Message from Bev and Kim
Congratulations to our BBPS team – this week we were invited to present to the combined Southern and Eastern Victorian Region Principal’s Forum to share our story of remote learning at BBPS. We highlighted the audacious mindset of the BBPS team, and the constant innovation and trust that we have for the program our teachers are creating each day. In particular, we shared some of our practices in the area of differentiation, wellbeing and assessment – and celebrated the genuine commitment of year level teams, our students' creativity and the amazing knowledge they have of themselves as learners. We also highlighted the all important supportive partnerships between home and school.
Parent Survey results: Thanks for your ongoing feedback. With a great representation across the school, and the majority of you working from home, here is what you had to say:
Greatest successes could be themed into the following:
- Learning tasks: spelling, poetry, Specialist live lessons
- Learning habits: managing workload, staying positive, seeing progress
- Learning delivery: small group sessions, live lessons
Greatest challenges – know that you are not alone!
- Maintaining motivation and managing emotions
- Links not working (our greatest challenge too!)
- Parents not getting enough of their own work done
- Managing siblings
- Focused use and overuse of devices
We appreciate the positive feedback that we continue to receive, in particular about our ongoing communication, the success of offering more virtual learning sessions, and getting the balance right in our learning focus. We are heartened to see students engaging more readily with our Specialist program and continue to be wowed by the quality of work they share via Google Drive and Google Classroom.
This new reality continues to be unchartered territory, and our ongoing reflections and the feedback we receive supports us to refine and improve on what we are endeavouring to do. All our decisions continue to be centered around the needs of our students, and our growing awareness of how they are showing us they learn best in this new norm.
David Howes, DET Deputy Secretary, spoke of the importance of a state-wide focus on wellbeing. He stressed that now, more than ever, the social and emotional wellbeing of our community – students, parents, and teachers – should be our priority.
Please visit the Wellbeing section of our newsletter – useful resources will now be shared in this section. This week, see more about Mind Safety.
Wondering about some of these things? – stay tuned to future newsletters as we unpack these further in the Wellbeing section.
How do we reduce screen time during remote learning?
How do I support my child to stay engaged and motivated?
What are some ways we can build connection between friends?
Martin Heppell (The Resilience Project) reminded us about the power of modelling gratitude, empathy and mindfulness to our children. Our Dinner Time Chats, shared on the daily planners, might be helpful to you. Again, please know we are here for you – and do not hesitate to reach out if you need to.
Check out Marta's poem (2G) in the BBPS Life section. We want to give her an extra special shout out, in recognition of her learning of the English language. When she started school at BBPS in 2019 in Ms Mareska's class, Marta spoke Italian, now she can be so proud of herself and her command of two languages.
The beautiful poetry our students are writing convey such joyful moments. Take the time to have a read... for us as teachers they make our hearts sing!!!
Bev and Kim