Out and about at Surfside

It has definitely been a busy fortnight so please check the calendar to be up to date with upcoming events but below is a snapshot of the next fortnight

March

Tues 10th -Fri 20th - Years 4 and 6 Swimming Program

Wed 11th  - Mon 23rd - NAPLAN Testing Window 

Thu 12th   - Breakfast Club @ 7.45am in the kitchen

Mon 16th  - Easter Raffle Tickets go Home to Families

Tues 17th - School Council AGM - 5.30pm (Finance 5.00pm)

Tues 17th - School Council AGM - 5.30pm (Finance 5.00pm)                      

Thu 19th   - Breakfast Club @ 7.45am in the kitchen

Fri 20th     - Assembly @ 2.30pm - courtyard

Mon 23rd - Thu 2nd - Years 3 and 5 Swimming Program

Thu 26th   - Breakfast Club @ 7.45am in the kitchen

Fri 27th     - VSSS First Rehearsal

Sat 28th    - One Planet Festival 11am-5pm

Tue 31st    - Easter Raffle Tickets and Money Due Back Today

Introducing the staff and teams at Surfside

During term 1 we will introduce our teams throughout our upcoming newsletters - these are the awesome people that make Surfside tick along. 

Introducing our Middle Years Teaching Team

Year 3

We have a year 3 team of 3 classes in 2026 and with growing numbers at Surfside we have seen 2 of our year 3 classes set up camp in our newest rooms - Room 25 and 26. Mrs Lonergan, Mrs Betts, Ms Mock and Ms Florence have been working together for a while now and love to look at different ways to challenge our students and provide fun and engaging activities. They have started the year strong and enjoyed preparing the students for NAPLAN in a supportive environment. Even though they are on different sides of the school the cohort of students and staff enjoy coming together. They are looking forward to many opportunities, activities and learning experiences throughout the year.

Year 4

The year 4 team have settled in nicely as a team and love working together. We have seen some newcomers to year 4 with Mr Hair and Ms Jones joining the dynamic team of Mrs McCredden, Mrs Wright and Mrs Ried. Like our year 5 team we will wish Mrs Ried all the best as she leaves us early term 2 to have another baby and spend some time with her family. We look forward to welcoming a new staff member to the team toward the end of term 1 to support a successful transition. There are many things that the year 4 team are looking forward to in 2026 and one of the many highlights includes our year 4 camp.

NAPLAN

It has been a highlight of the week to see our year 3 and year 5 students begin their NAPLAN testing this week. This week our students have completed their writing and reading tests even after a nationwide outage for our online testing for year 5 writing. Next week our students will complete the conventions of language and numeracy testing. A big thank you to all of our year 3 and 5 teachers and support staff for providing a comfortable environment for the students to have the best opportunity to be the best they can be. NAPLAN is a test in time to compliment many other forms of data that we currently have to guide student learning at their point of need as well as supporting social and emotional needs. Teachers and schools collect valuable data on a daily basis and are always planning ways to respond to student need and achievement. NAPLAN allows a school to set goals and focus areas in specific skills on an ongoing basis so it is a valuable tool to guide the direction of the school. With NAPLAN now making the move to an online delivery platform there is a lot of work that happens in the background to allow the testing period to run smoothly. A big thank you to Mr Adrian Chapman (Learning Specialist), Emily Walker (Technician) and the year 3 and 5 teaching and support staff for all of their organisation.

SSV Summer Lightning Premiership

Our year 6's and selected year 5 students participated in a variety of sports against our local school district last week. Another glorious day with sunshine and great conditions greeted the students at Shell Road Reserve. The students showed a variety of skills and displayed our school values in the following sports - tennis, soccer, T-Ball and cricket. A big thank you to Mr Ryan Baker, the year 6 team and our many supporters for their support and preparation for our representative sport program.

SSV Division Swimming Championships

Well done to the amazing students who participated in the recent SSV Division Swimming Championships on Tuesday at Kardinia Aquatic Centre. The students performed to their best across a range of events and age groups and displayed such amazing support of each other and their opposition. Congratulations to Nash who qualified to compete at the Regional Championships and it was great to see the majority of Surfside students beat their seed time on the day. A big thank you to Mr Baker and the parent/carer support crew for their support on the day.

Art at Surfside

Please feel free to head down the main hallway of the main building after drop off or before pick up to check out the amazing art work that our students have been working on this term. The Art Show isn't until term 4 but it is always a highlight to check out the vibrant colours, different techniques and specific focus areas of our Prep to 6 students. A big thank you to Mrs Mercer, Mrs O'Toole and Mrs Richardson for the amazing work they do in the art room.

