Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a fantastic start to the school year, and it has been a pleasure to see how smoothly our students have settled into their new classes and daily routines. Across the school, students are demonstrating positive learning behaviours, reconnecting with friends, building new relationships and engaging enthusiastically in their learning. Our youngest learners, our Preps, have had a wonderful start to their schooling and we are thrilled for them all.

At Boneo, we support the whole child helping students to progress academically as well as emotionally. Teachers and Education Support staff are already getting to know their students well, setting clear expectations and creating calm, consistent classroom environments where every child feels safe, supported and ready to learn.

We warmly invite parents and carers to attend our ‘Meet the Teacher’, sessions next week. These sessions are an opportunity to share with your child’s teacher information to best support your child’s success at school. Bookings are available on Compass under the Conferences tab. During the Tuesday, ‘Meet the Teacher’, sessions, students will have the privilege of participating in a student session on The Resilience Project, kindly run by Martin Heppell.

To support clear and consistent communication, a series of information PowerPoints have been developed and are being shared with families with the link to the Buzz. We encourage all families to take the time to view:

• the Boneo Primary School Overarching PowerPoint
• the relevant Cohort PowerPoint
• the Specialist Team PowerPoint

These presentations provide valuable information about our school priorities, learning programs and the year ahead.

Thank you for the positive way you have supported your children in returning to school. We look forward to working in partnership with our families to ensure 2026 is a successful and rewarding year for all students.

New School Bus Route – St Andrews Beach & Fingal

We are excited to share that our school has welcomed a new school bus service covering St Andrews Beach and Fingal. This additional route is a wonderful step in supporting our families and ensuring safe, reliable transport options for students.

Students who require the service are eligible if they reside 4.8 km or more from the school. A map outlining the service area is included below for your reference.

Families who believe they may be eligible are asked to please contact the school office. Our staff will be happy to assist you with the process and answer any questions you may have.

We look forward to seeing this service support our community and make the school journey easier for many of our students and families. The Cape Schanck Bus service already in place remains unchanged. If you require this service, please ensure you have contacted the office to complete the required paperwork

Carpark and Road Safety

The safety of all our community members is an absolute priority for us at Boneo, as such, it is pleasing to see so many families using our designated areas for drop off and pick up. I ask all parents to follow the council directed traffic flow system for drop off and pick up outlined below:

• On the tennis court side of the school enter via Boneo Road and exit at Limestone Road. We have a one-way traffic system. Please do not allow your children to walk or run through the carpark. This is exceptionally dangerous. Only park in allocated spaces. Please do not create your own parking bay – it is unsafe.
• Keep the accessible parking bays free for those who need this space.
• For a quick drop off, please use the ‘Kiss and Go’, on Limestone Road. This is a no parking zone and helps ease the traffic.
• Please do not park near the designated bus pick up on Limestone Road. This is a legal requirement, and the shire will be enforcing this.

Student Uniforms

Please help support the school by ensuring students adhere to the dress code policy.

Colours to be worn are red and black

• Dresses to be red and white check
• Polos/tee shirts are to be red
• Pants/long shorts are to be black (without logos)
• School logo windcheaters/hoodies are to be black or red
• School approved hat colour red
• Only approved Boneo Primary School logo on any item.

Child Safe Volunteer Induction Training – Parent and Carer Volunteers

To ensure we continue to meet our Child Safe Standards, all parent volunteers are required to complete Child Safety Volunteer Training once per year. This training covers all volunteering opportunities for the year, so it only needs to be completed once annually.

When attending the training, please bring a copy of your Volunteer, ‘Working With Children Check’ card (WWCC) and we will make a copy at the office. These volunteer checks are free. To obtain a card, please visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/working-with-children-check

If you are planning to assist at any point across the year, we encourage you to register for a training session by contacting the school office. There will also be an evening online session for those families who would find this more accessible.

Upcoming training:

Term 1 – Tuesday 17 February at 9am, Wednesday 25 February 5pm, 4 March 7.30pm (online).

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 and carers 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 4 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.
• All bus routes that travel through the Catastrophic area will be cancelled.
• 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 have 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 accessing Compass.
• 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.

Reminders

• Please keep reading the Buzz each week. Teachers also send a weekly, ‘Preview to Learning’, via Compass to share information about the upcoming week. Please read these previews and share with your children as preparation for the week ahead.

• As a SunSmart school, hats are required when the UV rating is 3 or above. Please ensure that your child has their hat at school so that they can enjoy being outdoors.
• School starts at 8.45am. Anyone who arrives after the 8.45am bell needs to sign in at the Office. There are staff on yard duty from 8.30am.

• Dogs are not able to be on school grounds so please keep them on the oval on a lead in regular school hours.

Congratulations to our Junior School Council Members for 2026!
We’re proud to announce the students who have been elected to represent their peers on the Junior School Council in 2026. These students have shown leadership, responsibility and a genuine commitment to making our school a positive and inclusive place. We look forward to seeing their ideas, enthusiasm and teamwork in action throughout the year.

Year 4- The Fruitlandia Election

This week in Year 4, our classroom was buzzing as students launched their new Inquiry topic for the government unit of work. The class transformed into the vibrant world of ‘Fruitlandia’, where students became citizens with an important mission, to elect their very first Prime Minister!

Students were sorted into fruit groups and then worked on their own persuasive speeches explaining why they would make the best leader. Each group then chose a representative to deliver their speech to the class.

The excitement continued as students designed colourful posters to promote their fruit group before listening to the candidates speak. Once all speeches had been heard, students took part in a formal voting process, using ballot papers to cast their votes and decide who would lead Fruitlandia.

Through this activity we learnt how to persuade others, how the voting process works in Australia and how serious the voting process is.

Year 3

During our novel study of Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, Year 3 students explored character traits and rich descriptions. We closely examined the three farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean—discussing their personalities, appearances and habits.

Students then extended their thinking by imagining a fourth farmer. They created their own character by deciding what the farmer might look like, the animals he owns, and what he likes to eat. Through this creative task, students developed their understanding of character traits, descriptive language and author style, while using their imagination to expand the world of the story.

In our Mathematics sessions, students have been exploring odd and even numbers and are developing their understanding of partitioning 4-digit numbers. They have particularly enjoyed learning through hands-on games and building numbers using base-10 blocks.