Principal's Report 

Minister of Education’s Visit To Bimbadeen Heights PS

On Tuesday 1 March, the Honourable James Merlino MP, Deputy Premier, Minister of Education and Minister of Mental Health, visited our school for a special assembly held to present the leadership badges to our 2022 School Captains and House Captains, and officially open our new school buildings. Minister Merlino was joined by special guests Terry Bennett - Regional Director for the North-East Victorian Region of the Department of Education, Deidre Deklijn – Senior Education Improvement Leader for the Lilydale District Network, Catherine Buckland – recently retired Student Wellbeing Leader, along with former School Council President – Matthew Genever.

Our annual Badge Presentation Ceremony is a wonderful opportunity for us to acknowledge the contributions of our Student Leadership Team throughout their time at Bimbadeen Heights PS and celebrate their achievement of being awarded the role of School Captain or House Captain for their final year of primary school. The occasion was also a chance to acknowledge the leadership abilities of all students at Bimbadeen Heights PS and how our students become leaders of our school community through the actions and the choices they make every day. 

The special assembly was attended by our students in Years 5 and 6, along with the parents and carers of the members of our Student Leadership Team. We look forward to continuing to work with our School Captains and House Captains throughout this year and supporting them as they strive to lead positive change for our student community throughput their final year at Bimbadeen.

Due to COVID-19, the official opening of our buildings was not possible in 2020 and 2021, so it was a wonderful opportunity for Minister Merlino to preside over the official opening during his visit. At the end of the assembly, the 2022 School Captains and House Captains were asked to assist Minister Merlino to cut a ribbon to officially opening our new school buildings.

After the assembly, our Student Leadership Team posed for official photos with the Minister, then along with special guests, we toured our new buildings that include the Administration, Staffroom, Foundation, Specialist and Year 2 spaces. We were delighted to share our fabulous learning spaces and received glowing feedback about the teaching and learning taking place across the school. Below are some photographs of the event, including the sculpture positioned at the front of the school, underneath the new school sign, that was created using the beams from the old building. The sculpture was an important part of the building project to ensure a lasting tribute to our school’s past.

We, along with Minister Merlino would like to acknowledge the efforts of immediate past Principal Leigh Johansen and Assistant Principal Garry Fowler, who worked tirelessly to oversee the design and construction of the new buildings. Former Principal Heather Hopcroft was also a driving force in advocating for new and improved buildings and learning spaces for Bimbadeen students, along with Bruce Lee, Matt Genever and Troy Hovey, our School Council Presidents who presided during the life of the building project. 

2022-2023 School Council 

Following the call for nominations for vacancies on our School Council and the election for the Parent Member category, I would like to congratulate Morgan Gardiner, Andrew Lanigan, Kate Hession, Kate Rogers, and Simon Sang Hre who have been elected as parent members on our School Council for a two year period. Congratulations also to Sabrina George and Beth Dean who have been elected to the school employee positions on our School Council. 

Thank you to each nominee for their enthusiasm and desire to contribute to our school through School Council membership and for their commitment to help make Bimbadeen Heights Primary School the best it can possibly be. The first meeting of the new School Council will be held next Wednesday 16 March. 

Pupil Free Day 

During our Pupil Free Day on Monday 28 February, our staff were engaged in a Curriculum Day of professional learning with staff from the 17 other schools in the Lilydale District Network. We spent the morning learning about best practice in the teaching of Writing. 

Pupil Free days provide our staff with the opportunity to work and learn together with a focus on improving our practice and making a positive impact on student learning outcomes. Ongoing professional learning for our staff is incredibly important to ensure we are refining our practice and using evidence-based approaches in our teaching. It was a fantastic day of learning and our staff were very appreciative of the privileged time to collaborate and focus on improving student learning outcomes in Writing.

Celebrate Mooroolbark Festival 

On Saturday 26th March, Bimbadeen Heights will be represented at the Celebrate Mooroolbark Festival. Our school participates at this event each year with children entering the various competitions and/or participating in the parade. Many of our students have been busily preparing for their Chinese Dragon performance, led by Mrs Sarah Cherry, our Chinese (Mandarin) teacher. If you are visiting the festival in a couple of weeks time, please show your support for our school. Good luck to all our students who will be performing and representing our school at the event and thank you to our community members and staff who are volunteering their time to support the event as well. 

