From the Principal
Welcome back to Term 3. We have been blessed with beautiful, sunny days even though the mornings have been chilly!
Reminder - 2027 Foundation Enrolments Open
The Department of Education opened the enrolment process for 2027 Foundation enrolment this term. All Foundation enrolments must be completed online via the website ‘VicStudents’.
Applications for Foundation are due by Friday 31 July 2026. Placement offers will be made between Monday 3 August 2026 and Friday 14 August 2026 and families should accept this offer Friday 28 August 2026.
If you know any neighbours, friends or family who have a child starting school next year, encourage them to reach out to the school. We conduct tours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings each week and these can be booked online.
Events reminder
Below is a reminder of the school events happening this term. Please put these in your diary!
| Event | Who | Date |
| Year 2-4 Production @ South Oakleigh College - 6pm & 7:30pm - check poster for more information | Years 2-4 | 4 & 5 August |
| Hats on from today | Whole School | 17 August |
| Year 3 & 4 Camp - Arrabri Lodge | Year 3 & 4 | 26-28 August |
| Book Week Parade - school hours | Whole School | 25 August |
| F-1 School Concert - Gymnasium - 6pm | F-1 | 1 September |
| Fathers' Day Breakfast | Whole School | 4 September |
| 5-6 Production - South Oakleigh College - 7pm | Year 5-6 | 8-9 September |
End Term 3 Early dismissal 2.30pm, OHSC available early | Whole School | 18 September |
Term Break - no school Team Kids available | Whole school | 21 September- 2 October |
Staffing news
Marissa Georgopulos has commenced family leave and Thy Do has settled well in FA as the new teacher. Liz Kose has commenced as an Education Support Staff employee.
Bev Park has completed 35 years of employment with the Department of Education. This is an outstanding achievement. Bev has worked as Education Support at 3 schools in her career- Riponlea, Carnegie and Oakleigh Primary School. She has supported hundreds of families, some challenging children and staff in her role. Throughout her employment at Oakleigh, she has seen several generations of families being educated at the school and was instrumental in assisting with the 150 birthday celebrations.
2026 NAPLAN
The individual NAPLAN results for our Year 3 and 5 students were released this week. NAPLAN measures student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling and grammar and punctuation against 4 proficiency levels:
- exceeding
- strong
- developing
- needs additional support
Our school results are measured against ‘like’ and ‘network’ schools.
Year 3 - Top Two Proficiency Levels
Area | School | Similar Schools | Network Schools |
Reading | 85% | 83% | 83% |
Writing | 91% | 89% | 89% |
Spelling | 80% | 80% | 80% |
Numeracy | 84% | 83% | 83% |
Grammar & Punctuation | 76% | 77% | 76% |
Year 5 - Top Two Proficiency Levels
Area | School | Similar Schools | Network Schools |
Reading | 89% | 89% | 87% |
Writing | 80% | 89% | 86% |
Spelling | 82% | 84% | 82% |
Numeracy | 89% | 89% | 88% |
Grammar & Punctuation | 72% | 82% | 81% |
The Year 3 and 5 results are excellent with most of our achievement matching like and network schools.
The state and national results are not yet available. Traditionally we do much better than the state and national levels.
OHSC Educators Day - Wednesday 29th July 2026
Each year the department recognises the services of OSHC staff. This year’s theme for National Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) Educators’ Day is "Valuing OSHC Educators Every Day".
OSHC Educators play an important part in our community by providing safe and engaging programs which support families to work or attend to other commitments. We would like to recognise the significant contribution our OSHC educators led by James Marron make and thank them for their tireless work within our OSHC program and the wider school community. When you see our OSHC team make sure to let them know how valued they are and your appreciation for all they do.
How you can help us say thank you:
- Say it in person: When you see our OSHC team at drop-off or pick-up, please take a moment to let them know how valued they are.
- Make a card: Encourage your children to draw a picture or write a quick thank-you note to their favourite educator.
- Share your appreciation: A simple "thank you for everything you do" goes an incredibly long way.
The school acknowledged our educators on this day, with a small gift of appreciation.
Curriculum Day
On 17 July we engaged Philip Coloca to deliver a professional learning day for our staff to build deep knowledge of the principles that support the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 to inform our work in this area. Implementing the VTLM 2.0 requires a significant change process as we introduce new expectations and practices around the Learning and Teaching Domains. Having deep knowledge of the science behind the model also means that staff are better able to participate in improving practices. The content of the day included:
Deepening understanding of the core principles that support the Science of Learning e.g. learning is about building long term memory
Intrinsic vs extraneous load and links to working memory
Understanding how we learn
Biologically primary and secondary learning
Cognitive Load Theory
The forgetting curve - retrieval practice and why learning fails
How to maximise learning
Responsive teaching and the place of differentiation – through support rather than task
The Australian Parenting Website
We want to inform families about the Raising Children Network. This website provides parenting videos, articles and apps backed by Australian experts. The Raising Children Network is designed for busy families and full of tips and tricks for you to try, the content is easy to find and easy to digest.
Please click on the link below to access all the free content. It has been very useful for our own families.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/
Marrung & significant First Nations Days
The school has a new Koorie Education and Support Officer, Seth Nolan. During the Term 2 break NAIDOC Week was celebrated, which is a significant for First Nations Peoples. Several awards ceremonies and event were held with the NAIDOC Awards celebrating their 50th Anniversary.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day is celebrated on 4 August. It’s a chance to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and learn about the impact that culture, family and community have on their lives. This year’s theme is ‘Living Our Truth’. It celebrates the voices, stories and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities. It recognises the importance of truth-telling in building identity, belonging and cultural strength. It also honours the role of Elders and community in passing knowledge to the next generation.
As Victorians, the journey of truth-telling through the Yoorrook Justice Commission is an opportunity to reflect on the stories and experiences of First Nations people. It highlights the important role that education plays in healing and moving forward.
Foundation (prep) bags 2027 design competition now open
The Department of Education is inviting current Foundation students at Victorian government schools to enter its Prep bags 2027 design competition.
How to take part
Designs must reflect the theme – My year of Prep. Submissions can be either hand drawn or digitally designed. It must be your child’s original work. Drawings must be in black marker on white paper. Digital designs must be in black on a white background. You can upload your child’s submission as either a JPEG or PNG file.
Entries close at 11:59 pm on Sunday 9 August 2026.
To access the competition guidelines and design template, refer to Prep bags 2027 design competition. The department will judge all entries, with the winner announced later this year.
Find out more
For more information, refer to Prep bags 2027 design competition.
Industrial Action
The Australian Education Union (AEU) and the Australian Principals Federation continue to negotiate with Victorian Government about the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement for Principals, Teachers and Education Support Staff.
While the AEU stop work on Thursday July 23rd was a significant disruption to the normal operation of the school, we thank families for their support on the day. We are hopeful that a resolution will occur soon. We will keep families informed of any planned or upcoming stop work action.
Ruth Biddle
Principal