BBPS Life

Smoking Ceremony

This week we were very fortunate and honoured to have David Tournier from the Bunurong land and sea council visit BBPS to talk to us about his culture, connection to country, and his traditions. He performed a traditional smoking ceremony and invited students to walk through to smoke, which was both an act of cleansing, and also a moment for reflection. 

This also ties in with other activities across the school. Grades 3 and 4 visited CERES last week to participate in ochre body painting, a walk through the bushland, and a special tasting of edible native plants.

Students in grades 1 and 2 have been writing about a place that is special to them. It is a way for us to understand the connection we have with places and to reflect on the connection our First Nations peoples have with the land. 

Oscar:  "We invited an elder from the Bunurong people to come to the school and do a smoking ceremony. It brings good luck. We walked through the smoke. We also got to touch the possum and kangaroo skins"

Will A "He asked us to reflect on our behaviour, and our past and future. It was fun because the smoke got in our eyes and made us cry. He also showed us his boomerang and showed us how he uses it"

Footy Colours Day

Adaline and Charlotte (Prep C) and Vivi and Matilda (2G) getting into the spirit!

Prep

Preps have had a busy fortnight with athletics training, PMP (Perceptual Motor Program) and core learning including fabulous spelling. Check out all the whiteboards below!

Grades 1 and 2

Lulu (2G) "We had a lesson where there was a line on the ground. At one end was strongly agree. At the other end was strongly disagree. We took turns using persuasive sentence starters to share our opinions on different topics."

My Special Place:

Teddy "We are working on a poster of a special place to us. My special place is my home because i live there with my family and it makes me feel loved, excited, sometime calm, and also happy"

Charlotte W "We are doing our special place and we are writing about how we connect with it, how it makes us feel, who we share it with and how we look after it. My special place is BBPS because it makes me feel happy and excited"

Grades 3 and 4

Grades 3 and 4 have attended an extra special excursion to CERES, where they explored the extensive grounds (and playground!) and experienced various activities to help them understand the traditions of indigenous Australians. Other highlights include: Athletics training, STEAM club activities, and our popular Friday Hub Choice activities including using the Blue Bot robots! Our footy colours day was also a sight to behold. 

Other learning this week has included a focus on multiplication and the strategies that can be used, and and research and writing about indigenous culture in our inquiry lessons. 

Thank you also to the grade 3 and 4 students who helped with planting as part of our school's celebration of national tree planting day. 

Tree Planting

3/4 Hub Photos

Joan Miro inspired art by grade 4

Wheel Talk incursion

Grades 5 and 6

Grade 5 and 6 have relished the chance to create their own designs in visual arts- Grade 5 are designing and decorating a sneaker, and grade 6 are creating their own radical skateboard art. Athletics has also been a lot of fun, with both grades attending trips to Whyte street park for regular training on various track and field events. 

Grade 5 Upstanders Program

INTRODUCING OUR GRADE 5 UPSTANDERS!

What is an Upstander?

-Oscar 5W: "An Upstander is someone that stands up for other people when someone is physically or mentally hurting someone. An Upstander is also someone who doesn’t bully or cyber bully."

Tash 5W: "An Upstander is someone who prevents bullying. For example; when they see bullying, they  stand up on behalf of the person getting bullied. Upstanders don’t just watch people being bullied, they help prevent it and don’t join in."

-Yianni & Marlowe 5C: "An Upstander is someone that does not tolerate bullying and will help someone if they are being bullied in any way. Some examples of this are cyber bullying and face-to-face bullying. It is absolutely horrible to be bullied, that’s why we should try and prevent this as best we can by explaining how everyone can be an Upstander and telling more people about this."

Want to know more? Keep an eye out for our posts in the BBPS newsletter! You can also check out #ihaveyourback

Grade 6 Skateboard design project

Zoe (6B) "We are painting skateboards. I have designed a shark under water because I thought it would stand out and would be a fun idea. It is inspired by the poster for the movie Jaws."