School Philosophy

Orchard Grove Primary School is committed to providing a safe, nurturing environment that engages curiosity, promotes learning, personal growth and wellbeing for all students. We strive to develop adaptability and resilience so students can become valued members of the local and global communities and be prepared for future life experiences.

From the Principal

Hi, everyone.

Can you believe we only have weeks left until the end of the term? You have probably heard, during COVID, the term 'blursday', meaning when all the days are blurring into one another; to a degree, I feel that 2020 has been a bluryear, as we have missed out on so many events and markers along the way that help us to navigate and build memories throughout a year to look back on and remember and enjoy. I think it would be great if we could cram as many lovely experiences in before the end of the year, and finish December on a positive note.

One great thing is that, with reduced restrictions, we now don't have to have staggered starts, drinking fountains can be used again, and parents are allowed on school grounds (but not in the buildings). We have sincerely appreciated how our community has handled the staggered starts, the different gates, and rules around social distancing, mask-wearing and the community not coming on school grounds. Everyone has managed this so well, which has helped us tremendously in navigating this space and making the whole experience as smooth as possible. With the social distancing measures still in place, it will be easier if many of the habits our families have got into over the past weeks stay in place. Walking or riding to school is a great way to keep the congestion in the car park down. This is particularly pertinent at the moment with the oval works on the Holland Road side of the school, which adds to the mayhem at drop-off and pick-up time. Avoiding any congestion around the buildings with foot traffic is also important.

If, for any reason, you need to come to the school office, you can ring ahead or pop in. Please be aware that masks need to be worn and you will need to sign in and then out again when you leave. This is part of our obligations around being COVID-safe.

PHOTOS

Last week, we took our own class photos, as the School Photo Company only had time to do the individual photos; they will then put these all together to create a class collage of photos. We believed that it would be nicer to have a traditional class photo, and Chris Lockhart and I, ably supported by Kathy Broadbent and Charlee Patrick, organised and took the photos. It was actually harder than expected; a bit like herding cats, really, to get a whole class of children all to be looking at the camera at once, not be blinking, pulling a face or moving. Ruby, our therapy dog, also featured in every photo, which is a fun point of difference for the 2020 school photo. Anyway, we have done the best we can and formatted the photo to look very similar to the usual ones, so we hope you like them. You have all been given the opportunity to pre-order the photos, and then we will have them printed and distributed. We were also able to take the all-important graduation photo of our Year Six students, which was harder again. Trying to get over 100 people all looking good in a photo was a challenge. I have a new sense of appreciation for school photographers.

TRANSITION

We have been working industriously to finalise all the grades for next year. We have been able to recruit staff well to fill any vacancies and it will be exciting to have our first transition session next Wednesday. This is such a good opportunity for the students to meet their teacher and classmates for next year and, at the following sessions on the 8th and 14th December, the children will begin to feel quite comfortable about school for 2021 and be able to go off on the summer holidays feeling confident and excited about next year.

With certain COVID regulations lifting, we will now also be able to offer a more 'normal' transition experience for our 2021 Foundation students, who will also be coming next Wednesday for their first on-site transition session. We are so excited to be able to welcome them on-site.

EMILY FOX

Friday was Ms Emily Fox's last day at school, as she leaves to prepare for the birth of her little bundle of joy. It was lovely to see the families from 2EF come to the gate on Thursday to see Emily and thank her for her work with their children and give her a gift from the class. There is no doubt that she will be a fabulous mum and we look forward to catching up with her and meeting her new little bub. I would like to acknowledge Emily's work with her students over the past few years. She is a wonderful staff member and we will miss her.

Still on babies, our Spanish teacher, Senora Thomas, is also having a baby and is due in Term Two, and Gemma Jamieson is also expecting a baby and is due early next year. We look forward to watching the girls grow over the months ahead. What is in the water with our staff at the moment? So many babies!

BOOK FAIR

What a great effort it was with our recent Book Fair. We sold $8475 worth of books and made a profit of $2618. This money will be put straight back into buying new books for the library and these will be a wonderful addition to our shelves as we head into a new year.

A huge thank you to all our community and Mrs Thatcher, Mrs Krick, our Library captains, Phoebe and Sophie, and the staff who all helped this event to be so successful.

While on books, we have many library books outstanding from remote learning. Could you please check your bookshelves at home for any of our library books and return them to school pronto? Mrs Thatcher and Mrs Krick will be doing a stocktake over the next few weeks and there are over 1000 book outstanding.

GOVERNMENT GRANT

The government grant that we applied for, to build new toilets and refurbish the PAC and OSHC area into a STEM Discovery Centre, has not yet been announced. We were hoping it may have been in the State Budget this week, but unfortunately not, and we believe now it should be announced by the end of the school year. We realise that it was a longshot for our school, however it was worth a try. We will keep you posted.

The second stage of the self-funded Year Three area build is still with the VSBA and we are hoping that it will be through in the next week and finally able to go to tender. This would mean that, hopefully, it could be started in January and finished by Easter - still a waiting game. These projects are not something that we would ever get Government funding for so, if we want these kinds of facilities, they have to be self-funded by the school. Toilets, on the other hand, are the responsibility of the Government and we believe that our school should be eligible for an upgrade; however, there are many schools in the queue.

CAROLS NIGHT

Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, we are still not able to run our usual Christmas celebrations and hold our annual carols night. Instead, the children have all been practising their songs and will be performing this virtually. This will be shared with the classes over the last weeks of school.

Andrew Zupo has also asked us to express his sincere thanks for the outpouring of care and support offered to his family after the passing of his wonderful wife, Ruth. The family has greatly appreciated the kindness and concern shown to Andrew and the children at this very difficult time.

Well, that's all from me for this week. Have a wonderful weekend with your family, take care and stay safe.

Glenda Harry

Principal

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