Over the school holidays, the College has benefited from a variety of school grounds maintenance and improvement works in the grounds and classroom/corridor areas. Thank you to the Parent Fees and Contributions made. We value the support our parent/carer community provide to the college so that we can continue to maintain neat and tidy grounds and classroom facilities.

If parents/carers have not had an opportunity to make any contributions as yet, this can be done through billing on Compass. No matter how small, these funds help the College maintain neat and tidy gardens, school grounds and classroom facilities which benefit all students.

Provided below are some pictures of some of the works that have taken place:

• Painting throughout office administration building, classrooms, corridors
• Carpet tiling throughout a variety of classrooms and administration areas
• Refreshed reception foyer
• Chip bark in garden beds
• Astro-turf grassed areas
• Installation of Kitchen Garden / Orchard

Thank you.

The 2025 National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) online Tests will be taking place in Week 7 on Wednesday 12th, Thursday 13th and Friday 14th March 2025.

Over the coming weeks, all Year 7 and 9 students will receive information about the pending NAPLAN Tests, practice questions and familiarisation with the online tests. The test itself is run using an online program on student laptops. To access this process, your child is required to install the latest version of the appropriate Locked Down Browser (LDB). This will be completed in Home Group over the next 2 weeks.

To complete the different sections of NAPLAN online to the best of their ability, all students must bring with them a set of headphones, their laptop and a charger. A calculator is also required for the Numeracy test.

NAPLAN Tests are delivered nationally to all Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 students during this period. If your child is absent for any of these tests, there will be an opportunity to participate at a time during the following week. The testing times and locations will be added to all student Compass schedules prior to the tests. Below is a summary of the testing schedule.

Wednesday 12/3

Period 2 – Year 7 and 9 Writing

Period 3 – Year 7 and 9 Language Conventions

Thursday 13/3

Period 2 – Year 7 and 9 Reading

Friday 14/3

Period 2 - Year 7 and 9 Numeracy

Monday 17/3

Year 7 and 9 Catch up tests

Further information regarding NAPLAN is found in the attached brochure. This includes information about participation, attendance, withdrawal procedures and adjustments. Any withdrawals will need to be finalised by Friday 7th of March. A representative of the inclusion team will also make contact with families of students with known and identified adjustments.

Please direct any specific questions to Craig Dunstan on 93319999 or through email at du@buckleyparkco.vic.edu.au

To find out more about our STEAM Program launching in 2026, and information about the Selection Process for Year 6 students who are granted a place at the College later on this year, please visit our STEAM Academy page

As we enter the blessed month of Ramadan Buckley Park College would like to extend our warmest wishes to our families and community. We hope everyone has opportunity to take this time to spend meaningful and quality time with loved ones, as well as embracing and celebrating your faith.

Wishing you a fulfilling and meaningful Ramadan, filled with light, love, and unity.

Ramadan Mubarak!

Our returning students have already begun their hard work, with Symphonic Band, Guitar Ensemble and Choir rehearsing already for their upcoming performances. Guitar Ensemble even had a go at modelling in their last rehearsal!
We have so much to look forward to this year, with our highlights of semester 1 including:

• Melbourne Symphony Orchestra excursion to see Vivaldi’s Seasons (28 March)
• Music Camp “Reimagined” (14-15 May, with deposits due this Friday 28 Feb)
• Mid-Year Music Concert, date and theme TBA

It’s not too late to join in! We still have limited availability for students to get involved in voice, trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet and saxophone. See the Instrumental Music Program page for MORE INFO

The Benalta yearbook is published every year to include class and staff photos, events and camps, and BPC news. It is an important record and keepsake of your child's year at Buckley Park College.Orders can be placed up until Monday 13 October.

ORDER NOW

We are proud to be upskilling our Year 10 students with the Emotional Intelligence and employability skills they need to become effective Peer Support Leaders, to further enhance our Year 7 Transition program. Not only do the skills learnt in this program enable students to better understand their own emotions, but how to navigate the complexity of emotions of others. This program, developed by Swinburne University's Aristotle EI Unit provides a foundation for young people to consider the role emotions play when leading others - whether this be at school, in the workplace, or even in social situations.

