Principal's Message

Welcome to 2025

What a start to 2025! It truly feels like we’re already in the middle of the year with how well everyone has settled in and gelled together. The new Preps have hit the ground running, forming strong friendships and embracing school life with so much confidence.

In my 20+ years in education, I have never seen such a strong start to a school year as I have this year. This is a credit to the incredible community that you, as families, have built, as well as the strong communication skills the children have developed. These foundations are what help create the supportive, connected environment we are seeing now.

Of course, I also have to acknowledge our dedicated staff, who have welcomed every new student and set high expectations in their teaching from day one. Their enthusiasm and commitment have ensured that all students are engaged and thriving already.

Thank you to our students, families, and staff for making this such a fantastic beginning. If this is how we’re starting the year, I can’t wait to see what’s ahead.

Supporting Learning From Start to Finish

School begins promptly at 9:00 am and finishes at 3:30 pm each day. We understand that appointments and commitments arise, and there will be times when students need to leave early or arrive late. However, we kindly ask for your support in ensuring that students are accessing the full education we provide.

When students are regularly picked up early, they miss key parts of their learning, making it difficult for them to fully grasp and demonstrate their understanding. Learning is much like a jigsaw puzzle—each lesson is a vital piece, and without it, the full picture doesn’t come together as easily. The same applies to the start of the day, where we set the scene, outline what’s ahead, and dive straight into our learning.

Likewise, as the school day comes to a close, we ask that families be mindful of noise levels during pick-up. Loud conversations near classrooms can be distracting as students complete their final learning tasks. Keeping voices low helps maintain a calm and focused environment right up until the final bell.

Your support in both areas ensures that every student gets the most out of their school day. Thank you for working with us to create the best possible learning experience!

Keeping Communication Flowing

We love working together with families to support our students, and to help streamline communication, we kindly ask that all emails relating to your child be sent to bolinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au. From there, we’ll make sure they get to the right staff member.

We also really appreciate a phone call whenever possible—whether it’s something great to share or a concern that needs addressing, having that conversation early often helps us find solutions quickly and keep things running smoothly.

We’ll always do our best to respond to general queries as soon as we can, but we also appreciate your patience. The Right to Disconnect legislation means that staff aren’t expected to monitor or respond to emails outside of working hours, and we want to respect everyone’s time.

Here’s how we’ll manage responses:

📌 General queries – We aim to respond within 2–3 working days.

📌 Urgent matters – We’ll do our best to respond within 24 hours where possible.

📌 If it’s urgent and relates to your child on the day – Please call us directly on 5428 5317.

Thank you for your support—we really appreciate working together to make sure communication is clear and effective for everyone!

Toilet Update - Almost There!

We’re pleased to share that the new toilets are ready to go and should be handed over to us any day now! As with any big project, there’s always a bit of a hold-up—in this case, we’re just waiting on the final compliance documents to be completed and signed off by the Victorian School Building Authority before we officially get the keys.

While there will still be a few minor adjustments over the coming weeks, the bottom line is that they’re good to go. The kids have been super excited about the upgrade, and I get asked at least five times a day when they will be ready to use!

I’ll let you know as soon as they are officially open!

New Line Markings

Over the holidays, our all-weather court got a much-needed new lease on life, thanks to the incredible efforts of William's and Ryka's family, who helped repaint the lines. They certainly stand out now, making the court look fantastic and ready for action!

With the warmer weather, the children are patiently waiting for things to cool down a bit before they kick off the inevitable Downball craze—and we know it won’t be long!

A huge thank you to everyone who made this possible—we truly appreciate your time and effort in keeping our school looking great!

Home Chats & Family BBQ

We’re excited to invite all families to our annual family BBQ on Thursday, February 27th, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Fingers crossed for great weather! The school will be providing sausages and bread, so feel free to bring along any extras you love to have with your BBQ meal.

This is always a fantastic event, giving families a chance to come together, catch up after the summer break, and welcome our new families into the community. Kids will have plenty of space to run around and enjoy the evening, while parents and carers can meet and connect.

At the heart of our school is a strong partnership between families and teachers. Each year, we set aside time for parents to meet with their child’s teacher, ensuring open communication and a shared focus on student learning. While many of you already know our teachers well, these home chat sessions are a great opportunity for getting to know your teacher and sharing any information about your child that you think they need to know.

Home chats will be held on:

Monday, February 10th and Thursday, February 13th

3:30 pm – 4:40 pm (10-minute sessions)

Bookings are now open via Compass. Simply log in and click on the conference booking link. If the allocated time isn’t enough for a full discussion, you’re always welcome to arrange a follow-up meeting with your child’s teacher.

If you need assistance booking, feel free to contact the school office—we’re happy to help. We look forward to seeing you at the BBQ and connecting with you at the home chats!