Out and about with Mr Walsh

We come to the end of another challenging 12 months managing many changes and transitions but yet again we must be grateful and thankful for the continued support of our school community and the opportunities we have had over this 12 months. We all hope together that we can move into 2022 with renewed optimism and hope and that we can allow our students the opportunity to have uninterupted learning and social opportunities. We look forward to regaining connection with our school community and celebrate the successes of our school.

At a time of reflection and celebration on behalf of Surfside Primary School I want to sed our thoughts and prayers to the school community of Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania as they are faced with the heartbreaking challenge of losing members of their school community in a freak accident. In this tragedy it is important that we continue to be grateful of everything we have and give our loved ones a special hug over this busy festive period.

I am always thankful to those who make Surfside Primary School such a special place to be. The thought, care and dedication that goes into every day at Surfside is remarkable and on behalf of Surfside I would like to thank:

• Mrs Giggins for her continued support of our students, staff and community and her never ending positive mindset.
• Our leadership team of Mrs Patterson, Mrs Snowdon, Ms Myers, Gill, Kellie, Mr Chapman, Mrs Holland and all of our year level unit leaders for your guidance and dedication to our teaching, learning, engagement and wellbeing program at Surfside.
• Our administration team of Robyn, Vicki and Kerry for their positivity and always being a helping hand for our school community.
• To all of our classroom teachers, specialists, tutors, education support staff, kitchen and garden specialists, CRT's and all who have walked through our doors to support each and every student.
• To Julie, Sharon and our senior students who assisted in the canteen.
• To Damian and Terry for their maintenance and grounds work and our cleaners Adam, Eva and Jay who keep our school looking clean as well as safe.
• To Jerry our Surfside crossing guard and our community crossing guards for protecting our students.
• Jo and our Camp Australia program for providing support and care for our families.
• Emily our IT support technician for keeping our school connected on and off site.
• Our pre service teachers, Deakin program supporters, Deakin OT students and all of our Student Support Services for their continued support of our students.
• Our parents, carers and extended school community who have been again a MASSIVE support and the backbone of our program.
• My biggest thank you goes to every student who walks through the doors of Surfside. 2021 has been another challenging year but you continue to astound me with your growth mindset, flexibility, resilience and support of each other - continue to BE KIND!

On behalf of Surfside PS we want to wish our year 6 students all the best and thank them for their time with us. You have been a fantastic crew and we hope you continue to be the best version of you!

We want to farewell the following families who end their Surfside journey as their eldest child(ren) graduate year 6: 

Blount, Burt, Copeland, Entwhistle, Hodson Galvan, Long, McCullough, Pagram, Parr-Watt, Payne, Stephenson, Windsor, Bainbridge, Colby, Elston, Farrell, Fleet, Mateo, McCarthy, Morrison, O'Keefe, Ross, Stevenson, Vrettas, Walker, Cachia, Chapman, Crook, Cruickshank, Cusma, Henshall, Lohmann, Mifsud, Percy, Tattersall, Thompson, Veenstra and Wright families.

I would like to wish the following students and families all the best and thank them for their time at Surfside as they relocate interstate, across Victoria or to another school. We appreciate your support:

Harry Buist, Innes Wolverton, Chaise Scanlon, Harry and Jack Lavars, Lexi Hopkins, Zara Cunningham, Summer Pietersen and Lyla and Luka Adams.

On behalf of the Surfside community I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Safe and Happy New Year and remember to continue to be kind and supportive of each other.

2022 School Captains

We would like to congratulate and welcome our 2022 school captains. All of our applicants were of a high calibre and we thank everyone who expressed an interest in undertaking this very important school leadership role. We would like to welcome:

• James Carty
• Lexi Clay
• Mieke Critchell
• Stella Evans

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank and wish our outgoing school captains all the best on their transition into secondary school. You have done a great job in constantly displaying our school values and your flexibility has been greatly valued. It has been a challenging year for our student leadership team and we hope that they continue to engage in leadership possibilities in secondary school and beyond. Thank you:

• Kai Dumbell
• Maggie Duffy
• Heidi Bush
• Molly O'Keefe

We look forward to working with our outgoing and new school captains at our final assembly on Friday.

School End of Year Assembly Celebration

We were able to celebrate many achievements, farewell and welcome staff and students and enjoy some music this morning as part of our end of year assembly. Please check out some of the photos below and a video of our school assembly.

School Security

It is great to see our school community utilise our school grounds on the weekends and during holidays. Please keep an eye out for respectful behaviour and if you see anything that may cause damage to the school or surrounding areas please don't hesitate to contact 000 or the relevant emergency services.

School Council Update

We were able to hold our final school council meeting and dinner on Tuesday 7th December. We were excited to confirm the arrival of our new portable and we want to thank all of our school council members for their support through another challenging year.

Keeping our community COVIDSafe

The Victorian Government, Department of Health Services and The Department of Education continue to have specific measures in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our local community. We can all do our part in the following ways:

We have the following in place at Surfside PS to ensure the health and safety of our school community as advised by the Department of Education. We will continue to update recommendations for 2023 as they become available.

• All adults, staff and visitors to the school are required to wear a face mask when indoors. Anyone who is required to enter the school via a building is required to enter via the administration office and sign in.
• Continue good health and hygiene practice by washing hands regularly, coughing or sneezing into your elbow and using hand sanitiser regularly.
• When unwell it is essential that you remain home, seek medical advice and be tested if required.
• Ensure 1.5m physical distancing when required.
• Please sign in to the school using the Services Victoria QR code when in attendance - more information below
• Get vaccinated if you are eligible

For further support please visit the DHS Coronavirus webpage

Continue to stay safe and healthy throughout 2021.

QR Code Check In - Services Victoria

When attending Surfside Primary School as a visitor it is essential that you sign in via the Services Victoria QR code. All visitors need to report to the administration office prior to entering the school grounds. This is required when entering buildings or classrooms. This will require everyone to download the Services Victoria App on their device.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR SUPPORT ON HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE APP