Welcome to 2025 DPS! We are looking forward to another great year.

This is a brief newsletter to remind you of important dates and other information so you start the year with all you need to know.

Thankyou for your ongoing support and we are looking forward to 2025 with a lot of confidence and excitement about what lies ahead.

I hope you all had a safe and happy xmas holiday season, it is now time to get started.

A very special welcome to our new Preps who will be starting school on Thursday January 30th. Also a warm welcome to our new families. We have a lot of new students and we look forward to getting to know you and working with you, I'm sure you will make lots of new friends and enjoy your time with us here at DPS. Our teachers are fabulous!

In 2025 we are introducing some new programs and we have added new classrooms to cater for our growing school. Over the last term and the holidays we have been busy going through the selection process to find the best people for DPS. I extend a warm welcome to some new teachers this year: Rikki Murphy, MIllie Edwards, Sam O'Bryan, Jac Holzer, Anthony Kelly, Nathan Watson, Bradley Simpson and Michaela George. We were fortunate to attract highly experienced aducators and I am pleased with our new appointments. I'm sure you will be similarly impressed with the knowledge, skills and professionalism they will bring to DPS. When looking for new staff I always say we don't want good teachers, we want "better than good" teachers and I'm confident we have achieved that!

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS

While you have been enjoying a well earned christmas break, a lot has been happenning at DPS. Many of our staff have spent a lot of time at school over the break.

When you come back this term please take some time to inspect the upgrades and improvements. We have had some internal and external painting done, paving, the rebuilding of garden bed edges, trees have been cut back due to unsafe over hanging branches, landscaping, significant white ant damage repaires, tree planting, installed a huge safety net behind the goal posts on the oval, the office store room has been halved making way for a new business managers office (much needed space) and the big project is the complete refurbishment of the student toilet block which is "almost completed". (not to mention ENDLESS watering!).

We often hear comments about how beautiful our school is so it is important to keep doing what we can to maintain our school buildings and grounds to the standard our staff, students and families deserve.

Determination - We are determined to maintain an attractive school, offering many areas for learning and play.

Pride - We certainly are proud of our buildings and grounds and our students.

Success - Over the break I am certain we have succeeded in adding value to our already wonderful school.

Everything is inplace for a terrific year ahead. Please reach out if you have any questions. If you want to be involved in activities or events please make contact with your child's teacher.

To keep up with what is happenning please check Compass daily.

2025 Term Dates

TERM ONE

January 28 Day one for Staff

January 29 Day one for Students in Level 1-6

January 30 Day one for Preps

April 4 Last day of Term One

TERM TWO

April 21 Easter Monday

April 22 First day of Term Two

July 4 last day of Term Two

TERM THREE

July 21 First Day of Term Three

September 19 Last Day of Term Three

TERM FOUR

October 6 First Day of Term Four

December 19 Last Day of Term Four

Curriculum Days and Public Holidays for 2025

January 28 Curriculum Day

March 10 Labour Day Public Holiday

April 21 Easter Monday Public Holiday

July 1 Curriculum Day (Student Lef Conferences)

August 18 Curriculum Day

November 3 Curriculum Day

November 4 Melbourne Cup Public Holiday

December 12 Common Planning Day

Staff and Classes for 2025

	Teacher		Class
1	Diane Meilak	LS Junior Lit SIT P Level Leader	PM
2	Tom Wood-Burgess		PT
3	Jess White	Level Leader	PW
4	Brent Granger	LS Junior Num SIT L1 Level Leader	1G
5	Courtney Larsen		1L
6	Mei Sng		1M
7	Hannah Stagoll	L2 Level Leader	2S
8	Madi Francis		2F
9	Kathey Coumaros		2C
10	Rikki Murphy		2M
11	Lillie Powell	LS Senior Lit SIT L3Level Leader	3P
12	Millie Edwards		3E
13	Joy Lai		3J
14	Sam O’Bryan		3O
15	Andrew Johnson	LT Wellbeing SIT	4J
16	Julia Di Cosmo		4D
17	Rana El Bay	L4 Level Leader	4E
18	Angie Kotsiopoulos		4K
19	Vanessa Keen	L5 Level Leader	5K
20	Jac Holzer		5H
21	Anthony Kelly		5A
22	Sarah Pike		5P
23	Nathan Watson	LS Senior Num SIT L6 Level Leader	6W
24	Marissa Curtolo		6C
25	Michaela George		6G
26	Mary Scopas 0.6		EAL
27	Martin Spinks		PE
28	Rida Su		LOTE
29	Bradley Simpson	Science Specialist LT & Spec Leader	Science
30	Lisa Foster 0.8		Lib/Cult
31	Marika Quinonero		Art
32	Tracey Baxter 0.4		Art/LOTE
33	Jayne 0.6		PE/Sci
	Education Support Staff		ROLE
34	Joan Tan Lawson	Classroom assistant	ESS
35	Wendy McGeary	Classroom assistant	ESS
36	Wendy Fairley	Classroom assistant	ESS
37	Demi Loukos	Classroom assistant	ESS
38	Barry Beechey	Grounds & Maintenance	ESS
39	Rebecca Rolfe	Office Manager	ESS
40	Nat Pike	Business Manager	ESS
41	Julia Bay	Assistant Principal	PCO
42	Niky Corfios	Assistant Principal	PCO
43	Jim Hill	Principal	PCO

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Principal - Jim Hill

Assistant Principal - Julia Bay

Assistant Principal - Niky Corfios

Leading Teacher Wellbeing - Andrew Johnson

Leading Teacher Science - Bradley Simpson

Learning Specialist Junior Literacy - Diane Meilak

Learning Specialist Senior Literacy - Lillie Powell

Learning Specialist Junior Numeracy - Brent Granger

Learning Specialist Senior Numeracy - Nathan Watson

Prep Level Leader - Diane Meilak

Level One Level Leader - Brent Granger

Level Two Level Leader - Hannah Stagoll

Level Three Level Leader - Lillie Powell

Level Four Level Leader - Rana El Bay

Level Five Level Leader - Vanessa Keen

Level Six Level Leader - Nathan Watson

Specialist Leader - Bradley Simpson

DPS Principal Team.

Please remember, we are here to work with you to provide the best educational outcomes for your children. Our door is always open.

Jim Hill Julia Bay Niky Corfios

Regards

Jim Hill

Principal

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Issue 1 · 29 Jan 2025

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