At Barrack Heights Public School we hold high expectations for every member of our community to ensure Barrack Heights is a flourishing environment for all.

We expect our students to demonstrate our core values of:

Respectful   Safe   Engaged

in everything they do. Our expectations are high because we know our students can exceed these expectations and grow into incredible young adults as they leave our school gates.

These expectations help ensure that our school remains a place where everyone feels safe, supported and ready to learn. 

These expectations are not just in our learning environments, but extend to our playground and beyond. It also includes expectations around school uniform and attendance. To support our culture of high expectations it is important that our students arrive at school on time every day they are able to in full school uniform. If you are having any issues with school attendance or uniform, please reach out to us and we will support you in any way we can.

We greatly appreciate the ongoing support of our families in reinforcing these values with their children, as together we create a learning environment where every student has the opportunity to thrive.

Later this term families will receive their Semester One written report. In addition to this, we will be offering three-way conferences between students, parents and teachers in Weeks 10 and/or 11. These conferences provide a valuable opportunity for students to share their learning, celebrate their progress and discuss next steps together. 

More information regarding booking times will be shared later in the term. Please stay tuned to book a time with your child's teacher.

As always, schools are dynamic places and we have a few staffing updates to share as we begin the new term.

We are delighted to officially welcome Ms Casey Hook to Barrack Heights Public School as one of the teachers in our new preschool. We are also very pleased to congratulate Ms Katie Wilkes, who has been successful in gaining permanency in our preschool. Ms Wilkes will remain as part of our Executive team with oversight of the Preschool, Kindergarten and our K/1 class. These changes have created a shift in our K/1 teaching space and it is my pleasure to welcome Ms Leann Howle as the new teacher for our K/1 class. Ms Howle is a familiar face to the K/1 class, having team taught and covering RFF in this space over Term 1.

Over the break we also experienced a last-minute departure, with Ms Vanessa Brown accepting a placement at Oak Flats Public School Preschool. While we wish Ms Brown all the very best in this exciting opportunity, it does mean a slight reshuffle for us. Our wonderful Ms Jordyn Bond, alongside Assistant Principal Ms Cassandra Larkings, will be guiding our 2/3 class to greatness for the remainder of this year.

This change has resulted in a small adjustment in our 1/2 class, where Mrs Judy Deighton will now be teaching the class full time for the remainder of the year.

We are also thrilled to welcome back Ms Rebecca Flynn following her maternity leave. Ms Flynn will be working across the school in a Release from Face-to-Face (RFF) role, supporting a number of classes during teacher release time.

This term we will be trialing a flipped break structure, where students play first and then eat during the final part of the break. The play time and eating time amount remains the same, we have just flipped the order of when it happens.

Research and the experiences of many schools highlight that allowing students to play first can:

• ensure students release energy and engage in active play

• support better appetite and calmer eating

• allow students to return to class more settled and ready to learn

• give teachers an opportunity to address any playground concerns before learning resumes.

Children will place their lunchbox in a designated tub which will be monitored during playtime. Students will be released to the playground for play, a bell will then ring and students are encouraged to go to the bathroom and wash their hands, re-convening at their 'eating area' where they will be supervised eating by BHPS staff. The lunchbox tub will move back with students following eating time and be taken back out at the next break time.

Your child will potentially come home today and speak about how 'weird' this break change was, but from very initial feedback, it was a successful change. We will continue to monitor how this works for our students and staff and share feedback as the trial progresses.

We are excited to continue our Grow Your Mind journey across the school. This program helps students understand how their brains work and equips them with practical strategies to build resilience, emotional regulation and positive wellbeing.

Using simple language and memorable characters such as the Wise Owl (clear thinking) and the Guard Dog (big emotions), students learn how to recognise their feelings, manage challenges and make positive choices that support learning and relationships.

It is a powerful way for us to build strong, capable learners who can thrive both inside and outside the classroom.

Snippets of Grow Your Mind will be included in our Heights Bytes and you will also see elements shared on our social media chanels...don't forget to check them out.

We are incredibly proud of the strong relationships we share with our families and community. 

This term we will be rolling out a number of initiatives designed to deepen family engagement within our school, creating more opportunities for connection, collaboration and shared learning.

Watch this space...there are some exciting opportunities coming your way.