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Dear Bicheno Primary School Community,
A team of students from Grade 3-6 recently participated in the East North East (ENE) Carnival, and what an exciting day it was! The energy, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm displayed by all our students were truly inspiring. An excellent example of this was when Alfie was participating in a race (which he had been waiting patiently all day for). During the race, another student fell, and Alfie stopped to help them up. You’re so kind, Alfie! Congratulations to everyone who competed, whether they won, simply gave their best effort, or supported the team as a reserve. A special thank you to the staff, parents, and volunteers who helped make the event such a success. It’s wonderful to see our students embrace the spirit of healthy competition and teamwork.
A highlight of this term has been the Grade 1 and 2 swimming lessons. Our young swimmers have made incredible progress, gaining confidence in the water and learning essential skills. It’s been fantastic to watch them develop both their swimming techniques and their understanding of water safety. These lessons are a vital part of our students’ physical education, and we are grateful to Miss Walch, Lucie Cunliffe, and the parents who have supported this program. We will provide another opportunity for our Prep students and any Grade 1/2 students who weren’t part of the lessons this term in Term 4.
This term, we have continued our focus on fostering a sense of belonging and connection within our school community. Our Harmony Day celebrations were a wonderful reminder of the rich diversity within our school and the importance of inclusion and respect. Students participated in activities that celebrated different cultures, shared stories, and reflected on the values of kindness, respect, and understanding.
Our student leaders have also been doing amazing work to promote these values throughout the school. They have taken on leadership roles, encouraging their peers to think about how we can create an environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. Their efforts are truly helping to build a stronger, more connected school community.
Over the past 12 months, we have been implementing a multi-tiered structure of support (MTSS) at Bicheno Primary School. MTSS is an approach that allows us to provide targeted support to students at various levels, ensuring that every child’s academic, social, and emotional needs are met. We have seen great progress as we identify and address areas where students may need additional help, whether in the classroom, through small group work, or with specialised interventions.
Our commitment to developing fluency in reading is also a key part of this approach. We know how crucial strong reading skills are to success in all areas of learning, and this term, we have been focusing on strategies to support every child’s journey to becoming a confident and fluent reader.
I would also like to take the opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of safety when riding bikes, scooters, or skateboards to and from school. Recently, we've received feedback from the community about some near misses, especially involving older citizens, which highlights the need for extra care. A key safety measure is to get off and walk past the IGA or other high foot traffic businesses, as these areas can be especially busy and difficult to navigate safely on wheels. Additionally, when passing pedestrians on the footpath, please remind your child to give them plenty of space. Slowing down and announcing their presence with a polite “excuse me” can help avoid any accidents. It is also a requirement that riders get off and walk across the child crossings when safe to do so. Let’s work together to keep our paths and streets safe for all!
As we close out the term, I would like to extend my thanks to all of our staff, students, and families for their ongoing support. The partnership between home and school is so important in helping our students succeed, and I am grateful for the community we have here at Bicheno Primary.
We have much to look forward to in Term 2, with a new inquiry focus, learning opportunities, and experiences on the horizon. I wish everyone a restful break and Easter and look forward to welcoming you all back next term.
Kind regards
Tom Spykers
Principal
In Kinder, we have been learning about the letter s. We have identified that the following things start with the letter s:
“sticky tape”
“starfish”
“scissors”
“scorpion”
“stop sign”
“stamp”
“snake”
Some students have been able to identify the letter s in their names.
For our Inquiry learning, Kinder students had the opportunity to visit the 5/6 and 3/4 classrooms, to find out who are the members of the upper-primary classes. Some students identified that friends, neighbours, cousins or siblings belong in the upper primary classes. It has been wonderful exploring different areas of the school.
Prep/Grade 1 Inquiry.
