Principal Message

Dear Families,

Weather: The amazing weather patterns of Victoria and the coast struck again this week! I hope you managed to keep cool; over the long weekend and enjoy the extended break. Just a reminder that on those extreme weather days at school, we adjust the timetable to be an indoor timetable. So, when it is an extreme weather day, we will act accordingly!

Collecting your child/ren from school outside normal school hours: We ask if you are collecting your child/ren from school early if you could please arrange pickup at the following times:

11:00am start of recess

11:30am end of recess

1:30pm start of lunch 

2:20pm end of lunch  

You must collect a ‘sign out’ slip from the admin team so we know exactly where your child is. As you can appreciate it is difficult to find students in the playground at recess and lunchtime and this also avoids interruptions to classrooms.  Ideally, pick them up at 3.20pm! Also, if your child is late, please be present with them on sign in too!!!

STOMP: Dance rehearsals continue this week in preparation for the Concert. Keep your eyes on various communications from Dallas and staff so we have an amazing experience in Week 9.

Rock Camp: Last week Dallas Holden took several members of the band on an overnight camp to learn new sounds. Kristy and I visited on the first day and heard 2 songs that they had been rehearsing all morning and were blown away by what they had achieved so quickly. No doubt the families that attended the mini concert the following day would have been amazed at what the group performed for them! Well done to our Rock Stars and a massive thanks to Dallas for providing this opportunity.

Cinema Night: Have you got your tickets yet? If not, read on the newsletter and purchase them NOW! Another great night under the stars with a temp of 24 degrees expected, it is sure to be a great night. 

Emergency Drills: Each term we enact various emergency drills. These could be a Lock down (inside or outside), evacuation and maybe even an offsite evacuation so we are well planned in the event of an emergency.  Between now and the end of the term, we will enact an evacuation drill. Please discuss these important events with your children at home so they understand the importance of their cooperation in this event.

NAPLAN: The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy began today. We hope all the students did their best and enjoyed the experience. It is a little different from our usual instructional practice and provides schools with a snapshot of the student’s progress. Please ensure your children are well rested this week and next and continue to have them calm and ready to learn as usual.  A great start today with the writing component done! Well done to everyone who sat this part of the testing.

Dale Sidebottom: Yesterday we had Dale visit OGPS and engage with our Year 3/4 cohort and then the 5/6 cohort! He was blown away by the respectfulness he encountered from our students. He commended the staff at the staff session last night and applauded the work we are doing. Dale works across a large number of schools and corporate landscapes in delivering engaging learning sessions around empathy, fitness and fun. He has a number of resources available to support families and teachers on various social media platforms and websites. Google him!

Cybersafety: As always, we encourage families to be vigilant with the use of technology out of school hours. Too frequently social issues arise online that schools have to deal with that occur out of school hours and spill into the playground or classroom. We will be engaging Robbie Noggler soon for a cybersafety event and encourage families to check in on their young person’s devices, be aware of their communications and WHO they are communicating with before it becomes an issue.

Have a great week everyone.

Scott McCumber

Principal