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 Back

Welcome back to term 4 everyone! We hope you all enjoyed the last two weeks and had an opportunity to relax with your loved ones.

Hannah was lucky enough to enjoy five days in Far North Queensland where she bumped into one of our much loved school families! A few days of sunshine, snorkeling and exploring the Daintree was an excellent way to refill the bucket - much better than getting bogged while camping, which also happened.

Keir got back into exploring the pottery wheel (which he hasn’t done for about twenty years!) and spent a lot of time with Gus the pug drinking coffee and reading the 2022 shortlisted young adult novels.

Ride & Stride/Open Streets

When we conducted our Ride & Stride survey with families earlier in the year, parents identified less traffic around the school gates as one of the top 2 things that would make it easier for their children to travel actively to school. With 83% of our families living within a 10min ride or 20min walk from school, we’ve decided to trial the Open Streets initiative as part of Ride & Stride Merri-bek City Council and Bicycle Network’s Ride2School program to make the streets around our school gates safer for children, families and residents and encourage active travel to school. Walking or riding to school is a great way to build healthy habits and prepare to focus on the school day ahead. Open Streets will complement Ride & Stride initiatives like the Tag On program and free e-cargo bike loans, which we have already launched this year to address barriers to active travel.

On Tuesday 11th, Tuesday 18th, and Tuesday 25th October we will be opening Culloden Street and Shetland Avenue to walking and cycling only during drop off (8.30-9.30am) and pick up (3:00-4:00pm) times to create safe and healthy space for families arriving at the school gates. There will be fun activities held on the street for children to play, ride and scoot around before and after school. Please refer to the attached flyer for information on access, activities and other details. A map with alternative drop-off options is also included.

In the lead up to the trial, we’d value hearing your thoughts surrounding school drop off and pick up on Culloden St and Shetland Ave and any feedback or questions you may have about the upcoming trials – please click here to answer a short survey.

Numeracy Forum

We have our next online Community Forum next Tuesday, where we will be sharing how our students learn numeracy skills in grades 3-6. Our school’s approach to numeracy was reviewed after Alice and Jessie participated in the Primary Maths and Science Specialist initiative and draws on best practice as well as a deep understanding of the students at BNWPS. This approach (dubbed ‘Launch, Explore, Explain’) provides students with many opportunities to wade through the Learning Pit and devise their own strategies for solving problems and to apply their ideas to real-life situations.

We know that the way maths is taught has evolved significantly since many grown ups were at school, so we look forward to sharing this engaging and evidence-based approach with everyone.

If you have any questions about Numeracy in grades 3-6 that you would like answered in the forum, please use this link.

If you are wanting to attend the Numeracy Forum, please use the following link:

Community Forum - Numeracy 3-6

Tuesday, October 11th · 6:00pm - 7.00pm

Link to forum; https://meet.google.com/vnb-zhto-oxt

Construction Works

Students and families managed to access the grounds smoothly this morning, but we do want to remind families that the renovation of our front entrance will continue throughout Term 4. Information was sent to families via Sentral last week. A summary of the information is below:

There is no access to the main building through the front entrance until further notice. Please use the entrance at STELA, OSHC or the basketball court.
The front office will be operating out of the downstairs double classroom – a map has been provided for your reference.
The heating in the main building has been turned off in the main building. Please bring layers until the weather warms up a bit more.
Please avoid parking on Shetland Ave wherever possible as this entrance is being used to transport building materials.

We know this means more disruptions to our daily routines and we want to thank you all for your ongoing patience and cooperation in these matters. We have no doubt that Term 4 will continue to bring the fun, learning and connection that we have so far enjoyed throughout 2022.

Foundation Information Night

On Thursday 13th October we will be running our online information session for families of students enrolled in Foundation 2023. We are very excited about beginning this journey with a lovely new group of families. The session will run from 6.30pm to 7.30pm. An email will be sent to all families with the google meets link for the meeting. if you have any questions please reach out to Cath Beswick catherine.beswick@education.vic.gov.au Cath is our Foundation team leader and will be able to answer any questions that you may have.

If you have a child in your family (or if you know of any others!) it is not too late to enroll. Please give the front office a call and the\y will be able to assist you in getting the enrollment process started.

Performing Arts Term Four

This term, we are very lucky to have Steve Young teaching performing arts for all of our students. Steve’s program will be focussing on the performing arts through a cultural perspective and we are looking forward to seeing what term four (and Steve!) bring to the area of Performing Arts. Please say “Hi!” to Steve if you see him around the school yard.

Future Camp Costs

In July the Victorian State Government settled on a new industrial agreement with the Australian Education Union, which saw planned improvements to the working conditions for teachers and education support staff. We are sure you are all happy that there are improved conditions for people working in schools, as this directly influences the experiences your children have, however there are some significant changes that need to be highlighted for our families - one of which being the cost of camps.

Prior to January 2023, teachers were not provided with additional pay or time in lieu for any work outside the hours of 8:45am - 3:45pm. This meant that for events such as evening/weekend performances and school camps, staff continued to be paid for a typical school day, volunteering the rest of their time. The new agreement sees this change - staff will now be paid for all the hours they are on duty, the cost of which must be covered by families.

Our camp program has seen a few interruptions over the past few years, but we have always had the intention to return (when able) to the extended camp program that gradually develops students’ independence and skills. With this new information, the school and school council are seeking input from the community. We want to understand how the increased costs of camps will be experienced by different members of our school community and to get a better understanding of what our community prioritises, so we can make decisions about our future camps.

Please take 5 minutes to complete this very brief survey about camp costs, to inform our future planning. Thank you to those people who have already submitted a response.

2023 Class Placement

A reminder that input to class structures is due by the end of this week. Opportunities to have input into student friendships will come later in the term via a survey.

Please keep your eye out on the newsletter for more information & updates.

Sprout

Kris Bidenko