Dear families,

We have just one more week remaining until the end of semester one, meaning we have reached the half-way point of the school year.

I included information in a previous newsletter regarding the challenges schools may face with staffing, particular in the cooler months. We are again anticipating that we will have to implement temporary changes to our learning programs in times of high absence. This may involve the combining of classes for short periods of time, and for our older year groups in particular some self-directed learning onsite using Google Classroom for instance. We will endeavour to communicate any changes such as the combining of classes or reverting to self-directed learning if and when the needs arises.

Staffing Update – Two of our staff members will be departing Neville Bonner Primary School at the end of this term. Our year 1 team will be farewelling Alice Ferrari who is moving interstate. We thank Alice for her contribution towards the school over the last few years and wish her well with the move. We can advise that Sarah Hinchcliffe will be joining the team at the beginning of next term. Sarah comes to us from Canberra Grammar School and will bring a lot of experience to our team.

Kerry Johnstone will also be leaving us at the end of the term, to take up an opportunity at Campbell Primary School. Kerry arrived at the school in its first year and has made a significant impact on many of our students and staff since. She will be greatly missed here, however, we know she will continue to be loved at Campbell Primary School where her great skillset will be an asset to them. We will be in a position to advise who will be stepping into the Year 5/6 executive teacher role by the end of next week.

School Reports – Semester One reports were emailed out yesterday. Should you not have received your child’s report, please let contact the school’s front office on 6142 1201. We will be holding parent teacher interviews next week, which gives you the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with their class teacher. For these interviews, it is the parent’s choice on whether they would like their child present or not.

Athletics Carnival – We held our annual athletics carnival on Monday at the Amaroo playing fields. Thankfully the rain did hold off and we completed the vast majority of events. Some students will go on to compete in the North Gungahlin schools’ carnival which will be held towards the end of next term. We are aware that the weather wasn’t ideal. We will ensure next year’s carnival is held earlier in the school year to ensure we don’t have to encounter such cold and windy conditions. Richard Hudson, our specialist PE teacher, was instrumental  in the organisation of the carnival and put a lot of work in to its success. Many thanks to Richard for these efforts. I would also like to thank the parent volunteers that we had on the day. Your support means a lot and ensure events such as these are successful.

School Review Report – For interested members of our community, the report from the school review process that we had a few weeks ago is now available on our school website. The report is published under the school board page on the website. For your convenience, it can also be accessed here.

Wearing of Helmets – Unfortunately we are seeing a number of students who ride to school doing so without a helmet. Not only does this have the potential to be extremely dangerous, it is also breaking the ACT road rules. In the ACT, all bike riders must wear an approved bicycle helmet that is securely fastened on the rider’s head.  There is one exemption to this in the ACT where a person is not required to wear a bicycle helmet if the person is a member of a religious group where wearing a type of headdress is customarily worn and makes it impractical for them to wear a helmet. Typically this may effect Sikh members of the community. The helmet rule is also applied to students coming to school on Escooter. We also highly encourage students riding a foot scooter to school to wear a helmet. If we notice your child is not wearing a helmet we will speak with them around the benefits and letting them know it is prohibited. Parents may also receive a courtesy call from school staff.

Islamic Education – Islamic Education will continue to be provided to students observing the Islamic faith during semester two. If you are new to the school and would like your child involved please register at this link. As with all types of religious education, students will only receive this instruction if their parent has given permission.

Neville Bonner Parents and Citizens Committee

Our P&C provides services to the school such as canteen, second hand uniform shop, disco and other activities. Without a P&C, we cannot continue to do these things. For more information on our committee and event notices and updates, please head to the P&C Facebook or the Neville Bonner P&C page We are always happy to accept new members into the P&C and event volunteers as well - send us an email.

More information about our canteen; lunch orders and over the counter sales, and the uniform shop can be found on the P&C component of the school website.

Contact Us

Want to touch base with your P&C? You can email us at nevillebonnerps.pandc@gmail.com, or connect through FB at https://www.facebook.com/NBPS.PandC.