Principal's Report

COLOUR EXPLOSION RUN

A week has passed but everyone here is still buzzing with the fun and excitement our whole school community experienced at our inaugural colour run. It was just amazing to see our whole community come together and join in the fun. It took me a few days to wash off the slime stain but it was 100% worth it!! A massive thank you to Officer CFA for their incredible support in having their trucks on site spraying everyone with water. Thank you also to Parents and Friends for their work behind the scenes in preparing for the event and also for their support on the day. They were integral to the success of this major fundraiser. Thank you also to our Senior School students who helped prepare the obstacles around the grounds. Stay tuned in coming weeks for an announcement around the final amount raised by our students and families. Prizes for students will be arriving in the coming weeks. 

OSHC THANK YOU AND UPDATE

Firstly I would like to thank all of our families for their support, understanding and empathy during this challenging time of not having an official OSHC provider at Orchard Park Primary School. I would also like to publicly acknowledge the incredible commitment and dedication our staff have shown in committing to additional hours of work before and after school to ensure our temporary OSHC program can continue. They have done this whilst continuing to provide a high quality education for our students. Our motto is ‘Going Further Together’, and this most certainly has been evident during this period. 

Whilst these interim structures have been implemented, School Council has also been working tirelessly in the background to identify a new provider for our school. I am thrilled to be able to announce that we have committed to partnering with Camp Australia. Camp Australia are a highly reputable organisation in the OSHC sector and during their interview process were able to articulate how they will rebuild the trust and quality in the provision of care for our families. We have only just finalised this decision today and already their team is working hard to commence the program ASAP. I know many families will have many lots of questions about what this transition will look like. I will provide all of these specific details in separate communications on Monday once we have finalised all of this information. For now, rest assured we have a committed, highly skilled and passionate provider ready to build a strong partnership with our school community. Please stay tuned for more information on Monday. 

WEEK 9 BOOKINGS 

For families wishing to book their child/ren into the OSHC program for next week, please do so through the following week. We will continue to provide our staff run program until Camp Australia take over the program. 

https://forms.gle/FSHfoYUu3nc54bs9A

PLEASE NOTE that unfortunately there will be no after school care available on the last day of term (Thursday 6th April). We thank you for your understanding around this. 

LAST DAY OF TERM

Just a reminder that the last day of term (Thursday 6th April) will conclude at the earlier time of 2pm. We will run our final assembly of the term at 1:30pm in the gym where our Easter raffle will be drawn. 

WORKING BEE

It is quite a few weeks ago now, but I just wanted to say a big thank you to the families who joined us for our first working bee. We were able to move a heap of new sand into the sand pit, refill the main playground with new mulch and tidy a number of our garden beds. Your support of this work was greatly appreciated. We will look at further working bees in the future, most likely in the spring. 

ABC MUSIC INCURSION

Next Wednesday 29th March, all of our students here at OPPS will participate in a ‘give it a go’ incursion with ABC Music Group. This will be an opportunity for students to explore the possibilities of learning a musical instrument. ABC Music Group is an external company who specialise in providing lessons within schools for students who wish to learn a musical instrument. Within today’s newsletter is some further information about ABC Music Group. Please note, this is a user pays opportunity, meaning that families will need to pay for these lessons if they wish for their child to participate. The lessons will commence in Term 2. Please do not hesitate to call the office if you have any questions about this opportunity.