Principal Report
Dear Families,
What a term it has been! As we arrive at the end of Term 2, I want to take a moment to celebrate the learning, growth, and community spirit we have seen across our school. It has been a busy and rewarding few months, and the effort of our students, staff, and families has been wonderful to witness.
Education Support Staff News
We sadly farewell Mollie, our wonderful ES staff member. Her final day at Lilydale Primary School was today. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
We welcome Natalie and Naomi to Lilydale Primary School. Both ladies will start on day one of Term 3. Due to increased staffing, some of our ES have been allocated to different classes. Some staff work across multiple classes. The allocations are:
Prep B - Laura, Brooke and Fariba
Prep G - Mel P, Nat G and Elisha
12C - Mell C
12N - Olive and Ollie
12S - Naomi
34E - Elisha and Fariba
34I - Remmi and Brooke
34W - Nat F and Lisa B
56A - Lisa G
56M - Nat F
56T - Laura
Childsafe
Please become familiar with the changes to LPS's Childsafe procedures. You can find them on our Lilydale Primary School website under the Our School tab, School Policies and Reports. This procedure will take effect on the first Monday of Term 3.
Welcome
We are delighted to welcome Leanne Timoney to Lilydale Primary School, who joins us as Acting Assistant Principal for the next six months. Leanne comes to us from Hoddle Creek Primary School, where she has developed a wonderful depth of experience in school leadership. This arrangement has been made possible through a Department of Education staffing support partnership, which provides our school with additional leadership capacity at no cost to our school budget — meaning our resources remain firmly directed toward our students and programs. We know our community will join us in warmly welcoming Leanne, and we look forward to the fresh perspectives and collaborative energy she will bring to our school family.
Newsletter Launch
I am also very excited to welcome you to the launch of our new-look newsletter. Thank you to everyone who shared feedback about what you would like to see — you have helped shape what you see here today. This new format has been designed with your requests in mind, and we hope it becomes a valued, easy-to-navigate resource for our entire community.
What’s Included in Our Newsletter
Here is a guide to each page and what you can expect to find:
- Important Dates For Your Diary: Upcoming events are listed here, including dates stretching into Term 4. We will continue to add dates as they are confirmed, so please check back regularly. This is a reminder that Tuesday 25th August, is our next student-free day (Curriculum Day).
- News: This page features classroom highlights from each year level, including information about what will be taught in the coming weeks and photos of student learning from recent weeks. It is a wonderful way to stay connected with what your child is doing at school.
- Specialists : Information relating to our specialist programs — including Art, PE, Music, Japanese, Digital Technology and PE — can be found here.
- Production: All things production live on this page! Mrs Orlando will keep this page up to date, so please check here first if you have any questions or need the latest information.
- Achievements: A page dedicated to celebrating our students! Here you will find class awards presented at assembly, individual achievements, updates on our Running Around Australia program, and our Recycling efforts. We love sharing these moments with you. Please share with us any achievements that your child has made that we may not be aware of so we can celebrate within our community.
- Student Voice: This page will make its debut in next term’s newsletter. Each class will have the opportunity to create their own newsletter page between now and the end of the year — choosing their own topic and ideas. Prep classes will combine to create a shared page later in the year. We look forward to hearing directly from our students!
- Wellbeing: Our Wellbeing page will cover a range of topics to support the health and happiness of our community. We hope you find something useful, interesting, or reassuring in each edition.
Family Zone: A space for helpful information, ideas, and resources for families. Please note this page may not appear in every edition.
What Has Been Happening in Week 10?
Our students have had a wonderful final week of term. While there is definitely an air of tiredness in the building — as is natural at this point in the year — there has equally been a real sense of pride and accomplishment as students reflect on all they have achieved.
Wishing You a Wonderful Holiday Break
As we head into the two-week holiday break, I want to wish every family a safe, restful, and restorative time. Whether you are travelling and enjoying a change of scenery, or staying close to home and settling into a different rhythm, I hope you find moments of joy and connection together.
If you are looking for some ideas for family activities during the break, don’t forget to visit our Family Zone page — there are plenty of suggestions to spark some inspiration!
We look forward to welcoming everyone back for Term 3 on Monday 13th July. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Warm regards,
Emily Murcott
Acting Principal