Principal's News
In a week where we saw our Year 3-6 Athletics team represent our school on Wednesday, it feels pertinent to reflect on the greatness of Usain Bolt who on this day in 2016, won the coveted 100m Olympic gold medal in 9.81 seconds at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, becoming the first man to win the event three times. There are often times at the moment, where I struggle to even get my keys out of my pocket and open the front door in 9.81 seconds.
I hope you have enjoyed a great fortnight around the school, we have certainly experienced a wetter two weeks but we are nearing the middle of August and spring is on the horizon. Thank you for taking some time to review our whole school newsletter and some highlights from around the school.
District Athletics
Congratulations to our Year 3-6 CPS Athletics Team that represented our school on Wednesday, putting forward to some wonderful individual performances and representing our school proudly. Thank you to Miss Molloy, Mrs Newman and Theo who supported our students on the day. There were many individual highlights and I was very proud to hear of their efforts and support they offered one another.
A big acknowledgement and shout out to Jacob-John (Year 3/4C) who participated and won in the Multiclass 100m and Long Jump events at District Athletics. Well Done J-J! Further individual highlights included performances from Ada W and and Meina W both setting Southport District Athletics records in the 12/13 Discus (Meina) and 12/13 High Jump (Ada). We have nine students who will move on to represent the school at Division Athletics in Term 4, congratulations to Julian R and Ata S (Hurdles), Hudson S (200m), J-J (100m and Long Jump), Adele C (Long Jump), Ada W (High Jump and Triple Jump), Meina W, Lucien G, Aidan R (Discus).
Prep 2027 Enrolment
Could we encourage families and younger siblings that have received an offer for Prep 2027 to please review, action and respond to the offer by Friday 28 August 2026. This allows us to begin planning for 2027 with greater confidence as we identify numbers for the year ahead.
Whole School Swimming
My sincere thanks to our teaching staff and Miss Molloy who have committed to a really important two week swimming program at GESAC. We are mindful of the flexibility required and the impact on the school week that this program has but we also are steadfast in our commitment to swimming and a water safety program.
11 children between the ages of 5-14 died as a result of drowning in 2024/25 with over half of these fatalities as a result of swimming or recreational activities. Students in school based swimming programs work towards the Victorian water safety certificate outlining competencies to be achieved by the end of primary school including:
- Swim continuously for 50 meters
- Surface dive, swim underwater and recover an object from deep water
- Respond appropriately to various water safety scenarios
I will also put it to students and families that the more time spent in and around water, the more comfortable students will become. It was great to see our students engage in the program over the last two weeks and to learn these important skills and develop their competence around the water.
Principals’ Day
Last Friday was a chance to celebrate Principals’ Day, in a role that continues to evolve, principals are often asked to manage trauma, grief, significant events and external influences. I have so much respect for principals and assistant principals in our system. The job is incredibly rewarding but also can find you managing complexity and challenges, indeed the role of schools has changed and continues to evolve. As well as being places of academic learning, schools are now pivotal in supporting student health and wellbeing and fostering social connection. Parents and carers look to schools for support as they raise children and adolescents in our complex world.
I am deeply appreciative that I get to work with our school community, to see our students, staff and families have trust in our school and to support what we are looking to achieve. Morioka sensei and I arrived to school on Friday morning to a very special collection of notes on our office door, to those families that reached out via email or in person, thank you so much for the support.
Team Kids Mad Awards
Congratulations to our Team Kids – Making A Difference (MAD) Award winners this fortnight, Luna M (Prep C), Mathias P-P (3/4A) and Joanna C-P (3/4D).
Specialist Awards:
Congratulations to our four specialist award winners that were recognised at our assembly, Emmanuel G (Visual Arts), Harriet G (PE), Sophia E (STEM), Luka G (Performing Arts). Well done on such a great fortnight around the school.
Parent Opinion Survey
Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Carer Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.
Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. The Parent / Carer Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 17 August to Friday 18 September 2026.
Report Updates
The Department of Education has updated its student reporting policy to support a more consistent statewide approach to reporting student achievement and progress. The changes are intended to make reports clearer for parents and easier for teachers to prepare. Where comments are used, they provide plain English information about what a student has learned, and the progress they have made.
The updated approach will also improve the consistency of information shared when students move between schools, particularly from primary to secondary school. These changes are designed to be fully implemented by Semester 1, 2027. We will continue to look to keep you informed as this evolves.
Book Week
How good is Book Week?! We have such a fun week planned to celebrate the importance of literature in our lives. Take a look at what the week entails:
- Friday 21st August – Year 3-6 author visit, Stephen Mushin (author of Ultrawild)
- Monday 24th August – Dress up to celebrate Book Week with our special ‘Book Week Parade on Monday morning, the 2026 theme for book week is a ‘Symphony of Stories’.
