Out and about at Surfside
Mr Walsh (Principal) & Mrs Patterson (Assistant Principal)
Surfside Fresh Food Fair - Wrap Up
SPONSOR THANK YOU
A big thank you to all of the sponsors of the 2025 Fresh Food Fair. Your continued support goes a long way to ensuring we are able to provide engaging opportunities at Surfside Primary School through the Kitchen and Garden program.
Supporter Thank You
A big thank you to all of our supporters for the Silent Auction and congratulations to all of those who collected a prize or two. I am definitely looking forward to spending the day with Royal for Principal for a Day!
After a week of cleaning up, packing away equipment, finalising costs, paying bills and completing finances, we’re looking forward to announcing the final fundraising total from our Fresh Food Fair at the Week 10 assembly, as well as sharing it with our Fresh Food Fair committee in the coming weeks.
We would like to send out a MASSIVE THANK YOU to the Surfside community for creating such a successful evening for the 2025 Fresh Food Fair - despite the challenging weather. We were thrilled to see so many people come along, stay through the light showers, and enjoy the night together. We’re especially grateful that the weather stayed warm and calm for most of the afternoon, considering the very next day was the coldest November day since 1913!
Bringing an event like this to life requires countless hours of organisation, planning and support. The Fresh Food Fair is a wonderful opportunity for our school community to come together - students, staff, parents, carers, grandparents, friends, past students and families - to celebrate our programs, our achievements and most of all, our connections.
There are so many people involved in making this event possible, and as a school we are truly grateful for the support offered before, during and after the event.
First, we extend our deepest thanks to Stacey O’Keefe, our event organiser. Stacey’s attention to detail, communication, support and above all her patience make everyone feel valued and contribute enormously to the success of the fair. On behalf of Surfside - THANK YOU Stacey!
To our sponsors and supporters who generously donated prizes we say thank you. Your contributions play a significant role in making the event possible and in supporting the ongoing programs at Surfside.
Our Fresh Food Fair committee has gone above and beyond with organisation, cook-ups, sponsorship coordination, prize collection and key roles on the day. We are incredibly grateful for the support from our parents and carers, and we welcome anyone interested in joining us for the 2026 event.
A huge thank you to the Surfside staff for bringing so much of the day together for our students and families. Your willingness to work throughout the day and evening, giving time away from your own families, does not go unnoticed. The smiles, encouragement and opportunities for connection you provide year-round are what make events like this truly special.
To all of our volunteers we say thank you. Whether you helped beforehand, on the day, or afterwards, your support was invaluable. Parents, carers, grandparents, uncles, aunties, cousins, ex-students, former staff, friends and community members—every effort mattered. From the BBQ and kitchen to face painting, the bar and the garden, you brought energy, laughter and teamwork to a very big night. It was community at its best.
Our entertainment was once again of an incredibly high standard, and we hope you enjoyed the talents of our current and former students, as well as parents and friends. A heartfelt thank you to Mr Morzinek and Mr Asher for coordinating this wonderful part of the evening, and to all performers for giving your time and sharing your talents with us.
The food is always a highlight, and we are so grateful to our Kitchen & Garden team - Georgie and Clancey - as well as the students and many volunteers who prepared the incredible dishes on offer. Most of the food served on the night is created right here by our school community, truly showcasing what the Fresh Food Fair represents—Fresh Food! We’ve also heard exciting news that our Kitchen & Garden Program will again receive another significant award at the upcoming 2025 Garden Awards and is a wonderful recognition of the hard work and passion behind this program.
Most importantly, we want to thank our students. Everything we do at Surfside Primary School is centred on building student capacity - through learning, engagement, wellbeing and meaningful connection. Having 24 class-run stalls supported by staff and our community is an extraordinary achievement, and an incredible learning opportunity for our students. Watching them enjoy the rides, manage the stalls, serve food and hunt for treasures at the White Elephant stall captures exactly what the event is all about. Raising essential funds is wonderful, but providing our students with this rich, positive experience each year is what matters most.
It’s important to note that the Surfside Kitchen & Garden Program - its building, garden, produce, staff, ovens, utensils and more - receives no funding from the state government or Department of Education. This program exists entirely through the support of our school community and events like the Fresh Food Fair. We are incredibly grateful for your ongoing commitment to this unique and valuable program.
For everything you do, we say:
'THANK YOU SURFSIDE!'
Supporters
A big thank you to all of our supporters for the Silent Auction and congratulations to all of those who collected a prize or two. I am definitely looking forward to spending the day with Royal for Principal for a Day!
Surfside Fresh Food Fair Supporter
A big thank you to Luke and the crew at GSC Finance for their support at the Fresh Food Fair and behind the bar. 'GSC Finance would like to continue to support Surfside PS and as supporters of Surfside Primary and the Fresh Food Fair, they are donating $1,000 for any settled loans referred through the school community.'So check out the crew at GSC Finance and we thank them for their continued support.
Luke Eustace
Mortgage BrokerLevel 1, 1/174 Torquay Road, Grovedale VIC 3216| www.gscfinance.com.auOffice: 03 5201 7969 | Mobile: 0458 111 468 | luke@gscfinance.com.au
Thank you to our sponsors!
Important Upcoming Dates.
