Wow! The last two weeks have been filled with student focused activities particularly involving our senior students.

Solar Challenge

Last Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to watch students from Syndal South represent our school in the annual solar car and solar boat competition at Scienceworks. There were 47 students from Year 5 and 6 who all had worked hard from Term 1 to design and make their solar vehicles under the guidance of Ian and Stephen (Box Hill Senior Secondary College).

The competition attracts competitors from many schools across Melbourne, both government and independent. The smart green t-shirts our students wore looked fabulous and stood out amongst the crowd of other school students.

The actual solar car races and boat races were very exciting, and many cheers were heard as our teams won their heats.

Our students were wonderful ambassadors for Syndal South and should be proud of all the hard work and effort they put into the event. The competition promotes persistence, dedication, and a commitment to making a team project work. Our students have learnt a lot from the process, and I hope as our Year 6 students move into secondary school that they keep their passion for science alive. I also strongly encourage students in Years 5 and 6 in 2026 to consider joining the Solar Team. As our Science Captains say, “Go Science!”

Congratulations to:

Auryn, Clarissa, Nivy and Thomas who won 1st place in the hotly contested Junior Boat Division with their boat Fast and Furious. This team are off to Nationals.
Kento, Nathan, Sidd D and Yeshwanth came 3rd in the Junior Boat Division, and they will be heading to Nationals
Benjamin S-A, Mathew, Taviru and Ved who came 4th in the Student Designed Car Division with their car Speedy Wheels. The boys will be competing in the National competition.
Bella, Emma K, Zoe A and Ojasvi were awarded best poster for the Student Designed Car Division and Anvika A, Celene, Harika and Myleene were awarded best poster for the Junior Boat Division.

Frisbee Mania

A new opportunity has originated from Mr Riley’s introduction of the Frisbee Clinics held earlier in the year. Recently we had two teams represent SSPS at the State Ultimate Frisbee Championships which were held at Royal Park North, Parkville. From all accounts it was a very well organised event ensuring a fantastic day for all attending. Both teams played a total of 5 games each with our Team 2 team winning 2/5 with a couple of close loses. Our Team 1 won 5/5 and came away as Primary State Champions in the Boys/Mixed Division.

They also were awarded the spirit award, which is an award voted by their opposition after each game based on a certain criterion: fair play, sportsmanship, respect and the understanding of the rules in a self-officiated sport. It was brilliant to see them all rewarded for their extra efforts, attending before school and lunchtime training sessions.

A huge thank you to Mr Riley and to Andrew Hollywood and Liam who came and supported the teams on the day.

Athletics

Congratulations to the students - Imogen, Lewis, Lincoln, Benjamin and Lucas, that ran today representing not only SSPS but our Division at the Regional Athletics Championships at the Doncaster Athletics Track today. Against tough competition they did an amazing job. Final results not available as yet.

Unwell Students

It can be difficult for families to know when their child is sick enough to need to stay home from school. For safety’s sake, if your child seems unwell you should always keep them home from school and seek medical advice.

Families can experience problems when trying to take time off to care for an ill child however, it is important that parents focus not only on the wellbeing of their own child, but also upon the wellbeing of the other children in their class and the staff. If you need to administer Panadol/Nurofen before school, then your child should not be at school.

If your child has vomited or had diarrhoea, students must stay at home for 48 hours from the last episode of the vomiting or diarrhoea.

Joint Event - Green Team and Parent’s Association

The Green Team have had an overwhelming response to their call out for second-hand books for the upcoming stall on Friday 28th November. More information will be available closer to this date. If you haven’t had time to look through your book collection at home, we have extended the date for donations to Friday 31st October.

Thank you

A huge thank you to Ray White Mount Waverley for organising our advertising boards for ‘Circus Splendida’. The boards certainly look impressive, and we are hopeful that the wider Syndal South community will purchase tickets to witness this extravaganza. We would also like to thank Ray White for their generous donation of hampers for the school to utilise for a raffle. Tickets for the raffle will be on sale before the musical and the lucky winner will be announced at the conclusion of the Thursday evening performance.

Year 3/4 Camp

Finally, I would like to wish all our wonderful Year 3 and 4 students, staff and parent helpers all the best for the upcoming camp next week to Phillip Island. From my personal experience It is a fabulous camp which provides such a variety of engaging experiences, a highlight for me has always been the ‘Penguin Parade’.

Have a great fortnight.

Helen

Principal

Lunchtime & After School Programs for Term 4