Flexible and Remote Learning 6.0

Thank you to our students, parents/carers and staff for the calm and confident way that we have transitioned to remote and flexible learning for the 6th time. For this lockdown period, our school will be implementing a similar remote and flexible learning model that was used in the previous lockdown and remote and flexible learning period, with some adjustments based on feedback from our students, staff and families.

Please see Sentral for further information about remote and flexible learning programs, including links to Webex sessions and resources to support student learning and health and wellbeing during this time.

We understand that these are very challenging times, and we will do our absolute best to support our families and meet DET requirements. Please take time to look after yourself and your family during this lockdown period and remember that the health and wellbeing of your family should be your first priority always.

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day

This week’s highlight has been our whole school celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day that fell on Wednesday 4 August. This year’s theme is ‘Proud in Culture, Strong in Spirit’. This day focuses on the strong connection that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities have to their family, community, culture, language and Country. Their connection to Country is an intrinsic part of their identity.

In our classrooms we spent time talking about, reading and exploring Dreamtime stories. We don’t know about you, but our favourite Dreamtime story is The Rainbow Serpent. We wonder what your favourite Dreamtime story is! It has also been wonderful to see the fantastic activities that our students have been engaged in to reflect on their learning this week. Happy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day!

Foundation Families – Feedback Sought on 2021 Prep Bags

At the beginning of the school year, the Department of Education and Training provided every Prep student attending a Victorian government school with a red Prep bag. The Prep bags contained 14 items, including children’s storybooks, flyers, stickers, and stationery items, all designed to help Prep students and their parents and carers thrive from the start of Term 1.

The Department is now inviting families of current Prep students to participate in a short survey, closing Sunday 29 August. Feedback will help inform what Prep students and their parents and carers like about the Prep bags and what can be improved in 2022. To have your say, complete the survey through SurveyMonkey. The survey takes about five to ten minutes to complete.

For more information on this year’s Prep bags, refer to the Prep Bags 2021 web page on the Department’s website.

Looking After Your Health and Wellbeing

It can be challenging to process and manage changes to routines and the uncertainty that comes with COVID-19 and related restrictions – including moving to remote learning.

To support our school community during this time, resources and support are available for parents, carers and families. These resources will help to support the mental health and wellbeing of our students and the young people in our care during this time. We encourage everyone in our community to access these resources and take care of themselves during this time.

A Quick Guide to Student Mental Health and Wellbeing resources is available for students, parents and carers looking to access expert guidance and resources to support wellbeing.

Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our students remains our priority this year, especially during the continued COVID-19 pandemic and while students are learning from home during the current lockdown and remote and flexible learning period.

For students, the guide includes resources to support their own mental health and wellbeing.

Advice and resources for students about ways to adapt their learning during COVID-19, to look after themselves and where to get help.
Wellbeing activities fearing AFL and AFLW players with tips on managing stress, staying active and gratitude.
Kick it with Victory physical activities with Melbourne Victory Football Club.
Smiling Mind mindfulness activities for senior secondary school students, including short videos, online tip sheets and meditations.

The guide also includes resources and supports for parents and carers to help them build their child’s physical and mental health and wellbeing. This includes:

resources to support children’s physical, mental health and wellbeing
wellbeing activities and conversation starters
Raising Learners podcast series
how to talk to your child about COVID-19.

Wellbeing guidance for parents and carers is also available on the Department’s website, or through the confidential parent support hotline, Parentline, available 8am to midnight, seven days a week. Phone: 13 22 89. If you are concerned about your wellbeing or that of your child, we encourage you to contact your child’s classroom teacher or the school so we can talk with you about how we can best assist.

A reminder that if you, your child, or a family member develops symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested at a COVID-19 testing facility and stay home. Each family should regularly check the list of public exposure sites in Victoria (where a person with COVID-19 has attended), and if anyone in the family has attended a site at the times listed, follow the instructions given.

If you are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, please check out the website for information and bookings. Like getting tested if you have symptoms, getting vaccinated goes a long way to keeping our communities safe and schools open.

