Out and about at Surfside
Mr Walsh (Principal) & Mrs Patterson (Assistant Principal)
Foundation 100 Days of School Celebration
A big congratulations and thank you to the Foundation students, staff and families who last week helped celebrate 100 days of school for the students. It has been a highly productive, highly engaging and highly entertaining first 100 days for the students and staff. The students have been involved in 100 days of learning of differnet skills and knowledge and this has put them in great stead for the remainder of their schooling with strong routines and memorable experiences. The students were greeted with bubbles, dressed up in a range of different outfits and participated in some celebratory activities. The students enjoyed spending some quality time with their buddies and they had the pleaseure of meeting 100 year old Burt who entertained them with many stories of what school was like 95 years ago. We look forward to celebrating many more milestones with this great group of kids and watching them grow academically, socially and emotionally.
Happy Birthday Jack
Last Friday as a school we come together to celebrate Jack's 4th Birthday. Jack's birthday was on July 29th and he was spoilt from our students, staff and parents and carers with many hugs, pats and walking companions. Jack always enjoys greeting and visiting members of our school community, daily walks before and after school and during lunch and recess breaks and finding the familiar dog smells of every dog in Ocean Grove.
Jack enjoyed his VIP visit to our end of week assembly and was centre of attention with all of the students, staff and community members singing Happy Birthday. A big thank you to the kitchen team who prepared a beautiful and tasty dog treat especially for Jack to help Jack celebrate in style.
A massive thank you to our school community who have dropped off a beautiful collection of items that we will take to GAWS on Monday afternoon. I am sure they will be very appreciative of your generosity.
We also look forward to announcing the winners of our Jack colouring competition.
Enjoy some happy snaps of the recent celebrations.
Book Week Celebration is Coming...2026 Update - Symphony of Stories
Surfside’s Book Week celebration is coming up on Wednesday, 26th August, and we’re very excited! The theme this year is ‘Symphony of Stories,’ and we encourage students to dress up inspired by characters and stories that spark their imagination!
Throughout the day students will be involved in multi-age activities centred around the CBCA shortlisted picture books, as well as a very special visit from authors who will share their process of writing and publishing stories. Foundation – year 3 students will hear from our very own Mel O’Toole, and Claire Saxby will join students in years 4-6.
We would love families and friends to join the celebration and watch the parade, starting at 9am. Following the parade, our classrooms will be open for you to join in some fun reading activities.
We can’t wait for a magical day!
'Book Week parade - Wednesday 26th August from 9.00am!'
The Surfside Big Book Swap
Date- Book Week 24th-28th August
Where- SLC (Senior Learning Area) Book Swap Shop
When- In school time
Important Information
- Bring a maximum of 5 books to school to swap before book week.
- Bring the books to your child’s classroom to give to the classroom teacher, who will then put them into our shop.
- In Book Week students will get the opportunity to go with their class to the Book Swap Shop and choose books to take home.
How it Works
- If you bring 5 books, you will get to choose 5 books at the Book Swap Shop to take home and keep.
- If you bring 3 books, you will get to choose 3 books at the Books Swap Shop to take home and keep.
- If you bring 1 book, you will get to choose 1 book at the Books Swap Shop to take home and keep.
Questions
Any further information or questions you may have please visit/contact Mandy Lord (Yr 6 Teacher) in the SLC.
2026 Parent / Carer Opinion Survey
WE WANT OUR PARENTS / CARERS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!
Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Carer Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.
Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.
The Parent / Carer Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 17 August to Friday 18 September 2026.
A random sample of parents / carers have been selected to participate in this year’s survey.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.
Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / carers who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to the school directly for survey guides in your language if you require further support. Survey results will be communicated to parents / carers through annual reporting and in the school newsletter when available. Last year we used the survey results to plan our 2026 Annual Implementation Plan. Please speak to the administration team if you would like more information.
