Buninyong PS Newsletter

Principal's Report

WELCOME BACK

Welcome back to everyone and we hope you had a nice break.  I’m certainly pleased to be back in the principal role and have enjoyed reconnecting with the students, staff and families.  A big thankyou to Nicole, Narelle and Jarrod R for doing an excellent job in their respective leadership roles and for taking good care of the place while I was away.

 

It’s feeling like we will get the opportunity to work our way through the term without too much disruption because of the covid pandemic.  Fingers crossed that this turns out to be the case, as we have lots to look forward to this term, which includes:

 

·         Grade 5/6 Camp to Halls Gap

·         Energy Breakthrough

·         Our P-2 Sports Day

·         Swimming Programs

·         The usual range of inter-school sporting events

·         The continuation of the Young Authors Program

·         Japanese Day

·         Grandparents and Special Friends Day

·         The Pre-Schooler Program and Orientation Day for our 2023 preps

·         Grade 6 Graduation

 

Attached is a calendar of events for term 4.  Please note that we have yet to include Parent Teacher Interviews in the calendar.  We’re yet to decide where they best fit.

Early Childhood Awards

  • The Department of Education and Training’s Victorian Early Years Awards (VEYA) celebrate the “outstanding work of our early childhood professionals to improve the health, learning, development and wellbeing of Victorian children and their families.”
  • VEYA 2022 consists of seven award categories, including:
    • Category 1 – Improving Access and Participation in Early Learning
    • Category 2 – Supporting Parents to Build their Capacity and Confidence
    • Category 3 – Creating Collaborative Community Partnerships
    • Category 4 – Promoting Children’s Health and Wellbeing
    • Category 5 – Continuity of Early Learning 
    • Category 6 – The Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence in Educational Leadership Award 
    • Category 7 – Early Childhood Teacher of the Year
  • Buninyong Primary School and Buninyong Pre-School have been announced as a finalist in the Continuity of Early Learning category, for their collaboration in building a positive transition to school.
  • The Prep Team are incredibly proud to have been announced as finalists. In what has been a challenging few years, we are thrilled to receive this exciting news. 
  • Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 9 November 2022.
  • Visit the Department of Education and Training website to read about the finalists -www.vic.gov.au/victorian-early-years-awards

Successful Grant Applications

In the past week we have received some good news in terms of grant applications.  An application to the Buninyong Community Bank to have the kitchen upgraded at our Scotsburn Campus was successful, which is fantastic.  The bank will provide $21,000 towards the project, which will enable us to create a space that is suited to having groups of students and adults prepare food.  This is an important aspect of what we do at Scotsburn, so this is very exciting.  This is the latest in a long line of grants provided by Buninyong Community Bank over the past decade and we are very grateful. Our plan is to have this project completed in the coming 6 months.

 

News also arrived this week that we have been successful in receiving an Inclusive Schools Grant through the Department of Education and Training (DET) for $183,000.  This grant will see the current grade 3/4 adventure playground at the Buninyong Campus replaced.  This piece of adventure play equipment is our oldest and is approaching the end of its natural life.  The design for the new playground includes pieces that can be enjoyed by all students, including those with a disability.  This project will be delivered by DET and is likely to be completed late in 2023 or early 2024.

Kinder to Primary School Transition

We’re excited to have our Pre-Schooler Program start this week and expect to have a number of excited 4 and 5 year old children join us for sessions on Wednesday and Friday.  No doubt our grade 6 Transition Team members will also be excited, as they get to help out with these sessions.

Pre-Schooler Program

A warm welcome to our 2023 Prep Students and their families as they commence our Pre-Schooler Program this week at both campuses. We look forward to getting to know our new students and sharing with them all the wonderful learning experiences Buninyong Primary School has to offer. 

Planning for 2023

We are now in the thick of planning for next year.  Obviously this is dependent on student numbers, so urge anyone who has a prep to enrol for 2023 gets a form completed and submitted as soon as possible.