principal's message

BNW conference

The weeks are flying past already and everyone is well and truly back into the rhythm of BNW. I hope you enjoyed your curriculum day last Friday, I certainly know we did! Our whole staff headed down to Geelong for a two-day conference of professional learning and team building. We explored topics such as Strengths, Trust and Feedback in readiness for implementing a whole-school approach to peer observations. Peer observations are where we observe each other’s practice, to learn new strategies or approaches, to refine what we are currently doing and to ensure we have consistent practices in each classroom. It is an exciting time ahead for our teachers and aides in terms of their collaborative development, as humans generally become more energised, inspired and motivated when they acquire new skills and understandings and we know your children will reap many benefits from our improved approaches and invigorated mindsets!

past students remembering BNW

At the conference last week, a number of our teachers met a man who had attended BNWPS 65 years ago. He is a doctor now and was at an osteopathy conference next to ours! This man recalled his experiences at our school to our great delight (and sometimes horror) that really helped us see how much our school and our education system has changed over that time. This man told us about the rows upon rows of desks (apparently 56 to a room!) and the ‘rural school room’ which was made up of ‘leftover students’ from P-6, who didn’t fit into the cramped classrooms in our main building… Do you think I should include this in the class formation ideas for 2021?

you can't stop progress!

At last week’s school council meeting we endorsed the 2020 Annual Implementation Plan. This year’s plan is significantly smaller than previous years; partly because we are in the final year of our Strategic Plan (a new one will be developed after this year’s School Review) and partly because we have already achieved one of the goals we had set in 2017! The goal to increase student voice, equity and agency has made steady improvements over the last three years, which has us achieving our target a year earlier than planned. We will of course continue our work to increase the agency our young people have within this community, however it is great to be able to recognise and celebrate the achievements our school has made as a community. 

We are proud to say that these achievements are being celebrated across our school’s network, with Wendy and I being asked to present our wellbeing strategy at a network principal forum last week, highlighting the need to consider student voice and again at a wellbeing forum next week. It is fantastic to receive recognition for our efforts, but we are most excited to share our practices with other schools and help children and families beyond our own school grounds.

cultural diversity week

This week we have celebrated BNW Cultural Diversity week. As a community we are proud of our inclusive practices every single day, however our celebration weeks (which are mapped out on this year’s calendar) are intended to raise awareness and continue to promote the values we feel are important to our community. Whilst we are all Australians, we also all come with our own family history; this history enriches our community in endless ways. Within our school community we have on record, 42 countries represented through the places of birth for our families; with 66% of our students and families being born in Australia, it is important to consider our whole community and ensure our students and families feel represented in our communications, events and resources. At Tuesday night’s Wominjeka picnic (a revision of our International Food Night) we saw many of these cultures represented in the food we shared with each other and could celebrate something that brings us all together. I thank you all for your involvement in the evening!

parent teacher interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday of Week 7 (10th and 12th March). Families can book a time slot with their child’s classroom teacher, but please be aware that specialist teachers have limited availability for the 458 students in the school. In order to make the most of the ten minutes of each session, please arrive on time and consider any questions you want to ask your child’s teacher or any pertinent information you want to share with them to support the successful learning journey of your child.

school council elections

Next Friday 7th March at 4pm sharp, our school council nominations close. Last Monday, all families received an email outlining the number of available positions on council for the next two years, a timeline for the election process and instructions on how to nominate yourself or another member of the community. If you have any questions about the school council or the election process, please contact the office.

capital works update and presentation

The progress on our Capital Works design continues to move along at a wonderful pace and we have some images to share with the community (on our Capital Works page of the website). We have been approved to move into the Detailed Design (DD) phase, which is where we get into the finer details of our design and think about the day-to-day functionality of each space. Yesterday I met with Content Studio and their landscape architect to discuss the spaces outside STELLA and the productive garden. We discussed the importance of shade, natural spaces and keeping our mature trees safe. You can find out more about the DD phase progress on our webpage on Monday, as we continue to update that page with information, however we know there is nothing like looking at images and talking to the architects themselves. Therefore I am pleased to announce that Content Studio will be at our School Council Public Meeting (BNW 2019 Review on April 22) to present their designs so far and answer questions from the community.

supervision after hours

We love people using our school grounds outside of school hours as it helps foster our sense of community. If you or your children are using the space however, it is important to be aware of a few things.

We run a before and after care service, which means we have students who continue to use this space under the guidance and supervision of OSHC educators. These students wear vests to signal that they are part of the OSHC program.

Your children should be supervised at all times. Before 8.45am and from 3.45pm, students are not under the supervision of school staff (unless enrolled in OSHC) and therefore are the responsibility of their parents or carers. This includes after school events such as our picnic this week or after school meetings with teachers or leadership, such as the parent teacher interviews in week 7. Please ensure you have made arrangements to have your child supervised before and after school.

Members of the public frequent this space after hours for their own recreational activities. Most of these visitors are simply playing basketball or walking their dogs, whilst some of the activities are less kid-friendly. The school is working to manage the second group of visitors who predominantly come at night, however it is important to remember that a range of people use this space after school.

sydney road street festival

Please be aware that the Sydney Road Street Parade has been cancelled for this year. This is disappointing for our school, as we had a great level of engagement and attendance at the last parade (it was dubbed the BNW parade by some!) after Jack’s unit on Parading last year, however this decision was out of our control. We are sure many families will still enjoy the Sydney Road Festival, which will continue - sans parade.

space camp - expression of interest

We are looking for an expression of interest from families with students currently in grades 4 and 5 for a 10-day Space Camp to NASA next year. This is only an initial callout to find out if there are enough families interested in their child attending such a camp next year. If there is enough interest from families, we will start the process with Immersive Education and our School Council. Please be aware, at this stage we cannot guarantee that students from BNW will be able to attend this camp. Please also be aware that families who have not indicated their interest at this initial stage will still be eligible to apply for the camp if it goes ahead, however if places become limited, preference will be given to families who did indicate their interest at this initial stage.

To read more about the camp on offer, read the PDF below. To register interest in your child possibly attending a grade 5/6 International Space Camp to NASA in 2021, please submit your details here.