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.

Week 1

It was fantastic to return to school last week and dive straight into learning. With our new approach to Inquiry this year, our teaching teams are extending the student-led Inquiry from last term into the early weeks of this term. Students and teachers have been able to enthusiastically jump straight back into the sustainability design projects that they had already begun;

Our amazing senior students are working on improvement projects around the school that vary from creating and communicating new rules for Cubbies to designing and painting inclusive murals. Our Foundies have been designing and creating woodwork, fashion and mosaic pieces.

Aisha

We are very pleased to share that last week, Aisha (one of our grade 3 students) was awarded an Honorable Mention for the St John Ambulance First Aid Heroes Award.

Aisha received this award for assisting her grandparents after there was an accident at home. Aisha called one of her support people and explained what had happened, then followed the instructions until her safe person and an ambulance arrived.

Despite being worried about her grandparent, Aisha was able to stay calm in a situation that might have left grown ups unsure of what to do. We are so proud of Aisha; not only for her award, but also for showing great maturity and level-headedness. We hope Aisha’s grandfather recovers soon.

Thanks to Tanya

At our assembly last Friday, we had the opportunity to thank Tanya Pittard for her tremendous support, leadership and hard work throughout this year’s Winter Magic Market and five more, prior to the pandemic! As Tanya’s youngest child will be graduating to high school at the end of this year, 2022 is the last opportunity for our school to tap on Tanya’s shoulder and ask for some assistance and she has really reminded us about what makes our community so special.

Tanya, thank you for the hundreds of hours you have donated to the school over the years, thank you for the passion and energy you brought to every task you undertook and thank you for helping to shape our school community in such a profound way. We are sure you will be looking forward to attending the market in the future, with no tasks on your list!

Spring Weather

As the weather starts to get warmer and we move through Spring, chilly mornings can change into warm and sunny afternoons. This often means that students (and teachers!) are needing to wear light layers of clothing in order to keep their own temperature just right. As the day gets warmer, these layers often get taken off and left around the school. To help each item of clothing find its way back to its owner, we ask that every item (no matter how small!) is labeled with its owner’s name. At BNWPS we have a huge amount of lost property that remains unclaimed, and we do not want to make this pile any larger as we move through the warmer months.

As a SunSmart school, the warmer months also mean that students are required to wear a wide brimmed hat or legionnaires cap at any time when they are outside during breaks, or when classes are being run outside. Caps without the flap at the back are not considered to be sunsmart.

Spring can also notoriously bring more allergies, as dust and pollen becomes airborne. Please make sure that your child and the school are aware and prepared for any known allergies that may come their way.

Numeracy Forum (repeat from last week)

We have our next online Community Forum this Tuesday, where we will be sharing how our students learn numeracy skills in grades 3-6. Our school’s approach to numeracy was reviewed after Alice and Jessie participated in the Primary Maths and Science Specialist initiative and draws on best practice as well as a deep understanding of the students at BNWPS. This approach (dubbed ‘Launch, Explore, Explain’) provides students with many opportunities to wade through the Learning Pit and devise their own strategies for solving problems and to apply their ideas to real-life situations.

We know that the way maths is taught has evolved significantly since many grown ups were at school, so we look forward to sharing this engaging and evidence-based approach with everyone.

If you have any questions about Numeracy in grades 3-6 that you would like answered in the forum, please use this link.

If you are wanting to attend the Numeracy Forum, please use the following link:

Community Forum - Numeracy 3-6

Tuesday, October 11th · 6:00pm - 7.00pm

Link to forum; https://meet.google.com/vnb-zhto-oxt

Foundation Information Night (repeat from last week)

This Thursday (13th October) we will be running our online information session for families of students enrolled in Foundation 2023. We are very excited about beginning this journey with a lovely new group of families. The session will run from 6pm to 7pm. An email will be sent to all families with the google meets link for the meeting. If you have any questions please reach out to Cath Beswick catherine.beswick@education.vic.gov.au Cath is our Foundation team leader and will be able to answer any questions that you may have.

If you have a child in your family (or if you know of any others!) It is not too late to enroll. Please give the front office a call and the\y will be able to assist you in getting the enrollment process started.

Open Streets (repeat from last week)

On Tuesday 11th, Tuesday 18th, and Tuesday 25th October we will be opening Culloden Street and Shetland Avenue to walking and cycling only during drop off (8.30-9.30am) and pick up (3:00-4:00pm) times to create safe and healthy space for families arriving at the school gates. There will be fun activities held on the street for children to play, ride and scoot around before and after school. Please refer to the attached flyer for information on access, activities and other details. A map with alternative drop-off options is also included.

In the lead up to the trial, we’d value hearing your thoughts surrounding school drop off and pick up on Culloden St and Shetland Ave and any feedback or questions you may have about the upcoming trials – please click here to answer a short survey

Sprout

Kris Bidenko