Dear Families,

Welcome back and welcome to our new families and especially our new 2026 Prep students. I hope the holidays have gone well and not too quickly! It has been a very calm start to the school year, and I hope families are beginning to settle into predictable routines to help children manage the start of the year. Thanks to all staff for their planning and preparation to ensure a smooth start.

Parent Payment Information: We're looking forward to another great year of teaching and learning and would like to advise you of the voluntary financial contributions and student stationery contributions for 2026. Please see Parent Payment Information page of the newsletter for further information.

Food allergies: We have a number of students across the school with severe allergies, and we ask our community to be aware of this and be mindful when packing Nude Food for school.

Medical, Anaphylaxis and Asthma plans: We are required to have updated medical plans annually! Please send updated information to the admin team as soon as possible so we can ensure the correct procedure in the event of an emergency.

Hats: SunSmart Policy is in full force so please send your children with a SunSmart hat. No hat – No play!

How to communicate with staff: Please use Seesaw to message your child’s teacher. Seesaw helps us all to communicate in the ONE space as emails can be lost with the amount that is sent around these days. If you need to talk to a teacher, message first and arrange a time – but please remember staff are working with your children from 9am-3.20pm! To contact Kristy or myself, please email the school at ocean.grove.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Uniform: Our school looks great when we are all on the same team, wearing the same uniform and I thank families for sending students to school in their uniforms, hair tied up and SunSmart hats ready to go. Our Uniform Policy is on the school website. House shirts are for WEDNESDAY’S and a reminder we now have school shirts made from a similar fabric as the House shirts. Keep an eye out for the Year 6 uniform too – it looks fantastic!

Mobile Phones & Wearable technology: The Department has a policy for Mobile phones that we enact and ask families to support us in. This can also include the use of wearable technology. We want to keep our students focussed on their learning and would appreciate any wearable technology for communications be set appropriately for school times. If you need to communicate something to your child, please contact Jenny, Mel or Jade in the main admin office and they will follow up at break times.

Reminder: Please Use the School Crossing: We kindly ask all families to use the supervised school crossing when arriving or leaving school. Crossing at the corner just up from the crossing can create unexpected hazards for both pedestrians and drivers and sets a confusing example for students learning safe road habits. Using the designated crossing helps keep everyone safe during busy drop‑off and pick‑up times. Thank you for helping us model safe behaviour for our children.

Meet & Greets: We are currently planning to host Meet & Greet sessions in Week 3 on Monday 9th Feb (3.30pm-4.30pm) & Tuesday 10th Feb (3.30pm-6.30pm) and Tuesday 17th Feb (3.30pm-5.30pm) in Week 4. This is a chance to inform the class teacher a bit more about your child and get to know the teacher too. We want to establish great partnerships between school and home, and this 10-minute meeting is vital in helping build the relationship for success. Keep your eyes open for the booking period to open in Sentral now!

The Specialist team will have their areas open for a visit so please ask your child to take you through and show off their school – and get to meet the STEM, Art, Performing Arts and PE teachers!

Somers Camp: Year 5 & 6 students have the opportunity to show an ‘expression of interest’ to attend the Lord Somers Camp from 26/05/2026 to 03/06/2026. This opportunity only occurs biannually. It is a 9-day camp held over at Somers and costs $350. We are usually assigned 8 positions – 4 boys and 4 girls. 160 students attend from across the region. Please register you’re interest here. More information will be sent out soon when positions are confirmed.

Term 1 Calendar: We have attempted to create a calendar to help families plan and prepare for the term and not miss events etc. Some dates may change and we will keep you updated when needed. Please download and print to add to your fridge for the term!

School Council vacancies: We have a couple of vacancies on Council to fill as Claire Williamson (Community member) and Liz Patterson are finishing up. We will also be losing our President, Ross Gibson as he embarks on an exciting journey with his new business. All three councillors have significantly contributed to the council and will be dearly missed. On behalf of the community, we thank Claire, Liz and Ross. Special thanks to Ross as the role of President. Ross has led robust discussions and helped us continually improve the school and wider community, while being a tremendous supporter of school leadership and staff.

Now it’s time for a few new members of the community to join us and capitalise on some amazing foundations in place and work to improve the school further. You will need your WWCC as a minimum to nominate for Council. Please see forms and timelines within the newsletter if you are keen to nominate for council. Hope we can get a few committed families!

Apple Fair: Not long now until the Apple Fair will be here and if you didn’t know, the Apple Fair has its own website! Please hop on and have a look at https://www.oceangroveapplefair.com.au/about and see what is in store for us on March 14th

Hope you have had a fantastic start to the year and begin to re-establish or create new routines. Prep families - rest up this weekend and get lots of sleep!

Scott McCumber

Principal

Parent Helper Training Program