Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term 4!

We hope all of our students and families enjoyed a relaxing school holiday break and are feeling refreshed and ready for a wonderful final term of 2026. Term 4 is always an exciting and busy time at Seaford Park, with lots of learning, celebrations and special events ahead as we finish the year together.

A few important updates and reminders as we begin the term:

☀️ Hats Are Back for Term 4: A reminder that, as part of our SunSmart practices, hats are compulsory throughout Term 4. Please ensure your child brings an appropriate hat to school each day. In line with our Student Dress Code Policy, families can purchase a school-logo bucket hat from Spartan School World – Seaford Park Primary School. Students with the Spartan school hat may flip their hat to display their House colour on Fridays and designated House Days.

Students may also wear a plain navy-blue, non-logo wide-brimmed hat. Following our change of uniform supplier in 2025, the previous school hybrid microfibre hat also remains an approved uniform item and may continue to be worn, despite no longer being available for purchase. Please note that baseball caps and hats in other colours are not permitted under the Student Dress Code. Students without an appropriate hat will be required to remain in designated shaded areas during outdoor play.

👕 Uniform Reminder: As we head into the warmer weather, please take a moment to ensure your child is wearing the appropriate items in line with our Student Dress Code Policy. A reminder that students should be wearing approved school uniform items each day. In particular, bike shorts and leggings are not permitted to be worn as a standalone uniform item and may only be worn under the school dress. Shorts and skorts must be a plain navy blue. We appreciate families supporting us to maintain consistent uniform expectations across the school.

🧴 Sunscreen: With warmer and sunnier days ahead, we also encourage families to make sunscreen application part of the morning routine before school. Students are encouraged to bring their own sunscreen if they require a particular brand or formulation and will be given an opportunity to re-apply before going out to play if needed. Please continue to support your child to develop independence in applying and reapplying sunscreen as part of good SunSmart habits.

📅 Term 4 Calendar: Our Term 4 calendar has been updated slightly, so please take a moment to look through the latest version carefully (attached). There is a lot happening this term, particularly as we move towards the end of the school year, with excursions, incursions, special events, celebrations and transition activities all coming up. We recommend keeping the calendar handy and continuing to check Compass for reminders and any further updates.

💐 Farewell to Mrs Linda Hawkless

We would like to let our community know that Mrs Linda Hawkless has accepted a Learning Specialist position at Banyan Fields Primary School, commencing in Term 4. Linda has been a valued member of our school community over the past six years, and we sincerely thank her for the care, support and commitment she has shown to our students, families and staff throughout her time at Seaford Park. While Linda is commencing her new role, she will still be back onsite at Seaford Park at various times throughout Term 4 to support us with some pre-arranged meetings in October and November. This will also provide an opportunity for students and families to touch base with Linda, say farewell and wish her all the very best as she takes this exciting next step in her career. We congratulate Linda on her new position and thank her for everything she has contributed to Seaford Park over the past six years!

🎓 Student Scholarships

The Department of Education manages a range of student scholarships. These are available for students who:

complete Grade 4 to Year 11 in 2026
are enrolled in Year 12 in 2026 and plan to do tertiary studies in 2027.

The department will evaluate applicants on their:

academic achievement
participation in school and community activities
financial need.

Scholarships are either one-off payments or cover the duration of the student’s course. Applications for these scholarships open on Thursday 1 October 2026 and close on Monday 1 February 2027. To view all available scholarships and for more information on each, including how to apply, refer to Student scholarships. We encourage families with eligible students to review the information and consider applying.

⏰ 2027 School Day – Proposal to Change Eating and Break Times

As part of our planning for 2027, we are considering some changes to the way our eating and break times are structured throughout the school day. There will be no change to our school start or finish times. The proposed changes have been carefully considered based on what we have observed across the school this year and are designed to create a more balanced school day that supports student wellbeing, regulation, positive social interactions and readiness for learning.

Current Eating and Break Times

10:00am – Fruit Snack 11:00am – 11:10am – Morning Tea Eating 11:10am – 11:30am – Recess (outdoor play – 20 minutes) 1:30pm – 1:40pm – Lunch Eating 1:40pm – 2:30pm – Lunch (outdoor play – 50 minutes)

Proposed Eating and Break Times from 2027

10:00am – Fruit Snack 10:50am – 11:30am – Recess (outdoor play – 40 minutes) 11:30am – 11:40am – Morning Tea Eating 1:40pm – 1:50pm – Lunch Eating 1:50pm – 2:20pm – Lunch (outdoor play – 30 minutes)

Why are we proposing these changes? One of the key considerations is creating a better balance of outdoor play across the school day. Currently, students have a relatively short 20-minute recess followed by a much longer 50-minute lunch break. Throughout this year, we have observed that 50 minutes of unstructured outdoor play can be a long period for many students to successfully navigate. As the break continues, students can become tired or dysregulated, and we can see an increase in friendship difficulties, disagreements and other social challenges.

Moving to a 40-minute recess and 30-minute lunch break would maintain the same overall amount of outdoor play while distributing it more evenly across the day. We believe this will provide students with meaningful opportunities to play, connect with friends and be active, without one extended period becoming difficult to manage. It also means students will have a longer opportunity to move and reset earlier in the day before returning to learning.

We are also proposing that students eat after their morning recess rather than before going outside. After being active, students are often more ready to sit, eat and drink. Importantly, this also creates a natural transition between the playground and the classroom. Students can return inside, settle with their class, eat together and prepare themselves for the next learning session.

This short eating period also provides teachers with an opportunity to check in with students following the break, support them to resolve any minor friendship or playground concerns, and help students regulate before learning begins. Rather than moving directly from active outdoor play into academic learning, students have a calm transition period to reset and refocus.

Overall, the proposal is about creating a school day that is more balanced, predictable and supportive of all learners. By better balancing outdoor play, providing calmer transitions and aligning our learning blocks, we believe the proposed structure will help students return to class more settled and ready to engage in their learning.

We would love your feedback: Before making any final decisions, we would really value feedback from our families. Please take a few minutes to review the proposed changes and share your thoughts through the short Google Form linked here. Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback and for working in partnership with us as we consider how we can best structure the school day to support the learning and wellbeing of all students in 2027.

We have a fantastic Term 4 ahead, and we look forward to continuing to work in partnership with our families to support every student to learn, grow and achieve their personal best.

Thank you for your ongoing support, and welcome back to Term 4!

Warm regards,

Stephania Johnson-Turner

Student of the Week Award Winners