Ibis Flyer

I would like to welcome everybody back to school for Term 2. I have really enjoyed hearing about the holiday happenings from students and seeing all classrooms get off to a great start.

Our first week back ended with our whole school Cross Country. We had great weather and a wonderful day for students from Foundation to Year 6 to run our Cross Country course. Thank you to Mr Gilmour for coordinating this event and to Dromana Secondary College for arranging some of their Year 12 Sport and Recreation students to assist as marshals on the day. Thanks also to parents and carers for coming along and for supporting students to feel confident to participate.

April was Autism Awareness month. As a school, we recognised Autism Awareness Month as an important opportunity to reflect on how we support and include all learners.

At Balnarring, our approach is centred on building a school-wide culture where autistic students are understood, supported and able to thrive, every day. We are committed to strengthening staff capability and ensuring adjustments are proactive, consistent and responsive to individual needs.

Recent key actions include six staff completing the Positive Partnerships two-day teacher training, building a strong foundation in evidence-based practice. Across classrooms, a range of supports are embedded to enhance engagement and regulation, including movement breaks, sensory tools and flexible seating options.

Our teaching practices continue to evolve, with a strong focus on predictable routines and visual supports to increase clarity and independence. Staff explicitly teach social and emotional skills, while also using co-regulation and calm, low-arousal approaches to support students during times of stress. Learning adjustments are embedded within everyday teaching, including task chunking and flexible ways for students to demonstrate their understanding.

We place a strong emphasis on student voice, supporting students to identify what helps them learn best and to contribute to their own goals. Transitions are carefully planned for, with pre-teaching used to support students in navigating change successfully. A strengths-based approach underpins all that we do, ensuring student interests and abilities are recognised and used to foster engagement and confidence.

We are also very fortunate to have strong connections with allied health support, working closely with Taylor, our Provisional Psychologist, and Vicky, our Occupational Therapist, who are both based at the school two days per week. Their expertise plays a key role in supporting students, building staff capacity, and strengthening inclusive practices across the school.

Looking ahead, we will continue to align our work with the Victorian Government’s Autism Education Strategy, particularly its focus on building inclusive education environments, strengthening capability, and improving outcomes for autistic students.

Through this work, we are reinforcing our commitment to inclusion as an everyday practice, ensuring all students feel safe, supported, and able to succeed.

Last week I visited class 3A while they were working on a spelling lesson. The class were learning about the sounds ‘g’ and ‘dge’ and the spelling rules that apply when using these sounds. Towards the end of the session Elsie, Jack H and Willow took turns to get up in front of the class and model using their spelling toolkit to spell some tricky words that have the ‘dge’ sound. Well done to these students.

On Saturday 25 April our School Captains Hudson, Bowie, Alexander and Indy lay a wreath during the ANZAC Day service held at ANZAC Park in Balnarring. Myra also read her essay competition winning piece titled ‘What ANZAC Day means to me’ . On the day I caught up with a number of Balnarring Primary School families who took the time to attend the service. It is an honour for our school to be represented and for our students to be continuing to understand the traditions and significance of ANZAC Day.

I would like to congratulate Lani O, one of our Year 6 students who recently competed in the AusCycling BMX Racing National Championships held in Shepparton alongside 1,400 other riders. Lani placed 8th in the 11-12 year old girls Cruiser Class and 12th in the 12 year old girls 20” Challenge. Lani has also now been selected to represent Australia at the 2026 UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Brisbane to be held in July. Congratulations Lani, Balnarring Primary School is incredibly proud of you!

I would also like to highlight Oli M from Year 6 who will be organising a collection of warm coats that will be donated to people experiencing homelessness. If you have any warm coats that you no longer need and would like to donate, please bring them into school from Monday 11 May until Friday 29 May. Oli has put together a flyer with more information that is attached to this newsletter. Well done Oli on wanting to support such an important cause.

Foundation enrolments for 2027 are now open. VicStudents is the new online platform that the Department of Education has provided for parents and carers to enrol. Please contact our school office for any assistance in using the new online platform.

Bethany Jackson
Principal