Term 3 Dates (Please check the dates for your diary page for all term 3 confirmed dates)
There is plenty to look forward to during term 3 in the classroom and from a whole school perspective so below is a summary of the next couple of weeks. Please check the Dates for your Diary page for term 3 and 4 special dates and events:
August
Mon 17th- Fri 21st - Science Week - Seeds of Science - Inquiry & Innovation
Tue 18th - School Council @ 5.30pm (Finance 5.00pm)
SSV District Athletics (Landy Field) TBC
Wed 19th - Emergency Management Drill
Thu 20th - Breakfast Club @ 7.45 in the kitchen
Fri 21st - Year 6 BioLab Excursion - Sporty Maths & Brain Matters
Assembly @ 2.30 - courtyard
Mon 24th-Fri 28th - Book Week 2026 - Symphony of Stories
Wed 26th - Book Week Parade and whole school activities
Thu 27th - Breakfast Club @ 7.45am in the kitchen
Year 5 Incursion - Life Under the Microscope
Victorian State Schools Spectacular - John Cain Arena
Fri 28th - Victorian State Schools Spectacular - John Cain Arena (Saturday 29th)
Fresh Food Fair Sponsorship
We are busy in the planning and preparing for the 2026 Fresh Food Fair and we would love to welcome our local family businesses to support our amazing school community. Please jump on board and support the 2026 Fresh Food Fair and Surfside PS community. Check out the Fresh Food Fair 2026 page for more info:
In class, we have been learning lots about Australian history with a recent focus on the First Australians. We've been learning about how First Nations peoples developed different types of shelters using materials from their environment. In class time, students had a go at adopting some of these principles, like using natural materials to construct their own mini shelters. Students had to include a water source, food and tool storage.
Take a look at some of their shelters.
School Sport Victoria District Basketball Challenge
The Surfside Basketball Crew participated in the District Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at Beyond Bank Stadium in Belmont, Geelong. All teams performed at a high level with both of our competitive teams winning all of their preliminary games and the final and now qualifying for the next round. A big thank you to Mrs Lord, Mark and our amazing parent/carer helpers and support crew.
Boys/Mixed A team won all games and finished 1st in the district, boys/mixed B team only lost 1 game for the day and finished 2nd, girls A team won all games and finished 1st on the district and girls B team won all of their games! Boys/Mixed A team and Girls A team are through to the next round! A very successful day for Surfside! 3 teams undefeated for the day and only 1 loss in total for all Surfside teams from 12 games played!
Building Update
We have now progressed to stage 2 of our building program following the recent $11.6 million announcement from the State Government for the installation of a competition grade gymnasium. Stage 2 is led and supported by the Victorian School Building Authority and following a VSBA meeting with 3 appointed architects who will now complete a proposal we will work towards appointing an architect. Below is a proposed timeline and where we are in the process. We look forward to announcing our appointed architect within our week 7 newsletter:
Victorian State Schools Spectacular!
Our VSSS crew completed a rehearsal performance for our assembly last week and it is getting closer to the big event. We again look forward to supporting our State Schools Spectacular crew and wish them all the best over the coming weeks as they put the finishing touches on their upcoming performance.
Victorian State Schools Spectacular Ticket Sales
We are pleased to announce that tickets for the 2026 Victorian State Schools Spectacular will go on sale via Ticketek at 11am on Thursday 16th July. This year’s performance will be on Saturday 29th August at John Cain Arena.
www.ticketek.com.au/spectacular
Ticket prices:
- Adult: $40
- Child: (under 15) $20
- Concession: $30
Friday Lunch Service
Friday Lunch Orders are here – Set Up Flexischools Today!
Our new Friday lunch order service with Groove Café has begun and was a roaring and busy success on week 1.
To ensure you are set up to place your orders, we encourage families to set up their Flexischools account.
What is Flexischools?
Flexischools is Australia's leading online school ordering platform, making it easy to order and pay for your child's school lunches using your phone or computer.
With Flexischools you can:
- Order your child's lunch by Wednesday afternoon for Friday delivery and future Fridays.
- Manage multiple children from one account.
- Pay securely without needing cash.
If you already have a Flexischools account from another school, simply add Surfside Primary School to your existing account.
Flexischools app, which can be downloaded from the AppStore (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android).
These instructions will help you to get started:
• How do I register for a Flexischools account?
• How do I add a student to my account?
The Groove Cafe Menu and Ordering ability is available now
2027 Sibling Enrolments
Enrolments for 2027 are now open and close on Friday 31st July. Please check out our Enrolment Time at Surfside page in our newsletter for more information.
School Council 2026 - August Meeting
Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday 18th August
- Finance Meeting - 5.00pm
- School Council Meeting - 5.30pm