Return to school

We are looking forward to welcoming students back to school on Friday (11^th June) after two weeks of remote learning. The yard will be supervised from 8:45am and students can head straight into their classrooms after the bell at 8:45am. Thank you to all our families for your support over the past two weeks.

Restrictions Update

In line with the Department of Education’s Operating Guidelines, effective from Friday 11^th June:

• Non-essential visitors are unable to attend the school, this means that any external therapists, parent helpers or parent-teacher meetings cannot occur on site.
• Excursions and Incursions are not permitted at this time. Year 1/2 swimming has been postponed for the term. Many Year levels have an incursion or excursion planned for the final week of term, at this stage they are unable to go ahead, however, we will be keeping the bookings and if restrictions change, they will go ahead. Our year level teams will keep you informed.
• Interschool sport is not permitted.
• School tours are not permitted.
• Assemblies can occur with staff and students only.
• Drinking taps can be used.
• Playgrounds remain open.

Dismissal

Dismissal arrangements when we return to school will be different. As the hard courts are now fenced off for resurfacing, we will be dismissing all students from their classroom. Please arrange with your children where you will pick them up eg. Outside the room or elsewhere in the grounds. As some areas of the school have the potential to become congested, we ask that you please observe social distancing requirements. To avoid congestion and disruption, please pick your child up outside. Students in the BER and Learning Centre will be dismissed directly outside from their external door.

Return of loan devices

If you borrowed a loan device for remote learning, please return this to the office this Friday.

Semester Reports and Parent Teacher Interviews

Student semester reports will be available through Compass from 4pm Monday 21^st June. We will be offering Parent Teacher interviews to discuss your child’s progress in the final week of Term on Tuesday 22^nd June and Wednesday 23^rd June. Bookings for interviews will be available through Compass by the end of this week.

Please note, if you have a child in PDJ, PMW or JKM, interviews will be held at an alternative time. Bookings are now open in Compass for these grades. Parents of children in these grades, will have received further details through Compass.

Under current restrictions, parent teacher interviews will be held online. If these restrictions are eased and we are able to run the interviews at school, we will inform families as soon as we know.

Hard courts

As previously mentioned, the hard courts are fenced off until the end of term for resurfacing. As part of the building works, the courts will be ripped up and completely replaced with proper drainage and new goal posts. We understand that there will  be some short term inconvenience until the end of term but we have been assured that, weather permitting, the new courts will be ready to use from the start of Term 3.

On time, every day

by Michael Grose

During the current COVID-19 pandemic parents are rightfully urged to take a cautious approach and keep children and young people at home if they show symptoms of the virus.

It’s a balancing act if you’re a parent as one the most important things you can do to ensure your child has a bright future is to make sure he or she goes to school every day—and gets there on time. It sounds simple, but it’s true. The correlation between school attendance and children’s achievement levels is well established. The more time kids spend at school, the more likely they are to experience school success. Of course, most people know this intuitively, yet school absenteeism is a huge problem in Australian schools.

According to a report by the Australian Curriculum and Assessment authority nearly 13 per cent of Australian students are missing at least one year of schooling by the time they reach year 10. In today’s highly competitive world, this rate of absenteeism is alarming, putting our kids at a distinct disadvantage.

Current research shows that mornings for most children are the most productive time of the day, with 10.00am the peak period for productivity. When children arrive late and take time to settle as they inevitably do, valuable learning time is lost.

It’s reassuring to know that you can maximise their chances of future success just by making sure they turn up to school every day. And, of course, regular school attendance also helps kids prepare for the workforce, where it will be expected that they turn up each day work-ready. The real world is unforgiving of those who stay away with no excuse.

As a parent:

• Commit to sending kids to school every day
• Make sure kids arrive at school and class on time
• Inform the school when they are away, sending medical certificates and other evidence of genuine absence
• Follow current COVID-19 health guidelines and recommendations
• Consider catching-up on missed work
• Make kids who are away stay in their bedroom, which is where unwell kids should be

regards

Ken & Lisa

Committee Member Needed

Thank you to Janelle Jones, who has done a fantastic job, coordinating our Egg and Bacon BBQ for the Farmers’ Market since the beginning of the year. We are looking for a parent to take on this role for the second half of the year. This role involves ordering the supplies each month for the egg and bacon BBQ, and attend the markets when you can.

