Principal's Report

We are excited to share that the songs from the premiere of Gardenvale’s original musical, Showdown!, are now available on Spotify! These fantastic songs can now be enjoyed by our Gardenvale community and families at home. Turn up the volume, sing along and get ready for the excitement of Showdown! coming to the Alexander Theatre, Monash University from Tuesday 15th September. Tickets selling fast, book now at Showdown - MPAC – Monash University Performing Arts Centres!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

On Sunday, our Prep and Year 4 Working Bee provided a valuable opportunity for families and staff to come together and help prepare our school grounds. The weather was perfect for working outdoors, and we were able to complete a long list of tasks.

In just two hours, there was plenty achieved across both campuses, including cleaning, blowing, mowing, digging, weeding, whipper-snippering and sorting out lost property. We are also very grateful to the team of parents and children that cleaned out the Senior Campus shed! 

Thank you to everyone who was able to give up some of their Sunday morning to lend a hand. We really appreciate your time and ongoing support of our school community.

Thank you very much to the following school community members; Taryn Bergmann, James and Maria Blomberg, Andrew Campbell, Yoon Kyu Chang, Eve and Josh Cole,  Matt Collins, Rory Doran,  Galinsky Family, Anna Hoadley, Lee-at Jacobson, Adrian Koenig, Robyn Krawitz, Deborah Liebhaber, Leon Lopata, Mayank Maini, Stephen Metz, Myerscough Family, Tom Nguyen, Naoko Nishikawa, Natalie Osowicki,  Lina Papalia, Dima Pudel, Danny Rotman, Jase Schattner, Amy Surkis, Michael Vardi, Witbooi Family and Yingyin Wu, for helping to make both campuses look extra neat and tidy or gave a donation. Sincere apologies if your name is not on this list but we appreciate your help all the same!  We also thank the many children that pitched in and helped also.

Our Year 3 Working Bee will be held on Sunday 18th October.

House Athletics Carnival

On Thursday 6th August, our annual Year 4–6 House Athletics Carnival was held at Duncan McKinnon Reserve. After a chilly start to the morning, we were lucky to enjoy beautiful weather for the remainder of the day.

Our students represented their Houses with enthusiasm, determination and fantastic sportsmanship. Their behaviour throughout the day was outstanding as they competed enthusiastically and supported and encouraged their peers.

A huge thank you to all our staff, organisers and parent volunteers who helped make the day such a success. We also wish the students who will represent Gardenvale at the District Athletics on Wednesday 26th August all the very best. 

A special thank you to Kirsten Travis for the many hours she dedicated to preparing events, coordinating teams and organising the carnival. Her careful planning ensured the day ran smoothly. Congratulations to all our students, House Captains and supporters for making the 2026 Athletics Carnival such a memorable day!

After School Collection and Road Safety

A reminder to families that students should not be left waiting at school after hours for collection from Zest. When students are waiting to be collected, it can be difficult for our yard duty teachers to follow up and ensure they are safely collected.

We have also received further requests from local residents asking families not to park across driveways when dropping off or collecting students. Please be mindful of our neighbours and ensure driveways and access points remain clear.

Finally, if another family member or friend is collecting your child from school, please remind them of our road safety expectations. This includes using the school crossing, 2 minute parking zones and avoid doing U-turns outside the school. These simple steps help keep our students, families and wider community safe.

Year 6 Girls Soccer Success

Congratulations to our Year 6 Girls Soccer Team, who won both the District and Division Soccer Tournaments and went on to represent Gardenvale at the Regional Competition. Representing Gardenvale from Year 6 were Annika, Daphne, Ellie, Frankie, Harper, Leora, Lorelei, Polly, Rose, Rosie and Ruby. We were also thrilled to have two Year 5 girls, Annie and Aria, join the team and contribute to their success.

The team performed brilliantly, finishing equal third place after a draw in their semi-final. We are incredibly proud of their effort, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the competition.

A big thank you to Mr Tan for coaching and training the team and supporting them throughout this exciting soccer journey. Well done, girls!

Parent Opinion Survey

Yesterday I sent a Compass message regarding the Education Department’s Parent Opinion Survey. Thank you so much to those who have already completed the survey. If you have the time, we would really appreciate it being completed by as many parents as possible. The survey will be conducted online and should take 20 minutes to complete. You will find the survey link and pin code in the ‘Parent Opinion Survey’ Compass message. 

Book Week Parade

This year’s Book Week theme is 'Symphony of Stories’, on Friday 28th August, students are encouraged to come to school dressed up as their favourite book character and will have the opportunity to display their outfits at our Book Week Parade, at about 9.15 under the COLA at the Senior Campus. Parents are most welcome to join us! 

We would love it if students could bring a copy of the book that their costume is from and carry it in the parade. Happy reading!

Staff News

Dimi Sfetsas will be taking long service leave from today until the end of Term 3. We hope she enjoys some well-deserved time with her family in Greece!

During Dimi’s leave, Mr Yianni will be based in the Junior AP Office on Mondays and Tuesdays, with Kirsten Travis in the office from Wednesday to Friday.

Have a lovely week,

Janine