a written request.
Once we have received the written request form, a letter will be provided to parents/carers from the Principal confirming arrangements for the administration of the student’s medication at school. Students must not carry medications unless there is a written agreement between the school and the student's parents/carers. This includes asthma puffers.The school is unable to administer medication until the confirmation letter has been provided.
Schools follow the same procedures for non-prescribed or 'over the counter' medications as for prescribed medications. As a result, students who require Ventolin, Panadol, antibiotics or any other non-prescribed medications to be administered or self-administered at school must also complete a written request form before bringing the medication to school.
Check-in Assessments for Year 4 and 6 students
Students in Years 4 and 6 will participate in check-in assessments in Weeks 4 to 7. The Check-in assessment is a NSW Department of Education online literacy and numeracy assessment that supports schools to assess and monitor student learning. It supplements existing school practices to identify how students are performing in literacy and numeracy and helps teachers tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs. Students with a disability may receive the same level of support during the assessment they would normally receive in the classroom.
Students in Year 4 and 6 will participate in a reading and numeracy assessment and Year 6 will also complete a writing assessment. Year 3 and 5 students complete the assessment in early Term 4.
Tell Them From Me - Student Survey
Later this term, students in Yrs 4-6 will be completing the Tell Them From Me survey. Information regarding the survey will soon be sent home, including an opt-out note.
The department and Ben Venue staff are committed to ensuring that every student has a voice in their learning and is known, valued and cared for at school. Tell Them From Me supports these goals by assisting schools to collect valuable data on student engagement and wellbeing from the perspective of the entire school community – students, parents and teachers. The teacher survey and optional parent survey will be made available later in the year, with students completing a second, follow-up survey at this time.
Lana Howlett
Deputy Principal