From Our School Leaders

150th Celebration 

There was months of planning and organising and, due to this large effort, our 150th celebration was a huge success! There were hundreds of people from far and wide who attended the open afternoon on Saturday 19th November, which was absolutely lovely. 

Eighty-one year old Eunice, whose dad attended the original school in 1890, made her way to the event in celebration of her father. Eunice's father walked from Brady Road to the original Scoresby Primary School each day (almost 10kms). We met Darryl Shepherd who relayed the story of his father who sold the land to the Education Department for the “new” Scoresby school. He also told us many of the names of the streets in the estate where our current school is, are named after members of his family, including himself - Darryl Street!

Many stories about our rich history from past staff and students were shared, and many friends were reunited on the day. We are glad we stopped and looked back, and recognised the marvelous milestone. 

We would once again like to thank the 150th Committee - Alison, Tina, Raelene, Kellie, Karen, Liz, Caroline, Tracey, Marion, Cindy, and school leaders, as it was truly a team effort.

We would also like to recognise and thank Knox Council for their support for our 150th celebration. We were successful in a grant application of $500 which went towards our afternoon tea purchases. The afternoon tea was a tremendous success, and allowed many visitors an opportunity to sit and catch up over a cuppa and scone. 

David West and Jenelle Landsmere - volunteers with the Knox Garden Community Group -made our old school building in Scoresby Village available for a day. Our students walked to Scoresby  and went inside the original school building.  Now that they have read our history and have seen what schools actually looked like "back in the day", there is a fresh understanding of how much we have to offer here at our current site - and in education - in 2022. They have a new appreciation for how different schooling was back then, and what has changed over the years. 

The whole 150th experience has been very valuable learning for our young people.

Colour Run 

The sun was shining and the weather finally had no rain predicted for our inaugural Colour Run last Friday.  There was a high level of excitement from the students who all came ready to run in their white t-shirts.  This level of excitement was doubled as our school community got involved in the throwing of coloured powder and water at our students.  Everyone had an amazing time getting covered in powder and water and cheering everyone on.

As a school we managed to raise $2841 towards our new library furniture. Congratulations to Lilly Bertram who, individually, raised $510 for the school.  We had 38 students raise money and they will receive prizes for their efforts.

Next year we hope to do another Colour Run and make it bigger and better than this year.

Thank you to everyone who came on the day and helped make it such a successful school community event.

ICAS Results

Congratulations to all of our students who competed in the ICAS Assessments earlier this year. We were finally able to present them with their certificates at assembly last week. Overall, Scoresby Primary School achieved the following results:

• Mathematics - 3 credits, 1 merit, 1 participation
• Writing - 1 credit, 1 merit, 1 participation
• Science - 1 credit, 2 participation
• English - 2 distinction, 1 merit, 5 participation
• Spelling Bee - 1 credit, 1 merit and 5 participation
• Digital Technologies - 1 credit and 1 merit

Chenaya’s Book Launch

On Saturday evening, Mrs and Mr Hartley attended a Sri Lankan cultural celebration and book launch, at the Chandler Theatre in Keysborough. One of our students, Chenaya Perera, has published a book, “The Fallen Rainbow”. Vineetha, our Camp Australia OSHC Supervisor, organised the event as she is the head of the Mihindu Childrens’ Foundation. Sue was delighted to attend this wonderful celebration and very much appreciated the invitation. 

Congratulations to Cheneya on her achievement at such a young age. I  know your parents Nilakshi and Thararka and brother Ches, are very proud of you and your book. 

Transition Days For SPS Students

Every year at this time we begin preparing students to move grades for following year. We notice that a few of our students start to think about this as well. The stress of the unknown can build up in our young people, and to help them prepare for the following year we are, once again, organising in-house transition sessions. 

The whole school transition times are as follows:

• Tuesday 13th December, 9.30-11.00am -   Level transitions (cohort activities)
• Friday16th December, 9.30-11.00am - Class transition (meet your teacher) 

Also, on Tuesday 13th December, our Year 6 students attend their statewide transition to secondary school. 

Reports

Teachers are finalising their end-of-year reports at the moment. 2022 Semester 2 reports will be accessible on Friday 16th December at 4.00pm via COMPASS. 

2023 Student Leaders Announcement - Special Assembly

This year, we have had excellent speeches for our student leadership positions from many enthusiastic Year 5 students.  The School Captains, Vice Captains, HEART Captains and House Captains have been voted for by students and staff. As we are a lead Respectful Relationships School, we did not base our decisions on gender; we were all looking for the best person for each role.

Not all students who applied for a position will receive a leadership role as there are only 6 Student Leader and 8 House Captain roles available.

The second-last assembly for the year would normally be the day that we announce to our school community the School Leaders for the following year. As that day (Friday 9th December) is our last Curriculum Day, we will instead be holding a special afternoon assembly on Thursday 8th December at 3.00pm to announce the 2023 School Leaders. 

Curriculum Day, Friday 9th December - Pupil Free Day

We are continuing on the journey of upskilling staff and students' knowledge of digital technologies. On Friday's Curriculum Day, we will be exploring the 'Purple Mash' Digital Technology so all staff can become familiar with the platform. We are purchasing this program next year for our students and staff to use, to continue improving our Digital Technology understanding. 

Foundation Information Evening 

It has come around again very quickly, but next Tuesday is our final Prep Transition session and then, in the evening, we will be holding our 'Welcome to School' picnic and Foundation Parent Information Night for 2023.

Tuesday is also an exciting day for our Year 5 students as they meet their Prep buddy for the first time. I would like to acknowledge Ms Sophie Lyon for running some of our transition sessions as our current Foundation teacher, and Mrs Merran Maguire for putting together the 2023 Foundation Information session.

SUE HARTLEY AND NICOLE RHEUMER

Scoresby Primary School Leaders