Month: September 2023

School holidays are here, and the weather is playing its part.  I hope you have some lovely activities planned to take advantage of the gorgeous spring weather.  A couple of ideas I might explore:

• Cranbourne Gardens – amazing Royal Botanic Gardens.  The bushland has over 450 indigenous plant species and includes over 10 kilometres of walking tracks, six kilometres of cycling tracks, a lookout tower, picturesque shelters, barbecues and playgrounds. It is a precious remnant of the vegetation that once covered the broader region and is actively managed to control the number of non-indigenous plants and exotic weeds.
• The Lume Melbourne – digital art gallery.  The current display is ‘Connection’ – born from an idea to celebrate First Nations art and music and give back to its artist communities, this experience tells the story of our country’s rich cultural history.
• Melbourne Museum – Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature.  Wonder at the magic of the creatures from the Wizarding World alongside the remarkable animals from London’s Natural History Museum collection and learn about their shared abilities and behaviours that allow them to dazzle, attract and escape.

I am interested to hear from our students when we return, what exciting activities they get up to.  Make sure they get outside and enjoy the sunshine – a boost of vitamin D is great for our mental health.

Farewell Layla Baker

Today we farewell Layla as she commences her family leave.  Layla has been at our school since 2021 and a great addition to our junior school.  Her caring nature and positive disposition will be sadly missed.  We wish her all the best on the safe arrival of her baby.

We welcome back Hannah Spratt to become the teacher of 1B for the rest of the year.

Beacy’s Got Talent

Congratulations to all our students who participated in the Beacy’s Got Talent in their classroom and year levels.  Our SRC are organising this event and I have seen some of the performances that have auditioned.  I believe every year levels have held their auditions, and we have one act from each year level ready to perform at our whole school performance.  If you would like to join us, we are holding in on Friday 6^th October at 2:00pm in the gym.  There will be no assembly in the first week – next assembly will be in week 3.

Well done to all our students for having a go.  It is great to see students able to showcase their talents, and for some to put themselves out of their comfort zone.

Student-led interviews

I hope you took up the opportunity to come and hear from your child about their learning.  The students did a great job preparing for sharing.  It is an important part of learning to take ownership of your learning – understand what you have achieved and your next step.  I know our grade 6 students had a go at explaining some maths to their parent and then asking their parent to solve a problem.  I have heard lots of feedback that it is a great time to celebrate.

Thank you to our staff for staying back late to provide this opportunity for our community.

Work experience

This week we welcomed five past students to complete their year 10 work experience at our school.  It is lovely to see our returning students – for our staff and students.  I hope they had a great time at our school, as I know our students have enjoyed having them in their classrooms helping out.

Building works on the holiday

When we have school holidays, we see it as a good time to complete build works onsite.  Over the two weeks we have a few works happening:

• Trish will be working in the gardens.
• Resurfacing of our basketball court with new synthetic grass.
• New garden beds and retaining wall at Kiss’n’Go on Lyle ave.
• The ramps that they Department of Education were modifying, to commencing in the holidays and will be completed as the term begins.  Please take note of signage as to where to walk.
• We are getting new carpet in the gym and Performing Arts room – hopefully this will happen in the holidays.

As we finish up for the term, we are still very busy at Beacy.  Walking around the school there is lots happening – grade 3’s held a world cup sports morning, some grade 6 were selected for ‘Future Authors Workshop’, Division Athletics (where I heard that our students displayed amazing sportsperson ship and many were successful), Treat Day that saw our wonderful parents helping out, Koori Kids celebration day for some of your students and so much more.  Everyone has earnt a well-deserved rest.

For those passionate football supports, I wish your team all the best if they are still in the run for AFL finals.  I know we have lots of AFL supporters of the Magpies, Blues and Demons and NRL Storm fans on staff and families at our school and I am sure when we return, we will have some happy people.  As a Magpie supporter who lives in a houseful of Blues supporters, it is a tense time in my house!

See you in term 4!

Heidi Inglis

Principal

How exciting, Spring is here!  I know I am ready for some warmer weather.  However, it does mean that the UV rating is rising and for everyone at Beaconsfield Primary School, it means we need sun protection when outside.  We have begun wearing our hats.  Can you please check with your child that they have their school hat at school.  Acceptable school hats are black wide brimmed or black legionnaire caps. These are the only hats that are part of our school uniform.

