PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

It has been another busy week of teaching and learning with some extra-curricular activities thrown in, what a great week it has been. There is now only one week of term remaining, a shorted week too, before all staff and students can enjoy a well-earned break over the Easter holiday period. Looking forward to a great final week of term!

Arts Festival Night

What a great time was had by all who were able to attend our Arts Festival Night here at school last night, with students moving through and trying their hand at the various activities on offer that included creating Aboriginal Designs on Wooden Australian animals, painting and then entering the UV Black Light NEON room, Marble Rolling In Paint, Collaborative Weaving, Chalk Drawing (outside), Bubble Painting, Collaborative Painting, “Draw a Masterpiece” (drawing lesson), “Art Rocks” (selfie photos) and lots of other fun art activities! We would like to thank our special guests from Windamara for coming along and leading the Aboriginal Art activity. A big THANK YOU also to our amazing Art teacher Miss Emma Brown for organising and leading the night, along with staff for giving their time to come along and run the various activities for all to enjoy. Congratulations also to our Arts Captains for the great way they spoke, thanks our guests and drawing of the Art Raffle prizes – another terrific whole-school activity and thank you to all who were able to attend and contribute to the success of the night.

HDSA District Athletics

Yesterday we took a team of 59 athletes to Mitchell Park for the Hamilton District Sports Association Athletics Championships and we are very proud of not only the athletic achievements on the day but also the terrific sportsmanship demonstrated by our students, cheering on and supporting one another, no matter where they placed. There were a number of first, second and third place finishes on the day, however we will have to wait until next week to announce these, once official results are provided. This will also include announcing students who have now qualified to compete in the Division Athletics Championships in Warrnambool on Friday 3rd May. We can announce however that two students did exceptionally well – congratulations to Connor (11 Year Boys) and Georgia (10 Year Girls) on being awarded Age Group Champions. Congratulations also to Manaia (12 Year Boys – 800m), Georgia (10 Years Girls – Triple Jump, Long Jump and 80m Hurdles) and Harper Brian (10 Year Girls – High Jump) on setting new age group event records – also outstanding achievements. Thank you also to Mr Watt for his organisation on behalf of our school along with staff Mrs Harms, Mrs Clark, Miss Paton, Mrs McCulloch and Mrs Rankin for their support in making the day a huge success for our students.

Staffing Announcement

Miss Eales, who has only been with us since the start of this year, has accepted a new position at George Street Primary School as a Leading Teacher and will be finishing with us at the end of this term. This is a terrific leadership opportunity for Miss Eales and we wish her well in this new role. We are now in the process of searching for a replacement teacher for Miss Eales in 5/6B with a 3-day per week position currently advertised on Recruitment Online. This position advertisement will close during the holiday break where we will be working in the background to hopefully finalise a replacement ready for the start of term 2.

Staff – Leave Announcements and Replacements

We have a number of staff members who will be taking leave over the coming month or more.

Leesa in the office will be taking leave from next week and will return in the second week of term 2.
Mr Watt will be taking leave from the start of term 2 and return in week 4 of term 3. Mr Watt will be replaced by Mrs McGinley for three days per week to take Physical Education classes. We wish Mr Watt well as he sets of exploring some exciting places in the world!
Ms Brown will be taking four weeks leave at the start of term 2. Ms Brown will be replaced in Art by Mr Ben Stephens who is well known to our school, on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
Ms Hannah will also be taking leave for the first week of term 2. Mss Hannah will be replaced in her teaching days on the Thursday and Friday by Mr Stephens

We wish these staff members well on their period of leave.

Easter Raffle

Our annual Easter Raffle was drawn at our assembly earlier today – thank you to families for donating items for prizes and for also selling tickets. Congratulations to all winners who have now been notified – prizes can be collected by calling in to the office.

AFL Clinics

On Tuesday students in our Grade P-2 classes were given the opportunity to participate in AFL football clinics with Jonathan from AFL Victoria. Students got to learn and practice a range of skills and these sessions were a lot of fun for all involved.

End of Term 1

The last day of term for all students will be next Thursday, 28th March. The dismissal time for students will be 2:30pm. We will conclude the day with our usual “Friday Assembly”, brought forward a day for our earlier finish to the week.

Royal Children’s Hospital Fundraiser

A casual dress day will be held on the last day of term next Thursday to support the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal. Children may come to school dressed in casual clothes with a twist, with students also encouraged to come to school ‘Dressed Like a Patient’. This might be by wearing a band aid or bandage, or sporting some kind of injury! We ask that a minimum of a gold coin donation is made from each child to support this extremely worthwhile cause.

Have a great weekend!

Ben Kelson

Principal

Hamilton OSHC