Our Year 2 students had an unforgettable time at the Old Orchard annual sleepover this week! The night was filled with excitement... from sport rotations in the gym to a delicious pizza dinner and dessert. Students enjoyed watching Sing with popcorn before settling in for the night and trying to get some sleep. The next morning, everyone shared a yummy breakfast before heading home a bit earlier to catch up on their sleep.

This overnight experience helps students build independence and confidence as they prepare for their first school camp next year. We're all so proud of the behaviour, teamwork and appreciation shown by students during this special experience.

A big thank you to all of the staff and parent helpers who made the sleepover so special and memorable for our students.

Our Year 1/2 students had a fantastic day exploring C.E.R.E.S. Environment Park in Brunswick last Monday.

Through a series of hands-on activities, students learnt about habitats, ecosystems, Indigenous seasons, and the living things found in pond environments. Students also created bee baths, seed bombs (Warrigal Greens- spinach) and explored the water cycle.

Despite the chilly weather, everyone enjoyed an engaging and memorable day outdoors, deepening their understanding of the world around them, which aligned with our current Inquiry topic.

Year 1 & 2 were learning about using counterbalance to design and build plank bridges wide enough for Beebot to fit underneath. They then had to accurately code Beebot to drive under their bridge without knocking it down!

This week Year 5 & 6 have been coding Dash robots to do some sorting! They created block code for Dash to move recyclable items into the ‘Recycling Centre’ square, and move out any ‘trash’ items!

Over the past few weeks, our Grade 3 and 4 students have been hard at work (and play!) in the Kitchen Garden during their rotations. They’ve been busy observing the changes that come with spring, discovering all sorts of garden bugs and planting and harvesting a variety of seasonal vegetables perfect for the warmer weather.

The most exciting news from the garden is the opening of our beautiful sunflowers! 🌻 The students nurtured these from tiny seeds, and it has been wonderful to see their excitement as the plants grew taller each week - now standing proudly at over a metre high!

During their first rotation, students harvested fresh silverbeet, which they used to make a delicious spanakopita in the kitchen. The garden is currently bursting with produce, including Chinese cabbage, carrots, broad beans, and rainbow chard. Our apricot and cherry trees are also blossoming beautifully, promising a very tasty harvest soon!

Last term, students had the opportunity to take a seedling home, and we hope they’re thriving in your home gardens! 🌱

We’ve also been celebrating spring by making colourful posies with the beautiful native flowers in the OOPS surrounding gardens. Many of the students were excited to gift their beautiful arrangements to their families. 💐

There’s never a dull week at Old Orchard Primary! At the Years 3 & 4 assembly, we celebrated some very special graduates - Ginger and Lauren - who proudly completed their therapy classes, the dog kind, not the teacher kind! Huge round of applause and a few tail wags for them!

Zahn also earned a cheer for her incredible dedication — managing to turn up to two Year 4 classes every week, always armed with a big smile and an even bigger bucket of good humour. Talk about spreading sunshine!

And finally, we waved goodbye and clucked a little tear to our two roosters, Rage and Spotty, who’ve strutted off to a peaceful new life on a permaculture farm. We’re sure they’ll rule the roost and CROW to their hearts’ content there, just as they did here!

Saturday night’s PFA Bogan Bingo was a huge success! The hall was filled with laughter, mullets, flannies, and some truly outstanding costumes. A massive shout out to Sarah Alligan for all her organisation and hard work in making the night such a hit. Big thanks also to Trish and Sean for their help on the night. It was fantastic to see so many people get into the spirit.

In egg-citing news our chickens laid their first egg this week!

Quinn and Isla were egg-static to be the ones to find it!

Visual Art