principal's message
building update
Updates on our capital works have been delayed due to website maintenance (best laid plans!) however all updates (and images) are now on our Capital Works page of the school’s website. We know that communication in regards to this major project is vital, so we will continue to try and share information in multiple formats with our community. At our School Council Public Meeting (BNW 2019 Review, April 22nd), Mat and Alan (the two architects working with us from Content Studio) will be making a brief presentation on the plans so far. We encourage all families to attend this meeting and take up the opportunity to hear from the designers themselves.
VSBA survey
Earlier this week I sent a letter to all families with a link to a survey from the Victorian Schools Building Authority. This survey is being used by the VSBA to better understand the relationship between school facilities and our community’s sense of pride and confidence in schools. The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete and will be helpful when we seek funding in the future. Information from the VSBA and a link to the survey is below:
This is such an exciting time for Brunswick North West Primary School. With the planning funding secured for future capital works at your school, this is a great time to start measuring Pride and Confidence.
This work is just one of the hundreds of projects contributing to the education boom in Victoria, with new schools, school upgrades and massive infrastructure programs. The Victorian School Building Authority is currently undertaking a vast amount of work to increase the pride and confidence in school facilities, including an infrastructure maintenance blitz; increased community engagement; and 100 new schools.
The Department of Education is keen to be able to measure the impact of this investment on the pride and confidence Victorians have in their local government schools. As such, they are conducting a survey of parents and carers, staff and students on the planning taking place this year. This will include gathering community feedback on pride and confidence on three occasions over the project’s life-cycle: in planning, at completion, and twelve months after completion.
Please take a few minutes to go https://engage.vic.gov.au/pride-and-confidence-public-schools to respond to the survey.
coronavirus update
Our school has endeavoured to keep our community up-to-date with any news regarding COVID-19 as we are aware a number of families are worried about the new coronavirus that is receiving so much media coverage, especially since WHO declared a pandemic. BNWPS, along with DET and DHHS take infection control seriously, however we want our community members to remain aware, not alarmed.
Yesterday it was reported that there was a confirmed case of coronavirus at Golden Plains festival, where a number of our community members spent last weekend. A short time later we were informed that the confirmed case was not contagious at Golden Plains. Although the duration between the original announcement and the follow up was less than 24 hours, there was considerable concern expressed throughout our community.
You will be aware of some schools closing for a week in response to confirmed COVID-19 cases. These actions are taken on the recommendation of DHHS to allow time for contact tracing, with the health and safety of students, staff and school communities at front of mind. If a school has a confirmed case of COVID-19 among the students or staff, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer will recommend an affected school’s closure for at least 24 hours, whilst DHHS and DET determine a strategy for containment and continuation of the learning program.
At this stage, we are asked to continue with 'business as usual', however the school is currently investigating potential impacts on future school events; we will continue to update our community regularly.
I ask that all community members keep an eye either on the updates coming from school, as these are informed by DHHS updates, or other reputable health sources that detail potential exposure risk. According to DHHS, close contact is counted as 15 minutes or more face-to-face or more than two hours in a confined space. The Royal Children’s Hospital has also shared the following information:
Coronaviruses are a family of common respiratory viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe disease. The RCH regularly provides care for children with coronaviruses. The new strain being reported is a 2019 novel coronavirus.
As always, we encourage good infection prevention practices in the community such as regular hand hygiene, respiratory and cough etiquette, seeking medical advice when unwell, and avoiding sick contacts.
Please follow public health advice about travel. Families should be encouraged to seek reassurance and updates from government websites such as https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/information-public-novel-coronavirus and travel advice from Smart Traveller www.smartraveller.gov.au instead of the media.
school review update
As I mentioned in previous newsletters, this year our school will undertake a school review, which is a process that examines a number of elements of our school practices and helps define the strategic goals for our school over the next four years. Over the past two weeks, with support from JSC, our staff and students have started to provide feedback against a quality framework developed by DET called the ‘Continua for School Improvement’. Next week, elements of this continua that relate to families will be sent home for you to read and provide your own feedback. Schools are asked to collate this information to inform our school review panel discussions in term 2, however we want to take this a step further, we are also really keen to use this data to inform strategic directions of our school, understanding the experiences and perspectives of all stakeholders across our community.
Please keep an eye out in your children’s bags for the printed continua and for instructions on how to provide feedback.