Welcome Back!

A warm welcome back to Term 2! Students have settled smoothly into the term and have reengaged energetically into their learning. This term’s highlights include important events such as Year 7 Camp, Education Week, Year 8 & 9 Exams and Student Semester One Reports. Further information regarding Education Week and Student Semester One Reports will be communicated to families accordingly.

ANZAC DayThank you to our school captains Jackson Partridge and Jessica Reid who represented Brookside College at this year’s ANZAC Day Dawn Service held at the Caroline Springs Town Centre. Jackson and Jess were also joined at the service by various Brookside families and staff.

2024 Year 7 Information Evening

The 2024 Year 6-7 transition process is already underway! To support both current and prospective families with this process, Brookside College conducted an information session on Tuesday 2 May. Thank you to Mrs Brooke Gillis and Mrs Kate Newitt for organising the evening along with other staff who assisted on the evening. A friendly reminder that Year 7 placement applications are due into the office by Friday 12 May.

Year 6 Camp Information Evening

An information evening was held on Wednesday 26 April for parents/guardians of students attending the Year 6 Canberra Camp later this year. The session provided information regarding the itinerary and Covid protocols. Thank you to Mrs Melissa Bowker, Mrs Brooke Gillis and Mr Dylan Golz for presenting on the evening.

Prep 2024 Enrolments

Brookside College is now accepting enrolments for Prep 2024. School tours run regularly each fortnight for prospective families who are interested in enrolling their child/ren at our college. Information pertaining to enrolments and registration for school tours can be found on our school website: https://brooksidecollege.vic.edu.au/

Parent Helpers

Thank you to all parents and guardians who completed the annual Parent Helper Course at the end of last term. A reminder that in order to assist at the school, parents/guardians must have:

completed the Parent Helper Course (either completed this year or in previous years; this only needs to be done once),
presented their Working With Children’s Check card to the office.

Once completed, parents/guardians may reach out to staff to offer their assistance. A reminder also that all parents/guardians must sign in at the office before assisting each time they come onsite.

Mother’s Day/Special Persons Day Stall

The annual Mother’s Day/Special Person’s stall was held on Monday 8 May, providing students with the opportunity to purchase a gift for their mother or a special person in their life. Thank you to all members of the Parents and Friends Committee (PFC) and other volunteers who ran the stall and assisted in making the event a successful one!

Education Week

Education Week will take place this year from Sunday 14 May – Saturday 20 May and will celebrate the theme “Activate Learners: Move, Make, Motivate”. This year Brookside parents and guardians will once again be invited into P-6 classrooms (on Monday 15 May, immediately following the assembly from 9am – 10am) where they will have the opportunity to participate in learning activities with their children. Parents in year 7-9 have also been invited to attend a special Science lesson with their children on Tuesday 16 May, from 2:15pm

Attitude to School Survey

We value student voice as a means of improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are once again conducting the Attitudes to School Survey(AtoSS) to find out what your child thinks of our school.

The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

The AtoSS will be conducted with our Year 4-9 students from Monday 15 May – Friday 26 May. The valuable information received from the survey will assist the college with future school planning and improvement strategies.

Upcoming Athletics Carnivals

Due to inclement weather in Term 1, the Athletics Carnival for the Years 3-6 and Years 7-9 were rescheduled for Term 2. A reminder the rescheduled dates are as follows:

The 3-6 Athletics Carnival will be held on Wednesday the 24th of May.

The 7-9 Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday the 25th of May.

Both events will be held at the Keilor Park Athletics Track (Stadium Dr, Keilor Park VIC 3042).

The Compass consent for both carnivals has been reopened and parents/carers will have until Sunday the 14th of May to pay/consent. If you have already provided payment/consent to the previous event, this will carry over to the new date and will not need to be completed again.

The Biggest Morning Tea

Food Technology and the Hands on Learning (HOL) Café are hosting a ‘Bake Sale’ for Australia's Biggest Morning Tea, to raise funds for the Cancer Council Victoria and support those impacted by cancer.

The ‘Bake Sale’ will take place in the Food Technology room and HOL Cafe during lunch & recess on Monday 29th May. Students will be allowed to buy food during this time and all food will be sold for $3 each.

Parents and Carers are requested to carefully read the list of ingredients used to prepare each food item to be sold on the day. Please ensure your child knows what they can or shouldn’t purchase from the stall according to their tastes and medical requirements. Please send money with your children only if you wish for your child to buy food at the Bake Sale.

Prime Drinks

Recently, we have noticed some students bringing energy drinks to school such as Prime Hydration. This is a new elite athlete drink that is in high demand, with some of these drinks containing almost twice the legal amount of caffeine per 10ml allowed in Australia.

It clearly states on the packaging that these drinks are ‘not suitable for children under 15 years of age’.

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students, and protect them from the potentially unidentified health issues, all energy drinks are prohibited at Brookside College. Students can expect them to be immediately confiscated if they are brought to school.

Cooler Weather

Although it has been lovely seeing and playing with all of the different coloured leaves that have fallen from the trees, it is also a reminder that cooler weather has arrived. At this time of the year the weather can be very unpredictable and can change very quickly - please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately according to the weather. Should your child wish to wear a beanie, scarf or gloves whilst outside, he/she may do so as long as the clothing items are school colours.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

The Executive Team

Brookside College

5-6 Food Tech

with Mylinh Crossman