From The Principal's Desk

The Final Newsletter for 2023

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is hard to believe we are only 7 school days away from the end of another year. We have very excited students who are looking very much forward to an extended break over the Christmas period and I am sure parents/ carers and staff are feeling the same. This will be the last newsletter for the year, so there is quite a bit of information to follow that will assist in wrapping up the year and preparing for 2023.

I would like personally congratulate all students and their families for the time and energy that has been put into making this year a success. This year was always going to be a tough year as we realigned ourselves with 40 weeks of uninterrupted learning at school. We have fought hard to ensure the routines and rituals were maintained throughout the year and developed many strategies to support the social emotional learning. While the academics has bounced back, the wellbeing of our students, staff and parents has been a slower burn. Congratulations to everyone for their persistence, even through the tough times.

Delacombe Primary School is very lucky to have such dedicated and energetic staff and I would like to thank them all for the energy, smiles and extremely hard work they bring every single day. Your children really are in great hands.

On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone for the way in which I have been welcomed at Delacombe PS. I have had a fantastic year and will always look back on my year at DPS with fond memories. I wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas period and all the very best for the year ahead.

Staffing for 2023

We have now confirmed our staffing structure for 2023. We have spent considerable time working to ensure we have the best mix of staff to take the school forward into 2023. The structure is as follows:

Principal: Mr Scott Phillips

Assistant Principal (Administration & Wellbeing): Mrs Marnie Cooper

Assistant Principal (Teaching & Learning): Mrs Stephanie Lindsay

Literacy Specialist: Mrs Jacinta Fitzpatrick

Numeracy Learning Specialist: Mr Nicholas Senior

Wellbeing Learning Specialist: Mrs Ainslee McDougall

Literacy Coordinator: Mrs Jess Bailey

Numeracy Coordinator: Mrs Lauren Cottrill

Wellbeing Coordinator: Mrs Rebekah Dawson

E-learning Leader: Mrs Lucinda Wall

Tutoring Co-ordinator: Mrs Kyra Miller

Classroom Teachers:

Prep A- Ms Meg Sampson (Prep Leader)

Prep B - Ms Jane Reus

Prep C - TBC

Prep D - Ms Audrey Turnbull

Grade 1A - Ms Bianca Gerrard (Grade 1 Leader)

Grade 1B - Ms Helena Thomas

Grade 1C - Ms Madeleine Pitts

Grade 1D - Mr Josh Zerafa

Grade 2A - Mr Ryan Cox

Grade 2B - Ms Rhiannah Dunstan

Grade 2C - Mr Michael Columbro (Grade 2 Leader)

Grade 2D - Ms Emma Foster

Grade 3A - Ms Abby Boyle

Grade 3B - Ms Tanya Koenig (Grade 3 Leader)

Grade 3C - Mrs Deb Farnsworth

Grade 4A - Ms Briella Fisher

Grade 4B - Mrs Lauren Cottrill/ Mr Nick Senior

Grade 4C - Mrs Gab Williams (Grade 4 Leader)

Grade 5A - Mr Mark Costanzo (Grade 5 Leader)

Grade 5B - Ms Lynn McCutcheon

Grade 5C - Ms Jaime Skrobalak

Grade 6A - Mrs Emily Burns (Grade 6 Leader)

Grade 6B - Mr Brandon Egan

Grade 6C - Mr Andrew Toan

Grade 6D - Ms Rebekah Richardson

Specialist Roles:

Physical Education - Mrs Sue O’Brien and Mr Adam Storey

Arts - Mrs Mary-Clare Svilicic and Mrs Rebekah Dawson

Chinese - Mr Jason Shorter Mrs Bek Dawson – Asian Studies

Digi-tech - Mrs Lucinda Wall, Mr Adam Storey and Mrs Ainslee McDougall

Allied Health Support:

Speech Pathologist: Mrs Kym Myers

Chaplain/Social Worker: Laura Wallis

Staff Welcomes and Farewells:

At the conclusion of this year we will be welcoming a number of staff to Delacombe PS and also saying farewell to a few who are heading off on either a period of leave or into other professions.

We welcome:

Mrs Ainslee McDougall, who will take on the Wellbeing Learning Specialist role. Mrs McDougall comes to us from Clarendon College where she is currently leading wellbeing across the junior school.
Ms Helena Thomas, who will be teaching in our Grade 1 team. Helena is currently teaching at Cudgee PS which is in the south western area of Victoria.
Mr Josh Zerafa, who will also be teaching in the Grade 1 team. Josh is relocating to Ballarat from his current position at Wandong PS in the outer reaches of the northern suburbs of Melbourne.
Ms Emma Foster, who will be joining the Grade 2 team. Emma has been working at DPS throughout the year as a CRT.
Mrs Tanya Koenig returns from her time in Warrnambool to join the Grade 3 team.
Mrs Jess Bailey, who returns after a year of family leave to take up the Literacy Coordinator/Tutoring role.
Ms Rebekah Richardson will be working as a Grade 6 teacher and comes to us from Tarneit P-9 College.
Mrs Amber Bull returns to her Education Support role after a stint at Mt Clear PS.
Mrs Alice McQuinn is returning as an education support worker after a period of leave.

