Principal Report 

Oatlands from My Point of View

Things are going very well at Oatlands and from my observations, student learning engagement is high. Term 2 is an extremely important term for student learning. With Term 1 having a heavy focus on establishing positive learning environments in classrooms, Term 2 offers an opportunity to support and extend our students’ development. It is also the term where many activities are happening across the school.

Cross Country

Recently our Grade 3 – 6 students participated in our Cross-Country House Trials. All students participated with a positive attitude, earning points for their house. Many students finished in the top 10 and qualified for the Edwin Flack District Cross Country event, which was held this week. All Oatlands students represented the school extremely well in regard to their conduct and effort. Many have qualified for the Casey North Division event, which is coming up soon. Thank you to our PE team, Sarah James, Martine Carmichael and Kara Ellis for organising the events and supporting our students.

Mother’s Day Stall

This week our PFA have organised and run our annual Mother’s Day stall. Our PFA, including additional volunteers, did a wonderful job sourcing all the gifts and setting up and running the stall. From all reports, the students loved the opportunity to buy something for their mum or a significant person in their life. Huge thank you to Jess Ward our PFA president for her outstanding organisation. 

Incursions and Excursions

Over the past few weeks our Grade 6 students have been visiting Bunjil Place and the Casey Library. These visits are organised to provide our students the opportunity to engage with literature and accessing a broader range of books. Students have enjoyed the opportunity to borrow books of interest and find new stories to expand their enjoyment of reading.

We have also had Brendan, from 100 Story Building, visit recently to run writing workshops with a select group of our Grade 3 & 4 students. Students have been learning new planning methods and ways to improve their writing skills and techniques. Thank you to our English leaders, Tania Nicholas and Helen Connell, for organising these opportunities for our students.

Before we know it, it will be the middle of the 2024 school year, so it is very important to maximise every opportunity we have to learn and have fun at school. I hope Term 2 is a positive and successful one for our entire Oatlands community.

Matthew Kenny – Assistant Principal