We would like to acknowledge 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.

Phonics Forum

On Tuesday 10th May, many members of our community gathered together online for our second 2022 community forum, which focussed on how Phonics is taught at BNWPS. The school was very eager to take the opportunity to share the research based programs and approaches that we choose to apply and follow. As presented by the team at the forum, not only are the programs we have adopted research based and endorsed by speech pathologists, they are also in line with Dept of Education guidelines and expectations; an ideal position for a government school! The recording of the forum will be available to everyone later this week - look out for a Sentral post if you missed out on attending and are keen to see and hear what was presented. If you have any further questions about the teaching and learning of phonics, or how this fits into our Literacy instructional model, please feel free to contact your class teacher, Hannah or Keir or Emma Mallia; our amazing literacy leader (emma.mallia@education.vic.gov.au)

Our next forum will focus on Guided Play. Keep your eye out for information in future newsletters.

NAPLAN

Last week our students from years 3 and 5 completed a series of NAPLAN tests. The reaction to sitting NAPLAN tests is varied in students - some love the experience, some loathe it. No matter how your child feels about these types of assessments, it is important for students and families to remember that this is just one way of demonstrating understanding in literacy and numeracy and there are a great expanse of skills, talents, knowledge and behaviours that help people achieve success in life.

If your child missed a session, we will be holding ‘make up sessions’ this week - please speak with your child’s teacher to find out more details.

We would also like to thank all our grade 3 and 5 teachers, but particularly Tom Dartnell for coordinating NAPLAN across the school. This is a huge undertaking on top of teaching and we really appreciate how smooth each session went.

We will distribute the student reports once they have been delivered to the school, which we expect to be in a couple of months.

Community Volunteers in Classrooms

Last week we ran our Community Classroom Helper Workshop - our first since the beginning of the pandemic many many moons ago! The first workshop was offered to our Foundation community - some of whom have been extremely eager to help out in the classrooms since before their childrens’ enrolment.

As we navigate our way through what is (hopefully) the tail end of the pandemic, we have made the choice to reintroduce community volunteers back into the classroom slowly and gradually. We will begin with the workshop, and foundation families, and then welcome helpers into junior classrooms after we have had the opportunity to deliver the workshop to these families. We apologise if the speed of this process does not sit well with some members of our community, but with successes of remaining on site during term one 2022 as our evidence base, we have made the decision to reintroduce things safely, slowly and intentionally.

Any community member who comes to assist in the classroom must have a valid working with children check, and will need to provide evidence of their triple vaccination before they can enter the classroom.

We look forward to reconnecting with our community of classroom volunteers - they are part of what makes BNWPS so great!

Ride & Stride

As part of our involvement in Moreland City Council’s Ride & Stride program, we would like to engage with parents and carers to better understand how you travel with your children to and from school, and any barriers you face to doing so actively (ie. on foot, bike or scooter). We’ve created an online survey that will take just a few minutes to complete. The more we can understand about the way our students and families travel, the better we can ensure the Ride & Stride program is tailored to support safe, easy & active transport to our school.

https://forms.office.com/r/Crnn1DQE4p

Your participation in the survey is voluntary but we strongly encourage you to complete the survey for your household (only one response per household is required). All data collected is anonymous and will be aggregated in the results. The information collected from the survey will help us to understand our school’s transport issues and opportunities for improving the way your family chooses to travel!

We will be sharing the results of the survey, and more information about Ride & Stride initiatives in the coming weeks. If you are interested in seeing the outcomes of the Ride & Stride pilot program, a report is available here.

Photo Week

Find your combs and hide the scissors - this week is photo week!

Our school’s choice of photographer is Kids in Living Colour, as Jess and her team are able to highlight the personality of each child in their portrait. The schedule for photography sessions was published on Sentral last week, indicating when your child/children’s class will be photographed and when siblings will be called for photos. If your child is away for their session due to being sick or at an appointment, every effort will be made to take their photo at another time during the week - they will also be digitally included into the class photo.

Order forms came home with your eldest child two weeks ago (additional copies are available at the front office), otherwise families can order online

If you have any questions about photos, please contact the school office.

Open Morning

Wednesday 18th May is our BNWPS open morning. We are looking forward to welcoming both prospective and current families onto the school grounds. The school will be open to visitors from 9am to 11am. Classrooms will be open for the morning, but we are asking that visitors observe from doorways and corridors rather than lots of visitors entering the classroom itself. Members of our leadership team will be available for a chat at Sprout all morning. If you know of any families that are thinking about a school for their child in 2023, please pass this information on to them - we would love to meet them and show them our joyful, warm and colourful school in action!

the Nor'Wester

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

Issue 14 · 16 May 2022

In this issue