Principal Report -
Mrs Cameron
Term 2 Update
With Term 2 almost at a close, we have a current enrolment of 401 students and enrolments still coming in for Foundation for 2026. The larger school tours for 2026 have now concluded and I am taking smaller tours for families moving into our area. I would like to pay a special thanks to our School Captains who have done a wonderful job accompanying me on the school tours and sharing with new families, from a student perspective, all the wonderful things about our school.
Building Update
We eagerly anticipate the opening of our amphitheatre and new and improved green surface which have both been funded through Christmas Fair fundraising and the Inclusive Schools Grant. The dedicated team behind the Christmas Fair and our School Council are the driving forces behind our school's fundraising success, allowing us to dedicate these specific funds towards projects that benefit all students, not only now but far into the future.
Staffing Update
We have some of our staff taking long service leave for parts of Term 3 and have been very fortunate to replace all staff members with familiar and experienced relief teachers who have been working at Fyans Park throughout the 2025 school year.
We have Mr Hambrook taking long service leave for all of Term 3 and being replaced by classroom teacher Ireleigh Bryce. Ireleigh has already had a day of transition with the students, and I am confident she will be a wonderful addition to the school. Ireleigh has experience in both primary and secondary schools and comes highly regarded. I am sure you will all join me in wishing David and his family all the very best as they travel to various parts of Australia.
Miss O’Connor is also on leave for the first two weeks of Term 3 with Ms Meg Neal taking Prep O when we return from school holidays. We look forward to seeing Miss O’Connor back in Week Three. Beginning in Week Four and until the end of Term, we have Mrs Nawrocki taking long service leave and she will be replaced by Mrs Cummings (Mon – Thur) and Mrs Barnewall (Fridays).
We also say farewell to Ms Vallance at the end of this term. Laura is relocating back to Ballarat to be closer to family, and we wish her well. Laura is replaced by Ms Bridget Dykes. Bridget is very familiar to the students in the 3/4 Department and has already commenced working in 3/4V each Friday this term.
In the 1/2 Department, we farewell Ms Kattwinkel who has accepted a position at Christian College Geelong. Anna has taught in various year levels across the school over the last 6 years and will be sorely missed by us all. Anna’s children currently attend Christian College, and we wish her well as she moves into the independent sector.
We also have Carly, one of our valued Ed Support staff leaving at the end of term to pursue her social work career. Carly has been working at Fyans Park and competing her degree and we wish her all the very best for what will be a bright future.
The CRT shortage is continuing to impact all schools in Geelong and so far, we have been very fortunate in obtaining teaching staff to cover leave vacancies and staff illness. We often receive reports from our regular relief staff that they enjoy their days at Fyans Park and will often prioritise working at our beautiful school. We wish all staff taking leave, as well we those moving on in their chosen career, the very best.
This week our teaching staff met in teams and have commenced planning for what I am sure will be a productive Term 3 at Fyans Park.
Term 3 Kelly Sports Program
Please see the below flyer for all the details about our upcoming Kelly Sports programs on offer for students in Term 3. In addition to the after-school sports, we have a dance program starting on Tuesdays at lunchtimes with an experienced dance teacher. I am sure this program will be very popular so be sure to book in asap to guarantee a place.
Volunteer Induction – Complete ONLINE
A reminder to all families that we have a process for Volunteer Induction for all school activities, excursions and camps. Our Induction process is valid for 12 months and is now available to complete online via our new FPPS Volunteers Portal
https://sites.google.com/education.vic.gov.au/fpps-visitors-portal/home
Please use the link at your convenience and head to the OHS Induction for Volunteers tab where you can review all policies and complete induction.
We encourage all families who wish to volunteer in any capacity this year, to complete the online form and this information will be recorded at our front office.
** Please note the Christmas Fair has a separate induction as this is a large-scale school event.
We continue to value the partnership in education with families and appreciate and value the ongoing support to ensure our students have every opportunity.
Preventing and Addressing Racism in Schools
A new and very important policy was announced by the Minister for Education at the 2025 Government Schools Principals' Conference on Tuesday 3 June 2025.
The new policy clearly outlines that racism is not tolerated in Victorian Government schools. It consolidates advice, guidance and resources on cultural safety, inclusion and incident response into a single statewide policy.
Why the policy is important
We know that students experience racism and its negative impacts, and that schools are increasingly responding to this issue.
In the 2024 Attitudes to School Survey, 14% of students in Victorian Government schools said they had experienced racism that term, and 17% said they had experienced racism in the past year.
In the 2024 Attitudes to School Survey for students at Fyans Park, 2% of students said they had experienced racism that term, and 4% said they had experienced racism in the past year. Our aim is to have this result be zero.