- Monday 31st Aug – Friday 4th Sept – Avenue Bookstore help us celebrate Book Week with a special CPS Book Fair, providing students with an opportunity to purchase books with a percentage of sales returning back to the school.
- Tuesday 1st September – Prep – Year 2 Books to Life Incursion – A performance and live stage show based on the book, ‘Being iNDy’.
PIT Training
On Monday, our hard working Education Support team undertook the first of two training sessions on protective intervention training. Given the complexity of their work, this training addressed topics including situational context, organisational and legal standards, escalation cycles, emotional outbursts, regulation and trauma. It was a very engaging session of learning for staff and applicable to the roles of all education support and teaching staff in every school. We are scheduled to complete our second session in a few weeks’ time.
Japanese volunteers
For the next three weeks, we have two Japanese university students joining us through the TJFL program. Nanoka-san is staying with Ally in 3/4C and Zac in 1/2B, while Ayane-san is staying with Ellie in 5/6B. They are volunteering with us every day for the next three weeks. My sincere thanks to our families who have home stayed Nanoka and Ayane and for supporting their engagement with our school.
Tim Wilson Card Competition
The federal member for Goldstein, Tim Wilson has shared details with schools around the annual Goldstein Christmas/Hannukah Card Competition. Information on this competition is available on the Goldstein website with entries due on the 30th October. You can find more information linked here.
Last year, we had a number of students who were prize winners in this competition, I have printed off some hard copy entry sheets that are available in the office.
Industrial Action
The Department of Education has this week presented a revised Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) offer which is currently being considered by the AEU, APF, CPSU, ANMF and individual bargaining representatives. We have been advised by the AEU that the revised offer is currently with AEU members for consideration by 10 am on Monday 17 August 2026. We understand the stop-work action currently proposed by the AEU on Wednesday 19 August 2026 will not proceed should the EBA offer be supported. I will look to inform our school community of whether stop work industrial action will take place as early as possible. I once again appreciate your flexibility and support on this matter.
Professional Development
Our School Improvement Team Leaders (Morita sensei, Miss Gibson, Onda sensei) were able to join our network middle leaders program on Thursday afternoon for Session 2 of our Middle Leadership series with Dr Ryan Dunn. This work has focused on evaluating and knowing impact, providing a valuable opportunity to explore school improvement and the nuanced challenges of adaptive leadership. I thank Olivia, Takako and Asami for prioritising their leadership development and engaging in this series.
School Fete
Our CPS school fete is a little over three months away which is terribly exciting. Our fete committee are doing amazing things, securing sponsors, coordinating details and putting in a mountain of work to put on an exciting and celebratory day for our school community. You can bookmark our school fete website and keep in touch with everything that is happening, I can also send you over to our Fete update in every newsletter to keep informed around preparations for our 2026 school fete.
Bullying Prevention Week
Next week is Bullying No Way Week. The week, running from Monday 17 to Friday 21 August 2026, is a chance to take further action to make our schools safer for all students.
The theme for the week is ‘Small Acts, Big Impact’. It is a reminder that meaningful change often comes through small, deliberate actions. Schools know better than most that in every part of life, a small act of kindness can go a long way; even something as simple as a welcoming smile can make a big difference in a student’s day. This is the culture we are all driven to foster. A culture that is safe, welcoming, inclusive and supportive. A culture that does not tolerate bullying in any form.
At a governance level, our school council alongside the policy advisory team of the department of education recently reviewed, updated and approved our bullying prevention policy. We continue to attempt to make every day at school a positive experience for our students.
Wear it Purple Day
The Department of Education has a strong commitment to ensuring all Victorian government schools are respectful, safe and inclusive places of learning and work for all students, staff and members of our school communities. As part of this commitment, the department is supporting all schools to join many other schools and workplaces across the country to recognise and celebrate Wear it Purple Day on Friday 28 August 2026.
We support all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer, questioning and asexual (LGBTIQA+) young people in our schools and the community. Our school acts in accordance with obligations in the Child Safe Standards and department policy to uphold diversity and equity for everyone regardless of their background, characteristics or beliefs. At our school, we welcome anyone who wants to wear purple on the day to do so, to visibly show their support.
DigiMaker Science Week Competition
In conjunction with DigiMaker, We're celebrating Science Week with the Seeds of Science Coding Challenge, where students can create a game that helps a tiny seed grow into a thriving forest.
As a community challenge, there is an invite to all students in Grade 2 and above to take part. This competition is free for current and past Digimaker students. New participants are welcome to join with a small $10 administration fee by registering through the link: Science Week - Sign-up - Digimaker. Winning student will receive a whole free term of coding classes in Term 4!
Enjoy a great weekend, thank you for supporting a busy fortnight around the school.
Take Care,
Edward Strain
Principal