Welcome

Wawa, Wominjika.

Here at Old Orchard Primary School, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we visit each day, the Wurrunguri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin nation. We acknowledge and respect the elders and leaders past and present and the elders and leaders of all of the cultures and nationalities that are part of the Old Orchard Primary School community. We express our gratitude towards the orchards that were kept in place by the peoples on this land before us. We thank the traditional owners for sharing this beautiful land that we all love, and for keeping the land, sky, waterways and animals all in great condition for thousands of years, not only for themselves but for all the generations to come.

Resource Smart School’s Waste Module

One of the many initiatives we undertake at Old Orchard is participation in Resource Smart Schools. ResourceSmart Schools is a free program offered by Sustainability Victoria that supports Victorian schools to embed sustainability across the school facilities, community and curriculum, while saving resources and money for the school. We recently had our Waste module successfully renewed and I have detailed below some of the impressive activities that lead to this achievement.

Through the Waste Module, Old Orchard has increased student awareness of waste, recycling and responsible resource use. Students have participated in waste audits and clean up days. Our impressive curriculum documentation shows that sustainability is incorporated into all year levels. Some of the highlights achieved by the student led Green Team, Pip Cariss and Lauren Todd of the Waste module include:

Green Team weekly rubbish pick-ups
Zooper Dooper dumping station
Joining Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme to raise money for sustainability projects in your school
Officeworks recyclable stationery collection for used pens, markers and other stationery
Second hand uniform stall (and arranged for poor quality second-hand uniforms to be sent to a textile recycler)
Nude food promotions
Volunteer sorting waste to ensure that it enters the correct waste stream

Since joining the ResourceSmart Schools program Old Orchard has:

Saved over $158,000 through resource savings
Reduced carbon emissions equivalent to removing 188 petrol powered cars off the road each year
Reduced power usage equal to powering 51 houses each year
Reduced water use by 7,164 KL (equal to 3 Olympic Sized swimming pools)
Diverted the equivalent of 11 shipping containers of rubbish from landfill

These are amazing achievements and congratulations should be extended to our entire school community, particularly the staff and students who have driven this initiative.

Mother's Day

It was wonderful to see our students excitedly visiting the Mother’s Day stall earlier this week, carefully selecting a gift for their mum or another special person in their life. Thank-you to the many dads who staffed the stall - we had a fantastic turnout.

Thank you also to Loci Real Estate for supplying the coffee cart today for Mother's Day.

Our very best wishes to all the mums and other special people in our school community who play such an important part in the lives of our children. We hope that Sunday provides an opportunity for you to be recognised, with that little bit of additional love and appreciation.

Breakfast Club

I was able to attend our Old Orchard Breakfast Club for the first time this week. It was fantastic to see 25 - 30 students in attendance enjoying a quick breakfast with cereal, fruit cups and toast on offer. Special thanks to our staff who volunteer their time to assist with this wonderful initiative, Kate Buckley, Sheree Knight, Adam Todd, Jo Simpson and Michelle Faulisi.

Congratulations Alisha

Huge congratulations to our Team Kids Director of Service, Alisha Mariani, on her upcoming wedding to fiancee Tudor on May 16th. Alisha is a highly regarded member of our Old Orchard family and we wish her and Tudor the very best for their special day and the years ahead.

Industrial Action Update

Negotiations ahead of the new Industrial Agreement for school staff are continuing. Several workplace bans remain in place although the rolling half-day stoppages have been postponed pending further negotiations. A ban that will be in place is in relation to the teacher comments on the Semester 1 reports. Families will receive a report with the usual indicators of student progress, however the reports will not include teacher comments.

Building Update

The building works at the front entrance are off to a great start, with considerable progress made so far. We are hopeful that the ramp, new entrance doors and foyer bathroom will be completed within the next two weeks, although this may be impacted by the weather. We appreciate the patience and flexibility of our school community as this work is undertaken.

End of day dismissal

A reminder that students who have not been picked up from dismissal points by 3:35pm will now be sent to wait on the front steps of the school near the office for supervision. At times, teachers have been waiting for up to 15 minutes for some parents and carers to arrive. Similarly, students who have not been picked up by 3:45pm will need to be booked into Team Kids.

Warm regards

Duncan