Principal's Report
Wow, what a morning to begin our last day of NAPLAN!
Our school grounds became a sea of fast flowing streams from the Wood Street entrance through to every outside play area.
Thank goodness our Facilities Manager, Lee Skaftouros, was on hand to clear the drains near the art room entrance as the water was rising very rapidly and both Arla Anderson and Nicole La Gerche would have been stranded in the art room.
With your support, and that of the teachers, all students were ushered to their classrooms using the closest door to their arrival point.
I would like to sincerely thank the students who were calm and adapted quickly to instructions of how to enter school amidst the thunder, lightning, and torrential downpour.
All classrooms have a sea of sneakers neatly paired, drying out! Hopefully not too many children have the same-coloured shoe, as I don’t think many families would name their children’s shoes.
It is definitely on these extreme weather days that we thank our lucky stars that our school has its own facilities manager!
NAPLAN
This morning our students will complete their NAPLAN testing. I would like to congratulate the students and their teachers for managing this task in such a calm manner. Our students are used to online testing and were not overly concerned about just one more test.
I would also like to thank Seb Balbi, our specialist technician, for ensuring our IT platform had no issues from the backend. Thank you also Brent Plowright and Georgie Tilley who supported the year levels throughout the testing schedule.
Neurodiversity Week Celebration
This year, we have extended our whole school cultural diversity celebration and have chosen to recognise the International Neurodiversity Celebration Week.
This week, your child was introduced to the world of Neurodiversity at an age-appropriate level. Together with their teacher, they were encouraged to create a Cultural Diversity or Neurodiversity Superhero that represents themselves. The students were given the choice of what ‘superpower’ they would like to illustrate, whether a celebration of their cultural identity or Neurodiversity such as autism or ADHD.
Last Friday the students all came together in a whole school picnic where all the superheroes were on display.
Earth Hour 2023
This year BNPS are proud to take part in EarthHour 2023 and will mark this by switching off all our lights as a symbolic gesture to show that we care about the future of this planet. The whole school will switch off for the last hour on Friday to be a part of this global event. We encourage families to take part in the official EarthHour movement this weekend by switching off at home for one hour at 8.30pm on Saturday 25 March.
For more information, visit Earth Hour 2023 - Earth Hour
Cross Age Tutoring Activities
Last Thursday, our Year 6 students conducted a ‘Cross Age Tutoring’ activity with their Year 1 buddies. The Year 6 students performed several items playing the ukulele and then they taught their buddies how to play the instrument.
The looks on the Year 1 children’s faces was priceless.
Thank you, Helen Griffiths and Year 6 students, for this unique experience for our Year 1 students.
New Playground
Our new play area is now open, and the air of excitement is clearly in every year level. Our School Captains have developed a whole school timetable so that every grade has an opportunity to use the equipment.
Parents & Friends
The P&F family night will be held on the oval tomorrow night (Friday 24 March 5-7pm). This is an opportunity for families to come together and meet other families.
Bop till you drop will be providing entertainment for all.
We would love to see you all there.
The P&F have also arranged an Easter raffle.
We have 3 prizes to be won!
- a delicious Cadbury hamper - kindly donated by the Chatfield family
- a beautiful set of paint your own Easter cookies - kindly donated by the Hillis family
- a wonderful Easter hamper - put together from donations by both Coles and Woolworths
Winners to be drawn at the final assembly for Term 1 on Thursday 6 April.
Tickets available for purchase via Qkr .> School Events & Fundraisers > Easter Raffle, closing Wednesday 5 April 10.30am.
Student Agency Team (SAT)
Our Student Agency Team have organised two Easter competitions – colour-in sheet and ‘Guess How Many Eggs’ in the jars.
The SAT representatives will be going around to all year levels today, handing out colour-in sheets (1 per student) and advising of the ‘Guess How Many Eggs’ competition.
Each competition requires a gold coin donation, which will be raising funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal.
Star Gazing Evening
I would like to thank Merry Graham for organising our Star Gazing evening, which is planned for Monday 3 April, through the Victorian Astronomical Society. This activity is now sold out, and the family tickets have been distributed.
School Council News
Congratulations to Ms Mary Sheargold, who is our new School Council President. Nat Northey is our new Vice President. The new School Council met last night and have many exciting projects planned for the new year.
General News
All staff have recently completed training for both Mandatory Reporting and Anaphylaxis.
We have just installed a new bell system – please be aware the bell does sound different to our previous bell.
Kind regards
Sherril
Principal
