Blackburn Primary School Weekly

Principal's Report

How did we get to end of Term One so quickly!

 

Thanks to all the staff and students for a great terms work.  It has been an incredibly busy term and we should be incredibly proud of what we are doing at BPS.  I hope that the children and teachers enjoy the very well deserved break. We look forward to everyone’s safe return for the start of term 2 on Wednesday 26th April.

WELCOME PICNIC AND HOLI FESTIVAL

Last Thursday we held our welcome picnic and Holi Festival celebration. A great celebration and wonderful way to bring our community together. Thank you to the parents who organised and the great fun which was had by all in attendance - there's still remnants of the colour on the oval!

NAPLAN

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for all the hard work our students and teachers put into preparing for and completing NAPLAN last week. 

 

NAPLAN is an important assessment that helps to identify areas where students may need additional support or resources, and our teachers ensuring our students are well-prepared is essential to their success. 

 

We look forward to sharing these results with families shortly.

HARMONY DAY AND ACTIVITIES

We have many celebrations continuing. One of our school values is celebrating diversity and  we continue to celebrate Harmony week, with the Holi festival and welcome BBQ last week and culminating with Chinese Day on Friday

 

PARENT HELPER TRAINING SESSION

Thank you to the many parents who joined us on the 9th March for our Parent Helper Training session. Parents are guided to learn the routines of the classroom and be able to assist children in the learning process.  Teachers value parental assistance to help with reading, writing, maths and computer activities and for special activities like sports and excursions. 

A huge thank you to Sue Battista and Lou Tribolet who gave up their evening to lead the session.

Upcoming Student Free Days

As previously communicated the School Council has approved the following dates where students are not required at school. The intention is to minimize disruption for families by backing it onto existing public holidays, where possible it allows the school to utilise the two consecutive days to inform work that we had planned regarding effective use of data to inform our planning and teaching. 

  • Monday 24th April (Day one Term 2, Tuesday 25th is ANZAC Day Public Holiday)
  • Friday 26th May (Professional Practice Day)
  • Monday 29th May (Reporting this is now a required use of a curriculum day under the Victorian Schools Agreement 2022)
  • Monday 28th August (Professional Practice Day)
  • Wednesday 20th December (Last day of school)

TheirCare are running a program for the two days for those families who require care.

Bunnings BBQ

A huge thank you and congratulations to those who volunteered to run our Bunnings BBQ last weekend, from all reports it was a very successful day. 

EARLY FINISH

A reminder that we finish Term One on Thursday 6th April at 2.30pm, we will end a very busy Term. Please make sure your pick up arrangements are adjusted for this earlier finish.

KISS AND DROP

The usual practice in schools is no parent parking on school sites. However , because there is virtually no “on road parking” available at BPS, School Council has made an exception to this usual practice. To maintain this situation it is important that parents driving onto the school site take extreme care ( especially in the kiss’n drop zone) and also by not parking in the bays reserved for staff parking. Staff often need to attend meetings during school time and require a space available on return. Teachers frequently carry books and equipment and parking at the church for families at drop-off and pick-up times. Likewise, every morning the staff need a guarantee of parking so they can commence their working day on time, this includes replacement teachers, instrumental teachers and others so the carpark quickly fills.

 

Some important must dos for Kiss and Drop to work effectively and ensure the safety of our children :

  • Children to exit only from the left hand side of the car
  • Parents and carers to stay inside the car at all times
  • Bags and instruments to be inside the carriage of the car not the boot
  • Once children are out of the car they will be asked to keep moving to the footpath, so please relay messages before drop off not after they have exited the car
  • Drive to the very edge of the kiss and drop area to drop off children
  • Children only to be let out of the car when they are in the Kiss and Drop zone (tennis court side)
  • No children to be let out of the car in any other area except the Kiss and Drop Zone unless directly asked to by a teacher
  • Remind students to be on time for after school pick up. You will be asked to complete a lap of the car park if your child is not ready. Please do not park in the area.
  • Car drop offs to only occur in the Surrey Road Car Park
  • Please display family name on dashboard when picking up students (these cards will be distributed for 2023)
  • Follow directions from staff on duty (moving forward, moving on)
  • Once children have been dropped off please move away from the Kiss and Drop Zone when it is safe to do so

Have a wonderful break and I looked forward to seeing you all back next term.