Principal Message

Dear Families,

Mother’s Day: I sincerely hope that all the mothers, grandmothers, and significant people in the lives of our students were celebrated and felt the love over the weekend. They play such a pivotal role in all our lives, and we appreciate you! Thanks to Gillian and all the families who helped at the stall last week!

Reports: Later this term the reports will be distributed by Sentral. Just a heads up that there are a few changes to the reports based on the new Vic Curric 2.0. The main changes include:

• an ‘overall Mathematics grade’ as one dot, instead of the 5 or 6 strands – but we will show student achievement this year as we move into the new system. Teachers will be making their judgements based on classwork and various tests they administer. 
• The dotted lines that show where students were and are now (‘growth’) will be missing in Mathematics and English this time around as we venture into the new curriculum. This will hopefully return into future reporting periods.

Having been in education for over 25 years now, I have seen at least 6 changes in the curriculum and reporting requirements, so most likely in the life of your children at school, you will see a few too! We appreciate your patience as we adapt to it and as usual, more information can be obtained from the class teachers during Parent-Teacher meetings.

Working Bee: We’d love your help at our upcoming Working Bee on Sunday 18th May at 2:00pm! It’s a great opportunity to get involved, meet other families, and lend a hand in making our school grounds the best they can be. If you have a wheelbarrow and shovel, please bring them along—many hands (and tools!) make light work. We hope to see you there!

2026 Prep Information Evening: Last night we hosted an Information session for prospective families with our wonderful Prep (Foundation) team leading the way. Thanks to those who attended and to the Prep team for their work in this space. We also held tours today to share our school with potential families too. It was great to meet the new families and see the next group of Preps!

Education Support Day: This Friday is ES day. We call them Learning Mentors here at OGPS and they are a vital cog in this organisation. The roles range from Lara, as our Business Manager, to Jade, Jenny and Mel in the front of office and then the wonderful team in the classrooms that offer support at various stages of learning. We also have Sally in the Library sorting all things books and then Mick Malecki our Groundskeeper! THANKS for all you do at OGPS!

Facilities: Week 9 is the potential start time for the roof in the Prep/1/Art wing. There maybe a few other smaller areas undergoing improvements between now and then. Staff are aware of the scope and I hope our community can assist us and slightly alter their usual routines when needed. For example, the front asphalt near the admin building will be demolished and replaced as the cypress trees continue to push roots upwards. When you see the area being fenced off, please let the workers get their job done and enter admin from the north side of the building and possibly other entry points across the school.

The Gordon Institute: We will have the Gordon Institute students back on site soon. They are learning their craft in various landscaping areas from retaining walls, concreting and a small stage-like structure in the SE corner of the oval area. We welcome them back and congratulate them on their work on the Yarning Circle area last year too!

Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS): Students in Year 4-6 participate annually, in an online survey about many aspects of school life. Data sets are collated by DE and sent back to us for further analysis and reflection. Families will receive an email with more details this week and if you choose for your child to ‘opt out’, follow the instructions before June 2nd or we assume your child is participating. 

Kindness & Trust: Our two school values are constantly on display around the school and Andy has had some new cards made up that we hand out to students at various times. It could be as a reminder of the rules or just because the student is being great! 

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Scott McCumber

Principal