Wawa, Wominjika.

Here at Old Orchard Primary School, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we visit each day, the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin nation. We acknowledge and respect the elders and leaders past and present and the elders and leaders of all of the cultures and nationalities that are part of the Old Orchard Primary School community. We express our gratitude towards the orchards that were kept in place by the peoples on this land before us. We thank the traditional owners for sharing this beautiful land that we all love, and for keeping the land, sky, waterways and animals all in great condition for thousands of years, not only for themselves but for all the generations to come.

Education Week

We have enjoyed a great Education Week at Old Orchard, with highlights so far including Open Classrooms for the Preps and the Bookfair. This evening we welcome all members of our school community to our Open Evening, which will include classroom ‘STEM themed’ activities as well as musical performances, a special ‘passport’ with some fantastic prizes and the continuation of the Bookfair. Tomorrow morning we are hosting a special magic show for 2025 Prep students. An exciting and busy week!

Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement to make time outdoors part of every child’s day. Old Orchard will again be taking part in 2024 and although the focus is on one day, we endeavour to do this whenever possible and appropriate. This year's event will take place on Thursday 23rd May (week 6), on this day all teachers are encouraged to take their class outside for at least one session. Have a chat to your child(ren) about the different types of learning that is part of Outdoor Classroom Day - learning doesn’t just take place in the classroom!

5/6 Sports Round Robin

Our Year 5 & 6 students will be taking part in the Sports Round Robin against schools in our area this week, with sports including football, soccer, netball and T-ball. We wish them well in their endeavours and thank the staff and others who will be assisting on the day.

Education Support Day

This week we celebrated our Education Support staff at Old Orchard. As with so many of our staff, this group consistently goes above and beyone to support our students and to ‘make a difference’ in their lives. From our incredible office/admin team of Fiona, Sheree & Lisa who are so caring and committed to helping students, staff and parent community alike, to Pip who is a maintenance & gardening superstar, to our newly acquired but highly impressive librarians, Ruth & Jennifer, our incredible integration aides who work with our students who often need additional patience, care and support and others including David (IT) and Kate & Felicia (student wellbeing), we are incredibly fortunate to have such an amazing team.

Building works

In the coming weeks, we will be commencing some insignificant building works and renovations including floor re-stumping, window alignment, roofing works and more. This will occur in stages and we will update the community once we have a clear plan of the scope of works, a timeline and the provisions that will be made for any classes that may need to temporarily vacate their classroom. Thankfully, these works are being funded entirely by the VSBA (Victorian School Building Authority).

Kind regards

Duncan

Staff In The Spotlight