Out and about with
Mr Walsh

Staffing Updates for 2025

We have been working towards finalising our staffing profile for 2025. There are many moving parts within a school organisation and we are very grateful to have a stable staffing profile. We do see some changes due to staff extending their families, relocations or travel but we are also excited to welcome back some familiar faces while meeting some new faces at Surfside. We want to welcome our returning and new staff for 2025 and look forward to meeting them throughout the coming weeks as part of our transition and planning days. We are very thankful for the experience and skill sets that they bring to the Surfside team and I am sure everyone will make them feel very welcome.

In 2025 we look forward to welcoming back our returning staff and the following new staff to Surfside and we know that their skills and experiences will compliment such a strong and passionate teaching and learning team at Surfside.

Zara Griffin - Zara is a passionate primary school teacher who brings a love of learning and a genuine enthusiasm for teaching in the classroom and has a wealth of experience. Zara has been teaching at Highton PS in 2024 and has undertaken the role of year level leader and implementing an evidence based literacy approach. We look forward to welcoming Zara to the Surfside family. Zara has a love for reading an this is something that she loves to share with the students, inspiring them to discover the joy of books.
Andrea Ried - Andrea has recently been off on maternity leave and is looking forward to returning in a part time capacity for 2025. We look forward to welcoming back Andrea who will be working on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Brenton Barnes - Brenton and his family are returning to the Ocean Grove community following their short-term relocation to Western Australia. Brenton is excited to re-connect with the school community and will be working at a part-time capacity in 2025 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Rochelle Snowdon - Mrs Snowdon has been on maternity leave and is excited to return to Surfside in a part time capacity for 2025. She is keen to engage the positive relationships that she has built with students, staff and families. Rochelle will be working on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Jamie-Lee McPherson - Jamie-Lee has enjoyed an exciting and captivating trip around different parts of the world throughout 2024. Jamie-Lee will bring a wealth of experiences back with her when she returns to Surfside and I am sure she is excited to share these with her new class for 2025.
Ryan Baker - Ryan and his family will return to the school community following their short term relocation to Tasmania. Ryan also looks forward to welcoming a new arrival to his family in early 2025 to keep him busy - congratulations Ryan!
Diana Wright (Term 3 onwards) - We often see Diana in the Surfside playground and we thank her for her parent contributions while being on maternity leave. We also look forward to welcoming Diana back from Term 3 onwards and will update her teaching capacity closer to the date.

We have confirmed the following teams for 2025 to support our teaching & Learning Program:

Foundation Team 2025

We were thrilled to meet our new Foundation families and students as we started our 2025 transition program. We were also excited to see a number of our new families at our Fresh Food Fair and we hope that they all had an amazing experience. We would like to introduce our 2025 Foundation Team:

Caitlin Foster
Courtenay McLaughlin - sharing with Kristy and teaching on Thursday and Friday
Emma McLaren
Kristy Griffiths - sharing with Courtenay and teaching on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Leadership Team 2025-2029

Our leadership team have had a productive and successful year in supporting the implementation of the school goals for 2024. We are definitely all very sad to farewell Linda Giggins as she retires at the end of 2024. Linda has played such a pivotal role in the development of students, staff, the leadership team and the school community. She will be sorely missed and we all have some big shoes to fill. However, this brings about some new opportunities and growth and development of the school. We are pleased to announce our confirmed leadership team for 2025 and congratulations to Lynda, Adrian and Trina who were recently successful for substantive leadership positions from 2025-2029 and this will help to support the implementation of our new strategic plan over the next 5 years. This team brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the areas of teaching and learning and engagement and wellbeing and this has been evident in the growth of all of our measurable data sets. The team is excited to continue to drive this level of improvement to allow each member of our school community to 'be the best that they can be each and every day.'

Peter Walsh - Principal
Lynda Patterson - Assistant Principal
Adrian Chapman – Learning Specialist - Teaching & Learning
Trina Charleston - Learning Specialist - Teaching & Learning
Kellie Hewson - Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader
Gill Hodgson - Disability & Inclusion Leader

While we continue to finalise our staffing profile over the next couple of weeks we look forward to announcing our 2025 teaching teams and we will have some staff to farewell and thank for their contribution to Surfside. We look forward to these teams supporting our transition program on the following dates:

Tue 3rd December - 2025 New Year Level Transition Sessions - 9.00 - 11.00am
Tue 10th December - 2025 Whole School Year Level Transition Morning (new classes) 9.00-11.00am & Year 6-7 Orientation Day (Government Based Secondary Schools)

Congratulations Sofia

A big congratulations to Sofia in year 6 who participated in the recent School Sport Victoria State Track & Field Championships. Sofia performed at an outstanding level taking home the state championship and getting ever so close to a 75% rating in her category. This is an outstanding effort and Sofia has now been selected to represent Team Vic at the upcoming National Track & Field Championships in a few weeks. We congratulate Sofia on all of her hard work and training and wish her all the best in her preparation towards Nationals!