Taradale Primary School Newsletter

Principal's update

Hello everyone, 

 

Here is the school newsletter for week five of term three.

I have added quite a bit of new information on most of the pages of this week's newsletter.

If you have any questions or comments about anything, feel free to contact me.

 

Term four staffing update

As most of you will know, Marcus and Lea are taking long service leave for term 4. I am pleased to shared the news that Dana will teach the year 4/5 class full-time in term four and we will be welcoming Kristie Lacey to the prep/one class. Kristie is an experienced teacher who has worked at schools both locally and in Melbourne.

 

OSHC potential change of hours

Following feedback from families, the OSH service will continue to operate Monday to Friday 3.30-6.00. The service is available to all Taradale PS families for both casual and regular bookings, see the OSH care page for booking details.

 

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

Earlier this week I sent a link via Compass for school families to complete the 2025 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey, as of this morning we have had 9 responses. It would be great to hear from more families

 

Library fundraiser

Please have a look at the Parents and Friends Page for some exciting information about our library fundraiser - now with working QR code!

 

Wear it Purple Day - Friday 29 August

Each year we celebrate Wear it Purple Day by inviting students and families to wear as much or as little purple to school to celebrate diversity and inclusion. Taradale is an inclusive school and welcomes everyone. Part of being inclusive is to do so visibly. At Taradale you will see an acknowledgment of country on the front gate as well as the Aboriginal flag, we also fly the inclusive rainbow flag on the pole that was donated to us by Chillout Festival to show our support for LGBTQIA+ students, families and allies. Today the Pride Crew from Castlemaine Secondary College (CSC) is visiting the 5/6&P/1 class during buddies to make badges and bracelets for Wear it Purple Day. We have also been in discussion with the Pride groups at CSC and Winters Flat PS about starting a Pride Group here at Taradale - stay tuned for more details. in preparation for Wear it Purple Day Scout and I have been running a lunch time knitting club to knit and crochet purple items that will be used to yard bomb some trees in Castlemaine by Delkhaya Health

 

Community composting

From Eve; Are you interested in dropping off your food scraps at the school to be turned into beautiful compost and worm castings?  We are setting up a community composting hub with a bucket swap-and-go system.  We’ll be using Bokashi, a microbial powder, so that all food scraps including meat, cooked food, orange peel, onions etc can be included.  If you are interested please let us know so that we can gauge interest.  It would be free to participate apart from the purchase of the bokashi powder from the school ($15 for a packet that will last about 3 or 4 months on an average family’s food scraps)  

 

Year 3/4 camp 25-27 August

Students in years 3/4 have the opportunity to travel to Swan Hill for a camp with our friends from Chewton & Elphinstone PS 25-27 August. permission and other details have been posted to families on Compass. The school saving bonus can be used for this camp.

 

Year 2 camp 11-12 September

Students in year two have the opportunity to travel to Daylesford for our overnight horse riding camp with Chewton PS 11-12 September. We will send home permissions forms, details and costings shortly. The school saving bonus can be used for this camp.

 

Volunteers

Thank you to the many volunteers that we have at the school. This includes people helping in the library, Breakfast Club, cooking, gardening, listening to children read and more. We welcome more volunteers at the school. 

To volunteer at a school you require a working with children check. This can be completed for free online.

 

Wellbeing

We now have a wellbeing page on the newsletter that I will use to share  relevant wellbeing information and resources that we come across that may be useful at home or give greater understanding of some of the language children may come home using from school. I will use the school's website as an archive for the resources for future reference.

 

2026 enrolments

Last term I received a number of prep enrolments for 2026 as well as enrolments for students starting this term.

We are currently running tours of the school and taking enrolments for 2026.

With a large year 6 cohort leaving at the end of the year, next year we expect to be under our enrolment capacity and welcome enrolment enquiries from near and far. 

If you or anyone you know is interested in knowing more about enrolling at Taradale PS, please contact me. 

upcoming dates 

  • 20 August School Council meeting
  • 25-27 August yr 3/4 camp to Swan Hill 
  • 29 August Wear it Purple day
  • 01-05 September whole school swimming programme
  • 11-12 September yr 2 camp to Boomerang Ranch
  • 19 September end term two 2.00pm
  • 06 October start term 4

Chris

 

Christopher Burgess

Principal