Dear Families,

Welcome back: Term 2 already! Hope you all managed to have a great break and re-energise for a busy Term 2. We have a few staff away this week on long service leave so if you see a casual replacement teacher (CRT), please make them feel welcome!

Stomp: Concert rehearsals started first thing on Tuesday morning with Maddy from STOMP dance company joining us to teach the kids a few dances in readiness for the concert. I popped in for a few of the sessions and saw kids having so much fun and being challenged to work or dance as a team! Looking forward to seeing the development over the next few weeks and then the concert!!!

Year 5 camp: Next week Year 5’s head up to Lady Northcote YMCA camp near Bacchus Marsh. This is a fabulous camp with some great activities. Thanks to all volunteers and to the staff who have planned meticulously for a great time. Families - please keep staff informed of any medical requirements etc for the camp too!

Recent events: We have had some unfortunate events within and around the community of late. Our deepest sympathies have been passed on to impacted families and I’m sure our community will support those who need it in various ways. If your child has been impacted and you feel some extra support may be required, please reach out to us at school so we can explore options.

ANZAC Day: Friday is the ANZAC Day public holiday and we will have our Year 6 school captains and Mrs Dodds as part of the proceedings within Ocean Grove. Mrs Dodds will be near Coles on The Terrace at 9.35am for a 9.45am start of the parade, so join in and be proud to wear your school uniform!

My daughter will also have a role as School Captain of Surf Coast SC in Torquay so I will be there, paying my respects this year. We will also be hosting a short ceremony on Thursday morning from 9.15am in the gym with Mrs H and a few Year 6 students leading the proceedings. We invite families to attend if possible.

Cross Country: How lucky are our runners to have this event on the magnificent OG beach!!! Mr Horbury and the house captains set up the course this morning and the athletes ventured down to the foreshore. Some great runners out there who will now progress to the district level. I was most impressed with the runners who never gave up and were determined to finish the run. Congrats to all involved and special thanks to Damien and staff for their support during the event.

Mother’s Day: It’s not long until we celebrate our mothers or significant person in our lives on Mother’s Day. We will be hosting a stall on May 8th, like last year, thanks to a dedicated bunch of families led by Gillian Hodges again! A challenge to the dads/husbands/partners out there - it would be great to see you in helping the kids make the purchases at the stall on this day!

School Start Bonus (SSB), Sentral Permissions and Payments

By now the SSB portal should have been accessed by parents to specify whether it is to be used for camps, excursions and activities or uniforms or split between both.

If you have a camp, excursion or activity you want to pay using your SSB (and it hasn’t been used for uniforms) just give permission in Sentral and we’ll sort the finance part later. Any remaining SSB for uniforms will automatically transfer to camps, excursions & activities in Term 3 and remain on your child's account until used (there is no expiry).

If parents didn’t access the portal to choose where to allocate the funds to, they will automatically be applied to camps, excursions and activities in Term 3.

Congrats: A huge congrats to Jonathan Marsay who popped the question to his partner, Jasmin, over the holidays. We wish them all the very best and look forward to hearing about the wedding plans! Congrats Jono and Jasmin! Also, today was Hollie Stewart's last day before beginning maternity leave, we wish Hollie all the best in welcoming their 3rd child.

Enjoy the glorious weather!

Scott McCumber

Principal

OGPS Parents & Friends Club