Welcome Back to School – Looking Forward to a Positive 2026

Welcome back to another exciting school year at Bonbeach Primary School! We hope all of our students and families enjoyed a restful and happy holiday break and are feeling refreshed and ready for the year ahead.

As we begin 2026, we are looking forward to a year filled with learning, growth and connection. Our school community thrives when we work together, and we are excited to continue building strong relationships between students, staff and families.

This year, we will continue to focus on creating a positive and supportive learning environment grounded in our school values of being Kind, Safe and a Learner. These values guide everything we do — in classrooms, in the playground and in the way we care for one another. With clear expectations, consistent routines and a shared commitment to positive behaviour, we set our students up for success both academically and socially.

We extend a special welcome to our new families and Prep students joining Bonbeach Primary School this year. We are delighted to have you as part of our community and look forward to supporting your transition into school life.

We also thank our families for their ongoing support and partnership. When school and home work together, our students benefit greatly. We encourage open communication and welcome your involvement throughout the year.

We are excited about the opportunities 2026 will bring and look forward to a positive, successful and rewarding year for everyone at Bonbeach Primary School.

Here’s to a wonderful year ahead!

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) at Bonbeach Primary School

At Bonbeach Primary School, we are committed to providing a safe, inclusive and positive learning environment where every child feels valued and supported. Our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) program underpins this work by clearly teaching and reinforcing the behaviours we expect from all students.

PBL is a whole-school approach that focuses on teaching positive behaviours, rather than simply responding when things go wrong. It provides students with clear, consistent expectations and helps them develop the social and emotional skills they need to be successful at school and beyond.

Our PBL expectations are closely aligned with our school values of being:

Kind
Being kind means treating others with respect and empathy. Students are encouraged to use polite language, include others, show care for their peers and staff, and look after our school environment. Kindness helps create a welcoming and supportive school community where everyone feels they belong.

Safe
Being safe involves making choices that protect ourselves and others. Students are taught to follow school rules, move safely around the school, use equipment appropriately and ask for help when needed. A safe environment allows students to feel secure and ready to learn.

A Learner
Being a learner means taking responsibility for learning, trying your best, showing persistence and being open to making mistakes. Students are encouraged to listen, participate, ask questions and demonstrate a positive attitude towards learning. We remind students that learning is a journey and effort matters.

These expectations are explicitly taught and reinforced in classrooms, specialist lessons and the playground. When students demonstrate our PBL values, their positive behaviour is acknowledged and celebrated, helping to strengthen these habits over time.

When students make mistakes or poor choices, staff work with them to reflect, learn and make better choices in the future. We view these moments as opportunities for growth, with the focus on learning and restoring positive relationships.

We value the strong partnership between school and home and encourage families to talk with their children about what it means to be kind, safe and a learner at Bonbeach Primary School. Together, we can support our students to grow into confident learners and caring members of our community.

Below is how student behaviour is celebrated and supported at Bonbeach Primary:

From 2026, Bonbeach Primary will be introducing Camp Week in place of traditional overnight school camps.

Camp Week will provide students with the opportunity to take part in a range of fun, engaging activities designed to promote social development, teamwork and positive peer relationships. These experiences will run on consecutive days during a nominated week across the school year, allowing students to build connections, confidence and independence.

By offering Camp Week, we are able to:

• Ensure all students can participate fully
• Focus on inclusive, developmentally appropriate experiences
• Strengthen friendships and peer bonding over multiple shared days
• Reduce the challenges that overnight stays can present for some students and families

We are excited about the opportunities Camp Week will offer our students and believe it will be a positive, memorable experience that supports wellbeing, resilience and learning. More information about activities, scheduling and costs will be shared closer to the time.

Thank you for your continued support as we work to provide meaningful and inclusive experiences for all students.

We currently have several children enrolled at the school who have anaphylaxis; A severe, rapidly progressive allergic reaction which is potentially life threatening. We do not, however, have a NO NUT policy in our school.

Nuts are the most likely foods to cause life threatening anaphylaxis within school settings, even so, there are many uncommon triggers that must also be managed. In order to diminish the risk to these children, we ask for minimization of products containing nuts in the interest of school safety and require children who bring nuts or nut products for lunch or snack, or any items containing an allergen of an anaphylactic student in their cohort, are to eat at their table and be required to wash their hands with warm soapy water prior to rejoining the class.

This is in keeping with the Victorian Health Department guidelines due to the young age of some of the students. The guidelines also recommend that older children become aware of their environment, the risks within it, and take responsibility for their health and wellbeing regarding allergies and reactions such as anaphylaxis. Knowing the environment is not 100% safe prepares them to remain aware out in the broader community.

As a caring school community, we do seek to lessen the risks when bringing food to school to share or when we are cooking in the classroom. We all need to be aware of the allergies in your child’s class. To assist you, we will be sending a letter home next week, with details of specific food allergies if relevant to your child’s class. Minimising the risk in this way is just one of several strategies already incorporated at Bonbeach Primary and Pre School.

In addition, teaching staff are trained in how to recognise an anaphylactic reaction and how to administer both an EpiPen and Anapen, and each child with severe allergies has their own Action Plan in the event of a reaction.

Thank you for taking the time to give it your careful consideration, in the interests of the safety of all students at our school.

Dear Families,

Kingston City Council has advised that their Parking Enforcement team will be commencing regular school patrols during both morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times throughout the week.

These patrols aim to ensure road rules are followed and, most importantly, to support the safety of our students, families and School Crossing Supervisors. Council has prioritised schools where concerns have been raised by School Crossing Supervisors, members of the public, or the school community.

During the first week back, Parking Officers will focus on educating families about local road rules, acknowledging that many new families may be unfamiliar with school-area parking expectations.

From the following week onward, road rules will be actively enforced, and infringements may be issued where illegal or unsafe parking is observed.

We kindly ask all families to:

• Observe parking signage and time limits
• Avoid stopping in no-stopping or no-standing zones
• Keep crossings, driveways and bus zones clear
• Model safe and respectful road behaviour for our students

We also ask that families ensure they use the designated crossing supervised by our School Crossing Supervisor. We are extremely lucky to have this service to ensure our students are safe. Unfortunately, it has been reported that many families are crossing the street without using the designated crossing. Please ensure you walk to the crossing to cross the road to ensure we do not lose this valuable service.