From the Principal

2026 School Year

Workforce planning is underway for 2026. If you have a child currently in Grades 1–5 who will not be returning to Parkdale Primary School next year, please let the school know as soon as possible. This information will assist us in determining grade structures and staffing requirements for 2026.

GATEWAYS Challenge

The GATEWAYS challenge is a national competition held in Term 4 for primary school students. The challenge emphasizes teamwork, creativity, lateral thinking, and problem-solving.  Each team rotates through four different challenges, and the challenges are designed to stretch thinking and encourage collaboration. Well done to our four PPS teams, results will be available later in the term.

Grade 6 team - Aidan R, Armaan T, Grace R, Aoife D

Grade 5 team - Jye M, Liv B, Oliver M, Amelia L

Grade 4 team - Jye E, Poppy W, Felix A, Amara S

Grade 3 team - Paddy F, Sean E, Zoe J, Julia Q

Basketball

Well done and congratulations to the girls’ basketball team who competed in the division finals last Tuesday. Although the team did not make the final, they were very competitive and played exceptionally well to narrowly miss the GF. Thank you to Trish for coaching the girls.

Volleyball and Cricket 

Congratulations and well done to our girls’ and boys’ volleyball and cricket teams who participated in the division finals this week. All teams performed exceptionally well, showing great skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

Pupil Free Day – Monday 3rd November 

Curriculum Day is on Monday 3rd November, this is a pupil free day.  TheirCare will operate a pupil free day program, if you require this service, please book directly through TheirCare.

Mural Project

We are excited to share that we have engaged an Indigenous artist to collaborate with our school community on a new mural, which will be located on the wall between the main building and the Art Room. We have already met with a group of students to explore ideas that reflect our school values, local area, the beach and sea life, school houses, and our strong sense of community connection. Bayley, our artist, will meet with us early November to continue developing the mural design with us.

Japanese Day – Wednesday 29th October

Japanese Day is on Wednesday 29th October, the theme is Undōkai (Japanese Sports Day).

Students will be in mixed age groups and rotate through 9 games throughout their session.  Children are invited to dress up, past years costumes have included sumo suits, kimono's, Harajuku girl outfits, Hello Kitty t-shirts and Pikachu onesies.  There is also a special Bento box lunch available which can be ordered through classroom cuisine.  Thank you to Mami Sensei and Mackenzie Sensei for organising the day. We are all looking forward to a fun day. 

Allocation of 2026 Classes

When developing individual classes each year, teachers consider several factors including academic ability, social competencies, gender, students who work well together, those who may not work well together and friendship groupings. Whilst the students are consulted about current friendships, it is only one of the criteria considered because building new relationships is also part of our education process and an important skill for students to develop.  The placement of students is a complex process where teachers put great thought into their planning. They discuss, reflect, and review their decisions over a period of time.

On occasions, parent perspective can also add information to support this process. If you have any valuable information regarding class placement for your child for 2026, that is above and beyond what the classroom teacher and leadership team already know of your child, you may make a written request for consideration.

Any parent request must be in writing/email to Leanne B, Tracy R or Jarrod B no later than Wednesday 29th October 2025. Information will only be considered if in writing and received by the due date. Requests will not be considered after this date.

Naming a specific teacher, gender or nominating other students will not be considered.  Children are given the opportunity to list friends they would like to be with and are guaranteed at least one student from their list. 

If parents have written requests in previous years, we do not retain these as students’ needs change from year to year. If the consideration of the previous year is still important, a new letter should be written.

There may often be a reason why your request is not granted. It is therefore important not to indicate to your child that you have made a request as this may lead to unnecessary disappointment. 

I encourage you to trust our school’s judgement and value our teachers as professionals, as the wellbeing of every child in our school is our prime consideration. 

Kind regards

Leanne Bradney