Principal Team's Report

This fortnight at the Springs...

It seems like the weeks are flying by way too fast at the moment! In the past fortnight, we've had two more groups travel to Ecolink for their workshops about sustainability practices, and we've had Year 3 and 4 students participate in the Cricket T20 Blast. It has also been wonderful to welcome our 2025 Prep students as part of our Step Into Prep program. They have participated in purposeful play activities and completed literacy and numeracy tasks in the classroom. We look forward to welcoming them to their next session, which will see them participate in some of our Specialist subjects. 

Canteen Update

In 2025, we say farewell to Jude Fina Foods as our Canteen operator, and welcome BOCCA Foods as our new service provider. We will distribute information in the coming weeks about what BOCCA has to offer, and we thank Jude Fina Foods for their 14 years of service. In particular, we'd like to say a massive farewell and THANK YOU to Di Street who manages and operates the canteen on a day-to-day basis. Di is a valued part of our school community, and we will miss her smiling face around the Springs. We wish her well in her future endeavours.  

To the Pakenham Springs Primary School Community,

Jude Fina Foods would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your support over the past 14 years. Your trust and encouragement have meant a great deal to my staff and me, and we are truly grateful for the positive partnership we’ve enjoyed with you all.

As we bid farewell to operating your school canteen, with our last day being Friday, 13th December 2024, we’re confident that the new providers will continue to serve your children and loved ones with care and dedication.

A special mention goes to Diane, our supervisor, who has forged a wonderful rapport with the school community and has been instrumental in creating a welcoming environment. 

Thank you to Diane, Jay, and everyone who supported us throughout this journey. 

Warm regards,

Leo 

Jude Fina Foods

School Saving Bonus 

The Victorian Government is delivering the School Saving Bonus – a one-off $400 support for government school students from Prep to Year 12 in 2025.  From Tuesday 26 November 2024, you will receive an email from the Department of Education with your unique $400 School Saving Bonus code. 

The School Saving Bonus will help families cover the cost of uniforms, textbooks, excursions, activities and more. 

If you have multiple children enrolled in Victorian government schools for 2025, you will receive one School Saving Bonus code email per child. These emails might arrive on different days. Please make sure to check your spam/junk email folder. 

Parents and carers can use the School Saving Bonus code in-store at school-nominated suppliers. Parents and carers can also choose to access the School Saving Bonus online system, where they can allocate part or all of the $400 bonus to use at school nominated online suppliers or for school activities.  

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, visit School Saving Bonus | vic.gov.au (www.vic.gov.au). A step-by-step user guide will be available on the webpage on 26 November.    If you have not received your School Saving Bonus code via email by Friday 29 November, please contact the Department of Education by emailing school.saving.bonus@education.vic.gov.au 

Victorian Education Excellence Awards

We are proud to announce that the Cardinia Network was the winner of the 2024 Outstanding Koorie Education Award. Each school within the Cardinia network works hard to ensure that the work we are doing is culturally sensitive and celebrates the diversity and inclusion of each and every student, staff member, family member and community member. This award is a wonderful acknowledgement of the efforts of all of our schools and we are proud to be part of such an active network in this area.

Looking ahead to 2025

Our planning is well underway for 2025 and we are getting excited about the plans we have going forward. Our Specialist programs in 2025 will stay the same, with Physical Education, Media Arts, Visual Arts and STEM being delivered to all students P-6. Auslan will again run for all students across the school, as will our year-level sports program and our Year 5/6 Interschool Sport development and competition program. We have some whole school events already booked in, such as World of Maths, a Dance Day (including the opportunity for our families to bust out their best moves) and a plethora of different experiences to help enrich the educational opportunities for all students.

If you are not returning to Pakenham Springs in 2025 (not our Year 6 students) please let the office know as soon as possible, as this will assist us in our planning for 2025. Likewise, if you have a child beginning Prep that you haven't already enrolled, please do so immediately ahead of our Prep Transition Program. 

Uniforms

Parents and Carers are reminded that a condition of enrolling at Pakenham Springs Primary School is adherence to our School Uniform. This includes the wearing of school-approved jumpers and polo shirts, the minimal wearing of jewellery, and also the requirement that hair colour be natural. Please note that our old red polo shirts are no longer acceptable. If you are having trouble securing uniform pieces, please contact our office for some assistance. Uniform breaches will be recorded via Compass, and we ask for parent/carer support in rectifying them as soon as practicable. Possible actions following frequent breaches of our Uniform policy are listed in the document attached. 

Supervision before school

Students are not to arrive at school until 8:30 am on school mornings.  Staff do not begin their workday until this time, and there is insufficient supervision available in the mornings.  Any student arriving before 8:30am will be asked to sit at the office and wait. We ask for your support in this matter.  Likewise, under no circumstances are students allowed to leave the school grounds in the morning and go across to the shops.  Not only is this incredibly unsafe, with them crossing the busy Heritage BLVD road unsupervised, but a small number of students are also coming back having purchased items inappropriate for the school day.  

Please contact OSHClub if you need to organise care and supervision for your child/ren outside of 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

Have a wonderful fortnight,

The PSPS Leadership Team