Ibis Flyer

I am pleased to share some wonderful examples of excellence that some of our students have demonstrated recently. Congratulations to Madi (Year 4) and Clementine (Year 2) who received awards for their submissions for the Farrells Bookshop story writing competition. Madi received an award for being highly commended and Clementine won the Foundation-Year 2 category. Well done also to Jack (Year 6) who has been selected in the Victorian Under 12s cricket team. This means that Jack is within the top 13 cricket players for this age group in Victoria. Please join me in wishing Jack all the best as he progresses to compete at the National Cricket Carnival later this year in Ballarat.

I would like to make our school community aware of some upcoming construction works that will begin on our site from this Tuesday 2nd September. This work will be the first stage or our storm water drainage rectification works. Although the disruption of having construction occur can be frustrating this work is very important for our school. This project will address a number elements of storm water drainage including underground infrastructure as well as above ground levels and swales to direct water appropriately during events of heavy rain. Works will begin on Tuesday and are expected to continue until the end of the 2025 school year. This project is a significant construction project and has been broken down into stages to reduce the number of areas of our school site that will be impacted at any given time.

Stage 1 Tuesday 2nd September until Friday 19th September:

Location – The concrete path from and including the front entrance gate at the bottom of civic court (near Balbirooroo Wetlands and turning circle), stopping level where the staff car park ends.

Impact – Main entrance to the school – will not be able to be used for the duration of this stage of work. When entering and exiting the school, families that park in the tennis club car park, we ask that you do not cross the road at the bottom of Civic Court and instead remain on the tennis club side of Civic Court, walking through the carpark and along the path to the school crossing (where Jerry the crossing supervisor is) and then enter the school using this gate.

Staff Carpark – will still be in use however the end of the carpark (near Bunjil and Waa) will be blocked off and staff access from the carpark to the school grounds will be via the path beside the music room.

Parents and carers, please remember that the staff carpark is for staff vehicles only.

Stage 1A Wednesday 3rd September until Friday 19th September:

Location- concrete path outside classroom 2A and 2B

Impact- The external door and concrete path outside class 2A and 2B will not be in use. Entry and exit for the 2A and 2B classrooms will need to occur via the internal door and then the door at the end of the corridor near the fairy garden area.

I will provide further updates as the construction works progresses.

The 2025 Parent/Carer/Guardian Opinion Survey is now open. Completing the survey is optional and all responses are anonymous.

I would like to ask all parents/carers to consider completing the survey. There are a number of things that the school has been putting in place over the last 12 months and the school is really interested to get feedback from parents/carers on how these things have been received. The more responses that the feedback captures, the more useful the data is.

A link to the survey has been posted via Compass newsfeed.

Bethany Jackson
Principal

Busking For Change

This term, Balnarring Primary School students are again Busking For Change, changemakers. This is a musical fundraiser by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). Students have learnt to sing a song in English and Yawuru to raise money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. As a school community over the last three years we have we raised almost an amazing $1000! All funds raised help kids and families in remote Communities access and create books in the languages they speak at home.

Donations can be made by donating to the school page at https://buskingforchange.ilf.org.au/balnarring-primary-school page. Alternatively you can follow the QR code below.

If students wish to share the song at home it can be found easily with a google search of ‘Country Tells us When’ sing along.

The event culminated in a performance at assembly on Friday August 29th.

Any questions see Mel Brooks.

Bushfire Preparedness

We want to let you know about our school’s emergency management plan. Our school plans for a range of hazards, such as bushfire, severe weather, medical emergencies etc. We develop specific response procedures to address these risks.

We also conduct drills regularly, ensuring that our core procedures of on-site and off-site evacuation, sheltering-in-place, and lockdown/lockouts are well-rehearsed and understood by staff and students.

If we enact our emergency management plan, we will notify you by Compass Newsfeed with updates on our actions. If there is anything we need you to do, we will let you know.

During emergencies, we will work with emergency services and the Department of Education for safety advice and support. Please know that keeping our students and staff safe is our top priority.

School preparations for the bushfire season

Each year, we undertake a range of activities to ensure the safety of our school and to

prepare for bushfires and grassfires.

An important part of this process is communicating to parents what will happen when certain fire danger ratings are issued to help ensure the safety of students and staff.

Our school has been identified as being at risk of bushfire or grassfire and is a Category 3 school.

Our school will close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating Central fire district.

Closure of the school due to a Catastrophic fire danger rating will be enacted when the Bureau of Meteorology forecast and related public safety messaging are confirmed. Due to uncertainties in the forecast, the timing of this confirmation may vary. Information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to you by Compass Newsfeed.

It is also important to be aware that:

• No one will be on site on days where the school is closed due to a forecast Catastrophic day.
• Out-of-school-hours care will also be cancelled on these days.
• School camps will be cancelled if a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast for fire weather district in which the camp is located, or if the travel involves passing through areas that have Catastrophic fire danger.

As part of preparing our school for the fire season, we have updated and completed our Emergency Management Plan and have prioritised any maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire, cleared our grounds of branches and debris, and cleared the gutters.

What can families and the school community do to help us prepare?

• Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone numbers.
• Keep in touch with us by reading our newsletters, keeping Compass updated and reading posts, checking our website www.balnarringps.vic.edu.au, by talking to your child’s teacher or any other member of the teaching staff about our emergency management plan.
• Make sure your family’s bushfire survival plan is up-to-date and includes alternative care arrangements if our school is closed due to Catastrophic fire danger. Further information can be found on the CFA’s website.
• Action your family’s bushfire survival plan if your own triggers are met. Our school community may be spread out across many areas and some families may be at higher risk than others. Your family’s safety is critical, so please let us know if you are actioning your bushfire survival plan and if your children will be absent on these days.
• If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s bushfire survival plan.

Families are encouraged to action their Bushfire Survival Plan on Catastrophic fire danger rating days in their district. The safest option is to leave the night before or early on the morning of the Catastrophic day. On such days, children should never be left at home alone or in the care of older children.

You can find more information on emergencies, warnings and preparedness actions here:

• VicEmergency app – that can be downloaded on your android and iOS mobile devices
• VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226)
• Website https://emergency.vic.gov.au
• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/vicemergency)
• Twitter (https://twitter.com/vicemergency)
• ABC local radio, Sky News and other emergency broadcasters

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the department’s policy?

The Department of Education annually assesses the fire risk of all schools and early childhood services with the support of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). They are allocated a category of risk (categories 0 to 6). Schools and services that are Categories 0-3 are published on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR). Schools at some risk of bushfire and grassfire are published on the Category 4 List.

The department’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness Policy requires all schools and early childhood services on the BARR and the Category 4 List to close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district. All school bus routes which travel in or through a district with Catastrophic fire danger must also be cancelled.

The policy also requires that schools at the highest risk of bushfire (those in Categories 0, 1 and 2 of the Bushfire At-Risk Register) enact pre-emptive action plans based on the fire danger forecast for their Local Government Area (LGA).

Who issues fire danger forecasts?

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) provides public fire danger rating forecasts each day of the fire danger period using fire weather district areas. In Victoria, there are 9 fire weather districts, which are based on Local Government Area boundaries.

The department uses these forecasts when supporting schools to enact their pre-emptive bushfire actions plans.