Principal's Report

Hello BRPS Community,

The commencement of the year has continued to progress very positively, with learning, wellbeing and sporting programs in full swing. Many of our teachers and teaching teams have been completing professional learning targetted towards our priority areas of literacy and wellbeing to ensure we are continually improving practice in the areas that have the biggest impact on student outcomes. 

This week I was thrilled to present our first round of Student of The Week awards at assembly. The awards recognise students who have shown strong values such as respect, kindness or cooperation and teamwork, or those who have shown quality attributes such as bravery, leadership and a strong commitment to their learning. As well as the presentation of awards at assembly each week, the names of the students receiving these awards, along with the reasons, are printed in this newsletter to parents each fortnight on the 'Student of the Week' page. 

Open Afternoon - Wednesday 1st March

All BRPS families are invited to our open afternoon taking place on Wednesday March 1st from 3:40 pm until 4:30 pm.

Families are invited to visit their children’s classrooms, say hello to their children’s teachers and the leadership and specialist team will also be out and about during the afternoon looking forward to touching base with our school community. 

The open afternoon provides families with the opportunity to visit their children’s learning space and children will be encouraged to share what they have been engaging with since the beginning of the school year and to show pride in how they have settled into their new year level.

After the past few years we know that parent/carer physical contact with schools has been impacted, so we hope as many of you are able to come along to make the afternoon a success and continue to strengthen the connection between home and school.

Just a reminder, as mentioned in our previous BRPS Newsletter, our parent/teacher conferences will take place in Term Two and Four, after Student Achievement Reports have been shared. 

As always, if you wish to share something pertinent to your child/ren we suggest you reach out to your child’s teacher/s via Compass and they will respond to you at a time that is suitable and suggest a meeting if needed. If it is something that requires immediate action, we ask that you contact the BRPS school office instead of emailing, as teachers do not always have the opportunity to check their emails during their instruction time. 

Welcome Picnic & Running Colour 

**New Date - Friday 24th March**

Whilst it was disappointing that the weather wasn't in our favour last Friday for the Welcome Picnic and Running Colour event, we're exctied to announce that we have been able to reschedule to Friday 24th March.  

We hope to see as many families as possible on the oval on the new date, taking up the opprotunity to catch up with old and new friends. 

Staffing News 

This week we welcome Bec Long as a teacher in the Visual Arts program. Replacing the recently retired Lyn Pedler, Bec will be teaching in partnership with Olivia Winfield  (Bec: Mon/Tue; Olivia: Wed-Fri).

We wish Wen Ju Hour all the best as she is now on personal leave for the remainder of Term 1 to prioritise her health.

The Chinese program will be on hold until Wen Ju  returns in Term 2. In its place will be a Digital Technologies program for students F-6, scheduled at the same times students currently attend Chinese. Kelly Heath, a regular at our school, will be teaching Digital Technologies Tuesday-Thursday. Returning teacher Abbey Parkinson will  be teaching the program on Mondays. 

Black Rock Primary School Council - Notice of Election and Call for Nominations

Parents on School Councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school. 

Nominations for 2023/24 school councillors are now open. Nomination forms can be collected from the school office and must be received by 4pm, Tuesday 28th February. 

Membership on the council is for a period of two years and regular meetings occur each month. Councillors also become members of one of the following subcommittees of council: Education, Finance, Buildings & Grounds or Community Events & Engagement. 

If you would like to know more about being a councillor, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send an email to black.rock.ps@education.vic.gov.au.  You may even want to discuss being a councillor with a current school council parent member - contact the school and we can put you in touch. 

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

Please see the '2023 School Council Membership' page in this newsletter for further information.

Parent Payments and Voluntary Contributions

The Compass Portal is live now for families to log in and complete all school payments.

The BRPS School Council, staff and school community have high expectations of all     curriculum programs, resources and facilities that the school provides. Much of the operational costs including the provision of computers (including laptops), high-quality school resources, extra sports equipment, library/ICT support and equipment, quality art and science supplies and maintenance, along with the provision of new curriculum initiatives are supported solely from local fundraising, including parent payments. 

House Swim Carnival 

Our House Swimming Carnival was held on Wednesday at the Prahran Aquatic Centre. 

On a beautiful sunny day the atmosphere at the pool was electric, with a mix of boisterous and cheering Year 4-6 students, spurred on by the encouragement of parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends and teachers. 

It was wonderful to see the excitement, team spirit and sportmanship on display by our students. We have a very talented and competitive student group who provided some amazing performances on the day.

The competitive element was certainly at the forefront in the second annual 'Teacher v Student' race, with the students putting in a marvellous effort and thrashing their more experienced opponents! Better luck next year Mr Muller, Mrs Brand, Miss Hudson and Mr Tyndall. 

Thank you to Mr Muller for organising such a successful day, as with all learning activities and special events a great deal of work happens behind the scenes to ensure success and full participation. 

Thanks also to all of the teachers and parent volunteers for their hard work to facilitate such a fun day for the students. 

Please visit the Sports @ BRPS page where the winning House Team is revealed!

Traffic Safety

As the new school year begins I’m asking all members of our community to exercise caution, patience and respect when driving around our narrow streets at all times of the day. 

• Please do not park unnecessarily in the disable access parking spots on Ferguson Street. We have a number of students with mobility issues who require access to the designated parking spaces at different times throughout the day.
• Consider if driving is the only option to get students to school, or are health enhancing, environmentally friendly options such as walking and cycling possibilities? Is car pooling an option?
• Drive SLOWLY – 40km/h maximum please.
• REFRAIN from parking in or across school and neighbouring driveways – even for a short amount of time.
• Observe the 2-minute limit at the front of the school in Arkaringa Crescent – please do not park or even exit your vehicle in this zone at peak times.
• Remain CALM, times of high anxiety or stress can lead to rash decisions or frayed tempers.
• ALWAYS use designated school crossings and model safe behaviours to students at all times
• NEVER enter staff carparks, either in a vehicle or by foot/bike/scooter.
• REMEMBER that the space in front of the double gates to the oval on Cheltenham Road is often used by buses to collect and drop-off students for events at all times of the day.

Privacy Information for Parents and Carers

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website: BRPS Collection Statement 

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents.

Have a wonderful fortnight.

Sam Tyndall

PRINCIPAL