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.

2024 Old Orchard Fete

The 2024 Old Orchard Fete is now only 8 days away. There is much excitement and activity around the school and this will continue to build across the coming week. The early weather forecast is for a fine day with a predicted highest temperature of 24 degrees and no rain, so hopefully the forecast holds!  Please continue to respond to emails and requests as required - we are still in high need of volunteers across many of our stalls and your support is critical to the success of the fete.

Prep Transition

Our Prep transition program continued this week with the first of our extended Prep Lunch - Storytime sessions. It has been wonderful to see the excitement of our future students as they familiarise themselves with the school and meet new friends.   

Student Leadership Elections 

We are now moving to the next stage of our student election process with the interviews for the 2025 school captains and vice captains. This is a great experience for our students and we are always incredibly impressed by how well they present and respond to the questions. We wish our students all the best and remind them that they should be incredibly proud of their efforts, irrespective of the outcome of the selection process.

Year 1 Dinner

There was a great deal of excitement throughout the day yesterday and into the afternoon as our Year 1 students took part in the annual Year 1 dinner. The students enjoyed the opportunity to wear free dress to school and to participate in a variety of fun games and activities before the traditional pizza dinner, complemented by fruit platters to maintain a healthy nutritional balance! 

Special thanks to the Year 1 teachers, Jen Males, Kate Gorfine, and Gemma Simmons as well as other staff, Heidi Kelly, Rhiannon Trimby, Clare Murray, Kara Alexander (& her daughters, Audrey and Evie) and Sonja Loke.

Spring Soiree

Congratulations to Rhiannon Trimby and our many talented Old Orchard musicians on the success of this year’s soiree. As always, the audience was entertained and impressed with the incredible musical talent on display. 

Library

We are anticipating the school library to officially re-open in the next week or so, with a brand new borrowing desk, shelving and other additional features. We will post further information and updates next week, along with photos.

End of Year arrangements (updated)

Please note the following arrangements for the end of the 2024 school year:

Thursday December 19th:  

• final day for students
• 12.45 pm final assembly
• 1.30 pm final dismissal

Friday December 20th:

• Pupil Free Day

Tuesday January 28th:

• Staff resume (Pupil Free Day)

Wednesday January 29th 2025:

• School resumes for all students (Preps 9.00am to 1.00pm)