From Our Principals

Dear Families,

It has been a fantastic start to the term, with many successful sporting and community events already taking place.

Our Mother’s Day event this morning was a beautiful celebration and incredibly well attended—even the coffee van owners noted the larger turnout! Thank you to our wonderful P&F for organising such a special morning. I wish everyone a happy day on Sunday, no matter how you celebrate, who you celebrate, or whom you celebrate with.

I’d also like to extend another big thank you to the P&F and our entire community for supporting the sausage sizzle and cake stall last Saturday. Over $3,000 was raised for OPS, and we couldn’t have achieved this without the collective effort and support of our community. Mr Jones and I felt it was a real pleasure to be part of the day.

Next Friday will be Miss D’s last day as she prepares for the arrival of her little bundle of joy. We wish her every happiness and good health during this special time. We have successfully appointed her replacement and look forward to introducing her to the community very soon.

Today, we held a closed practice assembly. This provided our school leaders with an opportunity to set expectations and gave our students a chance to practise the routines that will ensure a smooth and successful assembly. Our leaders and students are to be commended for their efforts today—we look forward to showcasing them next week.

While I do not wish to alarm our community, it has come to my attention that reports have been made of a person in a white van approaching children. I must reiterate that this has not been reported near Ormond, but close enough—in the Bayside/Kingston area—that I feel it’s important to make you aware. It’s also a timely reminder to discuss child safety with your children.

Please keep an eye on the garden, as our wonderful Buildings and Grounds crew, Jerry and Phill, have been working hard to improve the spaces at OPS. They’ve been preparing the grounds for planting, and it’s going to be magical come springtime.

Please keep reading for other important updates.

Curriculum

Over the past two weeks, several staff members have attended professional learning sessions related to our work on the systematic synthetic phonics program, PhOrMeS. All teachers who participated thoroughly enjoyed the sessions. The biggest takeaway has been a strong sense of affirmation—that we are well and truly on the right track and progressing well with our implementation. 

We have now entered our reporting term. While we continuously use formative assessment and practices to guide responsive teaching, we are also preparing for end-of-term reporting to families. You may notice some changes based on Department of Education directives, such as the inclusion of only one progression point for Mathematics. We will ensure you are well informed of these updates as the term progresses.

Last week, all staff completed their CPR refresher and first aid training. While it is not mandatory for all staff to be first aid trained, this remains a priority for us.

Years 3-6 Cross-Country

Thank you to Mr Pannam for organsing a great Cross-Country event on Thursday 24 April at Karkarook Park. The weather was far warmer than expected and the students had a great time.  A District team was selected from this event and yesterday, the team headed to Karkarook Park to compete in the annual Moorabbin District Cross-Country Carnival. We are very pleased to announce some of our students have made it to division level, we will share more details soon.

ANZAC Day Assembly

On Monday 28 April, Ms Vallence arranged a very special OPS ANZAC Commemoration assembly. Each year level created a wreath that was laid as part of the commemoration. The wreaths themselves were designed by the Arts Captains for each year level to bring to life - which involved colouring-in and then cutting out a particular design.  

Some Year 6 leaders also visited classes to read a book followed by an explanation of the wreath activity and assistance if required.

The assembly was moving and respectful, with school representatives leading beautifully and all students showing heartfelt gratitude, reflection, and pride.

A special thank you to Cameron Warfe (uncle of Lachie and Xavier) who attended our special assembly.

Election Day 2025

Ormond Primary School was abuzz last Saturday. Voters headed to our school to make their mark. Sausages were sizzling, baked goods were selling like hotcakes, and there was a sense of community. There was such a positive feeling around OPS on the day with almost all of our families coming to the school to vote and enjoy the day. 

It was a very successful Election Day. We were lucky to have over 40 parents volunteer for the sausage sizzle and cake stall, and many more students. We sold out of our 500 sausages by 11am and extra supplies were needed - 150 more! And by 1.30pm, we had completely sold out of everything. 

A big thank you to PnF, especially Jackie Middleton, for organising the event and to everyone who participated in making this such a great day for OPS.

My Brother Jack Awards

Entries for the My Brother Jack Awards are now open!

The Awards are a celebration of local writing talent across all ages and stages. Entrants just need to live, work or study in Glen Eira. Prizes are awarded for short stories and poetry in the categories of :

• Junior Primary (Foundation to Year 3)
• Senior Primary (Years 4 to 6)
• Junior Secondary (Years 7 to 9)
• Senior Secondary (Year 10 to 12)
• Open (all ages)

This year Glen Eira Council would love to see as many entries as possible from students at OPS. There are some great prizes to be won with a total prize pool of more than $6,500.

Entries close 5pm on Monday 14 July 2025.  Additional information and entry forms can be found at https://library.gleneira.vic.gov.au/mbj

Welcome to Football Star Academy

We are excited to announce that The Football Star Academy will be running clinics at OPS this term. The sessions will be on Tuesdays from 3.30pm-4.45pm with the first session this week being a huge success with over 20 OPS students in attendance.

Lunchtime Clubs

Lunchtime Clubs started this week @ OPS! A Big thank you to teachers for putting their hands up to run a club. It is also great to see some student leaders wanting to get involved in the running of the clubs too. 

It is wonderful that the OPS students have lots of extra-curricular options available, alongside the afterschool programs. We love it when our school can engage all students in their schooling with these opportunities. 

With thanks,

 

Anna-Marie and Aaron