Principal's Report

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

As of today, we are calling for nominations for parents to join School Council. Official notice of this is attached below. On this occasion we have 5 parent vacancies to fill (2 year terms).

Notice of Election and call for nominations.pdf

If you would like to join School Council, just pop in and collect a nomination form which is available at the General Office and must be completed and returned by Tuesday, February 25. If you are unable to make it into the office, please call and we can send a nomination form home.

If nominations exceed available positions, a ballot will be conducted from March 4 to 11. We will let parents know how they can participate if a ballot is required.

We ask you to please consider joining School Council and playing a part in shaping the direction taken by our school. The role is most satisfying as councillors get to see their ideas put into practice and have a positive impact on students, teachers and parents in our school community. Parent members are critical in providing School Council with a parent perspective.

No experience is required, just an interest in the education of your child/ren and other children attending our School.

The commitment is not huge - just one meeting per month (4th Monday of each month). Meetings start at 7:00pm and usually finish between 8:30 and 9pm. If you would like more information, give me a call.

INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS

Over the years we have gradually built a suite of initiatives and programs for selected students. Some of these programs are designed to support wellbeing and learning, along with programs that give students the opportunity to pursue areas of interest and extend their learning. This includes providing extension opportunities for students with particular interests and skills.

This is something we’re proud of, as we seek to engage all students and ensure their learning and wellbeing needs are met.

The following will help give you a sense of initiatives and programs that are happening beyond the classroom in 2025:

Scholarship Programs & STEM Extension – These are for selected students in grades 4-6 and involve weekly sessions in Photography, Cooking, the Visual Arts, music and STEM. All five programs are now up and running.
Victorian High Abilities Program (VHAP) - Each term we have a number of Year 5/6 students who are selected to participate in VHAP. The students meet weekly and participate in the program throughout the term, along with other like minded students from across Victoria in either the English or Mathematics program.
Ready Set Grow – Small groups of selected students from years 3 and 4, facilitated by the Friends of the Botanical Gardens, participate in gardening and maintenance activities that are designed to assist with positive mental health. Students develop practical skills growing their own plants and produce, focusing on sustainability and working together respectfully and safely.
Cooking Classes – These are cooking sessions which involve small groups that run across 3 days of the week. These sessions are great for students that need a bit of a boost, some TLC or a bit of time out of the classroom.
Art Connections Program – Small groups of 3-4 students complete art activities that are designed to assist with positive mental health. Sessions are once per week and each activity is linked to a topic and includes prompts to promote conversations about positive mental health, wellbeing and coping skills.
The Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) - We have been allocated one part time Tutor this year (4 days each week). This semester, our tutor, Kate will work with selected students in Years 3 and 5 for 3-4 sessions per week to provide support in the area of literacy.
Other Intervention - Learning support is also provided throughout the year by our Educational Support Team to those students who are identified as requiring tier 2 intervention in a particular area. The focus for these students in 2025 is as follows:
- Literacy – Support for students with the basics of early reading will be offered to selected students in Year 2 and 3 who have been identified through rigorous assessments as requiring extra support. This extra support is delivered by members of our Educational Support team with groups of 3-4 students for three sessions per week and complements the classroom program.
- Numeracy – The Numeracy program is designed to support numeracy skill development with particular emphasis on improving automaticity and fluency of number facts. Automaticity is the immediate recall of basic information. The program provides extra learning support to identified students and enables them to better know and understand basic number facts. This extra support is delivered by our educational support staff with groups of 3 or 4 students in Year 4 for three sessions per week.
- Federation University Primary School Outreach Program – Two provisional psychologists are allocated to our school, who support identified students with mild-moderate psychological needs, such as anxiety, school refusal, social skills, etc. As well as individual programs, some small group interventions will occur later in the year.

All of the above are important initiatives that run across the year. On top of this we have some significant programs that are a one off or run for part of the year. These include:

Energy Breakthrough -This program is for students from grade 6 who want to test themselves physically and mentally. These students learn about sustainability, while working with staff and parents to set up pedal carts before racing the carts against students from other schools in an 8 hour race in Maryborough.
Interschool Sports – Typically this involves students from grade 5 and 6, who can try out for a range of sports. For students who like to challenge themselves, they are lucky that we take up the opportunity to send teams to a wide range of interschools sports. These include athletics, swimming, cross country, lawn bowls, tennis, AFL, netball, soccer, cricket and basketball. Teams that are successful at district level are supported to go on to regional level and then sometimes to state level.
Victorian State School Spectacular – This involves 16 students from grades 5 and 6, who learn designated dance routines and then come together to perform with hundreds of students from across the state at John Cain Arena. This an amazing experience for the students involved.
GRIP Leadership Conference – Each year we invite grade 6 students to attend the annual GRIP Leadership Conference at the Melbourne Convention Centre along with students from approximately 300 schools across the state. At this event students learn about what it means to be a leader and the strategies used by effective leaders.
Camps Program – We have a well-established camps program, providing students in grades 3-6 with the opportunity to spend a night or two away from home and learn lots in the process. This flows nicely on from the grade 2s having a sleepover.
Other – In addition to those listed above, we offer a range of other activities to engage and cater for student needs, some of which include chess club, lunch time activities (e.g. lunch time club, lunch time library, lunch time live events, etc), debating, grade 6 leadership roles, etc.

As you can see from the list above, there’s a considerable effort being made to accommodate the needs and interests of students. We greatly appreciate the efforts of staff, parents and community members who make all of the above possible.

OPEN MORNINGS

Early each school year we hold two Open Mornings at both campuses. These give prospective families the opportunity to take a tour of the school. A team of grade 6s (our Transition Team) are the tour guides on these days, which is a job they love.

This year our Open Mornings will be held on February 27 and 28 between 9am and 1pm.

Please pass the message on to anyone you know that has a child starting school in 2026.