Dear families and friends,

We are getting closer to the end of year with a only a few short weeks left. We have

now finalised our staffing for 2026. We are delighted to welcome Mrs Lisa McDonald to our teaching team in 2026. Mrs McDonald is a highly experienced teacher with a strong background in Music and student wellbeing. We are pleased to share that she will be teaching our senior class next year. Ms Brown who teaches on a Friday will continue her three days for term one teaching at Gray St (Hamilton) and then is having an extended period of time in 2026 on Long Service Leave, and Miss Sartain will be teaching at Cavendish Primary School in 2026. We will be farewelling both teachers on the Presentation Night.

We are busy organising our Presentation Night, with students preparing songs, artwork and music performances to share with you. The evening will begin at 6.30pm on Tuesday 16th December and we would love to have all families and any community members join us to celebrate the students’ achievements. The night will also include Stephanie’s Year 6 graduation, a special moment for our school community. An invitation will be going home soon.

We are excited to welcome Charlotte Rafferty, who will be beginning her Foundation year in 2026. She is currently attending transition sessions on Mondays with Miss Bailey and she is settling in beautifully. On Tuesday December 9th, we will having a Step-Up Day for our students in their 2026 classes. Stephanie will be attending Parklands for the Year 7 transition day as well.

Bunnings Visit – Indigenous Edible Plants

On Friday 23 November, we had a wonderful visit from Rosemary from Bunnings. She generously brought along a selection of Indigenous edible plants for us to add to our school garden and explained how each plant can be used in cooking. Students will be planting these next Friday during Hands on Learning. Rosemary also brought terracotta pots for every student to decorate and plant parsley in. A big thank you to Rosemary and Bunnings Hamilton for your generous donations and the informative session. Also, thank you to Miss Brown for organising this visit.

Swimming Lessons – First Week of December

Swimming lessons will take place during the first week of December at the Merino Pool. The program focuses on summer safety and will be taught by Glenda with teacher assistance. Also, Merino Go Swim will be having swimming lessons at the pool in late January. Please see the 'Merino Swimming Pool' on social media to book lessons in.

Casterton Show Achievement

Congratulations to Charlie (Foundation) and Thomas (Year 5) for placing in the Primary Schools Writing Section at the recent Casterton Show. Well done and we are very proud of you both. All students entered a piece of writing in the show.

2026 School Camp

The school camp for 2026 has been booked for Cave Hill Creek near Beauford for Tuesday 31st March to Thursday 2nd April. We will be attending with Dartmoor PS to increase our booking size so we can attend a regular school camp (there is a minimum student booking of 20 to attend this camp).

Some of the activities we will be doing will be:

Canoeing, Giant’s ladder, Crate stack, Possum Glider, Low Ropes & Bouldering activities, Map reading, Hut Building and Bush Walking.

https://www.cavehillcreek.com.au/school-camps/

There will be no cost to this camp as the school will continue to use the Student Wellbeing Boost Money that we received in 2023 that was not spent. This camp would have cost $430 per student for Cave Hill Creek accommodation and activities. Plus an additional cost for travel and time-in-lieu payment for teachers attending.

Kind regards,

Lisa Ferrier

December

2026

Staff start - Tuesday 27th January Students start - Wednesday 28th January