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.

Welcome to 2023 Everyone

Already, there is an excited buzz in the air, and that buzz is filling everyone’s buckets. It has been wonderful to see the students and staff return with such an eagerness to authentically and respectfully connect with each other, and to begin to approach thinking and problem solving creatively.

Assemblies

This year, we will be returning to morning assemblies on Monday mornings only. It was an incredible delight to start our year together this morning, with all those smiling faces beaming up at us.

Morning assemblies will take place at 8.55am in the class lining up spaces, and we would love to see as many parents and community members present as possible. Monday morning assemblies will focus on staff and students sharing information, and should not go for longer than ten minutes.

We will continue to have whole school assemblies on Friday afternoons also. These assemblies will continue to be where students celebrate their learning, we sing the school song, and we continue to give out shining star awards.

We look forward to seeing you at all or some of our assemblies!

School Communications

At school we feel honoured that so many of you trust us with the extremely important task of educating your children. We know that an influential element of this trust is clear and effective communication and have been working to make communications with school clearer and easier than ever before.

The image below include our new Communication Tree, which has been designed to help parents and carers work out who they need to contact, depending on the need. The second image shows the different communication platforms we use at BNWPS and how the information varies from one platform to another.

If you are interested in joining the Communications Sub-Committee, contact us at communications@brunswicknwps.vic.edu.au

Classroom Representatives

One of the newest additions to our communication strategy is our adult Classroom Representatives. We are looking for at least one adult representative from each class to become the Class Representative. These representatives will create a WhatsApp group and invite all parents and carers of the class to join the group.

The Class Representatives will be a point of contact for members of staff or council (Classroom Teacher, Specialist Teacher or CET, etc) who may be looking for volunteers for a specific task. The Class Representative will be responsible for sharing that information to the group.

Each group of parents and carers can also use this platform to contact each other for organisational and social purposes outside school.

The purpose of the Class Representatives is to help foster connections between parents and carers within each class. It provides another means of uniting the community at school and beyond after a few years of disruptions and isolation. We also hope this will enhance the quality of relationships within the school between students, families and teachers.

The Class Representative does not replace the parent/carer & teacher relationship or any existing communication channels. If parents and carers choose not to join the group, they will not miss out on any vital information, which will continue to be provided through formal channels.

Families should continue to communicate directly with their child’s teacher or the school leadership in relation to their child’s education and school experience. We will only communicate about individual children directly with families.

Class Representatives will be invited to come together with Hannah and Keir for an informal chat twice a term on the Sprout deck, one during the morning and one after school hours. This will be an opportunity to laugh, share experiences, seek information and ensure we are all on the same page.

Dates for Term 1 2023 are: Friday 17th February @ 3.45pm and Monday 6th March @ 9.00am

We are encouraging everyone who is interested to join each Class Group, however we are seeking at least one Class Representative for each class to be the point of contact for the school or committees to disseminate information. If there are more representatives, the role can be shared.

If you are interested in volunteering to be a class representative, please fill out this google form as soon as possible.

The Nor'Wester

BNWPS is committed to Child Safe Standards and prevention of child abuse

Issue 1 · 30 Jan 2023

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