About Us
Buln Buln Primary School
Buln Buln Primary School is situated 7kms north of Warragul in West Gippsland was established in 1878. Our enrolment for 2025 is 145 students, in 7 classes.
Staffing
We have one Principal, one full-time Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, a part-time Student Wellbeing Officer, 8 Educational Support (ES) staff working with students with additional social/emotional and learning needs. We have a full-time Business Manager who oversees the administration and finance side of the school, working closely with the Principal.
Parent Involvement
The school has strong generational ties and parent involvement is highly valued at Buln Buln Primary School. We are committed to building a strong home-school partnership and welcome parent involvement in school activities. Fundraising activities focus on building social interactions with parents. Parents are invited to attend weekly school assemblies and many special events throughout the year. Parents are very active on School Council and on our Parents and Friends Club. We encourage parents and grandparents to visit the classroom, and assist on excursions, during sports days and to attend special school events.
Curriculum and Programs
Staff are experienced and professional. The team works together for professional support and best outcomes for each student. Our core focus is Literacy and Numeracy. We employ explicit teaching, delivering new material in manageable steps, along with guided practice, teacher modelling, questioning, and review and retrieval practices. These are whole-school strategies that ensure all students make steady progress in their learning journey.
Our reading instruction is comprehensive, acknowledging that teaching reading goes beyond phonics. It is supported by phonological awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary development, and comprehension, ensuring that our curriculum fosters student fluency in all essential components.
We offer specialist subjects in Physical Education, Visual Arts, LOTE – Japanese and Music/Performing Arts. A broad range of enrichment activities are also provided including STEM, Social Skills, Life Ed, Gardening, Junior School Council, Student Leadership, Sports, Cooking and Camps.
We also place importance on the nurturing of cultural, social, creative, physical and personal development of all members of our school community.
Our staff is a Professional Learning Community (PLC) focussed on evidenced based goal setting for groups and individual students.
Facilities
Classrooms include outside learning spaces, sliding walls to a large, shared area and access to laptops. The school has a well-resourced library, a multipurpose classroom, used for wet-weather Physical Education activities and the school has engaged YMCA for Outside School Hours Care.
Outside the classrooms, we have ample play areas including a large oval, twin basketball/netball courts, modern playgrounds, vegetable garden area and a large, shaded sandpit. We have a strong focus on student wellbeing through our School Wide Positive Behaviour (SWPBS) framework. Expectations of behaviour are clearly and explicitly taught throughout the school and align with the schools I.C.A.R.E. values of Independent, Compassionate, Accountable, Resilient and Excellent.
We look forward to showing you around our school. School tours are welcome.
Please contact the office to make an appointment with Matthew Moore (Acting Principal) and Rachel Beecroft (Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader).
Our Story
History
The township of Buln Buln was originally situated at what is now called Brandy Creek.
Prior to a permanent school building being erected the Education Department established the Buln Buln School in Bradley's Hall Brandy Creek. The school opened on 9 March 1878 under the Head Teacher Mrs Margaret T Skinner. The average attendance at the school during the first year was 19 pupils with 35 on the roll.
In January 1884, parents threatened a total boycott of Bradley's Hall, unless a new school was up by winter. Tenders were quickly called and the new wooden schoolroom was ready and occupied by August of that year. A three room attached residence followed a month later. Despite objections, the school closed in December 1892.
In 1894 the Education Department leased a small but "comfortable" building in the Buln Buln Railway Station yard (the new township). The Buln Buln State School opened, on a part-time basis, in August of that year. By January 1895 the school population had risen to 42 and the school recommenced on a full-time basis, with Gilbert Smith as Head Teacher.
The Education Department purchased five acres of land for a new school building. A contract was let in March 1909 for the erection of the new school building, comprising two classrooms and an office. In 1913 the old school building was relocated to the present school site.
The School Council purchased a building from the Thomson River Dam construction site village (Rawson) for a Multi-Purpose Arts Room.
The school received extensive maintenance to both the interior and exterior and local community support has provided a covered area linking the main building to two additional relocatable classrooms sited during this time.
A Masterplan for managing future growth was developed and in 1996 major capital works saw a modern administrative and staff upgrade take place. A large portable was brought on site to accommodate the relocated class from the main building. Further growth saw a two room relocatable brought on site providing improved classrooms and spaces for library and music as well. In 1998 relocatables were moved to allow for the new toilet block to be completed in 1999. Later that year two further relocations allowed for a courtyard to be developed central to our school, providing extra sealed playspace.
The school completed its courtyard and saw the inclusion of a stage area for performances and play. Grounds were further enhanced by the construction of a shelter shed and rebound area and jumping pit. The school celebrated its 125th Anniversary and permanently marked the event with a courtyard of personalized pavers in 2003 together with further native plantings and gardens.
2 new large double classrooms were brought in to replace individual portables and create a connected decked area providing much needed shelter.
The playground was expanded and a new shelter for class activity, passive play and enjoyment of new gardens was also built.
A new school building built under the State Government's Rural Schools Replacement Program replaced most of the portables with a modern comfortable school well suited to learning in the 21st century.
A new multipurpose room was completed to provide a modern facility for performing arts, a cooking program and the Outside of School Hours Care Program. Our landmark heritage building is a district icon and has been retained as a library and visual arts centre but more importantly to retain a strong link to our significant past.