Principal's Report

Welcome back update

The first two weeks of Term 2 have flown by here at Orchard Park Primary School. Students and staff have returned and transitioned back from the holidays smoothly. A number of new students have joined our school community and we welcome them and their families to our school. 

There have been a few changes to our staffing this term. As was communicated at the end of the term. Danny Forster has been appointed as Acting Principal at Garfield Primary School for Terms 2 and 3. During this time, Alana Sutherland has moved into the Assistant Principal role here at OPPS. Brendan Hodge will step into the Learning Specialist role. Because these changes occurred so late in the term, we are still finalising the teachers who will cover classes in the Middle School. 

Kayla Campbell and Cassie Kovac are beginning their family leave as the time draws closer to their babies arriving. We welcome Jane Knight (5/6B) and Margaret Carr (1/2C) to our school to fill these teaching vacancies. Both Jane and Margaret joined us from the beginning of this term to ensure the transition between teachers has been a smooth one. 

Our Administration team will be growing from the beginning of next week with Julie Shorey joining Rachael and Ashlyn in the office area. We are thrilled to have Julie joining us from Monday and I am sure you will all see Julie as you pop in to the Administration building in the coming weeks.

In some other exciting news, last week Tegan Aoun became Tegan Peebles as she married her now husband, Dustin. Whilst there was a bit of rain about on the wedding day, nothing could dampen their beautiful ceremony and reception. Tegan and Dustin are now honeymooning in Fiji and we will welcome Tegan back next week. 

Federal Election Polling Booth

Orchard Park Primary School will be a polling booth for the upcoming Federal Election on 21st May. It will take place in the school gymnasium. We will be running a sausage sizzle on the day to raise funds for school resources. Keep an eye out in the coming days as we seek donations and also people who may be able to volunteer some time on the day to help cook and serve at the sausage sizzle. Be sure to encourage your family, friends and neighbours to use our school as their location to vote and get a delicious snag in bread whilst they are here! We hope that everyone is able to support this event in some way. 

School Uniform

As we enter the cooler months, it is important that we continue to maintain high standards around wearing our school uniform. If you are uncertain of our policy, it is accessible on the school website or you can contact the office for any clarification. Our uniform supplier PSW is located in Officer and stocks all of our uniform products.

I can’t emphasise enough the importance of making sure all uniform items, in particular  jumpers and jackets are clearly labelled with your child’s name. We continue to have a large number of jumpers and jackets found around the school or handed in to lost property that are not clearly labelled. Naming all items assists in misplaced items being returned to the student. 

If you are purchasing new shoes in the future, I remind our families that the uniform policy clearly states that shoes need to be plain black. Please ensure this is considered with future purchases of shoes. This will be something we begin to enforce more strictly in the future.

OPPS Buy, Swap and Sell uniform Facebook page reminder

With the support of School Council, we are also excited to share with you the following option for being able to access second hand uniforms. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/oppsbuyswapsell

The group is public, however if you want to comment or post it must be approved by Admin and you have to read and agree to the group rules. As children grow out of uniforms so quickly, this might be a great way to pass on items and possibly purchase some items as well.