Dear Families,

Art Show: Congratulations to Lyn (our Art Teacher) on putting on her first Art Show at ‘The Hive’ art gallery last Friday night. There was a constant buzz of activity in the precinct with the OGPS band ‘Next Generation’ playing before the DJ set (thanks Rob) kicked in.

The purchasing of the art was frantic, and The Lions Club cooked a massive amount of sausages. Most importantly, the artwork on display by the students was outstanding! We genuinely have some great artists amongst our community that clearly take on advice from past and present art teachers. I hope all families enjoyed the evening, celebrated their child’s artwork, and connected at yet another community event.

A massive thanks to all volunteers for setting up, managing the night, and then packing up! We can’t do it without you! And finally, to Karen and Will (and Zara who was an OGPS student), a sincere thanks for letting us take over your gallery again for the 5th year in a row. We really appreciate you giving the students an authentic experience.

2026 classes: Staff have begun to create classes for next year. I watched and listened in awe at the in-depth discussions they have, to work through complexities of creating 4 equal classes (except year 4 in 2026 where this will be 3) balancing academic ability, social and emotional needs, friendships, parent requests, and more. They refine and review each placement. Classes will be announced in a few weeks so enjoy your current class - 2026 will be here soon enough. I encourage families to have discussions at home about what may or may not happen with the class they are in for 2026. The new friends, new opportunities, new teachers, new locations of classroom etc.

Yard duty supervision: Reminder that supervision in the morning is from 8.45am and until 3.35pm after school. Please remind your children to walk bikes and scooters through the school at these times and hop off them at the blue lines as they enter the school.

TheirCare: From 2026 TheirCare will be our outside school hours provider, taking over from Camp Australia. They hosted an online information session on Monday and are keen to answer any questions or concerns. We welcome them to OGPS and thank Camp Australia for their program over the years. Please reach out to TheirCare, sign up if you are frequent user and for those who are not, consider signing up for that emergency when a change of plans occurs.

Foundation 2026: It is amazing every year to see the growth in three sessions of our next Foundation (or Prep) cohort. It was pleasing to see the students head off with their class for the session, meeting new friends and transitioning to school life. At the first session we had nearly all our parents in the classrooms and have quickly transitioned to students independently moving to the class. Families, if you can practice indoor voices and how to move around corridors (role play at home), this will help us create a calm and orderly classroom quickly in 2026. Please enjoy the remaining time at Kinder – no doubt you will feel it has gone way too fast!

Staffing 2026: With our staffing profile for 2026 nearing completion, the leadership team begin to look at teachers to Year levels and then teachers to specific grades. Again, we are diligent in where we place staff and students trying to optimise skills and expertise and continue to develop positive relationships.

Surfing: The Year 6’s have started their surfing program this week. Please be organised and ready again next week to maximise time at the beach. Thanks to parent helpers who are assisting with supervising the walk down and back, on the beach and even in the water. We cannot do this program without the volunteers.

School Uniform: Please send a note to your child’s teacher if your child is out of uniform for the day. It helps staff avoid that awkward conversation. Please keep doing your best to have your children attend in full school uniform.

Bike riding: Great to see so many bike riders, especially with the new bike track being built in OG! Just a reminder to walk your bikes into the school ground (you’ll see a blue like at all entrances to remind you) and please don’t ride bikes into or around the school while families are arriving and leaving. And please ride safely to and from home.

Families leaving: It’s that time of the year when some families are on the move. Perhaps to different towns, cities or even overseas. If you are a family that is on the move and leaving OGPS, please email the admin team ASAP so we can help with transferring information to the new school (if required) and to help us plan accurately for next year.

To the families who have confirmed they are on the move, we sincerely wish you all the best, thank you for your contribution to the school and please know that you are always welcome to visit and attend our various functions.

HELP NEEDED

We are having our bulk classroom supplies delivered on Monday 15th December and need to assist in unpacking the truck of supplies into the gym. We’re looking for parent volunteers to help out. We won’t know the time the truck is coming until the morning, so if you think you’d be available on the day we’d give you a call once the truck arrives.

Please email into the school at ocean.grove.ps@education.vic.gov.au with your name, mobile no and availability time if you think you can help out.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Scott McCumber

Principal

2025 Spelling Bee Competition