Principal's Report

Cross Country

Congratulations to all students that competed in Cross Country yesterday. It was a beautiful morning down by the beach and students showed enormous resilience as they persisted through the 2km and 3km courses. The House Spirit was out in force with students all kitted out in their colours. A huge thank you to Jordan and Yemi for their organisation and execution of a fantastic event, and to staff and students that were down on the course early to help set up. 

We look forward to revealing the winning House on Friday at assembly and good luck to all students who are due to represent our school at District Cross Country next Tuesday.

Assembly Time Change

Assembly will change from a 3:00pm start to 2:55pm going forward. This is to ensure that teachers have time to provide positive praise to students directly after assembly for their demonstrations of expected behaivours, and ensure that students are ready for collection at 3:30pm. 

Mother’s Day Celebrations

Thank you to all the mums and women that attended our Wonderful Women’s Day event on Friday afternoon. The attendance, as always, was phenomenal and it was brilliant to see how excited students were to share in an experience with you, whether it was reading a story, making flowers or building spaghetti towers. I hope you all enjoyed a special weekend and were suitably spoiled on Sunday!

A huge thanks also goes to our Parents’ Association, who ran an outstanding Mothers’ Day Stall on Friday. The event raised nearly $4000, which is a phenomenal effort, and I’m sure you received some beautiful gifts on Sunday morning. A special mention goes to Carlo Cajili for his organisation, to Nat Whiston, Sian Adams and Melissa Cajili for setting up the stall, packing over 800 items for the stall, assisting on the day and all the admin, as well as Kate Roberts, Jacqui Murphy, Lina Mercer, Missy McPherson, Steph Gillies and Kim Bakker who all helped out on the stall throughout the day. 

The funds raised will go toward the purchase of a Precious Plastics Recycling Machine that will enable our students to turn the lids they collect from waste and make items that in future, will be able to be sold at the Mothers and Fathers' Day stalls! 

Another big thank you to Veronika Sanderson and her team - Maddie Dodds, Meera Aurora, Katherine Spitalnic, Erin Devlin, Angela Holmes and Linda Corr - for the organisation of what has been reported as a hugely fun Mothers’ Day Lunch at Elwood Bathers on the 2nd May. The event, now in its third year, continues to go from strength to strength, with the largest number of attendees we’ve seen this year. Events such as these are a wonderful way to build connection amongst our community, the importance of which cannot be understated. 

Swimming Program Change

Blue Fit Swimming, where our swimming program for all students is typically held and was booked from last year, is undergoing significant redevelopment, which they have recently informed us of, with no indication of this last year when booked. Without any notice, we have had to look for alternative venues to host our program, which, with swim programs generally booked up at least a year in advance, and many other schools similarly affected, we have not found a location for. We will therefore move forward with providing a Life Saving Program instead for students, which will comprise 2 x sessions at Hampton SLSC in Term 4, with a view to moving back to a swim program for F-4 students in 2026. Due to our experience this year, we are exploring alternate venues for 2026.

Welcome to Country

Thank you to our student leaders and their parents for supporting them to attend the Bayside Kindergarten’s Welcome to Country on Friday 2nd May at Holloway Beach. It was a magnificent afternoon for it which set the scene for a Smoking Ceremony and learning more about our history and landscape. 

End of Year Dates Confirmed

We have been working to confirm dates for the end of year events to provide as much notice as possible to families, and ensure they’re spread throughout what is a very busy period. Please see below the confirmed dates for them. They are also in the Compass Calendar for future viewing.

• Soiree - Wednesday 17th September @ St Leonard’s Leonardian Centre
• Art Trail - Wednesday 29th October
• Book Fair – TBC but most likely this week also
• Curriculum Day: Planning for 2026 - Monday 15th December
• Graduation – Wednesday 17th December @ St Leonard’s Leonardian Centre
• School finishes – Friday 19th December @1:30pm