Principal's Message

Please take the time to read each page of our newsletter, as we provide you with information updates across our school. 

We are getting a new junior playground!

Once again it's been an adventure packed and exciting month at Upwey South Primary School. We've had school photos, hosted a State School Spectacular Regional Dance session, achieved amazing results in the sporting arena, appointed a lead cast for our school production, and announced the first round of our student leadership positions. 

As we publish today's newsletter, our students are super-excited for this afternoon's "Foodbank Food Fight/Colour Run".  Stay tuned for photos of this event in our final newsletter, which will be published on the last day of Term One. 

As you enter the school over the coming fortnight, you may notice that temporary fencing has been installed around our junior playground. This fencing is in place to keep everyone safe whilst contractors undertake the installation of a new junior playground. 

You may recall that last year we provided our community with conceptual drawings of what the playground may look like when it's finished. The design of the playground is based upon student surveys and classroom voting, which provided our students with the opportunity to tell us what they want in a new playground. 

Below is a summary of what you need to know about our new playground: 

• It is going to take up 33% more space than the current playground
• The elements included have come from our students, and contain new fun things such as racing slides
• Associated pathways, rockery seating, and landscaping are occurring as part of the project
• We expect the playground to be ready for action from Day One, Term Two. 

Final assembly of Term One, and final Term One newsletter

Our final assembly for Term One (as previously advertised through the Compass calendar) is scheduled to be held on the final day of Term One, Thursday 28th March 2024. 

Please be aware that on this day we are going to be trialling holding our school-wide assembly at 9:00am (as opposed to our normal time of 2:40pm). We are undertaking this time-slot as a trial so that we can assess impacts upon student engagement, learning, and specialist programming- with a view to determining learning impacts for future assembly schedules.  

Our final newsletter for Term One will also be published on the afternoon of Thursday 28th March 2024. 

2025 Foundation enrolments are moving to an online platform

Once again our school is experiencing high demand from families across the surrounding community. We recently commenced tours for prospective 2025 Foundation students, with all Term One tour allocations already filled. 

Please be aware that tours are generally held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings by appointment. If you know of any families who may be considering enrolling at Upwey South Primary School, we encourage these families to action a school tour sooner rather than later... as the enrolment process for 2025 Foundation students is changing across all Inner East and Outer East schools across Melbourne. 

Yes, that's right... the Department of Education are moving to an online platform for all Foundation enrolments. 

Please see the below information (templated from the Department of Education) which we encourage you to distribute across your family networks: 

"This year, our school (as an Eastern Melbourne Region Victorian Government school) will use an online system for Foundation enrolments. The online system will be available for parents who are applying to enrol their child in Foundation (Prep). 

Victorian government school enrolments for Foundation (Prep) for the 2025 school year will open from Monday 15th April 2024, the start of Term Two. Families are asked to submit enrolment applications by Friday 26th July 2024. 

An application can be completed through any device with internet access. 

This online enrolment portal is not live yet, and therefore there is no action required at this stage. Shortly, schools will be provided with the URL for this online system. Schools will then distribute this URL via their normal communication channels"

Communicating with the Principal

We look forward to partnering with you in 2024, and welcome your input: 

Damien Kitch (Principal)  damien.kitch@education.vic.gov.au