In addition, our data from students last year indicated that 91% of students reported knowing what to do if they experience racism. Still, this education piece is an important one for our school and for all students F-6.
This new policy is designed to help schools take actions to prevent and address racism, religious intolerance and racial and religious vilification.
This policy comes into effect from the start of Term 3, 2025 (Mon 21 July) and this information has been published on our website in the policies section, along with links to advice on how to report incidents of racism to the school and through the Report Racism hotline.
Head to our website at https://fyansparkps.vic.edu.au/our-school/policies/
School Wide Positive Behaviour Update
With our expected behaviours now familiar to students and visible in all classrooms. Our SWPBS team of teachers and our Student Wellbeing leaders, Max and Gracie, have been using all the available data to determine a fortnightly behaviour focus for the whole school and an area we can target our attention to increase expected behaviour.
This fortnight the focus is: We use positive language.
Next week and in the coming weeks at assembly – Values Awards will be awarded for students who have demonstrated the agreed fortnightly focus.
Students’ positive behaviour is also being acknowledged via our Dojo system in each class with students earning ‘Dojo reward points’ to go towards a wide range of school-based experiences.
For more information about School Wide Positive Behaviour Support please head to our website at: https://fyansparkps.vic.edu.au/teaching-and-learning/swpbs/
Around the classrooms
This week I was fortunate to spend some time in 34S during their Japanese lesson with Hurley Sensei. With the routines of the classroom well established, students began work mindfully writing Kanji and then quickly moved into fast paced and interactive activities providing opportunities for movement and the development of sentences written and spoken in Japanese.
Students particularly enjoyed playing a Battleships game using the days of the week and fruits to challenge their partner. It is incredible to see the language acquisition of our students. I spoke with Bessie who said “I like to learn Japanese when we play games and when we learn songs”.
Lightning Premiership Update
Last week our mixed Netball and Soccer teams competed in the Division Lightning Premiership. All teams performed consistently well with high levels of effort and fun. A big thanks to Julia Cattanach who assisted with scoring in the Netball. Thank you to Chris Young, Troy Renfrey, Mia Clark and David Henderson who assisted with coaching and supporting the teams over two competition days.
A further congratulations to our Division Lightning Prem football team who made it to finals and competed earlier this week and finished a solid second. A brilliant result to have made it all the way to the finals undefeated, but more importantly, the teamwork and sportsmanship demonstrated by our students. A big thanks to Mr Hambrook, Cameron Ling and Tim Clark for assisting the team on the day.
Today we had our 5/6s attend the InterSchool hockey competition with 19 students participating accompanied by Miss Lewis. Congratulations to all involved with our Fyans Park A team, Boys Mixed team winning the overall Division competition for Hockey 7s. This team will next represent Fyans Park at the Regional event. Our Fyans Park B team also played admirably with two very close losses, demonstrating skills and sportsmanship.
We acknowledge the outstanding support of our parent volunteers in making these days possible for our students, assisting with supervision, coaching, umpiring and scoring.
Later this afternoon, our school is hosting Barwon Heads PS with the FPPS debating teams competing from 4.00pm in the 5/6 Department. I am sure you will all join me in wishing them the very best for this next competition.
Western Metro Regional Cross Country
Congratulations to Charles N, Harriet S and Xavier A who represented Fyans Park earlier this week at the Regional Cross Country.
Charles placed 6th in his age group with a time of 7.00 minutes for the 2k event, securing his position in the State Champs to be held in Yarra Glen on the 25th July.
Tutor Learning Initiative
Congratulations to our students in Years 3 and 5 who participated this Semester in our Tutor Learning Initiative. The program has been an incredible success with all students making wonderful progress in their literacy development. The program this semester strengthened students’ oral language, phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The small group setting created opportunities for students to share ideas and ask clarifying questions, whilst also enabling our fabulous tutor, Ms Katie Brice to check in with students and provide individualised support. Pictured are Ethan, Kai, Pina and Fletcher in action during their TLI session.
As this is the final newsletter for the Term 2, I wish all students, staff and families a relaxing holiday break and look forward to seeing students back to school for the beginning of Term 3 on Tuesday 22nd July.
A reminder that our Term 3 student free day is Monday 21st July and our staff will be participating in professional learning further aimed at embedding our school’s approach to the teaching of Literacy.
Lastly, our final assembly is scheduled for Friday 4th July beginning at 9.15am. Parents and Carers are most welcome in each of the learning areas to join with us as we celebrate the end to another fabulous term of learning at Fyans Park.
Have a great week everyone
Mrs Cameron