Across Oliver's Desk
Principal's Report
This will of course be our last newsletter for the year. I would like to thank parents, students and staff for what was a brilliant and incredible year for the school and I wish everyone a big and safe Merry Christmas.
The 150th anniversary was the highlight of the year for me. Seeing so many generations of people coming to the school, all with different stories was amazing. The dance concert and the Christmas carols night also stand out as great community events with lots of feeling. Standing and looking out at the crowd on Carols night brought a tear to my eye.
Step up day was a huge success with so many children already excited about their new teacher and classmates.
ENTERPRISE MARKET DAY
Well done to the students, teachers and families for putting together our biggest enterprise market ever. The day raises a lot of money which goes straight back to families, making things cheaper for graduation and end of year big day out. This year’s teachers and parents went above and beyond and I thank them so much for making the day such a success.
OUR 2025 SCHOOL LEADERS
It was a pleasure for me to announce our 2025 school leaders at a special assembly last Friday. I would like to thank all of the students that applied for positions, and I look forward to their leadership even if they weren’t successful in obtaining an official role.
The following students were successful:
| School Captains | Miley Van Der Zwart | Bella McCamley |
| Nicky Doddrell | Nate Whitehouse | |
| JSC Leaders | Zara Fedat | Will Graham |
| ICT Leader | Fletcher Brooks | |
| Animal Leader | Lilli Lucas-King | Harlow Barrott |
| Environment Leader | Payton Taylor | |
| Science Leader | Mia Crowley | |
| Art Leader | Yana Patel | |
| Cultural Leader | Felix Zangmeister | |
| German Leader | Kira Taylor | |
| Peer Support Leaders | Aiden McDonald-Johnson | Tianna Saddler |
| Sports Captain | Jobe Ormsby | |
| House Captains | ||
| Muyan | Cayde Bond | Jasmine Berude |
| Toolebewong | Amos Taylor | Mila Waterworth |
| Birrarung | Jacob Uren | Lachie Merrigan |
| Barak | Kaiden Horner | Charlie Abrol |
STEPS BOARD CHAMPIONS
| Prep A | Chloe Brockhus | 64 |
| Prep B | Ava Robinson | 71 |
| Prep C | Oakley Oldfield | 95 |
| 1A | Maddison McKenzie | 93 |
| 1B | Markus Warren | 95 |
| 1C | Ruby Fletcher | 123 |
| 2A | Isla Morse | 111 |
| 2B | Sienna Ashby (This term’s leader) | 131 |
| 2C | Rory O’Donnell | 85 |
| 3/4A | Zander Kasperski | 66 |
| 3/4B | Zoe Bates | 88 |
| 3/4C | Chelsea Bonfield | 89 |
| 3/4D | Lola Burton | 88 |
| 3/4E | Zac Brandenberger | 101 |
| 5/6A | Lucy Matthews | 57 |
| 5/6B | Nicky Doddrell | 58 |
| 5/6C | Ethan Enzinger | 61 |
| 5/6D | Alex Wilson | 56 |
The following students were the term 4 class champions for the number of ‘steps’ on their class steps board. Each one of these students enjoyed a delicious morning tea on the last day of school, thank you Sandy for doing all the hard work.
STAFFING NEWS
Unfortunately, next year we are going to be without Kristy Malcolm. Kristy has been a teacher aide at our school for the past four years. She has worked with some of our most beautiful children and I know she will think about those children often as she relaxes in her beautiful new house in Queensland. I would personally like to thank Kristy for her commitment to all of the children who she worked with. She is a brilliant educator and I hope that she thinks about the role again one day at a school in Queensland.
GOODBYE Kristy, We will miss you so much!
ANOTHER WOORI STAFF BABY HAS ARRIVED
It was with great delight that I can announce to you that the wonderful Ash Shanks had her baby last Monday. I will keep you updated with all the others that are due to arrive next year!
Welcome to the world Remi Louise
Ash and Remi are both doing really well.
FAMILIES THAT ARE LEAVING US
Our school community will be losing the following families next year. Although some of these families have been part of our school community for well over ten years, The Sharma family takes this years prize for longevity. Three siblings all went through the school as well as mum Donna. That is amazing!!
We have gotten to know all these families so well that we of course wish them well and hope they loved their time in our great school:
The Ahmad family (Jacob)
The Dainter-Bevis family (Maya)
The Dunlop family (Cozy)
The Dyer family (Brydie)
The Enzinger family (Ethan)
The Gearing family (Alfie)
The Gilmore family (Mason)
The Hasenbos family (Bella)
The Holland family (Caitlyn)
The Malcolm family (Aidan)
The Martin family (Isabella)
The Nelson family (Teahan)
The Prescott family (Mia)
The Sajo family (Noah)
The Sharma family (Ishaan)
The Sykes family (Charlotte)
The Valentine family (Tay)
The Wilkinson family (Delaney & Kahlana)
The Wotherspoon family (Millie)
The Zalavary family (Josh)
We will miss you all very much.
For myself I’m really looking forward to some quiet reading over the holiday break, catching up with friends and watching my son play cricket for the Olinda 1st XI over the break, the Olinda clubrooms are a wonderful place to watch cricket while having a cool beverage.
I plan to be back at the school on the 15th of January if you need to chat to me.
It has been another remarkable year at our school and I particularly thank our committed school council and all the parents that have written beautiful notes to me and complimentary things about our school, Vanessa you also brought a tear to my eye with your kind words. I know I say it all the time but I’m just so proud of our whole community. Thank you to everyone for making our school so special.
I wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and I’ll see you all in 2025.
Oliver Thockloth
Principal