Food Hampers Available

Food Hampers continue to be available to members of the Bimbadeen community, thanks to the generosity of Foodbank Victoria, through our school Breakfast Club program. If you or someone you know would benefit from receiving a food hamper, please contact the school office during school hours and we will organise a hamper for you.

Keeping Kids Active During Remote and Flexible Learning

When children participate in regular physical activity, it boosts their physical and mental health and improves academic performance. Physical activity throughout the day also improves concentration, and the ability to retain information and solve problems. There are many benefits to being active and getting your move on, but a lot of children aren’t moving enough, particularly while learning from home. 15 minutes 4 times a day is all it takes.

To help support your children to stay active while learning from home, families can access a range of free COVIDSafe ideas to stay active and games through Get Active Victoria. Families should remember that whatever gets children moving, gets them active.

School Council Update

As mentioned in our previous newsletter, Bimbadeen Heights PS School Council is committed to sharing our work with the Bimbadeen community. To strengthen communication between council and our parents/carers, each newsletter we will be sharing information about School Council, including general information about the functions and operations of council and the specific work of our own council at Bimbadeen.

This newsletter, we would like to share information about the Sub-committees of School Council. The following information explains how School Council Sub-committees work at Bimbadeen:

Our School Council sub-committees provide an excellent opportunity for our parents/carers to contribute to our school community. Members of our community, including parents/carers, do not need to be on School Council in order to be a member of a sub-committee, and we warmly invited you to consider joining one or more committees to help lead the work of our council this year. In 2021, we have five sub-committees of School Council:

Finance – oversee and monitor the school’s finances and budgets.
Fundraising – help raise funds to support the school’s annual goals and key projects.
Buildings and Grounds – focus on school maintenance and improvement to buildings and grounds.
Student Learning – develop school policies, contribute to the school’s curriculum plans, and help prepare for our next school review (due in 2022).
Student Wellbeing – support the school’s work around student wellbeing, and our wellbeing programs of Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships and School Wide Positive Behaviour Support.

Each sub-committee meets once a month (approximately 8 times per year), in the week prior to each School Council meeting. Meetings are usually held in the early evening and to ensure accessibility and inclusion, all sub-committee meetings include a Webex option for members of our school community to attend meetings virtually, when they are unable to attend in person.

If you are interested in joining one or more of our sub-committees for this year, please contact the relevant convenor via email:

Finance – Andrew Lanigan. Coordinated by Adele Gates, please contact Adele via email to bimbadeen.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au
Fundraising – Bree King Bree.King@education.vic.gov.au
Buildings and Grounds – Sabrina George Sabrina.George@education.vic.gov.au
Student Learning – Morgan Gardner, coordinated by Annie Rountree, please contact Annie via email to Anne.Rountree@education.vic.gov.au
Student Wellbeing – Catherine Buckland Catherine.Buckland@education.vic.gov.au

If you have any matters that you would like discussed at our next School Council meeting, please reach out to a member of council. Our membership includes:

Executive Officer: Adele Gregson (Principal) Adele.Gregson@education.vic.gov.au
President: Troy Hovey
Vice President: Kate Hession
Treasurer: Andrew Lanigan
Minutes Secretary: Bree King Bree.King@education.vic.gov.au

General committee members:

Parent Members:

Matthew Genever (Until March 2023)
Matthew Richardson (Until March 2023)
Angela Moody (Until March 2023)
Janet Hatvani (Until March 2022)
Morgan Gardiner (Until March 2022)
Paul Canning (Until March 2022)
Lauren Elliott (Until March)

School Employee Members:

Catherine Buckland (Until March 2022) Catherine.Buckland@education.vic.gov.au
Sabrina George (Until March 2022) Sabrina.George@education.vic.gov.au
Melinda Ruscitti (Until March 2023) Melinda.Ruscitti@education.vic.gov.au

We look forward to continuing our school improvement work with School Council with a focus on improving student learning outcomes.

We hope you and your family enjoy a lovely weekend together. Please reach out if you need support during this challenging time.

Adele Gregson and Sabrina George

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day