Welcome

Wawa, Wominjika.

Here at Old Orchard Primary School, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we visit each day, the Wurrunguri and Woiwurrung 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.

Junior Concert - When I Grow Up

What a memorable evening we had at the ‘When I Grow Up’ Prep to Year 3 Junior Concert on Tuesday. Our students excelled themselves with their performances and the sense of excitement was palpable. It was our first venture into The Round as a venue and we weren’t disappointed, with positive feedback from staff, students and families. Thank-you to everyone for your strong support of the event. As always, special thanks to Rhiannon Trimby for her incredible hard work and sense of calm, which is evident in all that she does.

Victorian State Schools Spectacular

Continuing the performing arts theme, best wishes to our 31 students from Years 5 & 6 who will be performing in the VSSS tomorrow. The VSSS is a truly incredible event featuring students from state schools throughout Victoria and our students will be featuring in the mass choir and mass dance performances. Sincere thanks to Rhiannon Trimby (Mass Choir) and Bec Mitchell (Mass Dance) for their significant contribution throughout the year in preparing our students for the event. It’s a huge commitment from staff and students (& families!)

Khiora - Wildlife Warrior

We always enjoy learning about the exploits and achievements of our students, beyond the school gates. Year 4 student, Khiora N, has a great deal to be proud of with her endeavours in environmental awareness and passion for wildlife. I have listed her incredible and very impressive achievements below.

Khiora is part of Visionary Wildlife Warriors youth ambassador program which is a world wide program for kids to help wildlife & wildplaces through building knowledge, raising funds & completing conservation missions. Khiora has so far completed 15 missions & 2 fundraisers (with many more planned).

Some of her missions have included:

environment rubbish clean ups at local parks, trails & schools
Saving native ducks on the Koonung trail
Joining the community to plant thousands of trees at Mullum Mullum Reserve
Numerous Junior zoo keeper & animal welfare programs at places like Reptile Encounters, the RSPCA, horse centres, farms & zoos to gain animal knowledge
Protecting native bat populations
Growing gardens to feed & build small habitats for native insects & birds
Recycling fabrics & plastics to keep items out of landfill
And earlier this year she took a trip to Kenya to learn about animals in the wild in massai mara as well as those who need help at Nairobi animal orphanage & Nairobi snake park.

Two fundraisers are now complete:

Run on the wild side fundraiser, where she ran 13000 steps a day & sponsors tracked her progress
Backyard campout fundraiser - where she hosted a camp including various fundraising activities and a raffle of hand made art where she raised almost $3000

This month Khiora was recognised as top fundraiser and officially reached “Wildlife Warrior” status.

Wow!!! Congratulations Khiora - you are clearly incredibly passionate about wildlife and prepared to take action to make a difference.

Camp Rumbug

Congratulations to our Year 4 students on a fabulous Camp Rumbug experience last week. Known as ‘the muddy camp,’ Rumbug did not disappoint and our students threw themselves into activities with enthusiasm, showing great teamwork and willingness to test their limits. Thank-you to staff attendees, Lucy McMillan, Jen Males, Althea Huf and Sonja Loke, as well as parent helpers Jordan Wise, Deanna Edsall, Katrina Woronczak and Emma Zingll. Thanks also to Sheree Knight for her amazing pre-camp work ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

Prep - 2 Athletics

Our very first Prep - 2 Athletics Day was one to remember! Our Sports Academy students designed and organised eight fun activities for our younger students. They were impressive leaders and did a great job explaining each activity, recording house points and helping students transition between activities.

We were incredibly proud of all our students and loved seeing the year levels come together, supporting one another and proudly representing their House.

Warm regards

Duncan