We are very pleased with our staffing additions for next year and know they will do a fabulous job.

We say farewell to:

Mrs Kate Peldys who heads off to begin her journey into parenthood.
Mrs Bianca McDonald has picked up a leadership position at Lucas PS.
Mrs Clara Shell heads off to have her second child.
Mr Kal Young is heading north to relocate to the warmer climate.
Mrs Anna Setoguchi is heading back to her teaching role in Japan.
Mrs Cherie Jeffrey returns to her position at the Ballarat Specialist School.
Mrs Maree Demeye begins a period of extended leave.
Mrs Jenny Morey, who is relocating to another town after a number of years with DPS as an education support staff member.
Mrs Marcia Read who is off to explore other passions and interests after years of work as an education support staff member at DPS.

I would like to acknowledge the work of the above mentioned staff and thank them for their dedication and contributions to the Delacombe PS community. We wish them all the best for the year that lies ahead.

2023 School Captains and House Captains

This week we are very pleased to announce that our School Captains and House Captains for 2023 are:

School Captains:

House Captains:

Blue House:

Green House:

Red House:

Yellow House:

Can we also take this opportunity to thank our outgoing school captains; Sophie, Chloe, Afif and Angus for their wonderful work during 2022. They have represented the school to the highest level, been super organised and generally been positive role models for the student body. I know they will all continue to explore their leadership opportunities as they enter secondary school. Thank you and good luck.

Orientation Day

Next Tuesday December 13th is the statewide Orientation Day when our Year 6 students venture off to their secondary school (public schools only) and we get to meet our 2023 Preps and help them experience life in primary school.

We wish our Grade 6 students a wonderful orientation day and we know they will return on Wednesday with lots of exciting stories to share.

The Prep Orientation Day begins at 9.30am and concludes at 12.30 with a family picnic on the synthetic grass in the P-2 play area.

A Prep Parent Information Session will be held at 11.30am in the stadium to provide lots of details about the organisation for 2023.

During the day the remainder of the students at school will meet their 2023 classroom teacher between 11.30am and 12.30pm. During their meeting, the students will participate in get-to-know you activities and also receive an introduction letter from their teacher. I am sure they will come home with lots of stories about their new class and teacher.

Class Groupings

Please note that class lists will not be posted on the stadium windows as has been the case in the past. Privacy issues prevent us from engaging in this practice.

We have gone to great lengths to ensure that the class groups for 2023 are the best combinations for all students. Every student has been placed with at least one student from their friendship list and many aspects have been taken into account to ensure classes are even. We know that this can be a challenging time for some students so we all play an important role in helping our children to regulate any big feelings they may experience during this time and assist in teaching them strategies to cope.

We thank you in advance for your support with this matter.

Graduation

On Thursday December 15 the Grade 6 students will come together in the DPS Stadium to celebrate their primary school graduation. The graduation has three parts; a ceremony beginning at 6pm that parents are invited to attend, a sit down dinner for the graduates and staff from 7pm and a disco for the students from 8pm. The evening will conclude at 9pm.

Although some students have been added and some have moved on, those that began their schooling at Delacombe sure have changed.

PREP 2016

GARDE 6 2022

Final Assembly

Our final assembly for the year will take place on Friday December 16th at 2.30pm in the stadium. During the assembly we will hear from the school captains, present some scholarship awards, announce student leadership positions, present the Catherine King Community Award, view a memory film clip, say farewell to those who are leaving and see the Grade 6 graduation dance.

Following the assembly, the Grade 6 students will complete one final walk through the buildings while being cheered on by the remaining students. They will exit the building near the Prep doors where their journey first began. There will be photo opportunities at this time before being dismissed for the day.

Parents are welcome to attend this final assembly.

Whole School Picnic

The whole school picnic has been planned for Friday December 16 at Kirk’s Reservoir (weather depending). All students will be bussed to the venue at 9.40am where they will participate in a variety of activities and join with staff and parents for a casual picnic on the lawn. Students will return at 2pm before the final assembly begins at 2.30pm. Parents are free to join in the fun and games by meeting at Kirk’s Reservoir at 10am.

All students require the Compass permission form to be completed before Wednesday December 14.

Parent Payment 2023

Attached below is the Parent Payment information for 2023. Due to changes in the departmental policy we have experienced very low levels of parent contributions during 2022. This has triggered a number of changes to how we are planning to resource the school and plan for programming in 2023. The details can be seen in the letter below.

The requested contributions have been simplified and require just 3 simple steps:

Identify the requested amount for your child/ren based on their grade level.
Decide whether you would like to make a voluntary contribution.
Pay via QKR or by contacting the office for a payment plan.

All details are in the letter below.

Parent Payments 2023.pdf

P-2 Playground

We are very excited to reveal the plans for the P-2 creative playspace which has been developed by Justin Staggard. Justin has spent time with our students and staff to gather ideas to include in the design. As you can see below, the design will be a wonderful asset to the school and provide extra play opportunities for our junior students.