Here’s the latest news to keep our community up to date on the latest happenings at our school.
Welcome back everyone to another year in your fabulous school!
A very warm welcome back to school for 2021 to everyone. I hope you had a wonderful break from school and were able to spend quality time with your family and friends. Having spoken to a number of our fabulous parents in the past week, they have all expressed how happy and relieved they are to have school and learning return to some sort of normality. It gives me great pleasure to especially welcome the new Foundation community. Thank you to all the parents and kindergarten teachers who have so thoughtfully prepared these students for their first year at school.
Mrs Sarah Maroukel and Mr Nick Marchbank and a whole host of other staff members happily welcomed the new Foundation students into the Learning Neighbourhood for an exciting day of learning. There were lots of first day photos, smiles and very heartfelt looks from the Preps’ loved ones as they wished them a great first day. Some parents even managed to express relief that it all took place so smoothly. A very sincere thankyou to our colleagues from Gowrie who have assisted us with the settling in of our new foundation students and for being a valued part of our team.
To our new students coming to us from other schools, we understand you may be nervous, but our school is full of dedicated and caring teachers and students who will welcome you into our learning environment.
Learning Neighbourhood 2 and 3 teachers welcomed their students in a very organised and prepared way that ensured an extremely settled beginning to school for all these students.
There will be lots of opportunities for new and current parents and friends to be involved in the school and your children will love seeing you support their learning.
STAFFING
It gives me great pleasure to welcome one new staff member to BVPS:
Ms Cassandra Hook will be working in LN 3 as a Grade 5/6 homegroup teacher. We trust Cassie is inspired by the wonderful BVPS community and enjoys her new appointment.
LEARNING NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSEMBLIES
All student assemblies will be held in the learning neighbourhoods every Friday until further notice. Parents are welcome to attend these assemblies and will be required to wear masks whilst inside the building.
Our Young Leaders are looking forward to hosting the Whole School assembly in the near future, once again welcoming all our parents and friends.
SCHOOL STARTS AT 9.00AM EVERYDAY
All students are expected to come to school every day that the school is open to students. If students can’t come, parents must provide an explanation for their child’s absence to office on the day of the absence. Students should arrive at each class ON TIME and ready to learn.
Parents need to assist their child to be punctual so as to create the very best opportunities for their child to learn and not miss vital instruction time which commences at 9am.
LEARNING NEIGHBOURHOODS ARE OPEN AT 8.45 AM TO ALLOW STUDENTS TO GET READY FOR LEARNING
SUNSMART POLICY AND DAYS OF EXTREME HEAT
Children in years Prep – 6 must wear a broad brimmed hat.
On days when the temperature reaches 33 degrees or above an ‘indoor play” lunch timetable will be implemented. This means that the children will play in their Learning Neighbourhoods in the break times. As all Learning Neighbourhoods are air-conditioned there is no need for children to have their educational program interrupted by removal from school on extreme hot days. Please bring your children to school, we will keep them cool and they will continue to learn.
CHILDREN’S SAFETY
Nothing is more important than the safety of our students. I have been concerned with our return to school in regard to unsafe driving and parking around the Gowrie BVPS Early Learning Centre. A parent reported that her car had been hit and that the driver did not leave their details. The school is not responsible for this behaviour and we again remind our parents that you should not be parking in this area. Please make sure that you are being safe when controlling a vehicle.
NEWSLETTER 2021
Our school newsletter alert will now be sent through SeeSaw. You will need to have downloaded the app ready to receive a range of communication from the school but more importantly to receive fantastic updates on the learning of your children. If you need a parent code please see your child's homegroup teacher. The newsletter will continue to be placed on the school website.
The dedicated teaching staff at Broadmeadows Valley look forward to celebrating the success of your child’s learning with you and your child, communicating what progress has been made and what we can do in partnership to further this learning.
I hope we all have a very happy and successful 2021.
Regards,
Carmela Bianco
2021
Staff Members
LOCATION
Principal
Mrs Carmela Bianco
Principal Office
Assistant Principal
Mrs Lisa Stanford
AP Office (LN3)
Business Manager
Mrs Jennifer Petrone
Main Office
Front Office
Mrs Lindy Rider
Education Support
Mrs Leanne Mustard
Mrs Christine Tuakana
Ms Emma Varallo
Mrs Ebtesam Yehia
Mrs Zeinab El Helou
Instructional Leaders
Ms Sharon Goldfinch
Ms Aimee Lowry
Ms Jamielee Black
Mrs Jodie Coughlan
LN3
LN2
LN1
Student Wellbeing
Prep & Grade 1
Mrs Sarah Maroukel
Mr Nick Marchbank
LN 1
Grade 1 & 2
Mr Jordan Colombo
Ms Jennifer Thompson
Ms Cyndi Stewart
Grade 3 & 4
Ms Sharni Moloney
Ms Belinda King
Ms Isabelle Grossmith
LN 2
Grade 5 & 6
Mrs Wendy Cecchini
Ms Cassandra Hook
Mr Jason Hucker
LN 3
Literacy Support
Mrs Jan Vella
Art
Mrs Marina Lopez
PE & Sport
Mr Ash MacArthur
STEM
Mrs Amy Hermans
Digi Tech
Mr Liam O’Grady
School Counsellor
Ms Donna Anastasiadis
Community Hub Leader
Mrs Kirsten O’Connor Smith
The canteen is available for lunch orders and over-the-counter purchases at both lunch at recess.
We reccommend your child ordering their lunch or snack in the morning, to make sure they get what they want in a timely manner. Even if you child only wants an icypole on a hot day this can be ordered with the morning lunch orders and stops the need to spend their playtime lining up to buy one.
The 2021 canteen menu is available HERE.
HOW TO ORDER YOUR LUNCH:
Please use a large paper bag and print in pen - Child's Name, Grade and Learning Neighbourhood
Order required and amount of money enclosed
If you are unable to supply a paper bag, please write your order on an envelope and add 5c for a bag which will be supplied by the canteen.
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families. Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child. If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office on 9309 4066 and ask for an application form. You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page. Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.
Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.
Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website https://www.bvps.vic.edu.au .
For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:
The Andrews Labor Government is reducing the cost of energy for Victorians doing it tough, with a one-off $250 payment to help with their energy bills.
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio announced that low income households can now apply for the new Power Saving Bonus.
The bonus is available to any households with a Victorian electricity account who holds a pensioner concession card or receives JobSeeker, Austudy, Abstudy or Youth Allowance.
Click the link for more information - https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/cutting-cost-energy-bills-struggling-victorians?fbclid=IwAR3HAD9gH7-f9zEhpe4M9Z14bsvEqCYkOq6CpJOXSpNiyRHp-Kb2f1IF7yc
From 2021, Early Start Kindergarten (ESK) will be available for refugee and asylum seeker children who turn three before 30 April in the year they are enrolled to attend the program. ESK extension grants will also be available to all refugee and asylum seeker children in Year-Before-School Kindergarten who are not eligible for the Kindergarten Fee Subsidy (KFS).
For more information, CLICK HERE.
Asthma Australia is running free parent education sessions around children’s health.
These information sessions cover common childhood illnesses and local after hours care options in your local area.
The online sessions (currently being presented via webinar) aim to help participants to recognise and understand some common symptoms in children, and to help them decide where to get the best care for their children when they need it. They explain:
We cover illnesses such as gastro, fever, asthma, allergies, croup and ear infections, as well as Covid 19.
Free Registration is available at https://asthma.org.au/kids-health/
Hume City Council Active Kids - low cost programs for children to do to keep active after school. View the flyer HERE.