Science Week and Fair

One of the great things about primary school is the number of questions students ask. Why does that happen? What would happen if...? How does that work?

This week, as we celebrate National Science Week, those questions are particularly important. Science is about building our understanding of how the world works the way it does. It is also about having a go at an idea, seeing what happens and being prepared to change your thinking when the evidence tells you something different.

Our Science Fair on Friday is a great example of this and fits nicely with this year’s theme, “Seeds of Science: Nurturing knowledge for all.” The projects students have been working on at home give them a chance to follow an idea that interests them and explain their thinking to others.

It has been great talking with students and parents this week about their projects and hearing about the learning that has come from them, the conversations they have started at home and the excitement around sharing them on Friday.

A big thank you to the families who have supported these projects at home. We know that home projects often involve plenty of discussion, problem solving, finding materials and occasionally surrendering part of the kitchen table!

We are looking forward to seeing our students share their learning and thinking on Friday. If you are able to join us from 2:30pm, it would be wonderful to have you there to share in the students’ enthusiasm and put their thinking under the microscope with a few questions of your own.

Attendance and Illness

We have seen a number of cases of Influenza A across the school over the past week, so this is a timely reminder about keeping children home when they are unwell.

We talk a lot about the importance of regular school attendance, and rightly so. Our new H.E.R.O. Award and monthly attendance trophy are all about celebrating students being at school, on time and ready to learn. At the same time, good attendance does not mean coming to school when you are sick, even if it means missing out on the attendance award. As Ms Gray from 3/4 said, from her sick bed, no less, “No ‘E’ for us this week!”

If your child is experiencing flu-like symptoms such as fever, significant coughing, aches or lethargy, please keep them home until they are well enough to return. If your child has been vomiting or has diarrhoea, they need to remain at home until they have been symptom-free for at least 24 hours. We wish all our unwell students a speedy recovery!

Keeping unwell children at home gives them the chance to properly recover and helps reduce the spread of illness to classmates, staff and other families. We want our students at school as often as possible, but when they are genuinely unwell, home is exactly where they should be.

2026 Parent/Carer Opinion Survey

We want our parents/carers to tell us what they think!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Carer Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.

The Parent / Carer Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 17 August to Friday 18 September 2026.

All families are invited to participate in the survey.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / carers who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.

Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.

Attendance H.E.R.O