It feels almost surreal to be sharing our second-last newsletter for the year—2025 has flown by in what feels like the blink of an eye. As we enter the busy lead-up to Christmas, the pace seems to quicken for everyone. This time of year can bring added pressure for families, with so much still to organise and the calendar filling rapidly.

At the same time, it truly is a magical season when you’re a child. The excitement, the laughter, and the sense of wonder that fills our classrooms and playgrounds are a reminder of how special this period can be. Our students are embracing the fun, festivities, and celebrations that come with the end of the school year, and it’s lovely to witness their joy.

Over the next few weeks, we have a number of events and activities that will make this a memorable finish to the year. I encourage families to take moments—when you can—to pause, breathe, and enjoy the small joys of the season. Amid the busyness, there is so much to appreciate as we head towards Christmas and the end of another successful year at Moriac.

Remembrance Day

This edition of our school newsletter begins with our students and staff commemorating Remembrance Day across the school as we paid respect and paused for a minute's silence to remember the service and sacrifice of our veterans and current serving personnel.

The students many classes created different items such as wreaths, poppies and posters and shared these during the short service. It is so important for all our children to know and understand the significance of these commemorative days and we are proud to ensure this occurs at our school.

Year 1/2 Stay Late

Our Year 1/2 students participated in and thoroughly enjoyed their stay late evening last week at school. The program included activities that began at lunchtime and finished off at around 6:30pm with some extremely exhausted children. A highlight which was shared with me via many students, was the decorating of the white t-shirts and then the disco straight after.

The students enjoyed a pizza dinner and popcorn and finished the day watching a movie. Such a fun and special experience with thanks to the Year 1/2 teachers for making this possible- Maddi Rhodes, Bree Anderson and Emma Rodgers.

2026 School and House Captains Process

Coming up soon is the process of selecting our 2026 school and house captains. The students are supported in class around what a leader is and does and given the opportunity to apply for these position.

At our school, we try our best to not only give students the badge and title, but provide them with the opportunity to actually lead something. This year, leaders participated in a peer sporting/wellbeing group that they led during term 2 at lunch and recess. Our school leaders are fully responsible for leading assemblies and our sporting captains take ownership of our sports equipment and shed and then also leading the work in our school sports association wherever required. We hope to build the repertoire of work they have an opportunity to lead in 2026.

Student will come home with information regarding applying for leadership from next week and we thank our families for their support of this process in advance. We always like the selection of captains to be a combined effort of peer voting and staff knowledge and input after the students have been given opportunities to prepare a speech and present to the senior end of the school community. This way it is a combined approach that enables a result that takes into account many different factors of student leadership.

Introducing the new staff joining our 2026 team-

I am very please to announce the new staff joining our team in 2026! All three teachers come from different backgrounds and experiences and will make valuable additions to our teaching team.

In the next edition of our newsletter, we will announce teaching teams across the school as well as our slightly growing leadership group.

Kerri Burns

My name is Ms Kerri Burns, and I’m thrilled to be joining Moriac Primary School next year! I’ve been teaching for over 15 years and have a passion for Mathematics. I have two daughters, Jasmyn (13) and Chloe (8), and our family enjoys spending time at the beach, getting creative with crafts, and relaxing with a good movie together. I also have a bit of a sweet tooth, my favourite food is chocolate. My favourite colour is blue, which just happens to match my favourite footy team- North Melbourne. Outside of school, I enjoy shopping, hanging out with friends, going to the gym and visiting the theatre to see musicals. I’m especially excited for 2026, as I’ll be heading to Vietnam in January for a holiday before starting the new school year. I can’t wait to meet everyone and get to know my new class. I’m looking forward to a fantastic year of learning and fun at Moriac Primary School!

Danielle Moore

Hi, my name is Danielle Moore and I am very excited to be joining Moriac Primary School in 2026. I have been teaching at Leopold Primary School since 2001, where I have taught across all year levels as well as Art and Science. I have three children, Charlie, Lachlan and Eve and a cat named Vada. Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, going out for breakfast, listening to music, camping, and enjoying good coffee, pasta, and chocolate. I value honesty and kindness and I am looking forward to building new connections and continuing my learning journey within the Moriac Primary School community.

Jordyn Brown

Hello! My name is Jordyn/Miss Brown and I’m excited to be joining Moriac Primary School in 2026. I recently completed my teaching degree at Deakin University and have spent the past four years working as an Education Support staff member, where I developed a love for helping students reach their potential. Outside of school, I’m usually playing or coaching netball, or spending time with my family and friends. I’m really looking forward to getting to know the Moriac community and creating a classroom where every student feels supported, engaged, and encouraged to do their best!

State-wide Transition Day

On Tuesday 9th December our annual state-wide transition morning will occur where students will have the opportunity to meet their 2026 class teacher and do some get to know and fun activities for their morning. This is something that occurs across the state at all Government Schools and also aligns with our Year 6 students heading off to their high schools for their transition sessions too. Our new staff that will be joining us in 2026 will also be present and students will receive a note to take home with their class, a map of where their room will be and a photo of their classroom teacher as well.

As a school we also identify early any students that may need extra support during transition and our Education Support staff will be supporting identified students that fall into this category. In addition, there will also be opportunity for these students to have some extra time in their new space if that is also required.

Evacuation and Emergency Drills in Schools

A reminder to families that once each term, we as a school practice for emergencies including lockdowns, evacuations on site and even offsite evacuations as well. During the drill, we simulate an emergency event and then enact the drill which will always involve locking all doors and windows including the administration building.

This week we needed to enforce a lockdown due to an incident that occurred which was just after 9am. As there can often be students that arrive to school late, this coincided with that event and families could not access the administration building. We know this might be unavoidable at times, but in the event that this occurs again, we will also place a sign on the front doors so that people are aware of what is happening whether it is a drill or a real life event. We thank families in advance for understanding. The safest place therefore in that instance to be is back in your cars waiting for an announcement which would explain that the drill or lockdown is over and all is clear.

Reminders

The key dates page has been updated with 2026 dates for families. The dates have been passed through school council and apart from any unforeseen circumstances that might clash that need adjustments, for the most part this is what our school year will look like.

In 2026, we will also send home a printed version for families which might help stay on top of dates etc and we will also update the calendar on compass as normal too.

Enjoy your weekend and let's hope the weather makes a turn and it resemble summer in some way!

Mel Maccora

Principal

Wellbeing/Inclusion

Respectful, Responsible and Exceptional