Principal's Message

Welcome to the first Newsletter for term 3. I hope that you are all well and would like to thank you for such a positive start to the term.

There are many highlights that I could share with you that come from my view of what is happening around the school, I try to get into the classrooms each day and throughout the term it is likely that I would have been able to teach your child's class. 

Last week I had the privilege of teaching the students in 5C. The initial focus, learning about Apostrophes, was not the hot topic that I was hoping for, but certainly essential. What stood out to me during this lesson was the approach taken in the planning where the students were able to inquire, research, collaborate and develop scaffolds to assist them with understanding and applying the use of apostrophes in their own writing.

I want to draw your attention to COLLABORATION, which peaked during this particular lesson.

 When I think of what school was like for me it was mostly the teacher at the front of the room doing all of the talking. This does still happen, but I am confident that the level of collaboration between teacher and students and students and students in a classroom at BHPS is high. 

Turning a dry topic like apostrophes into a collaborative experience brought the best out in the students who were able to support their classmates, play to their strengths and express their creative ideas. 

Collaborative learning has been shown to not only develop higher-level thinking skills in students but increases their confidence and self-esteem as well. Group projects can maximize educational experience by demonstrating the material, while improving social and interpersonal skills. Students learn how to work with various types of learners and develop their leadership skills.

Another example of collaboration at our school has been 20 year five students participating in the State School spectacular. This week along with 1000 + students from other State Schools around Victoria participated in the Mass Choir rehearsals. the way our students connected and collaborated with each other and students from other schools was impressive. The improvement in the students throughout the day was enhanced via the high levels of collaboration and connection.

NAPLAN  

Students in year 3 and 5 should have received their NAPLAN information outlining the outcome of their participation in the testing. If you haven't received yours, please contact the team in the office.

As a community we should be proud of our students and staff and acknowledge the support students receive from their families to impact their learning.

The data for Reading Writing and Maths in year 3 outlines that our students have achieved an exceptionally high standard and outperformed schools with similar demographics.

Our year 5 students have also achieved a strong result, performing better than the state in all areas and similarly to schools in our demographic. The success with this group is that we have bridged the gap between our school and similar schools significantly compared to previous data while still acknowledging sharpening the focus on writing  needs to continue. 

Indonesian Speaking Competition

Best of luck to the students participating in this competition this weekend and thank you to Kristy Merrett and parents for their commitment.

Odette Lloyd

Orla Foley

Nash Robinson

Zoe Coventry

Elliot Mazery

Max Gadd

Scarlett Anderson 

Hayden Gentle

Holly Don 

Skye Quirk

Kenzie Jackson

Interschool Sport

Congratulations to our year 6 Volleyball squad, who have qualified to compete in the Regional Championships, we wish you the very best at the next stage of the competition.

Maddison Brown, Max Bailey, Baxter Cornell, Frankie Cornell, Holly Don, Isla Downing, Oli Erb, Zan Findling, Ella Harvey, Kenzie Jackson, Jack Kinkead-Weeks, Harry Kinley, Bay Lamperd, Tom Mackie, Rose O'Brien, Xavier O'Connor, Skye Quirk. 

Don't forget to attend our Annual Golf Day - there will be plenty to do for the students and families. Click the link to read more. Editing Term 3 Week 2 - iNewsletter (naavi.com) 

Enjoy the weekend and thank you for a positive week at school.