Principal's Message

School Philosophy

Orchard Grove Primary School is committed to providing a safe, nurturing environment that engages curiosity, promotes learning, personal growth, and well-being for all students. We strive to develop adaptability and resilience so students can become valued members of the local and global communities and be prepared for future life experiences.

From the Principal

Hi everyone and welcome to another newsletter!

We have had another two busy weeks here, with lots going on across the school. We have had Spanish Incursions, Scienceworks excursions and District Cross Country as well as class games as a whole school SWPBS reward. I would also like to welcome (back!) Suzanne Lichtenauer as our Monday to Wednesday Performing Arts Teacher. We are very pleased to have her join us here at OGPS.

I would like to start with a big thank you to our community for their understanding and support, and a shout out to our students and staff for their flexibility over the past few weeks. Illness has forced many of our staff (and students) to miss school and some days we have been unable to replace them all, as even the agencies are out of replacement teachers. Despite these challenges, our programs, routines and lessons have all continued to run smoothly and this is a credit to our collaborative processes and everyone's willingness to work together.  

2024 is a production year at OGPS and for the first time in a long time, we are going to have a whole school production! In the past, we have had a production for Years 5 and 6 and a show for the Foundation to Year 4 students. A whole school production will further promote school unity and see us all working towards a common goal. Our Year 5 and 6 students will continue to have the main roles with our Foundation to Year 4 students all performing alongside them. There will be two nights and two casts, with the school being split alphabetically by surname into Cast A and Cast B. I would like to thank our production team teachers, led by Grace Jasinski and give a huge shout out to our Year 5 and 6 students who have auditioned for the main roles over the past few weeks. The enthusiasm, eagerness and confidence they have shown has made casting the roles incredibly hard for the team and gives me great confidence that the show will be amazing! The dates for the production are the 16th and 17th of October at the Besen Centre. Tickets will be available closer to the date.

In other news, we have begun the redevelopment of the sandpit area using the 2023 Fiesta profit. We are hopeful of having this completed by the end of Term 3 and we will then begin the landscaping of the area behind the current S.T.E.M room. The building project for the new S.T.E.M building is continuing towards tender-ready documentation. We will then await further funding, hopefully in the 2025 Victorian Budget.  

Michelle Ogilvie

Principal