Principal Message

Dear Families,

I encourage all families to take note of the timely reminder regarding cyber safety, below. It is pertinent that we as a community work together to protect our children, peers, families and staff in this space. 

Cybersafety: In last weeks’ newsletter I had a detailed page about age restrictions etc for social media. Unfortunately, over the past two weeks I have been made aware of several serious cybersafety issues. When contacting families about these issues, they were completely unaware that their child (under the age of 16) has had an account on various platforms. I strongly encourage you to monitor your child’s devices, check for ‘hidden folders’ (usually on an iPhone – you need face ID to do this) and put various protocols in place to prevent your child being involved in inappropriate, hurtful and offensive online behaviours that may have lifelong implications down the track when future employers begin to check their digital footprint. The implications regarding digital footprints can have devastating impacts and consequences on young adults and the victims in cyber/online incidents.

Yard duty supervision: Please send you children to school closer to 8.45am when yard duty supervision begins. We have TheirCare available for before and after school care for the community to access. Staff are busily preparing the teaching and learning for the day when they arrive at school and supervision is not provided until 8.45am. If your children are leaving home early, please ensure they are adequately supervised at a friend’s house. Some schools WILL NOT open their gates until 8.45am to prevent this situation. I want our school to be open and welcoming, but we all have to play a part in this and respect the conditions we have in place.

On a more positive note:

Book Week: Again, a huge thanks to Ms McKeon for organising the activities during the week and what an effort the community made. The costumes were sensational, the book swap was a success and overall, literacy & reading were the winners. It is one of the strongest components across our school and it takes the school and home partnership to ensure continued success. Please keep reading to and with your children as it has such a positive impact on all elements of their learning! And a special thanks to the Master of Ceremonies – Mr KT – or Count Dracula on the day. His knowledge of the characters and books was outstanding and added so much value to the parade. Time to start planning 2027’s costumes???

Pre-Service Teachers: It is always a delight to have new people join the professional dn for our staff to impart their amazing knowledge onto the next wave of teachers. We have had a number of PST’s around the school, learning, training, observing and hopefully inspired to be as good as our staff. We thank them for their contributions and look forward to seeing them finish their degrees and move into the teaching profession.

Sporting Achievements: Congrats to all the athletes who represented OGPS yesterday in many events. Mr Horbury is always proud of their achievements, and we have had some individuals and maybe even relay teams, qualify for the next level of events! Congratulations and well done!We have achieved some outstanding sporting accomplishments over the past few weeks. Our journey began with 55 students representing OGPS at the District Athletics event at Landy Field. Twenty-nine of our students placed first or second in their events, qualifying for the District Athletics competition held yesterday at Goldsworthy Reserve.

All of our students represented OGPS with great spirit and dedication, giving their very best. Several students earned remarkable results in their individual events and relays.

• Georgia Fountain finished first in the 1500m and second in the 800m, setting a new meet record in the process. 
• Johnny Ottens secured first place in both the 800m and 200m, also breaking the meet record in the 200m. 
• Lachie Fountain placed third in the 100m. 
• Taj Kenny achieved first place in the high jump.
• 11-year-old 4x100m relay team finished first overall.

Georgia Fountain performed exceptionally at yesterday’s athletics event, and recently competed in the National Cross Country held in Ballarat. As shown in the photos, the conditions were challenging for running. Georgia finished 15th overall in her age group—an incredible achievement. Congratulations to Georgia from all of us!

Performing Arts: This Friday afternoon, there are a few short performances being held in the PA/Music room near the gym. Due to the popularity and engagement of so many talented performers, the cast has had to be expanded with multiple students taking the lead roles. Congrats to all involved and thanks to the PA team for their work in inspiring these performers. 

2027 Preps: We welcomed the first group of new ‘Grovers’ yesterday into Prep (or Foundation) for their first transition session. Congratulations to all involved and I hear the Year 4 (2026) buddies were exemplary. It is so important to have connections across the school and community to have the supports and familiar faces to help transition into school. Thanks to the current Prep team for your work in this space too!

Finn B: Finn (Year 2) has been away from school for the last few weeks as he competed in the Guangzhou Supercup in China. Whilst he didn’t qualify for the main cup on the last day, he raced his best, learnt so much about what he can endure and made lots of new friends from around the world. It was a great experience to be part of an international event. Congrats to Finn (and family) on this outstanding achievement. We look forward to hearing more about Finn’s progress into the future too.

Have a great week everyone.

Scott McCumber

Principal