Principal Message

Dear Families,

Apple Fair: What an amazing weekend had by all at the Apple Fair. The planning, preparation and execution of the day was first class. Steph King and her team have been more than amazing and words cannot express the gratitude I have for them. If you see Steph, please thank her and the team and if you don’t know anyone on the committee, feel free to send the school an email and we will pass it on.

Thanks to all families who attended, volunteered, spent money, helped set up and pack up, and so much more. Without your work, dedication and organisational skills, this would not be possible. As Steph has said on the front page of the newsletter, we are well north of $60,000 but don’t quite have the final figure until all expenses are accounted for and silent auctions paid for too.

Again, a sincere thanks to the Apple Fair committee for this effort and phenomenal result. The committee are keen for feedback and I urge the community to hunt for the good. Surveys will be available in the newsletter. 

Stop Work Action: As emailed earlier this week, it appears that Stop Work action for AEU members will occur next Tuesday 24th March. I anticipate significant disruptions to the programs at school as approximately 80% of staff are members. Technically, members do not need to inform me of their intention until 5pm Friday but in good faith, they are letting me know at some stage today. I will be in direct email communication with families Thursday or Friday with more information. As I am unable to specifically name classes directly impacted, I may have to communicate in a way that is a bit more data driven, for example, “3 out 4 classes in XYZ year level will be impacted due to Stop Work Action.” 

To assist planning and organisation for Tuesday, I am asking each family to indicate if their child/ren will or will NOT be attending school. Please click on this Google Form to inform me of your intentions to keep your children at home or send to school, by Friday – for each child (so if 3 children, complete it three times please…). DE suggests we employ Casual Replacement Teachers to cover staff in this instance, but as OGPS is a large staff with a high percentage of AEU members likely to strike, I cannot backfill all of them and there will no doubt, be a strain across the state for casual relief teachers. 

Safety and supervision on Tuesday is paramount for me, and without the numbers of students attending school, I cannot plan for adequate supervision. It is anticipated that programs will not run in the usual capacity and students may need to be gathered in multi age groups with unfamiliar staff. I ask families to make the best decision for your family, and respect the actions of the highly professional and skilled staff that work with your children daily. 

School Council are likely to communicate with all families soon too, and if this day causes frustration, inconvenience etc, please direct that message to your local member of Parliament. 

School Council: Last night we met for the first time for 2026 and thanked our outgoing President, Ross Gibson, acknowledged Claire Williamson, Liz Patterson and Simon Fiske for their significant contributions over their tenure on Council. I’m hoping Liz, Claire and Simon pop in to collect a small token of appreciation soon.  We also elected new office bearers, and I am pleased to announce that Simon Brommeyer is the new President, Sarah Ottens as Vice President, Josh McDonald as Secretary and Duncan McNab is our treasurer. Congratulations and thank you to these four members for taking the lead in these roles. We also welcomed Jonno Kendall, Sam Phillips and Tim Melching to the council. 

Annual Report 2025: Last night we tabled the Draft 2025 Annual Report to School Council, and it is now published on our website. The Department of Education may run it via the Quality Assurance process before it is finalised, but it is available now and highlights some amazing work across all facets of the school we are part of. Academic results are outstanding, Wellbeing data is strong, finances are managed tightly and the extra curricula activities are amazing. Myself, Mrs H and a few School Councillors will be available to present the Annual Report or discuss aspects with families prior to the next School Council meeting on May 19th at 6pm in the staffroom.

Year 2 Day Camp: Camp Wyuna had another cohort of OGPS Year 2’s visit last week and from all reports, had a sensational day. Thanks to the staff and families who helped on the day and to the families who collected the kids from school a bit later in the afternoon. These opportunities help students get a taste of what a school camp is like before embarking on an overnight camp in Year 3. It’s a good chance to capitalise on this experience and possibly begin to organise sleep overs or wake overs (pick them up around 10pm after dinner and a movie or similar) so that when Year 3 camp is ready, our students are prepared for a night out of their comfort zone.

NAPLAN Year 3 & 5: We are nearly there… The final test is administered tomorrow – Numeracy. Then we get back into our usual way of school like and learning. Congratulations to all students who have participated. We know that NAPLAN only measures a narrow part of school and we are aware we have some amazing musicians, actors, artists, sportspeople, comedians, and so much more that is not captured during this process. Looking forward to celebrating the results with you all when they return and also looking at where the next level of learning can be improved and enhanced.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Scott McCumber

Principal