Principal's Report

School Saving Bonus Information

In Term 4, 2024, families with a child enrolled in a government school from Prep to Year 12 in 2025 will receive the one-off $400 School Saving Bonus.

The $400 School Saving Bonus provides families with support for education-related costs, such as school activities and/or school uniforms and textbooks.

The School Saving Bonus is not available for full-fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.   

Actions For Parents & Carers

Before 18 October 2024, the Department of Education is asking parents and carers to:

• Complete enrolment: If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025. For more information, read about Enrolling in School. 
• Check your contact information: Ensure your email address and phone number is up to date with us. You can check this information by contacting us directly.

We need to ensure your contact information is up to date as the Department of Education will email you twice:

• in October, to verify your email address
• in November, with your $400 School Saving Bonus.

Please check your junk mail regularly to make sure you do not miss an important email.

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, download the School Saving Bonus Information sheet for government school parents and carers or visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus.                                                                                                                     

Prep -Father’s Day and Special Friends Day 

On Tuesday morning our Prep classrooms were a buzz with excitement as the fathers and special friends arrived to celebrate with their child.   The special guests were adorned with designer made ties and then assisted their child by making a house for the class village.

Father’s Day Stall

I would like to sincerely thank Alison Powell and Kerryn van der Merwe, who not only will be running our Father’s Day stall on Friday, but also for undertaking the task of sourcing gifts for our 503 students. A big thank you to the volunteers who will be helping run the stall

‘Community Connections Program’ 

Recently, a group of Year 9 and Year 10 students from Beaumaris Secondary College have been assisting at our school as part of their Community Connections program. These secondary students have supported classroom activities by listening to reading and aiding younger students with laptops. Observing the older students engaging with the primary-aged students has been a delightful experience.

Mary Poppins Production

The Year 5 students had the opportunity to attend the Sandringham Secondary College production of Mary Poppins. We would like to express our gratitude to Sandringham Secondary College for extending the invitation to our students and for providing the transportation.

Asphalt Line Marking

The rejuvenation of our playgrounds is remarkable, with the courts and games on the asphalt areas freshly repainted.

The new markings will greatly facilitate visibility for our students as they engage in their Bike Education program next term.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Parents and Friends for their financial support of this project. Observing our students enjoying four square and hopscotch during recess and lunch is truly delightful.

School Activities

In the past few weeks, our students have participated in three exceptional activities: the whole school Mini Olympics, our Book Parade, and the House Athletics for Years 4 to 6.

For a multitude of photos from this day, please visit the Mini Olympic Page.

The weather was ideal for our Year 4, 5, and 6 students competing at the Sandringham Athletics Track. We received excellent support from Beaumaris Secondary College students and Peter Bartlett, an Assistant Principal, who dedicated his day to maintaining the long jump pit – our thanks go to Peter.

For a visual recap of this fantastic day, please visit the PE Page which features numerous photos.

The creativity displayed by some families during the Book Week Celebrations was remarkable. The students and staff looked fantastic in their costumes.

Our heartfelt thanks to Alan Moyle for the beautiful photographs displayed on our foyer screen, capturing our students in our mini studio, in their costumes. 

Ensure you take a look the next time you're in the office.

Bonney Lewis is currently busy organizing our Book Fair. The Book Fair is scheduled from Monday, September 9th to Thursday, September 12th, between 8:30-9:30 am and 3-4 pm in the ACE space.

Proceeds from the fair will go towards acquiring new books for our library.

Purple Day

This Friday, 30 August, wear purple to support the fight against Domestic Violence/Family Violence.

In the wake of the Year 6 PYP Exhibition, three Year 6 students have been inspired to take a stand and raise awareness about domestic violence.

Feel free to wear as much or as little purple as you wish. No donation is necessary; the day is solely dedicated to increasing awareness and supporting the global fight against this issue. 

Save the Date

The school music concert is scheduled to take place on the oval and in the amphitheatre on Thursday, 28 November. Should the weather not cooperate on that date, the event will be moved to the backup date of Thursday, 5 December. Remember to mark these dates in your diary.

The concert's theme will be 'A Night at the Movies'!

Planning for 2025

We are in the process of planning our school structure for 2025. If your child will not be returning to our school in 2025, please inform the office at your earliest convenience.

Sherril Duffy

PRINCIPAL.