Principal's Report

2025 Planning

If your family is planning some new horizons and will be moving for the 2025 school year, early notification greatly helps our planning of 2025 staffing and class arrangements. Notifying the office of a move as soon as possible is greatly appreciated.

2024 Production - Ali Baba & The Bongo Bandits: Information and Performance timing

If you haven't yet, please read the "2024 Production" page of this newsletter for the key information about this exciting event!

Parents & Carers will have noted on the 2024 Production page that this year, it has been necessary to make a change to the time of our performances, with an evening performance and an afternoon/matinee performance instead of the traditional format of two evenings.

This has been a necessary change in light of stipulations in the 2022 Victorian Government Schools Agreement around time-in-lieu for staff. Put simply, to run two evening performances of the production would have caused the event to be financially unviable due to the cost of replacing or repaying time-in-lieu owed to staff.

We hope this format will result in a successful event and sincerely thank the community in advance for your support of our production, which will hopefully live long in the memories of our students.

Thank you to Production Coordinator and Director Lachlan Hilston for all of your hard work on the show so far, as well as to all of the staff, parents/carers and community members who have contributed to planning and preparation so far. If you would like to be involved, please speak to Lachlan soon!

New Play Equipment

Students have today been enjoying our new climbing structure in the space between 3/4 and the gym. Although this structure is rated under Australian and International guidelines to be safe for all school-aged children, during the initial excitement phase we have decided to limit the equipment to years 3-6. F-2 teachers will be able to take their classes down to experience the new equipment outside of break time.

Thank you to School Council, the PFA and our entire school community for the fundraising efforts that have led to this play equipment installation. As per our landscaping Master Plan, this equipment is the first stage of development for the area, which will be followed with nature-based play, culturally inclusive elements and sensory options in the coming years. We are actively applying for grants to assist in the very large associated costs of these future playground developments.

Mont Albert & Surrey Hills Public Speaking Competition

Congratulations to all students in years 5 and 6 on your planning and presentation of inspiring speeches to your peers in the first stage of the 2024 Mont Albert & Surrey Hills Public Speaking Competition (MASH), run by the Rotary Club of Mont Albert & Surrey Hills. Yesterday saw the RMPS finalists present to the entire 5/6 cohort, plus Mr Roche and myself. As always, we were blown away by the quality of these speeches, from the thoughtful messages within to the enthusiasm with which they were delivered.

Congratulations to Dylan, Harriet, Hugo, Pippa, Benson, Imogen, Meg and Aurelia on your efforts, each of you should be very proud.

The 5/6 teachers now have the unenviable task of choosing the two representatives to progress to the next stage of the competition and compete against students from all of the schools in the area covered by the Mont Albert & Surrey Hills Rotary Club. Best of luck!

Peter Watson

Principal