BEVERFORD District Primary School students have plenty of reasons to be excited for recess and lunch, as the school has made some popular upgrades to their facilities.
Principal Phillip Cox spoke proudly of the new additions to the grounds, which include a ninja obstacle course, made possible from a grant from Active Schools.
“The obstacle course was constructed in the Easter holidays,” he said.
“The school applied and subsequently received a grant from Active Schools for $30 000. We have spent the majority of that on the obstacle course and it has been a huge hit with the students. It is great for coordination, balance and gross motor skills.”
The school has also built a beach volleyball court and is planning to install a running track with exercise intervals.
“It is a team effort and it gives them ownership of what is happening,” Mr Cox said.
“Also with that Active Schools money we are planning a running track around the school that will incorporate the obstacle course and maybe some exercise intervals.”
Mr Cox was extremely pleased with the finished product.
“It is something we have organised this year, we were really keen on the natural timber structure,” he said.
“It really fits in and the sustainability of it is important. I can’t emphasise how much the kids love it.”
The school’s new playground is due to be completed in the next month or so.
The school is also making huge strides in the classroom and building a reputation as a quality educator.
“We really feel like we have built a strong reputation out here,” Mr Cox said.
“This year we had seven preps which is a good intake and we are expecting around that mark for 2023 or even more.
“We think that it is our personalised approach and small class sizes.
“Our teachers being able to work individually or with really small groups allows our kids to thrive and that is becoming really appealing to families in the area.”
Foundation/Year 1 teacher Kristy Summerhayes is the learning specialist at the school and leads the teaching and learning programs, meeting with the teachers weekly to plan lessons for all students.
“It is such a calm environment and the kids all get along with each other,” she said.
“They are outside in the yard always playing with different-aged kids.”
Mr Cox believes that the school has recruited innovative staff and that has led to Beverford’s growing reputation.
“We have Demi (Salau), Chloe (Wren) and Kristy as our classroom teachers so all of the teachers teach all of the kids across the school,” he said.
“Everyone has a really good understanding and a really strong relationship with all of the students.
Then we have Danielle Pretty who does our literacy tutoring for our kids who need a little bit of a boost.”
The school also received money through the Mental Health in Primary Schools Program and have employed Kaiti Blackmore who works three days a week as the school’s wellbeing coordinator.
“We really feel for our 33 students we have a really strong team around them,” Mr Cox said.
“We are quite spoilt with our student to teacher ratios.”
The school has started tours for next year’s prep students and are keen to make an impression on families looking for the perfect place for their kids to attend primary school.
“We have started conducting prep and also other family personalised tours,” Mr Cox said.
“I believe if we can get prospective families through the door they are quite wowed by the calm nature of the place.
“Walking down the corridor, you see teachers working either with individual students or in small groups.
“They can see that we have a great environment for kids to learn.”
The school is eight minutes from Swan Hill and easily accessed via locl bus services.
The school also has grand plans to celebrate Education Week, with the school having a numeracy focus for this year’s celebration in which Victoria is celebrating 150 years of Public Education.
“On Friday, May 27, we are celebrating education week by inviting our families to come into the classrooms and participate in some math games,” Ms Summerhayes said.
“We also welcome families to stay around for lunch. We have a really strong connection to our families so we always get a great turnout to things like this.
“We are really looking forward to seeing some families come in and play some math games in the classroom.”
To see what Beverford District can offer your child, give them a call on (03) 50376622 to organise a personalised tour.
