Principal's Report

Christmas Concert

It was a couple of weeks ago now, but wow, what an amazing Christmas Concert we had here at the school. The weather fortunately turned around as the day progressed which allowed everything to run as planned out on the oval and basketball courts. The night began with lots of laughs as Brett and Jack from Big Childcare entertained the crowd with some fun and games. We certainly discovered some very competitive parents in the Oreo Challenge!! Our students did a phenomenal job of entertaining all of our families with their brilliant performances up on stage. It was very sad that Mrs Searles was unable to attend the night due to being unwell, however a huge Congratulations and thank you to her for the tireless work in preparing our students so well for the event. They all did us all so proud. 

A massive thank you must also go to our Parents and Friends Group who organised all of the food trucks, hired and paid for our stage and connected with all of our very generous sponsors to donate the prizes for our Monster Raffle. Through all of their efforts, they raised well over $3000, which will go towards our line marking throughout the school. 

Farewell and Good Luck

With the end of any school year often comes some farewells. This year we are saying goodbye and good luck to 2 of our teachers as they continue their careers at different schools in 2023. Firstly, Danielle Searles, who has been our Arts teacher this year will be moving to Casey Grammar where she will be setting up a brand new Arts program for the primary school students at this school. We thank Danielle for all of the incredible work she has done with our students throughout the year. The highlights were clearly the Art Show earlier in the year and then the brilliant performances of our students at the Christmas Concert. 

We are also saying farewell to Danielle Rendall, our STEM teacher. The STEM lab has been a place where our students have developed a real inquisitive nature about all things around Science and Technology. The stick insects became the responsibility of all and the students created some incredible projects throughout the year, including their very own pinball arcade!! Danielle is making the move to Garfield Primary to reconnect with Mr Forster and set up a brand new STEM program for the school. 

We thank both Danielles for their incredible work here at OPPS and wish them the very best for their future. 

Graduation and Celebration Day

Last week we celebrated our Year 6 students' completion of their time at primary school. The graduation celebration was a great opportunity for the students to share their memories of primary school with their families and friends. The students did an incredible job of each presenting to the audience about another student. We were also able to share with our families a new tradition to OPPS, with our graduating honour board in the gym being unveiled. Each and every student who graduates at OPPS will have their name placed on the board as a permanent memento of their time here. 

Whilst the weather wasn't the greatest for our Celebration Day at Gumbuya World, the staff and students still had the most incredible day. I was fortunate enough to be able to join the group on the day and can proudly say that Mr Scanlon and myself dominated the Year 6 students on the racing water slides (a slight weight advantage seemed to help!) and we all had a blast on all of the other rides. Once again, this great bunch of kids represented our school in such a positive way and did us all proud. 

2022 reflections

It is hard to believe that we have now come to the end of our second year at Orchard Park Primary School. I wanted to express my gratitude to all families for their ongoing support to all staff at the school. Without the interruptions of COVID lockdowns, we have been able to pack so much into this year. Our students and staff are exhausted as we enter the holidays and this is because of the unbelievable effort and commitment they have made throughout 2022. It is an absolute honour to continue to lead Orchard Park Primary School and I can't wait to see what we can collectively achieve in the years to come. 

Happy Holidays

I want to wish all of our families a safe and restful holiday break. I hope the sun shines and wherever you are, you get to spend quality time with those you love. I am often asked by parents' what homework should I get my child to do over the school holidays. The answer is simple and always the same. Give the kids a break from structured learning. This doesn't mean they can't be learning and thriving during the holidays. Spend time playing games, being in the outdoors, talking about their day, going on adventures, staying off screens, trying new things together. I heard on a podcast recently that we only get so many summers with our children before they are all grown up. This really resonated with me having 2 teenager children and one in his final year of primary school. I hope you can all make the most of the summer break and make memories to cherish for your whole family. After resting up and recharging the batteries, I look forward to seeing you all back for another action packed and successful year in 2023.