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.

As we approach our final few weeks of the year, we celebrate a full year learning on-site and everything it brings including highly engaged students and fantastic learning achievements. By this time of year we are also seeing people start to become tired, as students (and grown ups!) continue to build their stamina back to pre-pandemic levels.

At school we are increasing our conversations of being aware of our own experiences, each other’s needs and the importance of kindness. By recognising that we are tired, we are able to see that our bucket is less full and negative emotions are quicker to surface. By recognising that others are likely to feel the same, we build empathy and connection. There is a lot of evidence to show that the act of being kind has physiological benefits for us as individuals, and fortifies the connections that bond us together.

This week we challenge you to complete an act of kindness every day. After your act of kindness, take a minute to pause and think about how you feel - Do you have more energy? A sense of lightness? A warm feeling in your belly?

If you would like to share your act of kindness for us all to celebrate, please feel free to email Hannah (hannah.reid@education.vic.gov.au) or Keir (keir.jasper@education.vic.gov.au) to tell us all about it!

Chicken Pox

Over the past week the school has been informed of two cases of chickenpox within our student cohort; one from the senior school and one from our 2023 Foundie transition group. We do not believe these two cases are in any way related and have not had contact with each other, therefore we want to ask all families to exercise caution, as the chickenpox virus is circulating Melbourne.

If your child is sick for any reason, we ask that you keep them at home and contact the school office if your child comes down with anything infectious.

Communications Flowchart

Our newest sub committee is currently working on a flowchart graphic to support our community when they are deciding who to approach with a question, idea or complaint. While we develop a graphic, we decided to share the school’s Communications & Complaints policy, which outlines a number of possible avenues, with the role of school council yet to be added.

The role of the School Council and its sub committees centres around school governance: developing a school vision and strategic plan, fund-raising, OSHC and canteen services and oversight over our camps and allocation of student free days.

Click here to read more information on the role of school councils.

Step Up/Transition

Last Wednesday was our first whole school transition session (Hello new spaces!), where our students all got the chance to experience change and explore a new space of the school. This was a tremendously successful first trial, with everyone staying calm and understanding the intention of flexing our change muscle - we even saw a few smiles!

This Wednesday we will have our second session: Hello new faces!, where students will have the opportunity to meet new people or spend time with people they have not worked with before. We want to remind families that these groupings are not class groupings for 2023, just an opportunity to practice our social skills and to remember how many wonderful learning partners this school has to offer.

Inquiry Forum (Repeat from last week)

Tomorrow night at 6pm, we will be holding our final online community forum for the year, and this time our focus will be Inquiry at BNWPS. The way in which Inquiry is being explored has evolved a lot over the past few years, and Inquiry is something that our students and teachers are very excited about, and very engaged in!

If you have any questions about Inquiry that you would like answered at the forum, please jot them down in this Google Form.

To attend the online forum on Tuesday 15th November at 6pm, please use this link

As always the forum will be recorded for families to watch later if they are unable to attend on the night.

ART ATTAK 2022: the internet

Andrew and Steve