Celebrating School Success
It is such a pleasure to lead a school with a deliberate and intentional focus on nourishing the development of knowledge, character and skills to equip our children and young people for life. Our school is far more than an educational institiute, we are a community of learners. Our students can spend up to 15,600 hours in school across 13 years and it is important that we create an environment that stimulates learning, develops character, facilitates belonging and sets up our young people for a life well lived. I know this to be true as I see it every day while walking through our school; however, it is always pleasing to hear this affirmed from a school we recently visited. Here is what they said;
You should be so proud of the way your school audience conducted themselves last week – they were such a lovely, well-mannered group. We loved having them in. Looking forward to seeing your students again tomorrow and Thursday.
Well done BPS, we are incredibly proud of you! You certainly do live our values and epitomise our school expactions Best Effort, Positive and Safe.
Welcome to BPS
This fortnight we welcome Abdullah and Avyaan and their families to our school community.
Staffing Update
Mrs Cathryn Parke will take a period of long service for the remainder of this term and for the first two weeks of term 4.
Miss Jessica Fidler will teach our Prep B class on Mondays for the remainder of this term and for the first two weeks of term 4.
Lock Down – Proactive Safety Practices in Schools
This term, we are reviewing many of our school policies and procedures and you will notice our Lock Down posters in all classrooms. These simple visual reminders will ensure we all respond consistently if ever required to Lock Down our school site.
Listen to the music
Out of sight in buildings
Close blinds, lock doors and windows
Keep quiet and listen to the adults
DOWN
It is a requirement for all school sites to practice clear procedures when the school may require extra safety measures for response to such things as a severe storm, dangerous animals, angry visitors, a dangerous situation or an emergency where students are required to remain indoors or return to classrooms.
This term, staff will be teaching students about the importance of these procedures prior to us having some practices. We appropriately teach all levels of safety at school and this is another important one for us to learn about; it is not meant to alarm anyone.
Our signal to commence a Lock Down is an announcement over our PA system. This term, our introductory practices will be announced to the school prior to commencing. We are not aiming to alarm children and it is important for staff to use these early practices as new learning opportunities.
It’s particularly positive to report to families that in my time as Principal, I have never needed this type of response; however, we still must ensure that we are all confident of what is expected if we were ever required to put the school into a Lock Down/Lock In situation.
Learning Conversations
We warmly invite you to join us for our Term 3 Learning Conversations. These will take place during week nine (Monday 16/09, Tuesday 17/09 and Thursday 19/09). Teachers will be available between 3.15 and 4.30 pm on these afternoons. Please contact your child’s classroom teacher to make a time using class Seesaw.
School Safety
Road and school safety awareness and compliance are everyone’s responsibility. In keeping our school community safe please note:
- our signage requesting carpark users to reverse into our parking bays
- The accessibility/disability parking bays are for those displaying the specific authority to use the designated car parks directly outside the front entrance.
- If collecting your child/ren via car, children must only enter the vehicle from the pick up-zone where duty teachers are present
- All drivers exit the carpark using the southern exit (with traffic flow; please follow the arrow)
- All pedestrians must use the designated crossing point (zebra crossing)
These action ensure the safety of children and the consistent flow of traffic. In the coming weeks, you will notice some new line marking, crossing poles and flags to assist this process. I thank you for your ongoing support in keeping our children safe.