Principal's Report

As we count down towards our annual school concert, I expect you are seeing the daily practicing of dance moves and the singing of all songs 'Oz'! This wonderful event brings our school together, highlights our music and performing arts program and is a forum to show off our Drum Corps, Choir and Orchestra. I would like to extend a huge thank you to our Music and Performing Arts teacher, Emma Walsh, for leading our concert, as well as our broader staff group for collaborating to make this night a special one.

I acknowledge that some challenges were presented when tickets were released earlier this week. We have been able to work with Monash University to ensure all families have access to tickets for the event. I will consult our School Council to consider alternate options for future concerts that may better suit our growing school community. 

Despite much of our time being dedicated to refining our concert items, our regular school program also continues with earnest. Our Year 5 cohort return from their annual camp to Phillip Island today, whilst other cohorts have had both excursions in incursions this week. Term 3 is a busy time in our program, and I do encourage you to regularly check Compass for alerts regarding upcoming activities and events. 

Our wellbeing program continues to be a priority too, with classes yesterday celebrating International Friendship Day. Our student wellbeing team remains very active in our school, led by Labreni Pappas and including our Social Worker, Kaela Grummisch and Occupational Therapist, Isabelle Turner. We would also like to introduce Will Sullivan, who will work in this area and particularly in our Year 3 and 4 cohorts on social skills programs. Will comes to us highly recommended and we look forward to him adding great value to our school. The focus on student wellbeing is an ongoing priority, and this team will continue to lead our work with individual students, small groups and whole cohorts to ensure we have happy, healthy and resilient students. 

Planning for the 2027 school year is well underway for our school leaders and administration team, with future enrolment a key area of focus. Applications for enrolment in Prep for 2027 close today, with formal offers of enrolment to be released in coming weeks. The timeline for enrolment projections across the school for 2027 has been brought forward from the usual late August period to the beginning of August and I have thus sent an additional communication to families today regarding this. 

As I have said in that note, I do understand the pressures that our local independent schools place on families to exit their local Government Primary Schools prior to Year 6. I ask you to strongly consider the benefits of your child concluding their Primary School journey with us, acknowledging the outstanding opportunities your child will gain through our student leadership program, high school readiness program and the significant benefit of graduating with the great friends they started school with.  

I have recently spoken with both our school community and local neighbours regarding traffic concerns around our school at drop-off and pick-up times. This includes some poor behaviour towards oncoming traffic, and illegal parking across private driveways. We share a responsibility for safe and respectful use of our roads, and I thank you in advance for your cooperation with this. 

Thanks for your ongoing support and keep doing your best.

Rohan Cooper

Principal