Principal's Report

Dear Members of the Glen Waverley Primary School Community,

I trust all is well with you and your family and welcome to the final newsletter for the term where so much is shared about our wonderful school.

As per usual, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on 9802 9938 or via email at frank.catalano@education.vic.gov.au

End of Term Three

I find it very difficult to believe that tomorrow is the final day of Term Three and that we are three quarters of the way through the 2026 school year – where has the time, term and year gone? Nevertheless, a sincere thank you to the children, their families and our amazing school staff for an outstanding term and I look forward to this continuing after the school holidays. 

Movie Night 

Wow, wow, wow! What a wonderful evening we had last Thursday as we came together for our very first Glen Waverley Primary School Movie Night! It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate not only the enjoyment of our students, but also the combined effort of our entire school community in making our new LED screen in the gymnasium a reality. The excitement was evident as our students settled in with their snacks, pillows and beanbags to enjoy a movie with their friends in a very different school setting!

The evening was all about community and it was wonderful to see the children enjoying time together and creating special memories with their classmates and friends. A huge thank you to our families, students, staff and School Council for the incredible fundraising efforts that have contributed to the purchase of our new LED screen. This wonderful resource will provide our students and school community with many opportunities for learning, celebration and connection for years to come.

Thank you Agam

Agam (Year 4) has always demonstrated a wonderfully generous spirit, and this was once again evident when he kindly donated some of his own books to our school library.

Thank you, Agam, for your generosity and for helping to enrich our school library for other students to enjoy. Your thoughtful contribution is greatly appreciated, and we are very proud of you!

Council of International Schools (CIS) Review 

This week, we successfully completed our Council of International Schools (CIS) Review, marking an important milestone in our school’s ongoing commitment to reflection, improvement and providing the very best educational experiences for our students. The review provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase the many strengths of our school, share our achievements and reflect on the areas in which we can continue to grow and improve.

May I also extend our sincere thanks to our CIS reviewers — Bruce, Jude, Chris and Greg - for the professional, thorough and engaging manner in which they conducted the review. We also greatly appreciate the many members of our school community who contributed throughout the week, including our students, staff, School Council members, parents and alumni. Their willingness to share their experiences, perspectives and insights made a valuable contribution to the review and provided a genuine reflection of our wonderful school community.

We now look forward to receiving and sharing the outcome of the review in the coming weeks. Regardless of the outcome, the review process itself has provided us with a valuable opportunity to celebrate our successes, reflect on our progress and identify opportunities for continued improvement. A sincere thank you to everyone who played a part in making our CIS Review such a successful and positive experience as your time and effort is appreciated immensely. 

Prep Transition Program 

On Tuesday we held our first Prep Transition session, and it is always a sheer delight to welcome and host our new Prep students and families. These sessions are extremely important as the children begin their transition from kindergarten to school. 

Every year I marvel as to how ‘mature and prepared’ the children are as they seamlessly attended their lessons and complete the learning tasks. 

Thank you to everyone involved and I look forward to this extremely important aspect of our school’s programs continuing next term. 

Vacation Care Program

Our school will be implementing our very own Vacation Care (Holiday Care) program during the forthcoming holidays. Included in this newsletter is an overview of the program and the associated costs. 

Please be aware that ALL FAMILIES are entitled to a 50% rebate (which is not means tested) plus a further rebate which is determined by your family’s 2025-2026 annual taxable income. 

If you have any questions pertaining to the Vacation Care program, please do not hesitate to contact or see Meththa (OSHC coordinator) or me at school. 

What’s planned for our school during the school holidays?

Throughout the forthcoming school holidays, we plan to:

• Install doors in the Year 6 building area and 
• Replace classroom whiteboards and television sets also in the Year 6 building. 

I look forward to sharing some photos in the first newsletter of Term Four. 

End of term reminders 

A reminder that tomorrow Friday, 18th September, is the final day of the term and the following has been organised:

• The children will be dismissed at 2.30pm
• A free dress/sports day to assist Pooja and Akira (both in Year 6) as they represent Victoria in the national hockey and table tennis championships over the holidays 
• An assembly will be held in the gymnasium commencing at 1:40 pm where the Principal Learning and the Kiwanis Club’s Terrific Kids Awards for the term will be distributed and
• The After School Care Program will commence at 2:30 pm.

I look forward to seeing as many families as possible at our final assembly for the term. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED A PRINCIPAL’S AWARD RECENTLY: 

Year Prep

• Sekith, Kabir and Shlok for making amazing progress with their writing skills 
• Nikan, Shrish and Rovin for being wonderful friends 
• Riyon for being a great friend and for being very respectful

Year 1

• Ruvan, Dian and Luis for being very responsible members of our school community 
• Saravana for being very generous and for thinking of other people 

Year 2

• Sohana and Dulein for making the most amazing progress with their understanding of maths 
• Gavindu and Kiyan for writing another incredible, detailed and very descriptive book about Squamata - the world of snakes and lizards 
• Helios for writing an amazing presentation about Flinders Street Station and Uluru 
• Jayden for being a very supportive friend 
• Samaria also for writing a great report, on the 12 Apostles and the Kakadu National Park 
• Tatiana for writing a very descriptive report about the 1,000 Steps and Puffin Billy 
• Bavitran for writing a report about Uluru and Puffin Billy 
• Elaine and Bavitran for being very honest and looking after others 

Year 3

• Vivaan and Savik for learning about how to place numbers on a number line 
• Callan for his efforts in writing a speech about the Year 3’s excursion to the Immigration Museum and for having the courage to share it at the assembly on Monday

Year 4 

• Cameron, Keonna, Thiruni, Saanvi and Kabeer for working very hard on developing their note taking skills as featured in the Kids Corner section of the newsletter 

Year 5

• Calden, also for writing a speech and presenting it at assembly. Calden wrote a very thoughtful piece about ‘child safety’ 

Have a wonderful, safe and happy two-week break everyone and I look forward to seeing you on Monday 5th October.

Frank Catalano

Principal