Dear Families,

Health: It appears that the flu season is beginning to hit us with some families experiencing various forms of illness. This has also occurred amongst staff too and we have had to have more than our ever-reliable CRT’s in to replace teachers. Where possible, we try to have the same CRT in a class for multiple days when staff are unwell. We appreciate your understanding when our regular staff are away unwell.

Drawing Us Together: Over the next week, students will be reading Indigenous authors stories and beginning to illustrate them for this year's Drawing Us Together illustration competition run by Leopold Plaza. Illustrations will be displayed at Leopold Plaza for voting on during the holidays for NAIDOC week.

Donut Day Update: Our much-loved Donut Day has been rescheduled to Friday 12th of June. Please keep an eye out for notes being sent home this week. If your child would like to participate, please return notes and money to the school by Thursday 4th June.

Long Service Leave: While we have the best teachers going around, we also have staff that have accrued long service leave. Term 3 is an extremely popular term with many requests approved already. We wish all staff a restful break when they take LSL, so they recharge and come back ready to go again.

The Gordon: Works out near the amphitheatre have started and we look forward to having the stairs extended and a general tidy up of this space. Again, we thank The Gordon for this work and the ongoing relationship with them.

High Abilities: Yesterday I was in attendance in a High Abilities professional learning session with a group of staff to learn more about how we can cater for students achieving well above expected levels. We look forward to elevating the learning for so many across the school. Keep up the great supports at home too.

Nits: Unfortunately, nits were not eradicated during COVID lockdowns, and we are hearing reports of a few cases. If your child is suspected of having nits, families will be called to collect the child and resolve the issue. We have included a handy link (https://www.health.vic.gov.au/infectious-diseases/head-lice ) for families to refer to for treatment, prevention and much more. Let’s work together as a community to avoid a breakout!

School Uniform: Just a reminder that we have a wide variety of school uniform available online and a small selection of second-hand uniform via the office. We have noticed a bit of an increase of students not wearing the school uniform. If the school jumper etc, is in the wash, please send a note with your child so we are aware as staff will continue to remind students about wearing uniform. Staff have also noticed an increase in smart watches being worn which in turn has increased distractions during learning time. We want the best learning conditions for students and ask families to reconsider sending smart watches to school or at least turn notifications off.

Principal Conference: Both Kristy and I will attend the State Schools Principal’s Conference in Melbourne on Thursday & Friday this week. We look forward to hearing from DE leaders and other schools about systemic improvements and what other schools are doing that we can learn from to enhance OGPS. Ryan Baltetacsh and Alyce Graham will be holding the reigns for a few days.

Curriculum Day Reminder: Friday 5th June (adjacent to the Monarch’s birthday) is a pupil free day where staff will be finalising assessments for reporting midyear achievement. TheirCare is available should your child need care that day.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Scott McCumber

Principal

Scott McCumber

Principal

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