Principal's Message

Wawa, Wominjika.

Here at Old Orchard Primary School, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we visit each day, the Wurrunguri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin nation.We acknowledge and respect the elders and leaders past and present and the elders and leaders of all of the cultures and nationalities that are part of the Old Orchard Primary School community.We express our gratitude towards the orchards that were kept in place by the peoples on this land before us.We thank the traditional owners for sharing this beautiful land that we all love, and for keeping the land, sky, waterways and animals all in great condition for thousands of years, not only for themselves but for all the generations to come.

Here at Old Orchard Primary School, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we visit each day, the Wurrunguri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin nation.We acknowledge and respect the elders and leaders past and present and the elders and leaders of all of the cultures and nationalities that are part of the Old Orchard Primary School community.We express our gratitude towards the orchards that were kept in place by the peoples on this land before us.We thank the traditional owners for sharing this beautiful land that we all love, and for keeping the land, sky, waterways and animals all in great condition for thousands of years, not only for themselves but for all the generations to come.

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy)

NAPLAN assessment for our Year 3 and 5 students will take place in Weeks 7 & 8, with assessments in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy. Our students will be very well prepared and we look forward to receiving individual and cohort results in due course. 

School Council

The first meeting of the 2024 School Council was held on Wednesday night. We welcomed a new Council member, Jess Hazlett and look forward to her contribution to the Council throughout the year. We also acknowledged outgoing Council member, Michael Wong, for his contribution to Council across several years. 

The office bearers for 2024 were elected and are as follows:

President: Tim Ness

Vice President: Silvia Vogel

Treasurer: Shaun Ganguly

The full list of Council members is as follows:

Year 6 Camp

Congratulations and a massive thank-you to Curtis DeWitt, Michelle Chen, Tom Rogers & Lauren Todd, as well as parent helpers, Craig Mutton, Jeremy Longley, Suzanne Rieschieck & Shelley Beasley for their enormous contribution to the success of the Year 6 camp. Camps are always great fun, but they are also a huge responsibility and commitment, requiring a significant amount of preparation and planning. It was fantastic to observe our staff and parents at work, encouraging, challenging and supporting our students as the situation required. Thanks also to Sheree Knight for her outstanding organisation and preparation leading up to the camp. We are one of very few schools with an admin team member dedicated to organising the logistics and details of events and activities including camps, excursions and more. Not only does this allow teaching staff to focus their time and attention on student learning, it also ensures that there is consistency applied to all aspects of event planning, including critical elements of student and staff safety.  

Our students were fantastic throughout the camp, and impressed us all with their attitude, their willingness to have a go at the various activities and their resilience and flexibility with the hot weather and a few programming changes. We are very proud of them.  Enjoy some fantastic photos from camp taken by Curtis elsewhere in the newsletter.

Student Representative Council (SRC) Badge Presentation

Congratulations to the following students who have been selected as members of our SRC for 2024. The SRC will be led by staff members, Milly Bridges & Adam Todd and supported by the Year 6 SRC Captains.

The Badge Presentation for students from Year 3 to Year 5 will be held on Friday March 1st; the Badge Presentation for students in Years 1 & 2 will be held on Friday March 8th.

Next week at Old Orchard

We have a busy and exciting week ahead at Old Orchard. Our Prep students will enjoy their first full week of school - they have settled extremely well into school life and are a delightful group.

The Year 6 students will participate in the first sessions of their ‘Talk About It’ program, which is part of the Life Education Program. Talk About It is an age-appropriate Relationships, Sexuality and Consent module for students that covers identity, consent, puberty, healthy relationships and reproduction. Delivered separately to our existing health education modules, this program is facilitated by specialist sexual health educators, working in partnership with the classroom teachers. The teaching framework is student-centered, interactive and ensures all content is delivered in a sensitive, factual and age-appropriate manner.

Our Year 4 students will be exploring their local community with a walking excursion to Cootamundra Walk as part of their Inquiry Unit, Understanding the Local Community.

Our newly elected Peer Mediators will have the first session of their training, equipping them to carry out their Peer Mediator duties efficiently and effectively.

Cuppa with Duncan

We are reintroducing the regular ‘Cuppa with Duncan’ sessions. These will be held once or twice per term and are a great opportunity for you to hear about what is happening around the school, for me to hear your thoughts and feedback and a chance to connect with other school parents & carers in an informal setting. The first Cuppa will be on Friday March 15th at 9.15 - an invitation will be sent out next week.

Kind regards

Duncan