From Our Principals

Dear Parents and Carers,

Many parents have asked me over the past few weeks if we are starting to wind up and enjoy the end of the year. My response every time is that nothing could be further from the truth! Term 4 is always a busy time for school staff as we prepare for semester reports, engage in workforce and budgetary planning for next year, build timetables, plan curriculum days, finalise plans for end of year events, support our incoming Prep and outgoing Year 6 students for their transition process, etc. And all of this while continuing to delivery high impact teaching for all of the students who walk through our doors every morning. 

There is no busier time for any person who works in a school than the last few weeks of Term 4. I want to thank the staff at Ormond Primary School who, despite all the administrative pressure they are under, continue to greet your children with a smile on their faces and a word of encouragement in order to maximise learning before the year closes on December 20th. 

2025 Grades

Over the past few weeks, the teams have been considering how the students in their current grades work together, and how we can place all of our students to ensure that each one is in the best possible learning environment for them. The students' voice is considered as we build the grades and this process takes weeks of attention and focus. 

Our aim is to ensure that there is balance between grades. A balance in relation to academic strengths and focus areas; a balance between students who require additional supports to enable and extend their learning, to interact and engage with the curriculum at a meaningful level, and to interact and engage with their classmates appropriately. There is no easy way to do that and it is likely that there will be people in your child's grade that they do not consider a friend. However, moving one student has knock on effects on other students, which quickly turns into a domino effect. It is also likely that there will be students in the other year-level grade that they would also rather not share a classroom with. And this goes for every student in our school. The result of our work is grades that ensure every child, with the support of their teachers, integration aides. We appreciate your support in celebrating the adventures that 2025 will bring with your children.

As announced last week, the team have decided to introduced 4 composite Year 1/2 grades in 2025. This is very common, particularly in small schools, as we build our culture of professional learning communities and our capacity to target the teaching and learning to the individual needs of our students. 

The students will find out who their teacher for 2025 will be on our last transition session. The whole school will spend most of the day on December 10th with their new classmates and with their teacher. 

Leadership Speeches

Congratulations to all of the students in Year 5 who self-nominated for a student leadership position in 2025. All of the candidates presented their campaign speech to the senior students and staff this week. Each one of them spoke with confidence, adding in jokes, quotes and audience engagement strategies to maximise their votes. The speeches formed one part of a much bigger process that we will continue to work through this term. 

The student leaders for 2025 will be announced at our last assembly of the year on December 20th. 

Disco

Thank you to the volunteer parents who organised and ran our silent disco this month. The students (and adults) had a fantastic time. 

The team reflected on the sign-in process for the junior disco, which took longer than we would have liked. We adjusted our approach in preparation for the senior disco to ensure everybody could be signed in quickly but more efficiently. This resulted in the students having more time to enjoy the time with their friends. As the team consider the disco plans in 2025, we will use the information gained this year to ensure improvements. 

If you have any other feedback, please send it through to the office or speak to any member of the Parents and Friends Association. 

Splash & Dash Funds Raised

Last Friday we had an extremely successful Splash & Dash event. Once all of the costs involved were taken into account, we raised a total of $13,305.71!  We have already used part of these funds to purchase a portable microphone and speaker system, that we used on the day. The balance has been earmarked towards upgrading our sound system in the hall.

I'd like to congratulate the amazing P&F crew and all the volunteers for all their hard work and for making the day so much fun! The team have already started preparing for a similar event in 2025, so watch this space. 

We took a huge amount of photographs but are limited in what we can share because many families have not yet completed the permission form on Compass. If you haven't yet found the time to complete that form, please do so at your earliest convenience. 

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund

The CSEF provides payments to assist eligible families to cover the costs of camps, sporting activities and excursions.

Payments are made directly to an eligible student’s school. Schools must use a CSEF payment only for the eligible student and not for that student’s siblings or any other student (except where the eligible student leaves the Victorian education system and there are remaining and unspent funds).

To be eligible to receive CSEF funding, evidence of a valid Healthcare Card/or Veterans Affairs Card-Gold  (in Parents/Guardians name not Childs)

Some common examples of school-organised programs for which a CSEF payment may be used include:

• school camps/trips
• swimming and other school-organised sporting programs
• outdoor education programs
• excursions/incursions
• graduations.

The CSEF payment cannot be used towards:

• books
• stationery
• school uniforms
• before/after school care
• music lessons
• locker hire
• classroom and homework materials
• formals or debutant balls
• other expenses unrelated to camps, sports or excursions.

For a confidential discussion about accessing these services, or if you would like to discuss alternative payment arrangements, contact Helen Taylor (Business Manager) on 9578 1327 or email Helen.Taylor2@education.vic.gov.au to discuss possible support options and flexible payment arrangements.  Any information about your financial circumstances, payment arrangements or status is strictly confidential.

Please see the CSEF Application Form attached.

Furniture Upgrade

The Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee of School Council are delighted to announce that we have ordered new furniture for our classrooms. Every child in Years 1-6 will return to school in 2025 to bright, fresh furniture. There will be some logistical challenges as we approach the end of term, with which we will need your support.

In the last week of term, we will begin removing the furniture that is currently in our classrooms. If you, or anybody you know, could use any of the tables or chairs, please let us know. We will invite you to make a donation to the school in return. We are hoping to recycle the metal legs of the chairs and tables and the rest will be disposed of. 

This furniture removal process may cause disruption to classes in the last few days as the quantity of chairs and tables will reduce. The teachers will try to make these days as fun and engaging as possible through floor-time and outside-time activities. It will all be worth it when the new furniture arrives towards the end of the school holidays.

We have already paid for 50% of the furniture using our accumulated Building Fund. However, we have a $50,000 balance that we need your help with! We would be very grateful for any additional support you can provide through our parent payments, that will be published soon. Donations to our Building Fund are tax deductible. Once we manage to cover the cost of the furniture, additional fundraising activities in 2025 will be directed to:

1. Adding additional bike racks for the students
2. Installing a new water fountain at the back of the oval
3. Replacing the second playground and sandpit on the main yard

Regards,

Patrick Halpin and Aaron Jones