We are edging closer to the festive season and things start to get really busy (well we all know they already are) so here are some upcoming dates to support you over the coming weeks:
November
Mon 17th-Fri 21st - Book Fair Week in the library
Tues 18th - School Council at 5.30pm (Finance 5.00pm)
Wed 19th - Foundation 2026 Transition Session #3
Thu 20th - Breakfast Club in the kitchen - 7.45am-8.30am
Fri 21st - Proposed F-2 Sports Morning - school oval & basketball court
Wed 26th - Foundation 2026 Transition Session #4
Thu 27th - Whole School Concert @ the Pavillion
Breakfast Club in the kitchen - 7.45am-8.30am
Fri 28th - Curriculum Day - Students not at school
Staffing Updates and Year Level Structure for 2026
| Year Level | Number of Classes |
|---|---|
| Foundation | 4 classes |
| Year 1 | 3 classes |
| Year 2 | 4 classes |
| Year 3 | 3 classes |
| Year 4 | 4 classes |
| Year 5 | 4 classes |
| Year 6 | 4 classes |
We have been working towards finalising our staffing profile for 2026. We were excited to receive confirmation last Friday that we will receive a new relocatable classroom for the start of 2026 and we have decided to increase our 2026 Year 6 cohort to 4 classes. This means we will have 26 classes from Foundation to year 6 next year.
There are many moving parts within a school organisation and we are very grateful to have a stable staffing profile. We often see some changes due to staff extending their families, relocations, new job opportunities or travel but we are also excited to welcome back some familiar faces while meeting some new faces at Surfside for 2026. We want to welcome our returning and new staff for 2026 and look forward to meeting them throughout the coming weeks as part of our transition and planning days. We are very thankful for the experience and skill sets that they bring to the Surfside team and I am sure everyone will make them feel very welcome.
In 2026 we look forward to welcoming back our returning staff and the following new staff to Surfside and we know that their skills and experiences will compliment such a strong and passionate teaching and learning team at Surfside.
New Staff
- Winter Dunstone - Winter has a wealth of experience in and out of the classroom in a number of classroom and leadership roles. Winter is currently teaching in Reservoir and is looking forward to her relocation to the Ocean Grove area.
- Tillie Avery - Hi, I’m Tillie! I’ve been a teacher for 10 years, and for the past three years I’ve been lucky enough to work up in the Pilbara, Western Australia. It was an amazing experience, but I’m absolutely delighted to be heading back home to beautiful Ocean Grove. When I’m not in the classroom, you’ll most likely find me playing netball, travelling, relaxing at the beach, or spending quality time with my family and friends. I’m so excited to be joining Surfside in 2026, and I can’t wait to meet you all and become part of this wonderful school community!
Returning Staff
- Jake Wilkie - Jake has been a long time member of the Surfside teaching team but has spent the last 3 years working and living in the UK. While teaching in the UK Jake has been playing cricket and embarking on many travels. Jake has returned back to Australia and is currently covering J3 while Mrs Q is on leave.
- Diana Wright - We have been very happy to hear the great news that Diana will be returning to the Surfside teaching team in 2026. Unfortunately Diana has had some health concerns that she has received terrific support and care for and this now enables her to return to Surfside. We all look forward to having her back on board and I know she is thrilled to get back in front of the students.
- Laura Myers - Laura will be returning after caring for her 2nd child and brings some valuable experience to the Surfside PS Teaching Team
We have confirmed the following teams for 2026 to support our program at Surfside Primary School.
Foundation Team 2026
We have enjoyed meeting our 2026 Foundation students and families over the past few weeks as we started our 2026 transition program. We were also excited to see a number of our new families at our Fresh Food Fair and we hope that they all had an amazing experience. We would like to introduce our 2025 Foundation Team:
- Winter Dunstone
- Sally Catchlove
- Kristy Griffiths
- Elli Moss
Leadership Team 2026
Our leadership team have had a productive and successful year in supporting the implementation of the school goals for 2025. This team brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the areas of teaching and learning and engagement and wellbeing and this has been evident in the growth of all of our measurable data sets. The team is excited to continue to drive this level of improvement to allow each member of our school community to 'be the best that they can be each and every day.'
- Peter Walsh - Principal
- Lynda Patterson - Assistant Principal
- Adrian Chapman – Learning Specialist - Teaching & Learning
- Trina Charleston - Learning Specialist - Teaching & Learning
- Kellie Hewson - Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader
- Melissa Lonergan - Disability & Inclusion Leader
Gill Hodgson is progressing well but unfortunately won't be able to return to start the 2026 school year and will take some further leave for term 1. We continue to wish Gill all the best and we know that our school community offers their heartfelt support.
2026 Transition Sessions
While we continue to finalise our staffing profile over the next couple of weeks we look forward to announcing our 2026 teaching teams and we will have some staff to farewell and thank for their contribution to Surfside. We look forward to these teams supporting our transition program on the following dates:
- Tue 2nd December - 2026 New Year Level Transition Sessions (Rotation Sessions) - 9.00 - 11.00am
- Tue 9th December - 2026 Whole School Year Level Transition Morning (new classes) 9.00-11.00am & Year 6-7 Orientation Day (Statewide Government Based Secondary Schools)
School Council 2025 - November Meeting
Our school council look forward to our next meeting which will be held on Tuesday 18th November:
- Finance Meeting at 5.00pm
- Council Meeting at 5.30pm