Dear Families,

Parent Opinion Survey: Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education from next week. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, 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/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 18 August to Friday 19 September 2025.

All families are invited to participate in the survey. Each family will be assigned a PIN via email, which will expire upon completion of the survey. Emails will be directed to Parent A as per enrolment form data. 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.

Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents/caregivers/guardians who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to the school directly for survey guides in your language.

Prep 2026: Last week we sent out our letters of offer for Prep placements for next year and thank families for their interest and quick acceptance to help us continue to plan for next year. That said, we will be having 4 classes of Preps again. Prep Teachers will not be announced for a little while yet. We have been given an enrolment management plan by the Regional Director for 2026 that I have to enforce. This may change in the future, but we are again, capped at 625 students for our site. If you are within the zone and have accidentally forgotten to enrol a sibling, please catch up with the admin team ASAP!

Year 2 Excursion: On Monday, the Year 2’s visited Werribee Mansion and learnt about a different period of Australian history. In the lead up to the excursion, I had some great conversations about how the students thought the mansion may have been built, what materials were used and the actual construction of the building. Thanks to the Year 2 team and volunteers for helping and having a great day learning in a different environment.

Science Week: The STEM team are promoting a range of activities and opportunities from 9th -17th August with a theme of “Decoding the Universe”. The STEM captains are heavily involved in this week of activities and had to turn away several students who arrived for the lava lamp session as it was so busy! We also encourage families to try a few experiments at home, have some science fun, and instil that level of inquiry into our learners.

Geelong Cats: We were thrilled to have some players from the Geelong Cats men's and women's teams visit our Year 4 students on Tuesday. The players shared their experiences as professional athletes, spoke about the importance of teamwork, perseverance, and healthy living, and answered some great questions from the students.

School Disco, Footy Colours & Hotdog Day: School Disco on the last day of term, Thursday 19th September! To add to the fun, students are encouraged to wear the colours of their favourite football team. It’s also Hotdog Day, and students will have the option to order a hotdog for lunch. To help make the day a success, we’re looking for a few volunteers to assist with cooking and serving the hotdogs. If you’re available to help, please sign up using the link below.

Link: https://volunteersignup.org/3FFLM

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Scott McCumber

Principal

2025 Book Week