Principal's update
Hello everyone,
Here is the final school newsletter for term three, the last week of term.
Thank you everyone for your support and help over the term. We look forward to seeing you after the school holidays. Today we farewell Marcus and Lea who will be taking Long Service Leave in term four to travel with their family. We wish them all the best on their adventures. In term four Dana will increase her time to teach year 4/5 full-time and we will be joined by Kristie in Prep/one. On Wednesday classroom teachers spent the day out of the classrooms planning more exciting learning for term four. As Dana and Kristie were both here for the day, it was also a valuable handover opportunity.
Class dismissal today will be at 2.00pm for the end of term
Term four begins on Monday 06 October
If you have any questions or comments about anything, feel free to contact me.
Maldon Community Bank and the tool workshop for students
We are converting an unused section of the storage shed next to the sandpit into workshop space for students and for tool storage. I am very happy to share the news that we have been successful in receiving a grant for $1500 from the Maldon Community Bank to help us with costs such as installing power. We have already had some parents offer to assist with the work of clearing the space and fitting it out with workbenches etc. If you would like to assist, let me know - we have a lot to do and would to have the space ready to use asap.
Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey - closing today
A few weeks ago I sent a link via Compass for school families to complete the 2025 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey, as of today we have had 22 responses - more than last year. The survey closes today, it would be great to hear from more families
Library fundraiser
Thank you to all the very generous peoples who have been contributing to our library fundraiser. If you'd like to contribute, Please have a look at the Parents and Friends Page for more information
Community composting
From Eve; Are you interested in dropping off your food scraps at the school to be turned into beautiful compost and worm castings? We are setting up a community composting hub with a bucket swap-and-go system. We’ll be using Bokashi, a microbial powder, so that all food scraps including meat, cooked food, orange peel, onions etc can be included. If you are interested please let us know so that we can gauge interest. It would be free to participate apart from the purchase of the bokashi powder from the school ($15 for a packet that will last about 3 or 4 months on an average family’s food scraps)
Volunteers
Thank you to the many volunteers that we have at the school. This includes people helping in the library, Breakfast Club, cooking, gardening, listening to children read and more. We welcome more volunteers at the school.
To volunteer at a school you require a working with children check. This can be completed for free online.
Transition session for 2026 prep students
It was wonderful to see so many 2026 prep students and families at school at lunch time on Tuesday to meet Marcus and have a chat with each other. Next term we will begin our prep transition sessions.
As well as the four formal transition to school sessions most schools hold, at Taradale we also hold three additional optional 'sandpit play' sessions hosted by me to give the students additional time to familiarise themselves with the school and their new classmates as well as for parents to meet each other, have a chat and ask me questions.
Sandpit transition days - parents remain with children
Tuesday 14 October 1.15-2.15
Wednesday 22 October 1.15-2.15
Tuesday 28 October 1.15-2.15
Formal transition days - children join the prep class without parents (parents welcome to remain onsite)
Wednesday 19 November 9.00-11.00
Wednesday 26 November 9.00-11.00
Tuesday 02 December 9.00-11.30
Tuesday 09 December 9.00-1.15
2026 enrolments
This term I have been conducting regular school tours for people who have been interested in enrolling at the school for 2026, mainly for years other than prep.
For people still looking to enrol at a school for 2026, we are still running tours of the school and taking enrolments.
We are nearing our enrolment capacity, but with a larger than usual year 6 cohort leaving at the end of the year, next year we expect to be under the capacity and welcome enrolment enquiries from near and far - including people from outside the school zone.
If you or anyone you know is interested in knowing more about enrolling at Taradale PS, please contact me.
upcoming dates
- 19 September end term two 2.00pm
- 06 October start term 4
Chris
Christopher Burgess
Principal