FINAL SCHOOL NEWSLETTER – 2025

What a joy-filled end to the year we are having at BBPS. The past two weeks have perfectly captured the community spirit, curiosity and courage that define our students. We have Patrick our editor in chief to thank whole heartedly for all his efforts in bringing this newsletter together each fortnight, without his eye for detail and his brilliance as a photographer this would not be possible! Thanks Patrick you are a super star!

Well done to our Grade 5 and 6 students, who launched and raced their Billy Carts after months of STEM planning, building and refining. It was wonderful to see so many families joining in the excitement. 

Also well done to our Grade 5s, who completed their Leadership interviews to an exceptionally high standard. Positions are being finalised and will be shared with our Grade 5s soon. 

A big thank you to Zoe and Josh, our brilliant school captains for 2026, who have done an outstanding job leading our school. As have all our Grade 6 leaders, who have contributed to our community with respect and understanding.

Tuesday’s Up Day gave all students a taste of the year ahead as they spent the morning with teachers from the year above—an important step in our transition program. 

Below: Pics from our classrooms on Up Day

As we reach this point in the year, we take a moment to thank all families—those continuing with us, and those heading off to new chapters and a special mention to our families who have had all four children go through BBPS. We are grateful for your support, partnership and trust. To our departing families, we wish you all the very best for continued success and encourage you to stay connected to the BBPS community.

We also acknowledge our exceptional staff. To our teachers, administration team, and education support staff—thank you for another year of expertise, care, consistency and calm, always keeping students at the centre of your work and relationships at the heart of everything we do.

Staffing Update

A special congratulations to Mark Coulston, who recently married his wonderful partner Sarah. 

We warmly wish Kirsten Braun well as she begins family leave for 2026, and farewell Sophie Hammill, who is heading to new adventures to a teaching position in Queensland. 

We look forward to welcoming Ryan Bolger back to our teaching team in 2026. Ryan returns to us after three years and is excited to be returning to our community.

2026 Class Structures

Prep B: Naomi Beales

Prep CM: Alison Coutts, Linda McCaffery

1B: Marnie Bignell

1M: Liv McConnon

2C: Megan Craig

2S: Alex Stock

3B: Ryan Bolger

3P: Wendy Pierce

4R: Anna Remfry

4T: Shanti Treloar

5W: Kylie White Simone Kennedy

(*Grade 5 will be one class of 28 students for 2026 with a full time teacher assistant) 

6WC: Will Crossland

6MC: Mark Coulston

Students will meet their 2026 teacher early next week. Every year, teachers dedicate significant time and professional judgement to forming class lists that ensure the strongest balance of friendships, learning styles and student needs. This work is guided by our CLASS PLACEMENT POLICY and reflects countless hours of discussion and care. Thank you for trusting us to make the right decisions for each child and for our school as a whole. We will contact you should we feel a conversation is necessary.

Today we recognise our Class of 2025. A huge thank you to the Graduation Organising Committee for transforming the hall into a tropical celebration for today’s lunch. We look forward to honouring our wonderful Grade 6 students at tonight’s graduation ceremony.

There is still more to come! 

Semester Two reports will go live tomorrow on Compass —thank you to our teachers for the multiple assessment, thoughtful reflection and details of learning achievement.  The student comments are most insightful and a priceless record to refer to in years to come.

Next Tuesday, students will enjoy a ‘special’ Specialist Day, including the much-loved Talent Show. The Talent Show is always full of surprises and showcases the creative genius of our students and is extremely well curated by Sall Wickes and the Performing Arts captains.

Wednesday brings pizza parties for the winning classes in two school-wide challenges— Congratulations to 1B for the Halloween Disco and Grade 3 for the most lucky jars.

Our final day for students is Thursday 18 December, with a whole-school assembly at 2:30pm to farewell our graduating Grade 6s as they exit for the final time along the 'BBPS river of love'.

Next week’s bulletin will be a BBPS Life special edition, featuring photo highlights of 2025.

Wishing all families a calm and joyful close to the school year.

Celebrating Vivi's continuing success

Vivi F continues to forge her path to success in track and field events. Here is her report from the School Nationals. 

"I recently went to Canberra to run in the school nationals for track and field.  I represented Team Victoria.  I got 4th in the 800m final and just missed out on 3rd place by .20 of a second.  I got 7th in the 1500m.  On the last day I run in the medley relay and we won and beat all the other states and territories!  A medley relay is 4 team members but we run a different distance passing a batten - 200m, 200m, 100m and 300m.  I'm so proud of my races and especially winning a gold medal! I give it my all and didn't give up. Thank you to grade 5 for watching my races online and cheering me on and encouraging me to do my best."

We are all looking forward to 2026 and following Vivi's athletic endeavours on the track, as no doubt there will be more highlights and more achievements to celebrate.