Thank you all for a wonderful year

It is always great to reflect on the year that we have had as a school. This year our students have experienced camps, excursions, incursions, learning expos, sporting competitions, extension and enrichment programs, music performances and many other fun and educational events that add to their primary school experience. Our 150th birthday event was a huge celebration of the whole community and the importance of the school for so many in the greater Oakleigh community.

Clare O’Neil made special mention of Oakleigh PS in Parliament last week about our 150th Birthday. It was wonderful feedback from her. Here is the link to her speech: https://youtu.be/YvB9YLcVyLw

Another significant highlight was the school review process. It emphasised many positive elements of the school including its wellbeing and learning programs. During the review it showed that Oakleigh achieved an overall ‘High’ performance rating in the Department of Education’s annual School Performance Report. Schools are categorised in one of four domains – High, Improving, Medium and Developing comprising a 50% weighting on learning outcomes and 50% on wellbeing outcomes. It is wonderful to be recognised with a high rating and a great credit to the work that occurs in our school from our teaching staff, education support, administration and leadership team. Our school will devise a new 4 Year Strategic Plan shortly based on the review, which will be shared with families.

Although I was absent from the Annual Christmas Carols event, by all accounts the night was fantastic and well attended with excellent student performances. Our choirs sang at the City of Monash, Carols by Candelight Night, and we have the Foo Foo Concert over the coming days to round off the performance calendar this year. Thank you to Lucy Greco for organising these events.

Our 2025 Year Six students are now in their final weeks of primary school and we are very much looking forward to celebrating their achievements at the Year 6 Graduation Night on 18th December. It is an exciting time for any young person to leave the sanctuary of their primary school and take on the challenges and opportunities of entering secondary school. We would like to wish them all a very fond farewell from Oakleigh Primary School. We know our school has provided these students with the skills and confidence to take on any challenge they face in the coming years.

Thank You to our School Council

As the school year comes to a close, I would like to thank our School Councillors for 2025. This dedicated group meets each month during the school year to undertake their important role in the governance of Oakleigh Primary School and Kindergarten. School Council oversees important areas such as the school finances, buildings and grounds, school policy, strategic planning, fundraising, Out of School Hours Care and the Kindergarten. The School Council maintains a strong partnership with the school principal team focusing on continuous improvement and making sure that our students receive a high-quality education, which enables us to make a real difference for our wonderful students.

On behalf of everyone in our community I want sincerely thank our school councillors for 2025:

President - Neekhil Shah

Vice President - Amara Miles

Treasurer - David Woodgate

Parent Members - Allisha Parker, Carolyn Joubran, Terrence O’Brien, Melissa Maguire, Nicole Tsotras and Christine Talias

DE Members - Bron Orr, Robyn Withington and James Marron

At the end of 2025 we will farewell Christine Talias who has served on council for a number of years and overseen the many changes to Oakleigh over this period.

We will be holding school council elections early next year and are always on the lookout for new members to join. There are no special skills required and if you talk to any current councillor I am sure they would encourage others to consider this opportunity.

Student Achievements

Over the past month, we have seen many student achievements at school and in the community.

Isla in Year 4 was a runner up in Hotham’s Christmas Card Competition run by Clare O’Neil. Her design will feature on this year’s card, so look out for it in the mail!

Our Student Representative Council ran a very successful ‘Hampers of Hope’ Drive. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our families, we collected over 500 food items. It is an amazing example of a community coming together to help others, and such a powerful message for our students about kindness and giving.

A big congratulations to Devyani in Year 4 on receiving a Super Speak Achievement Award. This award is presented to students who have completed 2.5 years of Public Speaking & Communication Skills training at Super Speak (equivalent to 100 hours) and presented 15 formal solo speeches. This is a wonderful achievement.

Well done to Patrick, Year 6 and Keith, Year 5 who were recipients of the Grey Wolf Award in Cubs. This is a prestigious award in the world of cubs, and both boys have worked very hard to achieve this honour.

Finally, on Friday, we announced our 2026 Captains after a rigorous selection process:

School Captains: Emi, Lucinda, Liam S & Max S

House Captains:

Moresby: Ayla & Gabe

McMillan: Mia & Arshiya

Nelson: Markus & Ethan

Logie: Aaria & Kaitlyn

Well done to all of our students for these achievements. I look forward to hearing about more student achievements next year!

2026 Curriculum and Professional Practice Days

School Council have approved the following Curriculum Days:

27 January (statewide) - Mandatory

6 February

13 July

2 November

As per the 2022 Victorian Government Schools Agreement, teachers are entitled to a professional practice day. This will occur on 5 June 2026.

2026 Timetable

As an outcome of the school review and our desire to maximise student learning, we are making an adjustment to the timetable. This is a trial for Term 1 - school start and end times do not alter. The new timetable is:

8.50-9.00am - First bell - classrooms open, students prepare for class

9.00-9.50am - Session 1

9.50-10.40am - Session 2

10.40-11.30am - Session 3

11.30-11.40 - LUNCH eating in classroom

11.40-12.20 - LUNCH Break

12.20-1.10 - Session 4

1.10-2.00 - Session 5

2.00-2.10 - SNACK eating in class

2.10-2.40 - Outside break

2.40-3.30 - Session 6

Lunch will be earlier in the day, which will benefit many students. AJ Bakery will ensure lunches are delivered by 11.30am. There is a second afternoon break as well for a light snack. Students will be supported by their teachers to facilitate the change in timetable.

2026 Voluntary Parent Payments

At our November School Council Meeting, it was agreed by council to keep the voluntary parent payments at the same level as 2025. Council recognises that many families are under financial pressure and that our current levies will service the needs of the school. The stationery packs are also at very competitive prices and were slightly cheaper than last year.

You can find information about voluntary payments here:

https://www.oakleighps.vic.edu.au/policies-1

Notification via COMPASS will occur early in the new year to advise families how they can contribute.

2025 Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Survey Results

The Department of Education invites all families to participate in its yearly online survey. At Oakleigh Primary School, 83 responses were received - a 24% response rate. The summary of results is below:

The results show that we are performing slightly below state, network and similar schools in most areas. The 2026 School Council and the school leadership team will work together through the results to analyse how we can make improvements. We welcome any further feedback about the school via the school email address.

Piano exam successes

A big CONGRATULATIONS to three piano students who recently sat their piano exams. To prepare for exams, candidates need to be able to play exercises and scales, perform three pieces, answer questions about those pieces and demonstrate their listening skills.

Mercy Cheng (3/4D) Sat her first exam and gained HONOURS, Kin Sakultantimetha (5/6A) was awarded CREDIT for Grade 1 and Justin Cheng (5/6C) achieved HONOURS for Grade 3.

All three students practised consistently throughout the year to be able to gain these fantastic results. Well done!

Have a wonderful holiday!

We would like to wish all students, parents, and staff a wonderful Christmas and holiday season with their families. We would like to thank everyone who works so hard to make Oakleigh Primary School and Kindergarten such a fantastic place of learning.

We appreciate the opportunity to work with your children each day. This relationship between school and home is vitally important and we know that our students benefit from the great relationship we have with our community.

Finally, if you and your family use our school grounds during the holidays and see any suspicious activity, please call DE Emergency Management 9589 6266, the Oakleigh Police Station 9567 8900 or 000.

See you in 2026!

Ruth Biddle

Principal

Oakleigh PS Newsletter

Issue 11 · 11 Dec 2025

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