Principal Message

Dear Families,

Thanks: Thanks for a smooth and calm start to Term 3. It is a 9 week term that will fly! This is the term that learning ramps up and the development of students seems to be quite rapid. Please continue to read to and with your children, work hard on spelling words and don’t forget to keep challenging the kids mathematically too.

New Playground: A huge amount of work occurred over the holidays in our playground area along the northern boundary. New slides, tunnels, platforms, flying foxes are back working and so much more. Please pop down and have a play with your children in this area as this was funded by the Apple Fair money and a grant from the Department. An excellent result for OGPS families and most importantly, the students. Thanks again! 

Apple Fair 2026: With the playground project completed and the Apple Fair money spent from 2025, the committee, led by Steph King, are asking for ideas for 2026 Apple Fair money to be targeted towards. The committee will be meeting soon and it’s never too late to join either, so if you are interested in helping out and achieving results, let the admin team know and we will put you in touch with Steph. If you have ideas about where the school could spend money raised by the Apple Fair, please email to applefair.ogps@gmail.com and your ideas will be forwarded to the committee for consideration. Ideally, a project that can impact ALL students during their Primary School life would be great (e.g. Garden space, Playgrounds, etc) but it could also go into enhancing a teaching area too, e.g. increase technology, create a better space for the rock band, enhance Art or STEM room, modify some classroom spaces etc. 

Lunch orders: Please note some important changes to lunch orders. 

There will be no Groove Lunch Orders on Friday, 19th September due to the Disco, Footy Colours and Hotdog Day. Also, starting the week of Monday 12th August, Groove Café will no longer be able to accommodate late lunch orders. All lunch orders must now be submitted by Wednesday for delivery on Friday.

Facilities: Apologies for all the temporary fencing and having to navigate new pathways to various locations around the school. It is a bit of short-term pain for the longer-term gain - and we all get a few more steps in for the day! Year 1’s are all back in their classrooms from yesterday, the library is operational again, LOTE (Indo) will be back in the portables near the Year 3’s and Art is back in the Art room. The staff and students have been so patient and cooperative during these periods.

Check out the seasons in Wadawurrung Country. Recently added to the Yarning Circle and compliments the amazing painting by BJ O’Toole over the holidays too.

The Gordon Institute: The team from Gordon Institute will be back next week to start on a retaining wall and steps to link the new stage area and the concrete slab adjacent to the oval. The goal is to retain the bark and trees etc along Draper St side of oval and maximise the grassed area of the oval. If you are a grass lover and want to help maintain, fertilise, aerate, and grow grass for the kids at OGPS, please let me know. Pop in and see me before Spring, so we can plan it out and create an even better space.

Parent Teacher Meetings: A huge thanks to all families who attended meetings with the teacher's last term. This is an important point of communication, combined with reports to keep families informed of student progress. It sets all of us up for further improvement in Term 3 & 4. Keep up the great work families. You are doing a great job.

NAPLAN: Year 3 & 5 students will have received a sealed envelope with their results. No matter how your child performed, please remember that there is more to school and more to your child than Literacy and Numeracy. We are super proud of the cohorts’ achievements in these tests, but we are also proud of them in other aspects of school too. Please celebrate with your child and even talk about setting goals that are realistic in their future. 

Year 6 Camp: Not long until the Year 6’s head to Camp Howqua (Monday 4th - Thursday 7th of August). During this camp the students will spend a day skiing or snowboarding at Mt Buller. We have completed various risk assessments, and we encourage parents to talk with their child about being responsible and safe at camp and while in the snow. Enormous amounts of preparation have been completed by the Year 6 teachers. Parents that are attending have been inducted. Let’s make it a great camp and have fun with friends while there. Please keep an eye out for communication from Year 6 teachers regarding medications, forms etc and please return them ASAP!

2026 Enrolments: If you have not enrolled a younger sibling yet, please pop in and grab some forms for 2026 so we can start our planning ASAP. I have recently attended an enrolment meeting with the Department as we are nearing our capacity. More information about enrolment at OGPS can be found on our school website and via DE policies. 

ICAS - ICAS assessments begin in two weeks, the last day to sign your child up is Monday 28th July. Please see a message sent out on Seesaw from Mat Hebbard during term 2, on how to sign your child up.

G.A.T.E.WAYS (mathematics)

‘Stickability’ was the word used by the facilitators, to describe the incredible persistence and work ethic of our students during the G.A.T.E.WAYS mathematics day on Tuesday. The external maths teachers were amazed at the way our students were able to stick to a problem and not give up, despite the level of difficulty and challenge involved. It was an absolute delight to observe the enthusiasm, collaboration and pride demonstrated by our mathematicians! Kristy Hannan-Cuthbertson.

Scott McCumber

Principal