School Profile

LOCATION
Bell Primary School, established in 1928, is situated in Preston, about 7 kilometres north of the GPO. Generally the students attending Bell Primary live locally and either walk to school or travel by car.

 A heritage double-storey red brick building houses the administration area, four classrooms, a computer centre, an art room, a well-resourced library with a mezzanine floor, and a multi-purpose room with a stage and large performance area.  Another four classrooms are housed in a single storey building.  The two buildings are joined by covered walkways. 

The school is set in extensive grounds which continue to be attractively developed by parent volunteers under the guidance of a landscape designer. In addition to asphalted areas and a tan-barked area for kinesthetic activities such as climbing, swinging and balancing, there is a picnic area, arboretum and ample grassed areas that facilitate the hosting of inter-school sport competitions. 

An Indigenous Garden program, consisting of a Water Wise Garden featuring indigenous plants and grasses along with a boardwalk and seating area, is being undertaken in stages. Funding of this has been made possible by parent groups.

DEMOGRAPHICS
With the inner northern suburbs becoming an attractive location to growing numbers of   professional couples and families, the school’s enrolment trends are reflecting the changing demographics of the area.   Whilst new enrolments have previously been between 20 and 25 students a year in 2006 they rose to 48 - the second highest Prep enrolment in the area. The February 2006 census showed the school having a  total enrolment of 172, up from 128 in August 2003.  The challenge for  the school is to sustain this level of enrolment as households move in and out of the area.

 The school community includes families from a wide range of backgrounds.  A number of multicultural communities – including the Arabic community - continue to be represented at the school, and cultural diversity is embraced as an integral ingredient in the school’s unique character.

Demographics for 2009 will be available on this page soon.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT FEATURES
Visual Arts have become an important feature of the school with strong support from  teachers and families.  A biennial school concert is held at the Darebin Arts Centre and is a testament to the level of commitment to the arts by the entire school community, with props and costumes made by the parent group, the performance videoed and music provided. Not only was the time and expertise provided free of charge, but students had the opportunity to be involved at all levels of production.  The Bell Arts Group, made up of parents and teachers, is currently involved in creating a mural for the Serpentine Wall and has been involved in an Artists-In-Residence Program in 2006.

 Parents are actively encouraged to take part in all aspects of school life.  Parents willingly help in classrooms and participate in excursions, family activities, sport, the Perceptual Motor Program (PMP), Garden Group and uniform shop, as well as being members of School Council and its sub-committees.

 We have been a Science Innovation School for five years. and have received several awards for the many and varied science projects we have executed.  Some of our activities have included entries in the Solar Boat Challenge (coming 6^th out of 300 schools), family astronomy nights, successful student entries in Science Talent Search and much more.

 As members of the Darebin Schools Network, we have played a key role in the Innovations and Excellence Project for two years.

 The school’s two key projects are –

·         Environmental education – Bringing together 10 schools in a new partnership to learn from local experts and create positive changes in their local environment.  The students work in Action Learning Teams.

·         ’You Can Do It’ – We are the pilot school for the introduction of this program in the Darebin Schools Network.  The main purpose of the ‘You Can Do It’  program is to provide all children with the foundations for achievement and social-emotional-behavioural well-being in school, work, and the world of tomorrow.

The school prides itself on being a community school – a connected and caring network - a ‘country school in the city’.  There is considerable evidence of the commitment of the school community to maintaining and improving the school environment.  The curtains for the stage of the multi-purpose room were made by a group of parents; the Active Dad’s Group helps in all school activities, raises money through book sponsorship, organises the ‘Goalkick’ soccer program and provides an opportunity for social interaction and support.

We will be updating the above information shortly to include more of our profile for 2009.