As a part of our inquiry into BELONGING, we have been looking at ourselves and thinking about how we are the same and different to others. What makes us who we are? Part of being US is about understanding our emotions. Karen Dunkley (our DECYP School Social Worker) has been visiting the Prep/Gr 1 classroom to talk to us about:
- Emotions,
- What do our emotions feel like?
- How can we be in control of our emotions?
Firstly, we read a great book about our amygdala warriors. We used this as a springboard to draw our own amygdala warriors and to think about the different sorts of things that can activate our amygdala warriors BUT ALSO …. How we can calm our warriors when they are not needed.
Our second visit with Karen looked at How our body can tell us that it is anxious?
We created a class book to remind us about how we can feel when we are anxious.
Prep/Grade 1 Ditto Visit (extra information)
During our Bravehearts visit with Ditto we looked at creating a 5 person safety team using a hand to give the students a visual reminder. Each safety team should have:
- 5 people
- People that will listen and believe us
- Adults because adults can help us.
Some of our class shared this information during our Sharing Assembly on Friday 27th March.
Prep/Grade 1 Magic Beach
On Monday the 24th of March the Prep – Grade 4s went to the Bicheno Hall to watch a special screening of Magic Beach. We have read this book in class several times and even used it as an inspiration for one of our investigation areas (where students were asked, “What makes a beach magic for you?”) This film fits in perfectly with our inquiry on Belonging as it reminded us about how we are connected to the beach in Bicheno.
We have used some of the illustrations from Alison Lester’s book as a prompt for our writing about beaches. Our question was, “What do you like about the beach?” (it could be real or imaginary).
Here is our writing. We made a list of words that we could use to help us with our writing.
Prep/Grade 1 Blue Tongue Lizards Visit
Andrew came to visit our class with a mother blue tongue lizard and a few of her babies. We had lots of great questions and had the opportunity to pat and hold a lizard. Thanks to Andrew for all of his wonderful information! It certainly built on the students’ prior knowledge from last year.
Students have been guided by the learning question: How can storytelling help us understand what it means to belong? As part of our inquiry into belonging, they created their own comic stories to explore challenges and opportunities related to feeling included in a community. Through pictures and words, they showed how emotions, values, and rules shape our sense of connection with others.
This activity also supported our Collaborator learner asset focus, as students worked together to share ideas, give feedback, and reflect on how they can help others feel a sense of belonging in our classroom and beyond.
Inquiry Question: How do our emotions, values, and rules help us understand what it means to belong to a community?
This term, all students at Bicheno Primary School have been developing the ‘Collaborator’ learner asset by inquiring into the concept of belonging. In Grade 3/4, during the ‘Going Further’ phase of our inquiry, we created open self-portraits to explore key questions, including: What is belonging? What does it mean to us? When have I felt a sense of belonging? How can I help others feel like they belong?
We are now in the ‘Taking Action’ phase, applying what we have learned by participating in The Belonging Project. As part of this, students are engaging in iTime (Inquiry Time), where they have posed their own questions about belonging and are designing ways to promote inclusion within our school. Some creative ideas from Grade 3/4 students include posters, comic strips, board games, active games, and belonging boxes.
Please enjoy these photos capturing our students in action as they bring their ideas to life!
On Monday, 1st April, Miss Hilliard had a brilliant idea for an April Fools’ Day prank! She told the students in the morning that Mr Spykers had given her special instructions to practise a flood drill.
Naturally, this led to many important questions from the Grade 3/4 students: Is there going to be a flood? When is the flood coming? Can I climb out the manhole?
After much discussion (and some very serious scientific reasoning about melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels), the students agreed that it would be wise to prepare for a flood—just in case.
When the alarm was sounded—"Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Flood! Flood! Flood!"—students swiftly followed their safety instructions:
- Take your shoes off
- Roll your pants up above your knees
- Climb on top of a chair or table
- Place your shoes on your head to protect yourself from falling debris
Safe to say, Grade 3/4 is now fully prepared for any unexpected flood at Bicheno Primary School.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ocORFjZn2FU?feature=share
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