A Message from Hannah & Keir
We would like to acknowledge and honour the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which our school stands. We pay our respects to all First Nations elders, past present and emerging.
2022 Staff Conference
Welcome back after an extra long weekend, we hope each family got the opportunity to fill their bucket with whatever makes your family happy, calm and connected.
The BNW staff spent two days last week at our annual staff conference. We spent the first day diving deeper into our new school vision and values. We unpacked Authenticity through sharing and understanding the personal qualities and attributes that each staff member brings to the team, and the contributions that each team makes to the fabric of the school as a community. Lori, Ibu Kas and Emma lead us through an exploration of Respect and how we can respectfully establish professional boundaries and maintain a strong sense of self when communicating with our community. Deb and Alice guided us through an exploration of Connection that highlighted the expertise that each of us bring into the school, and how we see these being shared and accessed throughout the team. At the end of the day, Larissa and Cath challenged us with some Creative thinking and problem solving situations that required us to work creatively and collaboratively to work through.
On the second day, we took a very deep dive into the new BNWPS approach to Inquiry, paying particular attention to the design thinking process and its reliance on starting off from a place of empathy. Teachers were then able to begin planning for the designing stage of the current inquiry into Sustainability which will be happening throughout next term.
The BNWPS staff conference is an ideal and unique opportunity for the staff to get together and share ideas and thinking, to look at where the school has been and to make plans for where the school is heading in the future.
Attitudes to School Survey
We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction. The Attitudes to School Survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.
Students from Year 4 to 6 at our school will participate in the survey. Your child will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool. It is important to note that we are not in any way ‘testing’ your child. Personal identification data will not be recorded in the survey response file. This ensures that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times.
The information from these surveys helps us better understand the experiences of our students, evaluate the effectiveness of our actions and identify new priorities.
Ride & Stride Update
Electric cargo bike pop up test rides and free trial coming soon!
After a strange couple of years, life seems to have returned to normal, and the school drop off and pick up routine is back in full swing. As a Ride & Stride school, we want to allow more families the opportunity to try out alternative school-run options to cars for those that live further, lead busy morning schedules, are concerned about their children riding independently, or simply want to try out something different.
Over Term 3, Moreland City Council will be offering 20 families a free, four week trial of an e-cargo bike. Electric bikes are able to get you further distances faster, and the bikes can carry up to two children safely & securely. Through your four week trial, you can travel to school, work, the park and back home again quickly, safely and sustainably.
We’ll be offering pop up test rides at the school on Friday 24th from 8am - 10am and 3pm - 5pm. This is a great opportunity for you to come and try the bikes and get more information. The bikes will be provided by Lug+Carrie, you can find out more about who they are here.
Winter Magic Market Group Chat
In pre-COVID times our main school event to attract new families (and main fundraiser), was the Winter Magic Market. A wonderful combination of food, arts and entertainment and fun activities - it was an experience that celebrated and showed the world our community. Hundreds of parents from across our community came together to run a wide variety of stalls and activities. The school was lit with fairy lights, fire pits and decorations and an exhausting but wonderful time was had by all.
So, the question I put to you as a community is "Are we ready or able to bring a version of it back on Saturday 6th August?"
Last year School Leadership, School Council and CET started to develop plans for a smaller, less intense event keeping the things which we can do easily and that bring us joy. Ideas included outsourcing some of the food stalls to local businesses, keeping the activities that could be run easily such as the inflatables on the oval and focussing our attention on refilling the BNW bucket.
If you are interested in being part of a team to get something up and running again please come along to our online meeting on Wednesday, 22nd June at 7.00pm till 7.30pm. This will be a very casual chance for us to see who is interested in helping create our community moment and start some brainstorming - no one will be roped into a life-time contract, we promise!
Having coordinated it for five years 2015-2019 our School Council President, Tanya Pittard knows both the joys and tribulations that come with managing a large event, however with a great team the work becomes play and a truly rewarding opportunity to get to know some of the amazing "get in there and get stuff done" parents we have at this school. This is her final year as part of the school community, I'd love to see a group of parents work with her to build a team to take on some version of this event that brings so much joy to our students.