Our egg and bacon BBQ is always a favourite at each Farmers’ Market and a great fundraiser. 100% of the funds raised from the BBQ at each market, goes towards an identified group or purpose in the school. In the past, the BBQ has helped to subsidise the cost of aerobics and Energy Breakthrough competition fees, Subsidised the cost of Year 6 Graduation, raised money for the sensory room, school garden and the pre-school. If we are unable to fill this role, this fundraising opportunity will not be able to continue.

If you are interested in this role or would like to find out more, please contact the school.

This Sunday we welcome you to Bonbeach Farmers' Market, where the community supports farmers and artisans from all parts of Victoria. We are especially proud to bring you local makers and growers. 

We are confident that the open-air environment of our farmers market, together with a few extra safety measures, provides some of the safest shopping options for you, making it a great place to catch up with family and friends. 

Due to our current COVID-19 situation we have included a few safety measures on the day. Although restrictions have been eased, we are applying these measures to continue our part in keeping you, our community safe.

Please make sure you are familiar with this Sunday's safety precautions before arriving.

- Check in with the QR Code 
- Wear a face mask if you cannot socially distance
- Maintain 1.5m social distancing
- Use entry & exit gates as signed
- Hand sanitizer is available at the entrance gate
- Ready to eat food is available for take-away only and must be consumed off-site
- Purchases by card are preferred
- Toilets, unfortunately will not be available due to the current situation
- Do not touch the produce, let stallholders serve you

Be Kind and be patient

TIME: 8.30am - 12.30pm
FEE: $2 gold coin per adult  (there will be no change available)
ENTER: via Breeze St or Coast Banksia Ave.

WE ARE A PLASTIC BAG FREE MARKET - BYO bags for all your essential shopping of organic fruits and veg, meat, small goods, cider and beer, donuts, bulk wholefoods and household products, probiotics & prebiotics. Vegan treats, artisan baked goods and freshly baked breads will fill your bags. Fresh smoothies, soup, broth & coffee will keep you going as you shop for all your essentials. Make sure you grab a bunch of flowers and some sweet treats to take home. 

See you Sunday! 

What’s happening at TheirCare

The children enjoyed coming to school in their pjs on the pupil free day. We spent the day making dream catchers, enjoying the connect 4 tournament as well pumpkin soup, the delicious aroma filled our space enticing all of us to have a taste. We ended the day by eating popcorn and watching ‘Yes day’ some of the children wished that every day at school  was like this.

The students have loved the art easels set up on the bench. We have been amazed by their creativity  and the children have collected some natural resources on the school grounds for their inspiration. We can’t wait to see more master pieces painted.

With the cooler weather we are looking for some ideas for afternoon tea to keep us nice and warm on the cooler afternoons, please pass on your children’s favourite afternoon tea recipes.



Toy Library

We are happy to announce that the TheirCare toy library is back for term 2.

This week the Bonbeach students had the chance to brush up on their tennis skills, we had the nets set up on the basketball for the kids to have a hit.

Term 3 as the weather gets colder, we will be inside more than usual,  we have booked  Giant Games.  The children will have the chance to take part in playing connect four, Jenga, tic-tac-toe, snakes and ladders all in giant form. And outside to warm up our bodies we will have egg and spoon races, ten pin bowling, finska and handballing comps. The date is yet to be confirmed although we will keep you posted.

Reminders…

Please remember if you have booked your child into the service and will not be attending, please cancel your booking online or message on 0439 392 221

Our winter School Holiday program flyers are now available at sign in area please take one and have a look at all the fantastic activities we have planned.

                       
                            Your Ground

There’s a new project lead by Monash University called ‘YourGround’.   Councils across Victoria have signed up to the program which essentially is an online interactive map where any woman, girl or gender diverse person can add a pin and a comment to an area they feel is safe and why, or unsafe and why.

This is an effort to gather often unheard experiences and perceptions of safety in public spaces so local police and councils can act on them.  The results will show us what is working well and should be replicated, and what isn’t and should be fixed. 

The process couldn’t be easier.  Open the website, add a pin, add brief notes about why that area feels safe or unsafe, and you can also see input from people before you and add your own comments to those.  There is no login and you don’t need to give your name. Police and Council are keeping an eye on the map as the project runs in an effort to quickly identify areas of concern they previously hadn’t been aware of.  The project will run until August.

This is your opportunity to have a say in the safety of your community.  The more input we have, the more chance we have of identifying areas that aren’t safe and working to make those better.  Get on board! 

www.yourground.org