Dear Families,

Welcome back: A fantastic start to the week with our Foundation students joining us for a very hot and wet Monday, followed by a hot and humid Tuesday. Congratulations to all families on getting through these few days and I hope your family routines are starting to kick in. Routines are so important for our new learners as it creates consistency and predictability which decreases their stress and anxiety. Think about yourself and how big changes impact you – now think of the little ones and what their brains are going through this week! A special thanks to all staff too – welcoming students back, helping them settle and establish routines too.

Sleep: Staff learnt more about the importance of sleep in conjunction with learning and how the brain ‘gets cleaned’ and more connections or pathways are made to solidify the learning. I know I have observed my own children not being able to do something one day, but then it feels like they can the next day! Keep an eye on this with your young person – the brain is amazing, and we need to give it rest, downtime and good sleep!

Meet & Greets: During week 3 we strongly encourage all families to engage with our Meet & Greet sessions. This is a time for the teacher to listen to families and help get a greater understanding of your child and their learning. Teachers will not be reporting back to families but will be asking a few questions and hope to build a positive relationship with you for the remainder of the year.

Sentral bookings for 10 min slots will open today, 5th Feb at 3pm. Please book via the Sentral portal where you can also manage your bookings up until it closes. The Specialist team will be in their teaching spaces during the Meet & Greets for families to visit. A great way to get a sneak peek at their program too!

In your Sentral App, click "Parent Teacher Interviews". In here you will find the dates and times that are available for booking. The bookings will open today Wednesday 5th February at 3pm and close Monday 10th of February at 9am.

Assembly: Every odd week (this is week 2 now) we will host an assembly in the gym with our new school leaders (Ben S, Juliette M, Eddie H & Halle B) facilitating it. Assembly is usually from 2.45pm and is for the whole school – all 618 students and any families who would like to attend are more than welcome. In Week 3 (next Friday) our School Leaders will have their badges formally presented to them! Hope to see many families at assembly.

Laurie, Jordan and Eddie: Many of us know our ever-reliable crossing supervisor on Draper St. Laurie is there in the sun, rain, hail and wind to help us ensure safe travel. But let’s not forget Jordan on Presidents Ave and Eddie on Field St North. All three are vital in helping us cross the road safely! Please say hi as we use the designated crossings and stay safe.

Lost Property: Please ensure your child's jumpers, hats, lunchboxes (and containers) along with drink bottles are clearly labelled with your child's name so if the item becomes lost, they can easily be returned to the owner! Feel free to check the lost property trolley in the hallway near the Art Room if an item has been lost at school. The trolley is already filling up and we have only been at school a few days

Camp Australia: A reminder we have before and after school care available onsite. See Camp Australia website (campaustralia.com.au/) for more details or pop in and see the team in the library building.

Brainstorm Theatre & Cyber safety: We all know how important cyber safety is and we all want our children to be safe online. We do need to explicitly teach and remind our young people of appropriate and acceptable behaviours online and in real life! We have Brainstorm Theatre Company coming to OGPS on Feb 13th to help convey the messages around cyber safety. The 'BEING BRAVE' performance will have the key themes of: Resilience, Emotional Wellbeing, Bullying/Cyberbullying and Coping with Loss and Change. This links nicely to setting up our school agreements and distributing to the community. Parents are asked to acknowledge receipt of the agreement in Sentral and students will discuss and sign off at school. Let’s all work together to keep our students safe online. Please continue to have conversations with your children about cyber safety.

School Council: We have 1 parent vacancy on School Council this year and this is a call for nominations. You can be nominated by someone else (and I hope they let you know they are nominating you) or you can self-nominate. Should we receive more than 1 nomination, we will hold an election process. Closing date for nominations is Wednesday 12th Feb, 2025. Please collect a nomination form from the Admin team or feel free to speak with Kristy, Lara or myself about the role of School Councillor. We will also have a number of sub-committees running again where you may feel you would like to be involved. Reach out and we can put you in touch with the chair of that sub-committee.

Have a great week everyone.

Scott McCumber

Principal