Principal's Report

Welcome to the 2024 school year. I hope our students, staff, families and the broader community enjoyed the school holiday period. My family were fortunate to spend time visiting family in Western Australia for a significant period, as well as seeing other family on the Mornington Peninsula. I certainly feel well rested and ready for a great school year! 

School Holiday Works and Updates

Whilst our students were not attending school through the holiday period, there was still plenty going on here! Here is a snapshot of all that has occurred across the break:

• Ramps have been constructed into the main office administration area and the Year 4 portable classrooms.
• Sand and soft-fall mulch have been topped-up in our play areas. 
• New TVs have arrived to replace older devices in classrooms. 
• New sets of Chromebooks have arrived for both the 1:1 student program, and for younger students to develop their skills on a school-purchased device. 
• New servers have been integrated into the ICT system.
• The previous ‘local’ Google tenant has been transferred to the Department of Education Google tenant, ensuring better security, storage and usability for students and staff. 
  • Please note that you now must use Compass if you would like to contact your child’s classroom teacher via email. Instructions on how to do this were sent via Compass yesterday. 

Staffing Updates

We would like to extend a warm welcome to three additional staff members who have joined our team over the holiday period. Welcome to Lauren Jordan, who will begin with us in mid-February as our Social Worker. Welcome too to Barbora Kosikova and Shakaya Thomas, who have joined our integration aide team. 

More details will follow as to how Lauren will work as our School Social Worker, including the process for our students to access her support. 

Works and Updates to Come

Our building project continues to progress, with the appointed architects, McIldowie Partners, moving towards finalising the ‘schematic design’ of the gymnasium. We look forward to presenting this design to our school council in coming weeks and sharing it with our community following that. 

• Through the holidays, we have been working with Greenline, who will be installing shade sails within the quadrangle and alongside our running track. Whilst we have had a slight delay as we plan around the discovery of an easement running through one proposed install area, we do look forward to construction starting on this project in the front half of this year. 
• Our student ‘Drum Corps’ will be fitted with new uniforms in 2024. Drum Corps, led by the remarkable Sandy Hood, has a long-term legacy at our school and develops great pride amongst our students and the broader community. A huge thanks to Elly Stone for leading this project, to Michael Ostroburski, our School Council Treasurer, for championing the initiative, to James Sherry, our 2023 Drum Corps Parent Representative for his organisation and, of course, to Sandy, for his vision and leadership.  

Timetable Change

Our bell times have been adjusted slightly for this year. The purpose for this is to ensure the key learning block in the morning is prioritised, as research tells us that this is where student learning is optimised. The recess break is now from 11:30am until 12:00pm, with our lunch break from 1:50pm until 2:40pm. Students will have a mandated ‘healthy snack’ break (fruit and / or vegetables please) in their classroom at approximately 10:40am. Students will have an opportunity to eat their lunch in their classroom at 1:40pm, before they go outside to play. 

Thanks for your ongoing support and keep doing your best.

Rohan Cooper

Principal