Principal Report -
Mrs Cameron
Colour Run and Family BBQ
Glorious sunshine filled the afternoon for our community to come together for our annual Colour Run and Family BBQ. Terrific to see so many of our students and families smiling and enjoying themselves in amidst the colour!
A very big thank you to Mr Scade, Jo Kantianis, our F&F Association volunteers and student leaders for their support and organisation of this year’s event – A huge success!
Thank you to our generous sponsor for their support of our Colour Run – Woolworths Geelong West, who supplied our bread and provided a generous discount on other items. We also had support this year from the Dippin' Dots van with $1 from every item sold coming back to the school.
We raised $1058.00 from our BBQ with funds going towards additional lunchtime club resources for all students.
A big thanks also to all the families over the last few weeks who have joined Emily, Rick and I at the coffee mornings. The opportunity to speak informally and further build parent connections is valuable to us.
NAPLAN and Tutor Learning 2025
Teachers are working with students in Years 3 and 5 this term in best supporting them to be prepared and confident as we head into the NAPLAN Assessment Period later this term. By allowing students time to ask questions about the purpose and expectations of NAPLAN, we are hopeful to alleviate any concerns or worries for students prior to the assessments taking place. Our processes have ensured over the last few years, that students enter the assessments confident and ready to put in their best efforts.
Rather than teach to the tests, our teaching teams prepare students by unpacking the skills required to respond to questions, use worked examples, encourage the use of paper to show their working out, brainstorm strategies that can be utilised for different question types and discuss answers. This explicit focus in our teaching also positively impacts on students in Years 4 and 6 who will be undertaking NAPLAN in 2026, so everyone benefits.
Please see included in this newsletter more information for parents in preparation for NAPLAN this year.
Our Mini-Lit reading intervention has also commenced in the 1/2 Department and parents of all students involved have been notified. Students have made a wonderful start working in small groups with our Mini Lit tutor – Mrs Helen Chisholm. We will be closely monitoring the progress of students to ensure that when available spots are free, additional students will have access to the program.
School Council Elections
Nominations have now closed for our School Council election process and in the next newsletter, once we have determined if a vote count is necessary, I will announce our Council members for 2025.
A reminder that all parents are most welcome to attend our AGM on 24th March which will be held in the staffroom.
School Council election process and timetable
Name of the School: Fyans Park Primary School
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
Notice of election and call for nominations Please collect a nomination from the school office | Thursday 13th February 2025 |
| Closing date for nominations/ballot | Thursday 27th February 2025 at 4.00pm |
Vote count and declaration of Poll
| Thursday 6th March 2025 at 4.00pm |
| First Council meeting to elect office bearers (the Principal will preside) |
Office Bearers will be elected on the evening of Monday 24th March 2025 at Fyans Park Primary School
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Monday 24th March at 6.30pm prior to the first meeting of the 2025 School Council at 7.00pm – All parents are welcome. 6.00pm – Finance Committee 6.30pm – Annual General Meeting 7.00pm – First Meeting of SC for 2025
|
2026 Transition
Despite it being early in the year, we have already received requests for school tours for 2026. With this in mind, the following school tours have been arranged for new families who are residing in our local neighbourhood zone, as we continue to be at full capacity with regards to enrolment numbers.
Families can very quickly access the Find My School website to identify their local neighbourhood school at https://www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au/
Our student leaders will be assisting me in facilitating school tours this year and welcoming new families and students to our school.
Our School Tour dates for Term 1 and 2 are listed below
I welcome new families from all year levels to attend.
Thursday 3rd April at 9.30am
Thursday 1st May at 9.30am
Friday 9th May at 9.30am
Friday 23rd May at 9.30am
International Women’s Day – Saturday 8th March
Recently, I received the below invitation from former FPPS student Ariella and her mother Derv to share with the staff and families of Fyans Park. International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated annually on 8th March and honours the achievements of women across all aspects of life – social, economic, cultural and political, while also advocating for gender equality.
Please see below the invitations and all details from Derv and more information about the upcoming IWD event.
To Parents and Educators,
Each year at Anther we host an International Women’s Day event where we discuss some of the topics affecting our society and how creating a more inclusive world will help all of us. Most recently we have been shocked to learn of the statistics around the political divide occurring between our young women and men with women shifting to the left and men shifting to the right. In response to this and as part of International Women’s Day we are bringing together an esteemed panel of experts with myself as host to tackle this issue head on and discuss practical solutions on how we may bring unity back to our boys, girls, families and communities.
As parents ourselves we feel every conversation had will make a difference even if it is just small ripples from our event. We feel that even these small moments are important for change. We would love for you to come along on Saturday March 8th from 6-8pm at Anther Geelong Distillery (behind the iconic chimney at the Federal Woollen Mills) to enjoy some delicious cocktails, spark lively conversation and discuss potential solutions, rest assured we always make time for some laughs along the way, of course!
Tickets are just $20 which includes a cocktail on arrival.
Tickets are located via our Events> What’s on tab on our website or via the link below-
https://anther.com.au/pages/events
We hope to see you there!
Dervilla McGowan
Co-founder, CEO & Chief Distiller
Anther Spirits
PH3 Federal Mills, 33 Mackey Street, North Geelong
Next Assembly and Student Free Day
Our assembly originally scheduled for next Thursday 6th March has been cancelled with our next assembly scheduled for Friday 21st March at 2.45pm.
A reminder that we have our Term 1 student free day coming up on Friday 7th March with students not required at school on this day.
Kelly Club are offering a program on this day which I know many of our students would enjoy.
To enrol your child – please register with Kelly Club at https://www.kellyclub.com.au/
🏉 Friday 7th March – Footy Colours Day!
We’re kicking off an action-packed Student -Free Day on Friday, 7th March with Footy Colours Day! Come dressed in your favourite team’s colours and get ready for a day full of fun footy-themed activities!
Here’s what’s in store:
🎨 Craft: Design your own footy jersey & create DIY team flags
🏃♂️ Games: Footy Dribble Relay, Goal Kicking Competition & mini footy matches
🧁 Cooking: Bake & decorate team-coloured cupcakes
📚 Discovery: Test your AFL knowledge with a fun footy quiz (prizes to be won!)
⚽ Footy Session: Learn skills & play fun football mini games
With plenty of active play, creative fun, and team spirit, it’s going to be an amazing day!
Have a great week everyone.
Mrs Cameron