Principal's Report

‘The Best Week’

Welcome back to everyone for term four. I hope that everyone had an enjoyable break and is feeling energised for this exciting, action-packed term.

At the start of each term, I often use the newsletter to describe how well the students have returned from the holiday break. This has been particularly apparent this week. During my conversations with staff last week, comments they have made include, “The students have come back so focused”; “The students are following instructions really well.”; “The students have taken it to the next level”; “I’m having the best week”.

I have had multiple staff explain that they are having the best week, and this made me consider the question, ‘What makes a school week so successful for teachers?’ To answer this, I consider the work at the centre of our school improvement journey, including:

• Positive Classroom Management Strategies (PCMS)
• School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS)
• Framework for Improving Students Outcomes (FISO)

Ultimately, staff are striving to create a safe and purposeful learning environment where students are developing and building upon their knowledge, skills and understandings – and responding positively to challenges. This work aligns with our school vision:

All students feel part of the FPS community and are provided with opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and resilience to enable them to thrive and learn, in and beyond school.

Well done to everyone for this great start to the term!

Year 4 Camp Success

Our Year 4 students had their first experience of school camp last week, as they headed off to Mt Evelyn for two days of adventure, challenge and teambuilding. What an amazingly positive experience they had. All the staff spoke incredibly highly of how well the students worked together as a group, followed instructions and took risks.

We are very proud of our Year 4 students for representing FPS in such a positive light. We are also grateful to the efforts of staff - Binh, James, Ellie, Prue, Millie and Cathy; to parents Andrew M, Selinda, Rebeka, Andrew B, Yuki, Thuy, Laura and Jana.

ART FOR ALL – Funds Raised

At our end of term assembly, we were delighted to announce that we raised $55,000 at ART FOR ALL. What a wonderful achievement! As mentioned in the previous newsletter, we are incredibly grateful for the hours of dedication that our school community donated to ensure that this wonderful event took place.

How will the funds be used?

The redevelopment of the yard had been stalled due to delays with the soil testing. Now that this testing has been completed, we can proceed with the next steps. 

Last year, school council approved the expenditure of $325,000 of previous years’ fundraising on the redevelopment of the yard. The design stage of the yard redevelopment has been completed, and this has shown that the cost of the redevelopment, with all elements included (e.g. permeable paving, rainwater garden, additional seating) exceeds $325,000. Therefore, school council approved the $55,000 raised at ART FOR ALL to go towards the yard redevelopment.

The buildings and grounds committee are working alongside the landscape architects. We are expecting to put the proposed works to tender later this term.

Missing Marquees

Last week we discovered that all 16 of our marquees have been stolen from the storage shed. 

The marquees are located in the locked shed alongside Fairfield Road. When I arrived at school one morning, I noticed that a hole had been cut into the bottom of the fence, directly opposite the shed. We then realised that the marquees were not in the shed. The theft of the marquees has been reported to the police.

These marquees are a great resource for the school, purchased through fundraising money, used at our community, sports and excursion events. 

We are working with the police in the hope of recovering the marquees.

‘Bee Day Timetable’

This year we have had indoor lunchtimes due to the heat, the rain, and the wind. Now we can add bees to that list!

Last Thursday a swarm of bees descended upon the Year 1/2 area at 12.30pm. This meant that the students were unable to play outside due to safety reasons. Fortunately, a beekeeper was organised to safely remove the bees prior to 3.30pm.

This event got everyone talking, and even inspired Max from Year 2 students to write about it.

Special Person Breakfast

A notable event at the end of last term was our Special Person's Breakfast. The sun was shining as we welcomed our community of special people on Friday morning to enjoy baked treats and a coffee. This was once again a well-attended event which gave the grown-ups the opportunity to spend time with each other and the children before school started.

Our raffle winner was Tom Barnfield (Elodie's dad!), we hope you enjoy the Seven Seeds coffee gift pack, Fairfield Books voucher, Baker’s Delight voucher and the Yalla cookbook from Oasis!

This event raised $1680 for the school.

School Camp Dates for 2026

The following dates have been confirmed for next year's school camps.

• Year 4: Mt Evelyn Camp, Tuesday 2 – Wednesday 3 June (term two, week seven)
• Year 5: Anglesea Camp, Wednesday 2 – Friday 4 September (term three, week eight)
• Year 6: Camp Jungai, Monday 30 March – Thursday 2 April (last week of term one. Holidays commence on Friday 3 April.)

Enjoy the rest of your week.

~ Paul Wallace, Principal