School Disco

For those students who came on Friday to our school disco, talking to students, they have reported that they had a great time.  It was very exciting to come to school at night, get dressed up, have glow sticks, be with friends and dance to the music (and maybe even have a sausage in bread).

Our Parent and Friends committee organised a great night.  Thank you to the many parents who volunteered on the night to help run this event – setting up, supervising, cleaning up, cooking and serving the food.  Thank you to DJ Stu for an entertaining evening.  We appreciate you all taking time to help out to give our school community a memorable evening.

Book Week

Well done to all the students who came to school last Monday dressed as a character from a story.  Congratulations to those lucky students who won a prize for dressing up. Hopefully everyone loved being part of our day and seeing all the creative costumes.  We saw a fantastic representation of all the wonderful rich literature that our students have access to.  It is a great way to celebrate a good book.

Coming to and from school

As the weather is getting warmer, you and your child might be walking to school.  You might also be allowing an older child to be more independent and make their own way to and from school, or have them walking to you.  I thought it might be a good time to ensure that our community is being safe and you are having discussions and modelling to your child how to be safe when walking to school. 

Firstly, there are many benefits for your child to walk to school.  It will help with their mental wellbeing, good for their mood and self-esteem, build up confidence and life skills and make connections with friends and their community.

Here are some tips to walk safely to school:

1. Be alert and aware.

Take note of the dangers you come across on your walk and bring them to your child’s attention. Point out dangers, such as vehicles coming out of driveways. Talk to your child about being alert in a road environment.

2. Hold hands

When on the footpath, at a crossing or in a car park always hold your child’s hand. It is advised to do this up to the age of at least 8 years old and closely supervise until at least the age of 10.

3. Choose a safe crossing

Lead by example and choose a safe place to cross the road. Explain why it is the safest place to cross.

4. Set a good example

Your child watches everything you do, so if you cross at the crossing they will too. It is also important to share these messages with other carers who may walk with your child to school.

5. Stop, Look, Listen, Think every time you cross the road

Discuss this important road safety message. STOP! one step back from the kerb. LOOK! continuously look both ways. LISTEN! for the sounds of approaching traffic. THINK! whether it is safe to cross.

For those walking independently, it is important to have discussion about what strategy they would use if they felt unsafe.  One strategy we use for our community is to ensure that everyone is leaving school at the same time, so students are walking home with many adults and other students around. 

E-Scooter

We were contacted by our local highway patrol police officer to pass on information regarding e-scooters.  I am assuming that they are becoming more popular in our community and our police force would like our community to know the rules.  Please find below information regarding e-scooters and links.

E-scooter Safety and Trial FAQs : VicRoads

Rules and penalties : VicRoads

Riders of e-scooters must:

• wear a helmet 
• be aged 16 or over
• ride at a maximum speed of 20 km/h hour 
• ride on shared-use paths, bicycle paths, or roads with a speed limit of up to 60 km/h
• have flashing or steady front and rear lights if riding at night or in low-light 

Riders must not:

• ride on the footpath
• use a mobile phone while riding
• ride while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• carry passengers or animals or ride in tandem
• ride a high-speed e-scooter – capable of more than 25km/h (this is considered an unregistered vehicle and penalties apply)
• ride on roads with a speed limit over 60 km/h

Father’s Day

I would like to wish all our dads, granddads and special people a happy Father’s Day on Sunday.  I am hoping that your child is able to show you how grateful and appreciative they are to have you in their life. 

Here is link to an article from Dr Justin Coulson PhD. He does a lot work around parenting. His goals are ‘for parents, teachers, and those who work with children to see them for the precious humans they are; to connect with them in meaningful ways; and to guide those children to become strong, caring, whole adults.’ The link is for an article titled, ‘Busting the Myths of Fatherhood’.

Busting the Myths of Fatherhood

Thank you to our Parents & Friends committee for running the ‘Father’s Day’ stall on Wednesday and Thursday this week.  Our students had lots of fun going shopping.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend with your family, especially as I know many of our families have no junior sports this weekend as some seasons have finished.  If this is you – enjoy the sleep in.

Heidi Inglis