From the Principal ...

Dear students, families and staff of Cheltenham Primary School,

We know how important the oval and synthi court are for our students' play and physical activity, and we appreciate your patience as we work through these upgrades. 

The oval's drainage was completed in January, followed by reseeding and watering. However, at our defects meeting three weeks ago, further levelling, reseeding, and additional watering were recommended.  In addition, the installation of multiple new skylights installed during the reroofing need to be completed.  The contractor was to schedule the oval works after the recent hot spell, but the work has not yet begun. This morning the school met with the consultant architects (Spaces), and the VSBA to get things moving. The project officer for Spaces is progressing a revised timeline for completion with the contractor, Harnest.  

Given these delays, it is likely that the oval will remain out of action into Term 2.  Shaun Penny is already working on relocating our Cross Country trials off site to Cheltenham Park this year. 

The synthi court is a priority for replacement, but realistically works cannot commence until the oval is available as the remaining playground space would be too limited for our 400+ students. Once ordered, the new court will take approximately eight weeks to manufacture and three weeks to install. At best, we are hoping this can commence in the final weeks of Term 2.

Unfortunately, we were informed in late December that our capital works grant application was unsuccessful due to the high volume of applicants. Since replacing the synthi court will cost approximately $140,000 School Council will be exploring all funding options including the use of available school funds, locally raised contributions, and any other income streams at the next meeting of School Council. 

Thank you for your understanding as we work to improve these spaces for our students. We will keep you updated on our progress.

Senior Leaders Badge Ceremony

The senior leaders badge ceremony is always an important event in our school calendar. Held on Friday 21 February in the School Hall, this year all Year 6 students were reminded that 'younger students look up to you and how your actions big or small can inspire them. Whether it is including someone who feels left out, standing up for what is right or showing respect to your teachers or classmates - you have the power to lead every day.'

Lachie Hellier and Samantha Craig, our 2025 School Captains spoke about 'encouraging others to have fun whilst learning and helping them to do things outside of their comfort zone. We are super pleased to have received this role and will make sure our school is a safe environment for everyone whilst having fun with the other leaders. We'd like to remind everyone of our school values.'  They then spoke about our school values: Kindness, Respect and Responsibility and gave the students some thoughtful and practical examples of each. 

It was a beautiful ceremony, facilitated by Holly Smith our Year 6 team leader.  We very much look forward to seeing how all our Year 6 students and Senior leaders develop and grow into their leadership roles over the course of this year.

NAPLAN 

The National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) are a nation-wide, standardised series of tests for children in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 which cover writing, spelling, grammar, reading and numeracy skills. NAPLAN is now held in March of each year.  The testing schedule this year commences next Wednesday 12 March and concludes the following week, Friday 21 March. 

Meet and Greet Meetings 

Meet and Greet meetings commence tomorrow Tuesday 4 March and Wednesday 5 March 3.40pm to 5.30pm. Please note: Year 1 will be commencing at 2.30pm on Wednesday and conducting their interviews on Wednesday only due to their small class sizes. 

These short meetings are an opportunity for parents that have not yet met their child's teacher to put a face to a name and vice versa.  It is also a time during which you can communicate confidentially about your child's well-being or learning needs.  If meeting in person is difficult at this time, please communicate with your child's teacher so they can make a personal arrangement with you. 

Foundation will be holding an Information session for families in each of the Foundations classrooms on Thursday 6 March from 3.45 to 4.45pm. 

Specialist  Overviews for Term 1

To support families to understand the curriculum and events across the school we provide termly Curriculum overviews and learning reflections. These summaries give a snapshot of learning in Literacy, Mathematics, STEAM and specialist disciplines- in addition to relevant year level information.  They also provide an opportunity for families to understand how the challenge extends as children progress from Foundation to Year 6. Today's newsletter has all the specialist learning overviews. Please enjoy reviewing these. 

School Photographs

School photographs are scheduled for 25 March. Bookings will be taken in Compass and open on Tuesday 11 March, 2025. 

2026 Foundation enrolment

I invite all current families with a sibling ready to start Foundation in 2026 to collect an enrolment pack or complete the enrolment form which can be downloaded from our website. 

Once the form is completed, please hand it in to the office as soon as possible, to ensure that we hold a place for your child.

Tours for prospective families within our Designated Neighborhood Zone will commence in the last 2 weeks of this term.  Tours are scheduled weekly on a Tuesday or by  arrangement. 

Finally, in today's Community Notices if your child is in Years 3 to 6 and you would be interested in having in school guitar or piano lessons at school, please review the PMI flyer.

Kind Regards,

Bronwyn