Principal's Report

Amazing start to the school year

We are so thrilled with how all of our students have settled in to the new school year. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting our new students, both in Prep and also throughout the rest of the school. Something we pride ourselves on at Orchard Park Primary School is building strong and positive relationships with all of our school community members. We look forward to being able to announce some exciting upcoming events in the very near future which will  allow for these connections to further develop and strengthen. Stay tuned for more information very soon!!

Student Resources

We have been fielding a number of inquiries around the distribution of student book boxes with all of their books and other stationery resources. We have received our book boxes that were purchased by parents (through Maxim) last year when the information was sent out to families. We are now waiting another order of supplies to be delivered which have been purchased by parents at a later time. Teachers are beginning to distribute these resources and the school will provide interim supplies whilst we await this next delivery. Rest assured that no student will go without and that we will always provide the necessary learning materials for students. In the early part of the school year we also have a strong focus on building a positive and calm learning environment focused around our school values. We call this our 'Learning to Learn' unit and this involves a lot of collaborative work amongst students. If you are unsure around your child's student resources, please don't hesitate to contact the office. 

COVID practices

We are so grateful for how understanding and supportive all families have been as we navigate the COVID landscape everyone is currently working through. We are now awaiting the delivery of our next round of Rapid Antigen Tests and will distribute these immediately to families as soon as they arrive. 

If you are uncertain of a particular situation you find yourself in around COVID practices, please don't hesitate to contact the office to discuss further. 

Car parking

As we grow as a school, pick up and drop off times will continue to become busier for all. With this increase in traffic, it will be incredibly important for the safety of all that we abide by the parking expectations around our school. These conditions have been implemented by council to ensure we are keeping everyone safe during these peak times. In order for this to occur, I ask all families to please remember and consider the following points;

• Stop and Drop Zones. The closest 6 car parks at the front of the school on Pink Hill Boulevard are a dedicated stop and drop zone for families from 8:00am-9:30am and 2:30-4:00pm. This means that parents should not park in these areas if they plan to walk in to drop their children off or walk in to pick their children up at the end of the day. This will allow for the traffic in these parks to be flowing throughout these busy times. 
• Parking on the median strip on Pink Hill Boulevard. We have noticed that in particular in the afternoons that some cars have been parking on the median strip. This is area is a no parking zone and the council have warned me that if this continues, fines will be administered to the offending drivers. This is the last thing I want to see happen to our families, so I ask that you find alternative locations to park. 
• Staff car park. I have noticed that the staff car park is being used for some drop off and pick ups. The staff car park is not to be accessed by parents for this purpose unless you are utilising the disabled car park. In my previous experiences at other schools I have seen some near misses in staff car parks and as I outlined earlier, safety of everyone is our key priority. 
• Consider other entry and exit points. We are very lucky to have indented parking on our eastern and northern boundaries to the school. Whilst the Pink Hill Boulevard is the entry/exit point that most of our families use, we encourage you to consider the other gate entry/exit points on Barnsley Road and Grant Parade where there is lots of parking available.

School Council 

Today all families will receive information through Compass around our School Council elections. Nominations are open from today and we would love to see parents who are interested in having an active involvement in our school to nominate themselves before Friday 18th February. If you have any questions about anything in this process, please don't hesitate to contact the office to discuss with myself or Rachael.