Principal's Report

DIVISION AFL

Last week I was lucky enough to head along to the Division AFL competition, involving government, catholic and independent primary schools from Ballarat and surrounding districts.  We had a girls team and a boys team, who were coached by Mr Rodgers and Mr Arnold.

Whilst the girls didn’t win a game, they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and did an amazing job. For many in the team, this was their first taste of AFL and they certainly threw themselves into the challenge…literally.  For some, the day will be up there with their highlights for the year.

The boys also did an amazing job.  Their approach was spot on, not getting too excited and just getting the job done. After winning their 3 preliminary games, they had a convincing win against Ballarat Grammar in the final. That means the team has qualified for the next level of competition, which will be held in Ararat on June 26.

Well done to all of the staff and students involved.  It was very nice to see the kids do their best, have lots of fun and show great sportsmanship throughout.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM UPDATE

This is our first year of running Scholarship Programs (Visual Arts, Music, Master Chef & Photography) and we thought it’s timely to provide a bit of an update. Over the next few weeks, we’ll use the newsletter to provide you with a sense of the work of each scholarship group. I’m pleased to report that all 4 programs are ticking along nicely.  The adults leading the programs are doing an excellent job and the kids involved are certainly fully engaged, learning lots and enjoying themselves.

Photography Scholarship – There are 12 students participating in this program from grades 4-6. The program is being led by Paul Shire, a parent at the school and a retired professional photographer.  Paul is being assisted each week by one of our teacher aides, that being Isha Edwards Smith.  This program runs from 2pm-3:30pm each Thursday.  Paul organises a weekly focus, each with the intent of teaching the students new skills.  Currently the focus is on photographing wildlife.  Two weeks ago Paul had a local specialist wildlife photographer come in to speak with the kids and share her expertise and last week we followed that up with an excursion to Lake Wendouree.  Attached you can see some of the photographs taken by students on that excursion.  This week the focus will be on the use of photoshop to enhance photos.

Paul has a few more excursions planned for the year, including a visit to the Ballarat Aquatic Centre, where the students will work with a specialist underwater photographer…lucky kids.

Towards the end of the year, the Photography Scholarship students will come together with the other 3 scholarship teams for a celebratory evening.  On this occasion the photography students will present an exhibition of their work.

Over the coming few weeks we look forward to sharing the work of the other 3 scholarship programs.

SCHOOL SAVING BONUS

You may have seen the recent announcement of the School Saving Bonus, as part of the Victorian Budget 2024/25. We are sharing more information about how families will be able to access and use this support.

This one-off support will include $400 for each eligible student to help families cover the costs of school uniforms and activities in 2025.

It will be available to parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025.

Cash will not be paid directly to individuals or families. Instead, families will receive the bonus as credits on their school accounts that will help meet the costs of your children’s activities and uniforms.

The School Saving Bonus support will be in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for camps, sports, excursions and uniforms.

The application-based Affordable School Uniform program, through State Schools’ Relief, will continue to be available to families experiencing financial hardship or other forms of vulnerability and short-term crisis. This program allows schools to make multiple applications for support on parents' behalf throughout the year if needed.

There will be more information and guidance about the School Saving Bonus in Term 3, 2024, ahead of its implementation in 2025.