From the Principal

Spring is here and there is only one week until the end of Term 3.  It has been an action-packed term 3 full of lots of exciting events over the 10 weeks.  Here is a snapshot of the term:  Camp for Grade 4 and 6 children, we had Several students participate in the Australian Mathematics Competition and the Prime Ministers Spelling Bee. We saw lots of great costumes as part of book week.  Sport featured heavily this term with Grade 3-6 House Athletics, District Cross country, District basketball, inter school sport finals and the Aerobics teams went to the Nationals in Adelaide. The Preps celebrated 100 days, the whole school had a fantastic day participating in our Mini Olympics and the term will conclude with our traditional Footy day. 

The Term 4 calendar is just as action packed; Grade 3 camp, Grade 5 Health Education Japanese day, F, 1 & 3 Swimming, transition sessions for our 2025 preps, whole school transition day for grades 1-5, Grade 6 sport gala days, excursions, incursions, Prep Portfolio presentations, and to finish the year we will farewell our grade 6 students as part of their Grade 6 Graduation.

SunSmart - Hats & Sunscreen

From Monday 2nd September children are required to wear a hat which is in line with our Sun Smart policy.  Please ensure your child has a school hat, navy and wide brimmed and named.  No Hat, No Play.  Sunscreen is available; however, we encourage children to bring a small tube of sunscreen which can be kept in their bag, and they can apply this before they go outside. 

Hats & OSHC If your child attends before or after school care they will need to keep their hat in their bag or have a spare hat in their bag, as the children will not be allowed to go to their classrooms before or after school. 

2025 School Year

If you have a child in Foundation to Year 5 who will not be returning to PPS next year, could you please inform the office or the class teacher via email parkdale.ps@education.vic.gov.au ASAP.  This will assist with planning for class structures and staffing for 2025.

Curriculum Day Friday 13th September – Pupil Free Day

Our curriculum day is a literacy focus with staff undertaking professional development learning about the components of PhOrMeS.

Grade 4 Camp

The Grade 4 students, teachers and parent volunteers leave for Camp Forest Edge on Monday.  The children are looking forward to spending time with their friends and enjoying the outdoor activities. 

Parent, Caregiver and Guardian Opinion Survey

Thank you to the families who have completed the survey thus far.  The survey is open until the end of term and only takes 20 minutes to complete and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. 

Congratulations – Spelling Bee

Congratulations and well done to all the students who participated in the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee. We had 60 students from grades 3-6 participate.  Well done to Dante, Marianne, Estella and Reyansh who went through to the State finals. 

Congratulations – Athletics Team

Congratulations and well done to the PPS Athletics team who participated in the District Athletics last Tuesday.  The PPS team placed first on the day with 34 students progressing to the Division finals in Term 4.

Best Wishes

Bri Beglau finished last week and has begun her family leave.  Jackie Sell will replace Bri for the remainder of the year.  We wish Bri and Sam all the very best upon the arrival of their first child. 

Congratulations and Farewell

Congratulations to Gareth Snow who has been appointed as Assistant Principal at Skye Primary School, he will take up this role at the start of next term. Gareth started his career at PPS 11 years ago and has been a valued staff member as part of teaching teams and as part of the leadership team.  We wish Gareth all the very best 

End of Term Friday 20th September– Early Dismissal and Assembly

The end of term assembly is on Friday 20th September at 2:00pm.  Children will be dismissed at 2:30pm from their classrooms.

I will be on leave from next Monday.  We hope all families enjoy the term break and we look forward to seeing everyone in Term 4. 

Kind regards

Leanne Bradney