Surfside Primary at the One Planet Festival - Come Visit Us!

We’re excited to share that Surfside Primary School will be hosting a stall at the One Planet Festival at Ocean Grove Park. The One Planet Festival is a vibrant, community-led celebration of local solutions for a thriving, fair, connected future.Through hands on workshops, engaging talks, family fun, and inspiring performances, the festival will bring together people of all ages to imagine- and help create- the world we want to live in!In 2026 it's even bigger, more zones, interactive activities, live demonstrations and much more! The festival also includes something for everyone with food and drinks, and a great music line-up.

Our Food Scrap Friday initiative and our passionate Food Scrap Friday Warriors will be proudly showcased on the day. Each week, our students take action to reduce waste and care for our environment by collecting and managing food scraps in sustainable ways. Their leadership and commitment are making a real difference in our school and beyond.

Our amazing Kitchen and Garden Captains and Sustainability Captains have been working closely with Ms Mel O’Toole to prepare creative and engaging ways to demonstrate what we do and how simple it can be to start managing food scraps at home or within your community.

Be sure to come down and visit our stall, we would love your support! Come along, say hello, and celebrate sustainability with us!

Parents Battle of the Bands 2026

Attention musical parents,

We are currently gathering expressions of interest from parents who would like to form a Parent Band and compete in the Parent Battle of the Bands in our region.

If this is something you would be interested in, please complete the Google Form linked below and we will be in touch.

Parent Battel Of The Bands Google Form

2027 Sibling Enrolments 

It has been great to see our Prep students start full time and we are already planning our 2026 Prep enrolment tours and information sessions. Our official enrolment period for 2026 opens on day 1 of term 2. Under Department of Education guidance Surfside Primary School currentlay has in place an Enrolment Management Plan as we are currently at capacity. We are only able to currently fulfil the following within the DET placement policy:

'In circumstances where schools do not have sufficient accommodation to accept all students who apply from outside their school zone, schools must manage enrolment applications in accordance with the following priority order of placement:

1. students with a sibling at the same permanent address who are attending the school at the same time
2. all other students in order of closeness of their home to the school (only within the designated Find my School zone)

If you have a younger child that is ready for school in 2026 we would appreciate you letting us know  so we can ensure a place for you in 2026.  Please refer to the Prep enrolment timeline and guidelines below and this information will be in our newsletters throughout term 2:

The timeline will apply for children starting Foundation (Prep) in 2026.

You can find information and resources about the timeline, including factsheets, at: Enrolling in Foundation (Prep). You can also download the ‘Foundation (Prep) Enrolment Information Pack for Parents/Carers for the 2025 school year’ from the Starting School webpage. (available from Tuesday 24th April)

You will be able to apply to enrol your child in Foundation (Prep) 2026 at Surfside Primary School from Tuesday 24th April 2025.

What you need to do:

1. Contact the school on 5256 1411, pop into the office or book a school tour when tours are made available 
2. Submit an enrolment application for Foundation (Prep) by Friday 25 July 2025
3. You will be notified of the outcome of your application between Monday 28th July and Friday 8th August, 2025. If you receive an offer of placement, you should contact our school to accept the offer by Friday 22nd August 2025.
4. Take part in enrolment information and transition sessions during Term 4, 2024
5. Your child will start Foundation (Prep) from the week starting Wednesday 28th January 2026.

Enrolment applications submitted after Friday 25th July, 2025 will be processed by our school as they are received, in accordance with the department’s Placement Policy.

Student Attendance

Regular attendance at school is very important for your child's learning and social development. Very good attendance for a child is 95% and above.

It is important that children are at school as much as possible to ensure the BEST opportunity for learning growth. We need to utilise every available minute to ensure student growth academically, socially and emotionally, in and out of the classroom. 

If early collection for a shopping trip or to beat the traffic happens on a regular basis this can take away from valuable learning time throughout their schooling life. Please take the time to read the graphic below and to understand the long term affect this can have on student development. We understand that students are impacted by illness, injury or other ailments. If your child is going to be absent you are required by legislation to notify the school by:

• Logging onto Compass  and
• Enter the absence for full days only 
• If your child/children arrive late or are being collected early, the office staff will enter this onto Compass for you.

School Council 2026 AGM and School Council Meeting

We look forward to welcoming our new school council for the 2026 school year following our upcoming Annual General Meeting in week 8 on Tuesday 17th March and returning members for 2026. We are pleased to announce the composition of our 2026 school council and welcome the following new members following our call for nominations:

• Laura Beveridge
• Luke Eustace
• Sabrina Lunn

School Council Composition 2026

Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday 17th March

• Finance Meeting
• AGM
• School Council Meeting