Students are engaging in two full days of training to understand the skills to be used, along with the practical activities they will use with year 7 students as part of the year-long Peer Support Program, aimed at strengthening student connectedness to school and developing confidence.

We are so proud of our Year 10 Peer Support Leaders:

• Samuel A
• Leyla B
• Sujai C
• Sophia C
• Ella C
• Alyssa C
• Anya D
• Griff H
• Charli J
• Joji K
• Lexie K
• Xiyad K
• Eden L
• Ava M
• Milla M
• Julia M
• Ryan M
• Mai-Vy N
• Angie N
• Aaliyah P
• Senkal P
• Anuka R
• Amelia R
• Amika S
• Isaac S
• Mertay S
• Akasha W
• Freya W
• Wilhelmina W
• Hamish W
• Amelie W
• Dileni W
• Axel W

To learn more about what was covered in the Aristotle EI Leadership Training, visit the Aristotle EI Program.

After an extensive Uniform Tender process, the College has entered into a partnership with Uniform Group as it's official uniform provider.

We have listened to what students and families want in a unform which students want to wear with pride:

• High quality
• Good value
• Comfortable to wear
• Modern appearance

Uniform Group has a convenient location on Keilor Road, Niddrie with Saturday operating hours - making it easier for families to purchase uniform items at a time that is convenient for them. We are still working with Uniform Group to determine how our on-site uniform shop will function - watch this space!

Uniform Group will start providing uniform items from Term 2, 2025. Our contract with the current provider, Dobsons, will remain in place until the end of Term 1 school holidays. We will provide further updates with this.

We will be phasing in new items of uniform which take on the feedback from students and families. However, there is no expectation that families purchase new items immediately. We will gradually phase in and phase out uniform items so as not to put unnecessary financial burden on families.

The first items of uniform to be updated/modernised include:

• Summer Dress - darker and adjustable to suit different body shapes
• White polo - higher quality fabric / modernised look
• Red PE Shirt - higher quality fabric to prevent odor trapping

We will continue to work wtih School Council sub-committee, parents and students to re-design other items of uniform.

The following is of particular concern to the school:

• Please avoid dropping off and picking up in the protected zone at the school crossing. As per the signage in the area, it is illegal to stop (even momentarily) when the flags are displayed. .
• Please avoid double parking in Nimmo Street when dropping off and picking up students.
• Please avoid using the driveway on Nimmo street as a drop off point as this causes a back-up of traffic and students use this as a walkway.
• In the council car park on the north side of the school, cars must only be stationary in a marked car space - not in the driveways that go in and out.
• Please avoid parking on the nature strip in Spencer Street.

Our advice is to arrange a drop off/pick up location a block or more away from the school to avoid congestion and keep the dangers of traffic to a minimum.

It is also important at this time to revisit conversations around road safety with your children to ensure that they are working to keep themselves safe while we all work together to keep them safe.

Congratulations to Team Buckley for their win (again!). It was good to see Graves giving them a challenge. The final tally was:

1st Place: Buckley - 184 points

2nd Place: Graves - 173 points

3rd Place: Hoffman - 109 points

4th Place: Croft - 100 points

In addition to the points for swimming, student attendance and support was also awarded, with these points contributing to the overall points tally.

Year 12s Dazzle the Pool in Style!

What is a Buckley Park College tradition, our Year 12s turn up to compete and encourage their house in full dress-up style. House points were also awarded to the following teams who dressed the best:

1st Place - "Adventure Timeline"

2nd Place - "WWE"

3rd Place - "Grandmas"

4th Place - "Lifeguards"

Overall individual best Dressed winner goes to "Diego Vargas"

Thank you:

A huge thank you to our amazing staff and students who made the day a huge success. It was great to see our community come together for a day of fun featuring lots of positive community team spirit.

House Points are earned through the demonstration of our College Values: Aspiration, Kindness, Resilience, Community, through active participation in House Sporting and Arts events, and also representing the school publicly within our community. Everyone can contribute.

Points as of 28th February (including Swimming Sports tally):

Come on, Croft!!! Let's catch up to Graves! There's a free BBQ Lunch at the end of the Semester for the winning team!

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy via our College Website describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Dari
• Gujarati
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese