Wawa, Wominjika.

Here at Old Orchard Primary School, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we visit each day, the Wurrunguri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin nation.We acknowledge and respect the elders and leaders past and present and the elders and leaders of all of the cultures and nationalities that are part of the Old Orchard Primary School community.We express our gratitude towards the orchards that were kept in place by the peoples on this land before us.We thank the traditional owners for sharing this beautiful land that we all love, and for keeping the land, sky, waterways and animals all in great condition for thousands of years, not only for themselves but for all the generations to come.

VSSS - Victorian State Schools Spectacular

Those who know me reasonably well will be aware that my cultural experiences are almost exclusively related to sport, particularly my passion for the Navy Blues, and that my September weekends are generally spent watching football finals. As a change last weekend, I expanded my cultural horizons by spending a few hours on Saturday at the VSSS at John Cain Arena, watching a truly amazing performance from hundreds of students from across Victoria, including 26 students from Old Orchard. As I was watching and enjoying the show, several key words and phrases came to mind:

Talented	Courageous	Colourful
Inspiring	Committed	Teamwork
Spectacular	Pride in performance	Dedication
Inclusive	Absolutely incredible	Entertaining
Passsion	Enthusiasm	Fun & joy!

It was a great privilege to watch the show and I was incredibly impressed by the extraordinary talents of the performers. Congratulations to everyone involved, with special acknowledgement to our 26 Old Orchard students. Yet again, a very special and sincere thank-you to Rhiannon Trimby & Nan Ternai for their dedication and commitment over the past months. Our performers were:

The event was filmed by Channel 7 and will be available for viewing in mid-December, so perhaps something for your classes to watch late in the year.

Norah & Evie

To extend my cultural weekend, I was fortunate to attend (along with several other staff members) a performance of Alice in Wonderland featuring two of our students, Norah Sage & Evie Alexander. Norah & Evie performed superbly, combining their dance skills with wonderful stage presence and we were alle xtremely proud of their efforts. Congratulations to both girls!

Staffing

As previously advised, long serving staff member Curtis DeWitt is finishing up at Old Orchard today ahead of a move to a Physical Education teaching role at Carlton Gardens Primary School. We thank Curtis for his wonderful contribution to our school and wish him well for the future.

Author / Illustrator Visit

Last week, our Year 3 & 4 students were treated to a talk from Sher Rill Ng, an author and illustrator known for books such as ‘Our Little Inventor’ and ‘The Night of the Hiding Moon.’ Many of Sher’s favourite characters to write and illustrate are young women discovering their strengths.

Prep Zoo Excursion

The Prep Zoo Excursion is always a significant highlight of the year. Our students looked super cute heading off to the Melbourne Zoo in their orange fluro vests last week as part of their ‘Living Things’ Inquiry Unit and had a wonderful time visiting many of the animal enclosures at the Zoo. Thank-you to the Prep team, additional staff and helpers for their efforts in delivering a wonderful educational experience for our students.

Year 1 Blackburn Lake Excursion

The Year 1 students visited Blackburn Lake last week as part of their sustainability unit focussing on ‘Looking after our Local Environment.’ Blackburn Lake is a wonderful local feature with an excellent education program and our students benefitted enormously from their experience.

Footy Day

Tomorrow is our annual school Footy Day as we move towards the final stages of the AFL season - students are encouraged to wear their favourite AFL colours or colours of other sporting teams.

End of Term

Term 3 concludes tomorrow. Students will be dismissed from their classrooms at 2.30pm, following a whole school assembly at 1.45pm. Please note the following arrangements:

9.00 - 11.30 Session 1

11.30 - 11.40 Lunch eating

11.40 - 12.20 Lunch Play

12.20 - 1.45 Session 2

1.45 - 2.15 (approx.) Whole school assembly in Gymnasium

2.15 - 2.30 Return to classrooms and dismissal

Term 3 commences on Monday October 7th.

Thank-you to staff, students and our amazing Old Orchard community for the part you play in making Old Orchard such a fantastic school. My best wishes to all members of our community for a safe, happy and relaxing holiday and we look forward to welcoming you back in Term 4.

Kind regards

Duncan

Staff In The Spotlight