Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Week 4 of the term. It was a great start to see so many of our families come to our Open House event on Tuesday night and meet the staff and also involve themselves in the ‘Scavenger Hunt’. It certainly provided a positive vibe around the school and it was wonderful to see many grandparents looking in our classrooms and seeing what the students are learning.

Towards the end of the term we can look forward to coming together as a school community and celebrate our School Fete. Besides being an occasion where we can provide a sense of excitement and enjoyment for our students, it can also provide some terrific fundraising for our school. Fundraising that will be used by our Facilities team to continue to improve the school grounds and provide the best of resources for our students and staff. Therefore, I encourage you to invite your friends and family along to our Delacombe PS Fete on Friday 28th March at 4.30pm - 7.30pm.

On Friday 28th February will be the Census Day for Victorian Government schools. Our school enrolment for 2025 has grown to 645 students, which is an increase of 76 students from last year. Enrolments can continue to occur in schools beyond this date but funding for schools is taken from the Census date. This figure does highlight the growth in our school and in the growth in Delacombe suburb. I will be looking to speak to our local member Juliana Addison to see how we can best manage this continued growth in our school.

School Council

Our February meeting was held on Monday evening. At the meeting the following was discussed:

School Uniform supplier

The school will explore avenues of an additional uniform supplier to provide the uniform to our school. The school council acknowledges that the current uniform supplier has been unable to manage stock supplies for parents and carers of the school.

School Cleaning contract

It is a requirement by The Education Department that we advertise the cleaning contract for the school every 3 years. We are currently satisfied with our current service provider but if you wish to submit a tender, please Danielle McCann in our office on 53356103. Applications close by Wednesday 5th March at 5.00pm.

The school has employed Sovereign City Cleaning since 1991 but it is obliged to advertise the cleaning contract under Department guidelines.
Therefore, the school has opened the school cleaning contract to all interested parties. Any interested party is to email or contact Danielle McCann regarding the contract. Applications close by Wednesday 5th March at 5.00pm.

Excursions and camps

We also looked at our current excursions coming up for Term 1 and approved the upcoming Grade 6 Camp to Melbourne.

Annual General meeting

On Monday 24th March we will be holding our Annual General meeting and be tabling the Annual Report for 2024 in the School Staffroom at 6.45pm. The AGM will detail the achievements for 2024 and include department data to support this document. If you wish to attend the AGM and you are not on the School Council, could you please let us know, you are most welcome to attend.

School Council 2025/2026

As of today, we are calling for nominations for parents to join the School Council for 2025. Official notice of this appears below. We have 3 Parent member vacancies for a two year term and 1 Community member vacancy and 2 Department of Education Vacancies. If you would like to join the School Council, just pop in and collect a nomination form which is available at the General Office and must be completed and returned by Friday March 7th. If you are unable to make it into the office, please call and we can send a nomination form home. If nominations exceed available positions, a ballot will be conducted from March 12th to 15th. We will let parents know how they can participate in that ballot if one is required.

We ask you to please consider joining the School Council and playing a part in shaping the direction taken by our school. The role is most satisfying as councillors get to see their ideas put into practice and have a positive impact on students, teachers and parents in our school community. Parent members are critical in providing the School Council with a parent perspective. No experience is required, just an interest in the education of your child/ren and other children attending our School. The commitment is not huge - just one meeting per month. Meetings start at 6:45pm and finish between 8:00 and 8.30pm. If you would like more information, give Scott, Marnie, Steph or Michael a call.

Catherine King Award 2024

Last year at our final assembly we awarded the Catherine King Award for 2024. The recipients for this award were: Dan and Kara Cook

Dan has been the School Council President since 2022 and has been on School Council prior to this role. Kara has been a key driver of the Parents and Friends group and have supported the fundraising events that have occurred though the school such as food for athletics day, fundraising events, Mother’s Day stall & Father’s Day stall.

Dan and Kara have two of their children attend the school Jeremy and Liam and as parents they are great supporters of the school and the Delacombe community.

Advanced Notice

Some key dates and events coming up:

Next Assembly is Friday 21st February 2.30pm in the stadium
Grade 6 Camp 5th - 7th March
Grade 2 Swimming starts on Monday 3rd March
Grade 5 Sovereign Hill experience is on Tuesday 25th March- Wednesday 26th March
March 12th -March 21st is NAPLAN testing for our Grade 3 and Grade 5 students
House Athletics Day on Friday 28th Feb for Grade 3-6

Have a great week – Scott, Marnie, Stephanie and Michael

COMMUNITY NEWS

Check out what is going on in the Ballarat community outside of school.....