Welcome Back

It was wonderful to welcome back our students to begin Term 4, I hope there were many highlights and moments fondly look back on over the school holiday break. In the time I spent in classrooms this week, holiday recount writing told the tale of many great experiences including overseas trips, road trips, camping experiences, Melbourne Show day trips and plenty of celebrations and fun.

Term 4 is always a really busy term but I am always energised by daylight savings and having a little more light at the end of the day. Whilst Term 4 is a number of weeks longer than our previous term, it is always full of events, activities and our leadership team begin to have an eye towards finishing the year on a high whilst also planning and preparing for 2026.

Our newsletters will continue fortnightly throughout Term 4 and I appreciate you taking a moment to review the details included throughout this edition.

Important Date – Student Free Day

A few dates for the diary as we move into Term 4, the school will be closed on Melbourne Cup Day, Tuesday 4th November. This is a public holiday and Team Kids do not run a service on this day.

The school will also host a Student Free Day on the 10th December, this is a planning day for 2026 teaching staff as they begin to plan for Term 1. Team Kids will run a service on this day.

No Hat, No Play

Please be reminded that the ‘No Hat No Play’ policy is in place throughout Term 4. All students are required to wear a School Council approved hat while outdoors. Students without a school hat will be limited to play in areas covered by shade covers.

Divisional Athletics

Congratulations to our CPS Athletics Team that represented our school this afternoon, this was our largest assembled team and is a great testament to the training and work put in and the support provided by Miss Molloy. We had some stand out performances and a collective team approach over the course of the day. Thank you to families and supporters who helped our students prepare for the events and who watched on the day.

Footy Colours – Thank You

Thank you for supporting our Footy Colours Day at the end of Term 3, we raised a total of $306.10 to donate to a wonderful cause. It was great to finish the term off with so much colour, sporting codes and teams represented.

School Council

Our next School Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 21st October with sub-committee meetings held between now and Monday 20th October.

ThinkUKnow

Thank you to the families that joined us on Monday evening to attend our ThinkUKnow Family information session, this was a valuable session that was designed to build alignment between what topics were covered in Term 3 in our student sessions and what awareness we can support between home and school.

Supporting resources that were shared on the evening, are available via the following links:

Art Competition

A reminder that we are invited to participate in a local community art competition to design a 2026 card that will be utilised by the office of the local member for Caulfield, David Southwick. Entry templates and consent forms are available for collection in the office with all entries due by the 24th October. All participants will receive acknowledgement with the winning entry to be used on correspondence throughout 2026. Entries can be handed in to the office.

Landscaping

Over the course of Term 2 and Term 3, we have continued to work alongside landscape designer, Justin Staggard to reimagine our junior playground. I am delighted to have the expertise and initiative of parents Joel, Colin, Sam, Ken who have taken the time to meet with Justin and myself and ensure planning revisions reflect what is achievable to be undertaken in a school led project.

We look forward to progressing this work further and beginning to put in place some plans to revitalise our junior playground and offer some exciting opportunities for our junior students to play and explore.

Celebrating Diverse Learners

October 2025 is Dyslexia Awareness Month and ADHD Awareness Month and 17 October is Developmental Language Disorder Day. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about these conditions and how we can support diverse learners in school and at home.

Diverse learners include students with characteristics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, developmental language disorder (DLD) and learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Our school is committed to inclusive education where all learners are supported by evidenced-based teaching practices, which are essential for diverse learners.

The Department of Education’s Diverse Learners Hub provides evidence-based guidance and resources for teachers and families on how to support diverse learners.

The hub’s website includes:

information about supporting students with language difficulties, including DLD
information for parents about learning difficulties, including dyslexia
resources developed by the department’s partner, Monash University’s AllPlay Learn team, including:
parent resources
why some children have trouble sitting or staying focused
primary students with ADHD
secondary students with ADHD.

Monday October 13th – 2026 Prep Family Information Night

We look forward to hosting our 2026 Prep Family Information Night on Monday evening, beginning at 5pm in the library. This is the first step towards welcoming our 2026 preps to our school.

Children’s Week

Children’s Week is a national celebration that recognises the talents, skills, achievements and rights of children.

It will run from Saturday 18 October to Sunday 26 October 2025, with thousands of Victorian children and families expected to take part.

This year’s theme is ‘Everyone should know about Children’s Rights’, based on Article 42 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

A calendar of free activities is detailed with events and activities for Victorian families with children aged up to 12 years

It was great to begin the term and reconnect with each of you, enjoy the coming weekend.

Take Care,

Edward Strain

Principal

Caulfield Primary School Newsletter

Excellence, Respect, Diversity, Responsibility, Kindness, Honesty

Issue 17 · 10 Oct 2025

In this issue