It’s been another busy fortnight with many events and activities that have promoted teamwork, inclusion, a sense of belonging and curiosity.

Little long Walk

Although the weather was on the wild side, the Foundation and Grade 1 students enjoyed their Little Long Walk. They were cheered on by the rest of the school as they passed the grounds and enjoyed many activities that promoted Aboriginal Culture.

District cricket

We were lucky enough to make it to the Southern Peninsula Division Championships in cricket. We were represented by a boy and a girls’ team and each of these teams played 3 rounds. Although not outright winners, once again, our students did us proud by their excellent sportsmanship and positive attitudes during each of the games.

Dinosaur bones discovered at Balnarring Primary School!

Who would have thought it possible? Dinosaur bones were located in the sandpit at Balnarring Primary School! Curiosity was piqued first thing Monday morning, by young and old alike as our intrepid Paleontologists Dr Dino Digby and Dr Terra Trilobite began their unearthing of ancient dinosaur bones. Their fossilised findings have certainly been cause for much excitement and learning in the Science area.

2024 Foundation Transition

Our 2024 Foundation Information session was well attended last Wednesday evening. Our transition to school program for our 2024 Foundation students will commence on 15^th November from 2:20-3:10, with subsequent sessions being conducted on 22^nd November and 29^th  at the same time. The state-wide transition day is on Tuesday 12^th December. This is the day that all of students will find out which class they will be in and who their teacher will be in 2024.

Our new Website

After much anticipation, our new website is finally up and running. We hope that you like it and can find exactly what you are looking for. You can find our website by following this link. https://balnarringps.vic.edu.au/

Updating of School policies

We are currently in the process of updating a number of our school policies. Once we have updated these, they will be ratified by School Council. If you are looking for any of our policies, they can be found on our new website.

Head Lice

We have had a number of cases of headlice in recent weeks. Can you please help us by ensuring that hair that is below the collar is tied up to prevent the spread of headlice.

Car Parking

Car parking is an ongoing issue at Balnarring Primary School. Once again, we have had some near misses in our car park with cars driving too fast when dropping students off, students walking or riding behind cars and people not being vigilant when reversing.

The car parks and surrounding streets are not owned by the Department of Education. Our School Council is looking at ways of addressing this with the Mornington Peninsula Shire. We are currently in the process of liaising with the shire to have pavements, line marking, signage and vegetation reviewed and updated where required.

Please slow down and don’t drop children off at the pedestrian crossing.

A reminder that the staff car park is off limits. It is strictly for staff and contractors unless you have a disability sticker to park in the disabled carpark.

Finally, please adhere to the signage and parking zones on Civic Court. “Kiss and go” is only to drop off or pick up your children. “Wait a While” is where you can drop them off and be in the spot for no more than 15 minutes. If you intend staying longer, you may park in the “Stop and Chat” zone.

We would really like your support with this matter for the sake of everyone’s safety.

That’s all from me for this fortnight. Let’s hope we get less rain and more sunshine in the coming weeks.

Warm wishes

Anne McDonald
Acting Principal

Wellbeing News

The ‘Balnarring Way’  is to

. Respect and care for self

. Respect and care for others

. Respect and care for the environment

. Always do our best

As part of Balnarring’s wellbeing values– ‘The Balnarring Way’, we will be bringing you regular updates of positive wellbeing initiatives that are happening around our school!

Our grade six students have been busy finding ways to connect with the community through their leadership initiatives. Earlier in the year they attended the Grip Leadership Conference; one session focused on the people a leader can impact most.

The quote ‘a leader shouldn’t wait for people to ask, impacting others is a leaders main task’ lead them to their next step. In Term 1 students brainstormed ideas which could impact individuals, a group and the whole school. From this they further developed some of the ideas to impact the whole school community.

Examples of these ideas becoming reality include –

• Planning, promoting, scheduling, auditioning acts, judging and connecting with the whole school through the very successful ‘Balnarring’s Got Talent’ talent show in Term 2.
• Organising the ‘canteen days’ for the whole school, including selling muffins and icy poles (see pictures) in Term 4.

Through these actions our senior students are exemplifying ‘The Balnarring Way’ values of Respect and Care for others, and Doing our Best. Well done grade sixes!

First Nations – The Little Long Walk

This term students across the school have been learning about the important work done by Michael Long through his Long Walk. They have gained an understanding of who Michael Long is, and why he and others walked from Melbourne to Canberra in 2004.

On October 25th, our Preps and Grade Ones joined the Balnarring Pre-School and St Josephs Primary School as part of a ‘Little Long Walk’ around Balnarring.

Students attended a Welcome to Country and participated eagerly in First Nations dance, games and art activities. As they walked through the school grounds on their Little Long Walk they were greeted by a sea of Balnarring Primary School Year 2-6 students who cheered them on with great encouragement!