Principal's News

So much happening in and around our school over recent weeks and we have had so much good fortune to enjoy a very warm autumn fortnight providing plenty of opportunities for our students to be outside and play as they settle into Term 2, in saying all of that this week has definitely felt a little cooler as the temperature has plummeted. 

Thank you to our families who attended our Curriculum Information Session delivered by Miss Gibson, Onda sensei and Morita sensei, it was a real pleasure to share our approach to teaching and learning in a bilingual school. 

A quick reminder as the weather begins to cool, please ensure that school uniform is worn at all times, whilst I understand we face some colder mornings I would ask that jumpers worn are our school uniform jumpers and not branded alternatives. 

A summary of some highlights and information around the school is shared below, as the finishing touches are put on our newsletter our Year 3-6 students are currently participating in our division cross country event. I look forward to celebrating the efforts of all students. 

School Council

Thank you to our families and staff that met on Tuesday evening for our first school council meeting of Term 2. This was a really engaging meeting that provided a number of discussion opportunities and sub-committee reports to be presented to the group. 

Sub-committee reports included: 

• Buildings and Grounds: An update on recent projects completed around the school, quotes sought for maintenance work and further discussion around the preparatory work to support our new playground installation, set for early July. 
• Finance: The sub-committee discussed financial commitments including our school fete budget, our fundraising totals and projects and a summary of school budgets and how this interacts with our school priorities over the coming months.
• Education and Policy: The sub-committee reviewed the International Travel policy which will support our forthcoming Japan Trip for Year 5/6 students as well as reviewing and presenting our policy review schedule for 2026. 
• School Engagement: The school engagement sub-committee received a terrific update on behalf of the fete committee and outlined a proposal meeting with the local member for Caulfield and the shadow minister for education.

School Council & The Member for Caulfield

The school council were delighted to host the local member for Caulfield, David Southwick and Shadow Minister for Education, Brad Rowswell on Thursday morning. I am appreciative of the time provided by Daniel Shaw (School Council Secretary) and Libby Herman (School Council Treasurer) in supporting this visit. The school was able to share and celebrate our academic program and the way teaching and learning thrives in a bilingual school whilst also providing both members of parliament and opportunity to be aware of school priorities from the perspective of CPS families. 

Parking

Car parking and safety remains an issue for our school community. The examples below are provided directly by parents and families who are concerned about the safety of their own child and other children. I would ask for your support in ensuring we adhere to all local parking conditions. 

Example 1) Directly on the corner of Olive Street and Poplar Street is not a car park, a no standing sign shares this information. Traffic flow is reduced when this is used as a car park. 

Example 2) The 45 degree angle car parking is marked along Poplar Street, this final space is not a car park and shouldn’t be used to park a car. 

Example 3) The prep car park is for use by school and kindergarten staff, please don’t drive into this area and drop your child off, this put other students at risk. 

Mothers Day

A very happy Mother’s Day for Sunday for all the Mother’s and carers in our school, thank you for making our school community so special, warm and inviting and for all that you do to support our students (your children) each and every day. I hope you have a wonderful day on Sunday and are spoilt and cared for. 

In addition to this, a very special thank you to our parent volunteers and parents and friends club who have coordinated a terrific Mother’s Day stall over the course of this week, thank you for opening this up before, during and after school and volunteering your time to support our students purchase a small gift for Mother’s Day. 

I had a chance to speak to some of our wonderful prep A students this morning who highlighted the reasons why their mum was so special, amongst these include: 

• Harlon - My mum is special because she makes yummy waffles 
• Jemima - My mum is special because she is growing a baby now
• Oscar - My mum is special because she takes care of me
• Hector - My mum is special because she gets me something to play with 
• Cameron - My mum makes special dinners for me 
• Ashanti - My mum is special because she loves me so much 
• Grace - My mum is special because she makes cards for me 
• Drake - My mum is special because she cooks lots of food for me

Open Days

I am looking forward to our first Open Day of the year next Saturday morning, this is a great opportunity for prospective parents and families to get a good understanding of our school or establish that relationship with the school for next year or beyond. 

School tours will be conducted at:

• 9:30am
• 11:00am

We have our Year 5/6 leaders in attendance alongside our prep teachers, Morioka sensei and myself. Enrolments for all families in and out of our school zone are now open, we look forward to sharing our school with visitors on Saturday morning. 

Industrial Action

Where possible, we will continue to provide you with information regarding industrial action as the AEU and Government continue negotiations. The AEU has recently paused proposed stop-work action for a two week period whilst negotiations continue. A planned ban on written comments in student reports will impact on Semester 1 reports. We will provide more detailed information over the coming weeks.

IDAHOBIT Day

International Day Against LGBTIQA+ Discrimination (known as IDAHOBIT) takes place on 17 May each year. It marks the anniversary of the day in 1990 when the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.

IDAHOBIT is a chance to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer, questioning and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people in our school and community.  By celebrating the day and promoting LGBTIQA+ inclusion, we are helping to ensure all students feel welcome and included at our school. It also helps our school to meet the Child Safe Standards, which requires us to uphold diversity and equity for everyone.  We welcome anyone at our school who wants to mark the day to do so.

It certainly got wet and cold in the last few days of this week, enjoy a great weekend, stay warm and I look forward to seeing you around the school next week and beyond. 

Take Care, 

Edward Strain

Principal