Oakleigh PS Newsletter

From the Principal

We’ve had beautiful Autumn weather, with glorious sunshine! However, the mornings have now turned cold and crisp, which is a good reminder to ensure your child packs their school jumper and a jacket. 

Education Support Day

The 16th of May is Education Support Day. I would like to thank our Education Support staff for the work that they do. Our office staff of Katherine, Susan and Anne do an outstanding job in all aspects of office administration, customer service, first aid, HR and finance matters. Anne does an outstanding job in making sure our library is warm and inviting for students and quality literature is available. Riva’s role as counsellor is an important one, supporting students and families in need. Rita, Christina, Koula, Tina, Sumi, Bev, Rosy, Miyuki and Tamara give excellent support to teachers, parents and students with additional needs and are patient and caring. I thank all of our ES for the tireless and often unseen work they do. We are commemorating their work with a morning tea this week. I encourage all families to thank our Education Support staff by thanking personally or some other personal gesture such as writing a card or picking some flowers from your garden. Without our Education Support staff, our school would not run as smoothly as it does!

Building Projects and contributions 

Over the school holidays and this term, you may have noticed that a number of buildings and grounds projects have occurred:

  • Walls filled in between the Year 1 and 5/6 classroom to reduce noise and a 
  • Wall constructed with a door to create a more private Assistant Principal Office
  • Retaining wall replaced at the front office
  • Signage around the gates about entrances 
  • Foo Foo is having a face lift
  • Telephones in all classrooms to enhance communication 
  • A major clean up, prune and weed killing around the school 

We thank the many families who have paid the voluntary contributions, which have helped to fund many of these projects. It may not seem much, but it does all add up and is funnelled towards making improvements to the school for our students. 

 

We have further projects in the pipeline to consider such as redevelopment to the back of the school and further signage improvements. 

 

School Review - Parent Survey 

In Term 4, we have our School Review. The first part of the review is completing the Pre-Review Self Evaluation. As part of this process, there is a parent survey to give feedback about the school. You can find the link to the survey here:

https://forms.gle/zi1qd6YcT2QGSGeo7

 

Please complete the survey by Friday, 6 June 2025. 

 

During the review process in Term 4, there will also be opportunities for parents to meet with the reviewer and provide more feedback. I will inform the community when we know the dates of this. 

Book Fair 

Our Book Fair is open this week, with a range of fantastic books for families to purchase. 

Thank you to Anne for organising this opportunity for students and helping to foster an interest and love of reading!

Hot Cross Buns

At the end of Term 1, we ran a successful hot cross bun drive. Thank you to Oakleigh Baker’s Delight for supplying the delicious buns, The owner is a family at our school, and we are happy to support local businesses. The school raised $397.50 which is a great result. I thank our School Council events committee chaired by Melissa for helping to run the event with our office staff. 

Illness at School

As we enter the colder months, we would like to remind our families about the importance of keeping children home when they are feeling unwell. Currently, we are seeing increase levels of influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other infections among children.

 

If your child is experiencing symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, fever, vomiting, or diarrhoea, we kindly ask that you keep them at home to rest and recover. This will not only help prevent the spread of illness within our school but also allow your child the time they need to fully recover.

 

Additionally, we request that if your child is diagnosed with any virus, including RSV, influenza, COVID-19, or another viral infection by a doctor, you inform the school as soon as possible. This information helps us monitor the health of all our children and ensures we can take necessary precautions to keep our community safe and healthy.

 

We greatly appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time. By working together, we can help ensure a safe and healthy environment for all our children, staff, and families.

National Sorry Day – Friday 26 May

National Sorry Day is the day to remember and acknowledge the hurt and damage caused in the past by our governments when they forcibly removed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, communities, and cultures. 

 

National Sorry Day marks the anniversary of the tabling of the Bringing them Home report in the Australian Parliament in 1997. The report detailed the history of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, often referred to as the Stolen Generations, under laws enacted by Australian governments.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week – 27 May to 3 June – is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The theme for this year's Reconciliation Week is: Bridging Now to Next. The theme reflects the ongoing connection between past, present and future. Bridging Now to Next calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.

 

 

At Oakleigh we include indigenous perspectives in our curriculum programs each term so that our students understand the culture, history and viewpoints of first nations peoples. Our flag monitors each day raise the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flags and all classes have created their own acknowledgement of country. Together with OSHC and the kinder we are creating a Reconciliation Action Plan.

 

For more information on Reconciliation Week visit the website: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/

 

Have a great month!

 

Ruth Biddle

Principal