Ibis Flyer

I had a great time visiting our Year 4 students on Camp at Pt Leo earlier this week. I have been lucky enough to attend various camps during my 21 years as a teacher but have never been to a camp quite like Pt Leo. When I arrived parents and carers were just leaving having dropped off students, they were all settled into their glamping tents with sleeping bags all made up and getting ready for their first activity rotation. What a great experience this is for our students that really captures who we are as a school making the most of our beautiful natural surroundings and caring for our environment. I was lucky enough to join in with our students discovering the wonders of the rockpools and participating in bike ed while on camp. Best wishes to our Year 5 students who head off to Pt Leo camp later this week and to our Year 3 students who go to camp at The Briars on Monday.

On Friday 25 October we celebrated World Teacher’s Day. I would like to thank our wonderful Parent and Friends group who decorated the staff room and prepared a lovely lunch for all of our teachers to enjoy. Our teachers were able to feel really valued with a number of students coming to school dressed as how they think a teacher would dress. We also had a student from each class selected to have an opportunity to be the ‘teacher’ for the class for a 15 minute lesson. This was a great opportunity to demonstrate leadership and student voice. In the lead up to delivering their lesson our team of ‘mini teachers’ met with me to plan their lesson and to practise how they might teach their lesson, get the attention of the class and monitor how successful the class are in response to their teaching. We adore our teachers at Balnarring Primary School.

I know that many students are looking forward to our colour run and keen to get involved with fundraising for our school. I recently had some families raise with me some queries regarding the prizes from the colour run and the sunglasses that students are provided with and wanting to make sure that these items don’t end up in land fill. Balnarring Primary School is proud of its commitment to promoting sustainable practices and care for our environment. I think that these queries are valid points and would like to ask for the support of all students and families to have a responsible and sustainable approach when receiving colour run prizes.

I also wanted to highlight an exceptional effort from one of our Foundation students who started his own small business by running a bake sale to raise funds for our school. Thank you and congratulations to Owen who was able to raise $140 from his bake sale.

If you read the Westernport News you will see that Balnarring Primary School is featured on the front page! I am so proud to see our school recognised for our efforts to care for the environment. Well done to Hayden, Steel, Eddy, Charlotte and Georgia who were featured in the image with me as well as Mel Brooks and parent Anna R who were interviewed by the reporter to promote the 35^th anniversary of Clean Up Australia Day.

Bethany Jackson
Principal

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 in 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.

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.
• Excursions and 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 reprioritised any maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire and cleared our facility’s grounds and 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 and Compass posts.
• 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.