Welcome to another addition of our Bobs Farm PS newsletter. This edition we're asking you to have your say on what you'd like to see more of in future editions. Please take 60 seconds to complete this 2 question survey so we can make sure you're getting what you need from our fortnightly updates.

It was lovely to return from my time travelling down the east coast of Australia in my 'Mum of sporting kids' role to see so many happy faces back here at Bobs Farm. I was amazed at how much taller some of the children had grown even since I'd seen them five weeks prior! A big thank you for all the warm "Welcome back" messages I received and to Mrs Hodgson and 'the crew' for taking such good care of the place in my absence. 

Getting straight back into the task of supporting students, teachers and families, I attended our quarterly Port Stephens Principals Network meeting at Shoal Bay PS last Tuesday. Among the topics of discussion were improving transition procedures for students just starting school through to students moving into high school. There are so many great activities and connections happening, especially with our local Tomaree Learning Community schools of Tomaree High, Bobs Farm PS, Tomaree PS, Shoal Bay PS, Anna Bay PS and Soldiers Point PS. These transitions are happening from year 4 onwards, to ensure that students entering high school feel confident, capable, confident and excited to start their journey at Tomaree High. Keep an eye out for future events that your child may be involved in. 

We also discussed future enrolments and how we can best support families in their child's education by improving our processes as well as promoting all of the incredible features we have to offer students here at Bobs Farm PS. If you know of someone who is looking to enrol their child in kindergarten for 2027, or perhaps looking for some reason, please encourage them to contact the office or check out our school website. We consider all out of area applications!

Other topics for discussion at our meeting were ways we continue to enhance teaching and learning, especially in relation to explicit teaching. We will be partnering with Salt Ash PS and Karuah PS for the coming year to develop collaborative approaches to enhancing small school practices. 

We also discussed the upcoming change to the NSW Department of Education Student Code of Conduct policy, which will be mandatory from 2027. Further information and workshops will be provided through upcoming P&C meetings, documentation that will be sent home and online posts. We strongly encourage you to be a part of the discussion and process of adapting the policy to our school context, to provide maximum benefit for our students. Please stay tuned for future updates. 

Excitingly, we will once again be taking the entire school to participate in the Port Stephens NAIDOC March at Raymond Terrace on June 25th. This was a fantastic event last year with several children reporting it to be their favourite day ever! We encourage families to join us in the march from Riverside Park, up William St to Boomerang Park where there will be a wide range of activities and stalls on offer. We hope you can join us. We will also be having a fun cultural day at school on Friday June 5th, with Uncle Leigh Ridgeway, local Worimi elder. More information to come soon. 

Finally, a special congratulations to Ella for representing Bobs Farm school and Port Stephens Zone so proudly on Monday, coming a personal best 17th place in the Hunter Cross Country event in Newcastle. You should be incredibly proud of how your training and determination to set and achieve lofty goals are paying off, Ella! We are all proud of you, too.

*** See if you can guess from the photos below where the cross country venue was this year. 😀🐎

Lots of fun, learning and opportunities continue to happen all around us! 

Mrs B