Classroom Parent Helpers Program 

On Wednesday evening last week Emily Russell and Bree King, our Learning Specialists, ran the Classroom Parent Helpers program. Over 15 parents and carers and special friends, including many grandparents, completed the program that not only gave them a range of strategies to use to support their own children with their reading and learning, but they are now able to help in our classrooms and provide support to our teachers and other students. The support we receive from our parents/carers and classroom helpers is very much appreciated and goes a long way to support the learning needs of our students. Thank you to all our parent/carer helpers and volunteers for our contributions to our school. If you are new to volunteering at Bimbadeen, please contact your child’s teacher to discuss ways you can contribute. If there is sufficient demand, further evening programs for parent/carer helpers will be offered in Term 2. We look forward to welcoming our volunteers into our classrooms as soon as COVIDSafe measures relax in schools.

Lilydale District Primary School Athletic Sports 

On Friday 5 March, our Year 3/4 students excitedly participated in the annual Lilydale District Primary Schools Sports Association Athletics Carnival at the Mount Evelyn Athletics Track and the Year 5/6 students Athletics carnival was held yesterday, Thursday 10 March. 

These sporting events are a considerable organisational achievement and we must recognise the work of the Physical Education teachers from the Lilydale District schools who work tirelessly to pull it all together. The impact of COVID-19 restrictions meant that the organisation behind the scenes was immense, however it was wonderful that parents/carers were able to assist as volunteers and spectate at the events. 

Thank you to our staff and the parent/carer helpers who assisted by marshalling groups of students at each event and provided general support to the events. We are very proud of the incredible efforts of our students and the way in which they conducted themselves, demonstrating our school values and good sportsmanship throughout the carnivals.

Special Guest required for our ANZAC Service 

Traditionally, on the last school day before ANZAC Day, we hold a special whole school ANZAC ceremony. 

As ANZAC Day is scheduled for the end of the school holidays, our 2022 ANZAC Service will be held on Friday 29th April at 2pm. 

Our ANZAC Ceremony is one of the most memorable school assemblies that we hold at Bimbadeen each year and it always makes us proud to see the children showing such respect and learning about this important part of Australia’s history. It is a formal service but one that is very age-appropriate with an educative purpose. 

We strive to have a special guest speaker, preferably a Returned Service Personnel member who we usually access through the RSL. We would love to have a suitable member of our school community or a relative who would be able to come along and speak to the children at this service for no more than 5 minutes. If you know of a suitable person who would be prepared to be a part of our service could you please contact Jacqui Duncan or James Salter on 9726 9989 or via email to jacquelyn.duncan@education.vic.gov.au or james.salter@education.vic.gov.au by the end of term. 

Child Safety 

In 2013, the Victorian Parliament held an inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations, resulting in the Betrayal of Trust Report. As a result, the Victorian Government introduced Child Safe Standards for organisations that work with children, including schools. 

Bimbadeen Heights Primary School is committed to child safety and upholding the Child Safe Standards. 

Bimbadeen Heights Primary School has zero tolerance for child abuse. 

We are committed to providing a child safe environment where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Our child safe policies, procedures, strategies and practices will be inclusive of the needs of all children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, children with disabilities, LGBTIQA students and children who are vulnerable including students who are in Out of Home Care. 

Every person involved in Bimbadeen Heights Primary School has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role they play individually and collectively to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make. 

Please see the new page on our school website for up-to-date information about Child Safe Standards, including direct links to the Child Safe Standards and the website for the Commission for Children and Young People.

Sentral App 

Sentral is our main form of communication between school and home. We expect that parents are checking Sentral regularly for upcoming dates on the calendar, newsletters, excursion notices and year and school level communications. We have been very pleased with the number of parents who have been relying on Sentral and using this to communicate with the school and their child’s teacher this year. As with most forms of technology, there may be times where Sentral is down. During these times, please feel free to contact the school office via telephone and Emma or Shelley will assist you. If you have any problems accessing Sentral, please don’t hesitate to speak to our Sentral co-ordinator Melinda Ruscitti. The best way to get in contact with Ms Ruscitti is to email her at melinda.ruscitti@education.vic.gov.au. Shelley and Emma are also able to provide support at the office if you are experiencing difficulties with the app. 

We would love every parent to have this app on their phones as it will make staying in touch with the school so much easier.

We hope you have a wonderful week everyone. Please feel free to pop in for a chat with either of us, Mr Gill, or any other member of our Leadership team should you wish to discuss anything. Our doors are always open! 

Kind regards, 

Adele Gregson and Sabrina George